Rivers Students Give Back During Holiday Season

 

Encore, an Upper School club of service-minded musicians, performed one December evening at the Pearl Street Cupboard and Café, a venue in Framingham operated by the United Way that provides bi-weekly dinners to underresourced community members in the Framingham area.

 

“I was extremely proud of the musicians for taking the time on a weeknight right before exams to do this concert,” said club member Silvia Curry. “Nine of us participated— a jazz combo (who hadn't played together before—they just knew the songs they were playing and made it happen!), three solos, and a duet.”

 

Freshmen musicians included Estelle Luong, Simonida Spasojevic, Mikey Manasseh, Katherine Feng, and Lindy Billhardt. Junior Alex Gomex and seniors Charlie Watkins, Lincoln Zaleski, and Silvia rounded out the roster.

 

 “For classical musicians, it's a great way to gain performance experience,” Silvia continued. “The jazz combo amazed me. Once I told them the basic information about the event, they organized the music that they'd be playing and took the initiative to play first when we arrived at Pearl Street and realized how little space we were working with. It's definitely not your average straitlaced music event: the piano's keys were sticky, so Estelle spent the entire piece lifting up keys as she played, and Katherine and Lindy practiced in the back room next to huge piles of potatoes and canned goods.”

 

“Everyone did a great job talking to the diners after they were done playing. One of the Pearl Street regulars even said she had been brought to tears by the music,” Silvia noted. “Every Encore concert is wonderful, regardless of the various complications that each venue has. The cliche is true: music is a universal language. Rivers’ music community is in its own little pocket in Weston, but twenty minutes away are people struggling to find a warm meal every night. This is one way to bridge that gap, and the concerts create a truly symbiotic relationship between listener and musician.”

 

The Upper School men’s and women’s choruses also performed at Rivers in mid-December at a mid-day concert open to the local community. Bradley Hall provided a festive setting for the seasonal and perennial favorites that the groups performed for an appreciative audience of mostly elderly music lovers.

 

The Upper and Middle Schools once again collected toiletries for the Natick Service Council, including shampoo, conditioner, bars of soap, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Friendly competition between classes and advisory groups added a bit of fun to the drive, and helped bring in record quantities of donations.

 

The Middle School community service club continued to offer two traditional opportunities to support those in need in the area. During their annual coat drive they gathered cartons of coats, which were delivered to Anton’s Cleaners to be cleaned and distributed to needy organizations in the Greater Boston area. They also coordinated holiday gift sponsorships for the Natick Service Council, giving faculty and staff the opportunity to sponsor a child, either individually or through their advisories.

 

“Rivers will continue to seek out opportunities for students to be involved in the local communities throughout the year,” commented Director of Service Learning Kit Cunningham. “Food pantry shelves empty out in the summer, and charitable giving decreases after the holidays. Being aware of the needs of others is important throughout the year, and Rivers is conscious of the fact that time frames other than the holidays are when the need can be the greatest.”