Farewell 2019, Welcome 2020!

End-of-year news

I haven’t posted on my blog site since April 2018, and I’m way overdue. Having sent Christmas cards late (after the holiday) and with no newsletter this year, I thought it was about time for an update.

Mom

If you’re not already aware, here’s the update on my mother, Helen. Last February, after a 911 call and trip to the ER for a urinary tract infection, Mom was hospitalized for two days, then transferred to Masonic Village for two weeks of rehab. At the completion of her rehab stay, we were extremely fortunate to place her as a permanent resident in the Health Center on the Masonic Village campus. In March 2019, we celebrated her 90th birthday. She’s now been living there for ten months, and has adjusted well to her new surroundings. If you’d like to call, write, or visit, please contact me for details.

Tim at Renny & Reed, NYC

Tim has now been managing the retail side of Renny & Reed, Park Avenue at 59th Street, since August 2018. This high-end floral design business specializes in events and weddings, but Tim is in charge of managing the day to day retail, including all walk-in purchases up to $10K. If you’re in the city, stop by to say hello!

Cherry Grove, Fire Island

Tim and I have been spending every other summer week on Fire Island for the past ten years. This coming summer we’re moving from the one bedroom apartment rental where we’ve spent the last seven summers to a two bedroom bungalow closer to the center of Cherry Grove. We’re looking forward to seeing friends and family out on the island this summer!

Jane Rechtman Faculty Chair

I’ve been teaching at The Masters School now for seven years. In addition to coordinating the Private Lessons program and teaching String Ensemble and Chamber Music, I am now teaching Public Speaking for the second year. Because of this (or may in spite of it), I’ve had several unique speaking opportunities in the past year.

Last June, I officiated a “reprise ceremony” for the wedding of former students Yuri Chang and Andrew Kim. In November, I was the official celebrant (yes, I earned my ministerial credentials just for this ceremony) for the wedding of Adam Schommer and Nicole Gilpin. I also gave the keynote address for the annual professional development meeting of the Westchester County Arts Leadership Association (WCALA). In April, I’ll act as emcee for The Master’s School’s biannual Gala, which raises funds for scholarships and school endowment.

In the midst of all this, I had no idea that there was something brewing at Masters. On October 4, five awards were presented to faculty at The Masters School by Head of School, Laura Danforth. I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed to be the recipient of the Jane Rechtman Faculty Chair award. The award was described as: “The chair will recognize a Masters teacher who most closely exemplifies the humanity, generosity of spirit, self-reflection, and world view that Jane brought to the classroom and the wider Masters School campus during the more than 20 years she has served on the faculty. Jane Rechtman helped students learn about themselves and the world around them. She guided students to balance achievement and contentedness, and to seek out and offer kindness to others in their lives.” I am honored to hold this award for four years, through June 2023.

Win-Place-Show: Westchester Symphonic Winds

In June 2018, I submitted three applications for The American Prize, a non-profit award program that recognizes outstanding work in the musical performing arts. As stated on their site, “The American Prize is nonprofit, unique in scope and structure, and is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. There is no live competition.” We submitted recordings from our 2018-2019 season, and over the course of this past summer, we learned that we earned three awards:

• First Place – Wind Ensemble Performance, community band division
• Second Place – Wind Ensemble Conductor, community band division
• Third Place – Ernst Bacon Memorial Award, American music performance, community band division, for Brooklyn Bridge by Michael Daugherty; Steve Cohen, clarinet soloist

I’m so proud of this adult community wind ensemble, and fortunate to be working with them now for twelve seasons. Our next performances include:

• Sunday, February 9 at 3:00 pm at Tarrytown Music Hall – Contrasts, featuring Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with Joshua Pierce, piano soloist
• Saturday, May 16 at 8:00 pm at Tarrytown Music Hall – Doxologies, featuring David Maslanka’s emotional Symphony No. 4
• Saturday, July 4 at 8:00 pm at Caramoor – Pops, Patriots, and Fireworks (our seventh consecutive Fourth of July performance)

Coming up, I’m conducting the Massachusetts Southeastern District Honor Band on Saturday, January 11. Then this coming summer, I’m conducting the Worldstrides National Middle School Honors Band at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, June 28, and a separate National Middle School Honors Band at Royal Festival Hall in London on July 31. I’m really enjoying these unique opportunities to perform in these amazing venues!

Neiman & Marcus

Our boys are now three years old and continue to add an amazing dimension in our lives. Watching them interact as brothers from the same litter is a constant source of joy.

My Identity Crisis

As I described, this is the second school year in which I’ve been teaching Public Speaking at Masters, in addition to Orchestra and Chamber Music. Although I’ve been speaking on my feet for 38 years, my only real public speaking credit was my TEDx Talk in September 2017. This past September, I decided to seek out some kind of professional development to supplement my teaching of this course. So I enrolled in the Stand-up Comedy class at Scarsdale Adult School, and it was a crazy experience. The class resulted in a class performance at The Comic Strip Live, a comedy club on Second Avenue in New York City. Here’s the video from my “breakout” performance. I hope you enjoy it!

All the best for 2020!

It’s been a busy year. Tim and I wish everyone all the best for a happy, healthy, and successful New Year in 2020!