2016 Report about the American Recorder Society
The American Recorder Society (ARS) is still flourishing, and promoting playing and teaching of the recorder. Here are some figures: it has over 300 individual or commercial members, in 30 countries, playing in 101 chapters, 29 consorts, and 8 recorder orchestras. There are also 90 recorder teachers and 87 professional players (including Sophie Larivière) who are members. The Canadian chapters are ours, Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver, while Kelowna, BC has a recorder orchestra. Our Montreal chapter now lists only 4 ARS members: Monty Swartzman, Susan Van Gelder, Jacques Delorme, and myself, Mary McCutcheon.
The activities of the non-profit ARS include publishing a magazine, a website and Facebook, participating in the big American Early Music festivals in Boston and San Francisco, cooperating with the Suzuki teachers’ organization and Viola da Gamba society. In recent years a Travelling Teacher program has provided travel money to small, isolated groups to hire a professional teacher to give 50 hours of lessons. The magazine lists concert tours, workshops and festivals, has reviews of newly printed and recorded music, advertisements, and prints a short new composition in each issue. This summer, the new piece will be "Danse, from Primodal Episodes", composed for a competition organized by ourselves and CAMMAC several years ago, written by John Winniarz of Montreal who went on to write electronic music and teach at Concordia university.
Members of the ARS can see this piece now in the digital "American Recorder", or wait for it to come in the mail. Joining ARS will open a window into the wide world of the recorder. The membership cost is only 45$ (USD) if you receive the digital magazine or 80$ for 2 years. Canadian members who prefer the printed magazine pay 60$ (CAD) per year or 110$ (CAD) for 2 years. First-time members pay half-price!
For more information, see Mary McCutcheon, chapter representative, or view www.americanrecorder.org on the web.
