Thank You! Thank You!

This quote from our upcoming annual report says it all: “During our 2014-2015 season, we undertook a large project to realize a long-held ‘dream’ of the organization – the professional video production of the Fall in Love with Music listening course.” This eight-part public television series is based on a course I have presented – live – “to thousands of individuals in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Kentucky in classrooms and lecture settings for over 30 years.” The report goes on: “With production commencing last spring, we know this series will be distributed to millions of individuals through current technologies.”

Final touches on Fall in Love with Music are being made in the edit room as I write. The finished product will be sent to American Public Television on February 1^st and broadcasts commence across the country in April.

You will forgive me if I breathe a huge sigh of relief!

The “thanks” needing to be offered at this juncture border on the boundless. First, last, and always, I want to personally thank my mentor, Dr. Saul Feinberg. Fall in Love with Music is based on Saul’s extraordinary D.M.A. thesis and educational strategies. I’ve said it before – I’ve learned everything I know about teaching music listening from Saul.

My colleagues at The Discovery Orchestra – Executive Director Virginia Johnston, Director of External Relations Elliot Dee, Director of Patron Programs Jeanne Maass and Administrative Director Diane Lester – have been integral, crucial, supportive partners in this process. We could have only achieved this as a team.

The Discovery Orchestra’s Board of Trustees: President Stephen Reynolds, Vice President Adam Psichos, Secretary Rachel Weinberger, Treasurer Kelli Christensen, James Gillen, E.J. Harrison, Caitlin Haughey, Mary Horn, William Powers and Tricia Tunstall have all been 100% behind this project from its inception in our strategic plan.

My gratitude to our staff and board would fill the ocean.

Our collaborators at Midnight Media Group are nothing short of brilliant. All wear many hats as co-writers, directors, producers, camera operators, video digital editors, audio engineers, digital animators – they do it all. Working with Dave Emmerling, Walter Schoenknecht, Bob Camitta, Michael Fischbeck and Bill McEvoy is like being inside an exciting creative vortex with lots of laughs to buffer the challenges and immensity of the project along the way. What a pleasure! Also a huge ‘thank you’ to David Walters, our audio designer. David, too, is brilliant.

Tom Davison, at American Public Television (APT), encouraged and supported our previous three television productions and has been enthusiastic about Fall in Love with Music from the very beginning. We are most grateful to APT for distributing all four of our productions nationwide.

I must especially thank my wife, Marcia, who has told me that if I ever embark on another television production, she will move out until it is completed. That said, she has always believed in The Discovery Orchestra’s mission and has been supportive in every possible way. Her patience is sometimes incomprehensible to me. . .true love.

And finally, please click on this list of donors. At the Discovery Orchestra, we could not produce any of the educational concerts and courses we present each season, let alone a project of this magnitude, without the generous support of our donors and benefactors.

A good friend, Julian Chiabella, who as former Acquisitions Manager for Films Media Group (FMG) insured that FMG would become The Discovery Orchestra’s retail distributor to the educational market, once said: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms, and when the right story reaches the right person, at just the right time, the affect can be life altering.”

On 60 Minutes cellist Yo-Yo Ma said: “Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way it becomes your friend for life.”

Here at The Discovery Orchestra we are on a crusade to help as many people as possible, of all ages, across the United States to experience the overwhelming, life altering feelings that classical music listening brings. With the combined efforts of all the individuals above and our benefactors, we can hopefully be a part of “the right story, at just the right time!”