"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing..."

Dear Parents,

This past weekend Linda and I decided to attend Jenny Davis' CD release party. Arriving a little after she had begun her first set, we found the place was packed! Jenny sounded absolutely fantastic. Her band, consisting of Chuck Easton, Ted Enderle, Louis Aissen, and Tim Sheffel, performed together with joy and precision, seamlessly moving in and out of solos that enhanced the performance. At one point we took advantage of a spot that opened up at the edge of the balcony and found that watching the performance from this vantage point just made the experience even better.

Between songs Jenny talked about the music and once related a story about when she was freshly out of college and tried to get up the nerve to approach Chuck Easton about playing with her in a band. She mentioned the music she sang then and how it has grown since, in both complexity and quality. Implied, of course, was the amount of practice that entailed over the years.

In the audience were several children. Watching them watch the performance made me think about the opportunities that we all have as we are growing up - the broad variety of experiences that we have in our childhood that we are later able to build on.

At Swan School we have always prided ourselves with the many different experiences that our students have, from making a pioneer supper in the Explorer's classroom to creating a rap about plankton in the Adventurer's class, from attending an all-school campout to watching a professionally produced play, and everything in between. This school year, however, we had to make some difficult decisions based on our enrollment. One of those decisions led to the reduction in time students spent in music classes. Thankfully, however, due to the generosity of so many people during our matching fund campaign, we are now able to reinstate much of our music program!

Beginning the first week of February, students will once again be able to experience a music program that includes a balance between being exposed to a variety of ways to express oneself musically and also being able to focus on a particular way to do so.

One day, perhaps one of the students currently attending Swan School will become an accomplished musician having his or her own CD release party! You can be sure that your generosity and commitment to help Swan School continue to provide a great and varied experience will have contributed to that success.

Russ