2025 ARTISTS
Get to know this season’s artists & collaborators!
NOW Ensemble March Residency:
Artists & Partners
NOW Ensemble March 2025 residency artists:
Mark Dancigers, electric guitar
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE:
As part of its 20th season anniversary, NOW Ensemble is embarking on a project that celebrates community, developing deeper partnerships in places where members of the ensemble live and have close community ties. With its unique instrumentation, the ensemble brings a fresh sound and a new perspective to the classical tradition, infused with the musical influences that reflect the diverse backgrounds of its members. Dedicated to the creation of vibrant new musical works, they have premiered and recorded dozens of new works by some of the most exciting composers of their generation. NOW regularly appears at major venues and festivals around the world, and released its seventh album, Before and After, in 2021 on New Amsterdam Records.
Learn more about NOW Ensemble at www.nowensemble.com
Purchase tickets for NOW’s Chamber @ The Drake show on March 16, 2025 HERE.
Plan of the City features NOW Ensemble performing music of Judd Greenstein, set to a video created by artist Josh Frankel.
Antenna Cloud Farm is excited to introduce a new collaboration with folks down in Hampshire County curating an exciting new monthly chamber music series at The Drake.
Founded in 2022, Chamber @ The Drake is an exciting new series dedicated to making classical music engaging and accessible to all. Concerts are presented in a cozy bar setting at Amherst’s popular venue, The Drake, making for an inspiring and intimate experience. Devoted to the belief that chamber music is profound in its essence, this series fosters an atmosphere where the musicians and audience connect through sound and conversations.
Learn more about NOW’s Chamber @ The Drake show on March 16, 2025 HERE.
ACF EDUCATIONAL PARTNERS
As part of their ACF residency, NOW Ensemble will visit with local students ranging from elementary school to high school for performances and interactive workshops. Antenna Cloud Farm is extremely proud to partner with local schools and musical educators listed below, all of whom are working tirelessly and skillfully to educate our next generations.
STRINGS FOR KIDS:
Based in Greenfield, MA, Strings for Kids is partnership program between the Greenfield Public Schools and the Pioneer Valley Symphony. The goal of Strings For Kids is to ensure that every child in Greenfield has the opportunity to learn to play a stringed instrument.
Strings for Kids is directed by local cellist and educator, Julie Carew, a dedicated and experienced pedagogue who has been teaching in Greenfield since 2016, and is the Education Programs Director for the PVS. Julie is also a member of the New England Repertory Orchestra (NERO), and performed in a string quartet as part of the 2023 Antena Cloud Farm Music Walk.
PIONEER VALLEY SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Founded in 2013 and based in Greenfield, MA, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra (PVSYO)zis made up of student musicians from across the region, including Hampshire and Franklin Counties, southern Vermont, and New Hampshire. The PVSYO is a vital part of the Pioneer Valley Symphony’s mission to connect, inspire, and enhance our community by providing opportunities to make, appreciate, and learn about classical music. The orchestra is comprised of talented, hard-working 10-to-18-year-old musicians, and led by Youth Orchestra Director Hannah Smeltz.
Hannah Smeltz is a Greenfield-based flutist, pianist, conductor, and educator with a diverse musical background. She brings twenty years of teaching experience with musicians from preschool through adulthood. Hannah also serves as the director of the Montague Community Band and performs as a flutist with the Pioneer Valley Symphony.
GREAT FALLS MIDDLE SCHOOL & TURNERS FALLS HIGH SCHOOL
The music programs at GFMS and TFHS are led by Alyssa Comeau, a McGraw Uplift Award recipient.
Great Falls Middle School offers many opportunities for students to get involved in a music program. During school, they offer 6th grade band, 7th-8th beginner band, 7th-8th advanced band, 6th grade chorus, 7th grade chorus, and 8th grade chorus. These groups perform throughout the year in various school concerts as well as the Great East Music Festival in the spring.
After school, students can get involved in the 6th-12th Turners Falls Marching Band, as well as the Turners Falls musical. With these after school opportunities, students interact with high school students and work together to perform for the school and the community.
From a 2023 Greenfield Recorder article:
”In the 3 years that Alyssa has worked at Turners Falls High School, she has transformed the Music Department from having just nine students enrolled to 120. After the pandemic started and the former music teacher retired, the Music Department was extremely small. Comeau built the department from the ground up to provide a “safe space for children to flourish in their interests,” she explained.”
Click HERE to read the entire article, and add some inspiration to your day!