By Gail Kearns, Concord resident.
 So you think the only summer musical environment capable of supporting the
growth and development of talented young musicians is located at Tanglewood? Well, think again and look no farther than a wonderful
organization for young musicians located in Concord, Massachusetts!
For the past fifteen years, young musicians ranging in age from five to
eighteen years have been coming together from Concord and other area towns to attend
the week-long Spencer Brook Strings Festival under the leadership of Paul
Leder and Barbara Marden. Founder of the festival Barbara Marden is a local
violin teacher who has also been a member of the Concord Orchestra for more than
twenty-five years. When the festival began years ago, the musical groups
rehearsed in the Mardens' house and in tents on their lawn. But by last summer, more
than sixty students were participating in the festival, and additional space
was greatly needed. A home for the classes was found last summer at the
Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord Center. The church was across the
street from the Performing Arts Center, home of the Concord Orchestra and now also
the site of Spencer Brook's summer festival concerts.
The end of the 2004 strings festival was celebrated with two concerts held at
the end of August at the Performing Arts Center. The Friday evening concert
was the inaugural faculty concert for the festival. Several advanced students
played alonside faculty in this concert. These students were Suzanne Feld,
Maxine Keyes, Alex Wagner, Hilary Crew and Daniel Gerber. The concert began with
Carlisle faculty member Sarah Darling playing a piece for solo viola by Henri
Vieutemps. Other music faculty and student performers then performed the Mozart
"D Major Divertimento." The festival's first faculty concert ended with a
rousing performance of Mendelssohn's "Octet." Both this concert and the students'
festival concert were free and open to the public.
The second concert began at noon on Saturday. Every seat at Concord's
Performing Arts Center was filled! Paul Leder, director of the festival and conductor
of the senior orchestra, told us that this weeklong festival had been a happy
mixture of "music, soccer and popsicles." Fifteen different musical groups,
all wearing blue Spencer Brook Strings T-shirts and ranging in size from trios
to thirty-five-member stringed orchestras, then performed for the audience.
Some of the first musicians to play were so small their feet didn't quite
reach the floor! But they managed to stay together for a delightful rendition of
the "French Bells" song with their teacher. A larger group of seven and
eight-year-olds, some tapping bare feet in time to the music, played a German folk
song. Other large and small chamber groups performed works by Haydn, Mozart,
Telemann, and a delightful cello arrangement of the Beatles' song, "Eleanor
Rigby." A highlight was the performance by some of the more advanced students of
the first movement of the Haydn string quartet called "The Birds."
 A senior group calling itself "E Virtuosi" played a wonderfully off-beat
number which the leader, Asaf Kolerstein, claimed was an early just-discovered
work of Vivaldi. The audience got to hear the world premiere of "The Bathing of
the Cats," which included cat meowings by each of the twelve players, which
were interspersed between musical passages. The audience was also called upon to
"meow" in the finale!
The second half of the concert consisted of a thirty-five piece junior
orchestra under the baton of Asaf Kolerstein. This orchestra performed a 16th
century "Aire" and Asaf's own delightful arrangement for strings of "Take Me Out to
the Ball Game." This piece was played a second time as an audience
sing-along. The thirty piece senior orchestra, directed by Paul Leder, played the first
movement (the "Allegro") of Mozart's "Symphony #29 in A Major" and "Mack the
Knife" with artistry that would be difficult to find in many adult orchestras.
 As a grand finale, the entire assemblage performed Tchaikovsky's "1812
Overture." Bass drum, cymbals, triangles, Christmas tree lights, and bursting
balloons provided percussion and excitement, especially when a flurry of unpopped
balloons floated over a delighted audience of tourists, area residents, and
others. This enthusiastic audience gave these students and their faculty the
standing ovation they deserved.
The Spencer Brook String Festival here in Concord has long been a true
musical summer treasure for those young musicians fortunate enough to have found it.
Now with its more spacious summer quarters, it can also be a musical treat
for all who enjoy good music.
For additional information about their Fall and Winters program at the Emerson Umbrella,
email Barbara Marden.
Art Credits: Backgrounds courtesy of Pats Web Graphics. Photos by Richard Brady.
 
 
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