Members of NYSO’s Senior Orchestra are putting the final touches on their music pieces for their upcoming Chamber Concerts.  String and Wind Ensembles have been preparing for their concerts since December.

I had the good fortune to photograph these young musicians yesterday.  What a pleasure for me to listen to their beautiful music as went about my work.

The students will be having an extra rehearsal Saturday at Enrichment Day.  Their first concert is March 6^th at 3:00 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading. This is a special event. It is a great opportunity to hear the individual instruments of the orchestra in these smaller ensembles.  Some of the pieces that they will be performing are:  Haydn Quartet No. 25 in C major, Serenade by Eduard Herrmann, Op. 14, Receuillement by Charles Dancla, Telemann Concerto No. 4.  This concert is also FREE!

The honors chamber ensembles will be performing again at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport on March 13^th at 6:30 PM.  It is a special honor that we are asked to perform this concert, and a great opportunity for those selected to play.  Admission to the Firehouse concert is $10.00 for adults, $8.00 for students.  This concert is free for NYSO families!

The ensembles will be giving back to the community performing in local nursing and retirement homes from March 20^th thru April 9^th.

Congratulations to all of the students who will be performing.  I can’t wait to hear you perform!

After being a professional photographer for 32 years I had my first “parade gig” this May 31^st.  I was there to photograph the Spofford Pond Marching Band.   As the Memorial Day ceremony played out, I couldn’t help but be swept up in the emotions of community, pageantry, pride, sorrow, and beauty displayed before me and my lens.  It made me proud to be part of this community.   I was glad I was there to save the memory of the moment for those who were there.

Ms. Monty shaped these awesome musicians into “The Spofford Pond Marching Band” for all parade watchers to enjoy.  Liam McGrath and Will Gibeley both had solos.  They played “Taps”.   Will played in front of the Boxford Fire Fighters at the cemetery and Liam at the ending ceremony while the rest of his band members stood with their hands over their hearts.

My son Phil plays the trombone in the band.  I asked him how it felt to play for this event.  He said “I felt important to be there and play my best for those who kept us safe and for those who have lost their life keeping us safe. They deserve our thanks.”

Stanley Jordan, world renowned musician, gave a 2 hour presentation on April 24^th at the Newbury Town Library.  The Master’s Class was sponsored by our very own local musician, guitar expert and teacher, Eric Clemenzi.  What a gift Eric gave to his students when he set up this amazing event for them.

My son Phillip and I are Eric Clemenzi fans and I find myself photographing many of Eric’s wonderful events.  This one was no exception.  85 of us sat at the edge of our seats listening to Stanley Jordan.  Stanley explained his ideas about music, playing music, practicing your music and healing qualities of music.

Stanley so eloquently talked about how he goes about getting ready to play his music.  He closes his eyes and remembers how lucky he is to have this time to practice his music.  He starts slowly and gradually and methodically works each note to get the best quality of sound out of them.

Stanley is known all over the world for the mastery of his unique guitar style.  He often plays his guitar with no strumming, a different style of playing.  Stanley can also be seen playing 2 guitars at the same time. He played his guitar and keyboard at the same time during the master’s class.

Stanley Jordan has been producing albums for 25 years.  His newest album release is “State of Nature”.  You can check out Stanley Jordan at www.stanleyjordan.com.  What an amazing event performed by such a classy guy.  To view more images of the Stanley Jordan Master Class go to www.kathyjoyce.com and click on Stanley Jordan.

I am looking forward to Eric Clemenzi’s next Master’s Class. Eric will be presenting The Charlie Hunter Trio on July 10^th at the Newbury Town Library  at 2 p.m. You can learn more about that class at www.ericclemenzi.com.

I have known Emily since she was a little girl. What a great kid, so smart, so talented, so motivated, a shining star.

I have photographed Emily on several occasions, most recently I photographed her with her friend Victor. They both needed professional photographs with their violas.

What an amazing photo session.

First of all, Emily has grown into a gorgeous woman. She and her friend Victor were such a pleasure to photograph. We had several clothing changes and had the good fortune to use Cochran Chapel at Phillip’s Academy because Emily is an alum from there.

We produced many images from this session that I love.

One day in September Emily called me. She said “I know this is a strange request, but could you send me an photo of my eyes.” She told me that she was recently diagnosed with being allergic to the tears in her eyes. She was no longer able to wear contacts and her glasses didn’t provide enough peripheral vision. She had to quit orchestra because of it which was a great loss to her. The only fix was lasik surgery and that was very expensive.

The lasik doctor had “The most beautiful eyes” contest for free lasik surgery. The contest involved people posting photos of their eyes to his website and the person with the most votes during the contest would win free lasik surgery. Emily asked me to choose a photo of her eyes to use in the contest. I did that and then every of the contest I added a new photo of her to my facebook page so that all of emily’s facebook friends would be reminded to vote for Emily that day.

AND guess what. Emily WON the contest. We were both so thrilled.

Wow, it felt so good that my photos had a part in helping Emily with her eye problems. Photographs can bring many good things to the world.