A Proud Chapter of the American Recorder Society
Welcome to the Princeton Recorder Society! We promote the appreciation of the recorder as a musical instrument through performance and instruction. With over fifty members, we hold monthly playing sessions from September through May as well as an annual spring workshop (coming soon: Sat, April 10; register now!), all coached by leading professionals.
Come play with us! We welcome all playing levels! First time visitors, please come on by and try us out at no cost. Then if you like what you see (and hear), please come on back; we'll ask you to contribute $5 per session to help cover our costs.
Join us! By becoming a member, you help support PRS and will enjoy membership benefits: free attendance at our monthly playing sessions conducted by experts, newsletters, discounted annual workshop fee, and access to the extensive PRS music library. Dues are $25 individual/$35 couples per year; American Recorder Society is required at an additional $45 per year. Contact an officer for more information.
Next Playing Session (open to the public)
Spring Workshop 2010 Registration is now open - click here for the form! To register, the form must be completely filled out, signed, and sent in by mail along with payment by check. You may print it out and fill it in with ink, or fill it in on the browser page, then print it out. Instructions are on the form itself.
| Louise Witonsky | President | ltwitonsky<at>gmail.com |
| John Burkhalter | Vice President | johnburkhalter3<at>aol.com |
| Alison Hankinson | Secretary | hankinsona<at>gmail.com |
| Bob Tucker | Treasurer | rktucker222<at>verizon.net |
| Anna Laufenberg | Librarian | alaufenberg<at>netscape.com |
| Sue Parisi | Music Director Workshop Co coordinator |
suepari<at>comcast.net |
Next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 9th with conductor Ann Bies.
Doors open for socializing at 7pm and music starts promptly at 7:30 pm.
Ann Bies has played, performed and coached recorder in the Philadelphia area for more than a decade, with particular interest in 16th- and 17th-century repertoire, recorder music of the high baroque, and recorder consorts. She is a member of the Penn Baroque and Recorder Ensembles, taught recorder at Main Line School Night and coaches the ensemble, Quintossentiale. She has studied with Gwyn Roberts and in master classes with Saskia Coolen, Marion Verbruggen, Dan Laurin, and Han Tol, among others. As well as recorder, she plays baroque flute and the Balkan folk instruments kaval and tilinka. She is a member of the Monique Legaré International Dance Company, the Mother Zwiefacher Orchestra, and the English Country Dance band Earl Grey, Hot. Ann is planning on bringing gorgeous late 16th-century consort music from across Europe for us to play.
We will have refreshments this month thanks to Carol Weiss. If you would like to bring refreshments to this meeting or to the April meeting, please contact Louise Witonsky (ltwitonsky <at> gmail.com )
Sorry that we had to cancel the February meeting due to the snowstorm. I hope we reached everyone and that no one showed up at the church. We sent out emails to all members, put the cancellation message on the PRS website and WWFM radio, and tried to phone each member. If we missed you, I apologize.
Some members have asked if we could reschedule Anna Laufenberg and make up the lost February date. I would be willing to try if I know at least 20 members would attend. Of course, I would have to ask the church for space and see if Anna is available. Please let me know if you are interested before I attempt to make arrangements.
The big PRS April 10 workshop is almost here. This is the major fund raiser for PRS. As frugal as the PRS board is, the dues are so low they barely cover anything. Without the workshop we couldn't have the outstanding conductors who lead us during the year. The workshop is for our members first and then for the public. So we hope to see all of you at the workshop. Hurry and get your forms filled and your money sent to Alison Hankinson (hankinsona <at> gmail.com). You can also bring it to next month’s meeting, but let us know if you want us to reserve a space as we are already 2/3 full.
A big THANK YOU goes to Alison and Sue for all the work they have done and are doing to organize the workshop. Please contact Alison hankinsona <at> gmail.com or Sue (suepari <at> comcast.net) if you can lend a hand on Workshop day.
Thanks to Skip Kestler and Peter Lindenfeld for serving on the nominating committee. Remember if you are interested in serving on the board, you can still let Skip know jkestler <at> att.net At the March meeting, Skip will announce the proposed PRS Board for next year.
Again, a big thanks to Tom Laresch for the wonderfully kept and updated PRS website http://www.princetonrecorder.org. Everything you want to know about PRS - including closings, this newsletter, the workshop and more are on the site. Reminder to our roving photographers to please send Tom all the photos they have taken at the monthly meetings so he can post them for all of us to enjoy.
PRS has been fortunate enough to be the recipient of some wonderful gifts this year. We recently received a gift from Gordon Blackadar's estate and a big thank you goes to his daughter, Laurie Showers, who contacted me with the offer of Gordon's recorders. She told me how much Gordon enjoyed PRS and how happy he would be to know that his recorders were still a part of his beloved PRS. As a member of PRS for many years I enjoyed Gordon's presence at each PRS meeting. Gordon was always such a delight and I was fortunate enough to have performed with him - a piece for flute and recorder - at the most charming little church in West Trenton.
Gordon died July 16, 2006, at home in Doylestown, Pa.
Born in Plainfield, N.J., he served in the Army as a second lieutenant. After discharge in 1946, he developed a career in municipal real estate, appraising in some 60 New Jersey towns. From 1969 to 1988 he was in real estate investments with Metropolitan Life in New York, serving as vice president. A math whiz, he wrote Dynamic Capitalization, which was published in 1992.
Gordon enjoyed painting landscapes and playing the flute and the recorder. He was a member of PRS for many years. Besides playing music Gordon enjoyed making baroque flutes out of PVC plumbing pipes. A self taught flute maker Gordon would always report his successes at the PRS meetings before the playing started and would often play music with the ensemble on his home made flutes.
Even after moving to Doylestown after many years in New Jersey, Gordon continued to attend all the PRS meetings. Gordon and his wife, Virginia, raised four children, Glenn, Scott, David, and Laurie and had seven grandchildren.
We now have several recorders to loan – from soprano to Bass. So if, for example, you need to send yours for re-voicing, or new cork, or if you’d like to try out a tenor or bass before you invest in one, you can borrow one from PRS by contacting Sue Parisi (suepari <at> comcast.net).
We also have a vast music library. Contact Anna Laufenberg(alaufenberg <at> netscape.com) for all information on the catalog of music and how to get it – plus helpful advice (thanks Anna!)
PRS now has personal stationery thanks to a gift from Anna Laufenberg and Louise Witonsky. The cards have the PRS logo, created by Patricia Lee's daughter, on the front of beautiful cream stock. You can see it at the March meeting.
Louise Witonsky
February 22, 2010
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PRS is a proud chapter of 
and a member of the Guild for Early Music.
