Amherst Club Luncheon Notes
December 21, 2010
President
Vivienne Carey opened today’s meeting with her welcoming induction of two new
members: Amanda Roberts and Lois Kackley. Marian Mepham introduced members to her
daughter-in-law, Amanda, beginning with Amanda’s love of dance and theater,
through several career paths, and locating her currently with a practice in
Amherst in behavioral medicine and health psychology. Lois Barber introduced members to Lois Kackley, a former
print journalist whose discovery and admiration of Emily Dickinson’s poetry led
to a life-changing focus on Dickinson’s oeuvre and a consequent move to Amherst,
where her involvement in Dickinson continues and where she leads two groups on
poetry.
Guests: Sandy Riggs’ guests were Polly and Dan
Patterson. Phyllis Lehrer brought
Joan Logan.
Lois Barber’s guest was Doug Wolf.
Announcements:
Rachel
Mustin welcomed Vivienne back from her several weeks’ absence due to illness.
Phyllis
Lehrer welcomed Lorraine back, as well, from an absence due to illness.
Jim Scott
pitched Love Notes tickets as wonderful, one-size-fits-all Christmas gifts.
Claude Tellier
explained that a local bank’s name change to People’s United Bank, which
declined to place an ad in the Love Notes 2011 program, had led to an error in
thinking that PeoplesBank, our long-time major sponsor, would not be donating to
Love Notes 2011. It is now sorted
out that the newly named People’s United Bank will not be a sponsor and that
PeoplesBank has already signed on to purchase its usual, full-page ad in the
upcoming Love Notes program.
Iso Stein
volunteered to pick up the weekly wine from the Spirit Haus in Claude’s absence
in January.
Sensitivity
to today’s performers led to the decision that the raffle would not be
collected today.
The
Amherst Club will not meet for lunch on the next two Tuesdays. We will reconvene on Tuesday, January
11th.
Michael
Greenebaum introduced the spectacular Amherst Regional High School Chorale, led
by conductor Anita Cooper, who is herself an esteemed soloist.
Ms. Cooper described the two dozen singers poised before us
as students in grades 10 to 12, each of whom auditioned as one of four
voices—sopranos, altos, tenors, and bass singers—to earn a place in this a
capella Chorale. This group is,
she stated, “the crème-de-la-crème” of ARHS choruses. Ms. Cooper explained that their songs often have many more
than four voices. They frequently
sing in so many voices that often one voice carries a whole part.
Ms. Cooper led her teenagers in ten songs, ranging from a 1700s
song incorrectly but often attributed to Mozart, an Israeli folksong, the
shanty song “Heave Away,” and the Christmas “Carole of the Bells.” In stunning voice, the singers
performed Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova,” with its incredibly high soprano
notes and “yips” from the altos; “Brown-eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, with engaging
solos by three tenors; and the show-stopping Overture from the “Barber of
Seville,” described by students and conductor as “dang hard”! When the group finished with “Soon I
Will Be Done with the Troubles of the World,” Club members all around this
scribe were calling out, “can we book them right now for next year?!”
Your
scribe, Jacquie Price
