The Franklin Pond Quartet and flutist Christina Smith gave live outdoor concerts at Lenbrook senior living in September and at Common Table Church Saturday, October 17. After being quarantined for so long, it is wonderful to see people enjoying live music again, of course socially distant. The people may be masked, but the music isn’t. It is better than ever!

(images courtesy of Common Table Church)
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Emily Rader (2018-19, 2019, 2020, 2020-21 student) and her teacher and Franklin Pond faculty member, Carolyn Hancock, played Bach and Mozart together in Peachtree Christian Church on Sunday, October 18. They performed the Mozart in two live Franklin Pond Summer Intensive concerts last summer.

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Apply soon and get started early. We are all set for live coaching and rehearsals at The Pond and other possible venues as they open up. We will have live and virtual masterclasses and other opportunities throughout the school year. And don’t forget about the Competition on May 30, 2021 (updates for a live event coming soon). The longer you are together as a group, the better you will sound by Competition time!

Music of Barrière, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mendelssohn is wafting across the Pond. The Summer Intensive program has been going very well, both live and virtually. All the students and faculty have adhered to our Covid rules faithfully and still been able to play and learn together. We’ve had fabulous opportunities to connect with artists from all over the country, starting out with good information about Alexander Technique with David Nesmith and Body Mapping with William Johnston. Then Nick Curry, cellist from Univ. of N. Florida, Annie Fullard, violinist of the Cavani Quartet, and Timothy Eddy, cellist of the Orion Quartet worked virtually with each of the groups. The kids also had an open and honest talk with “ThatViolaKid” YouTube star Drew Forde, who is a Franklin Pond alumnus. Three live outdoor concerts and a YouTube final performance are planned to round out a most wonderful and rewarding summer.

The Franklin Pond Quartet played at the Atlanta Botanical Garden sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. So good to see an audience again! Good social-distancing and mask-wearing!

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We were thrilled to premier a short piece T.J.Anderson wrote for our performances at Canterbury Court Retirement Community called “Canterbury Court Rag”. TJ has always been so supportive of us and our kids. We loved seeing him, his wife, and his daughter. The Franklin Pond Quartet and Christina Smith gave a concert in the garden on Thursday, June 25 to an appreciative, masked, and socially-distanced audience — some listening from their balconies. How good it is to enjoy live music after so much time away!

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We’re off to a great start! The kids already sound good. All COVID-19 regulations are in place: 6 feet apart, masks, temperature checks, screening questions before entering, hand sanitizer, soap, and kids who were really good at adhering to all! The first day was exhausting and so rewarding!
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The 4^th Annual Chamber Music Competition is featured in AJC. [Read more…]

Franklin Pond celebrates and thanks ALL the mothers (and dads) who have encouraged, cajoled, consoled, schlepped, and been proud of their kids through music lessons, rehearsals, auditions, and performances for many years. BRAVO to you – we all couldn’t make it without you.

This was our family’s Mothers’ Day gift from writer Sally Gable and Buckhead/North Perimeter LifeStyle. Stay well and think to the future. It’s bright out there!
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