Music Committee
The Music Committee of the Friends of the Weston Public Library oversees the presentation of an annual concert series in the Library’s Community Room. The Committee’s mission is “to promote the appreciation and love of music and to expand the cultural opportunities available in Weston by enabling the Library to present a variety of musical programs which are free and open to the public.”
This Season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Music Committee is hosting a Virtual Concert Series of nine performances beginning this December and running through next April. Concerts will be accessible through this webpage, the Weston Media Center’s Videos On Demand service, and on local television channels: Verizon Channel 45 and Comcast Channel 9. After each première, concerts will continue to be available online and on the local cable channels for viewers to enjoy. Audience members on the Committee’s email list (see link below to sign up) will receive links to each performance in advance.
The Committee is grateful to the fabulous artists who have participated in creating this virtual season and to the Library and the Weston Media Center for the technological wizardry that enables us to share our season with you.
If you are interested in applying to perform during an upcoming season of the WPL Music Committee concert series, please submit some basic information and you will be contacted shortly by a member of the music committee.
What is MusicFest?
MusicFest is a daylong celebration of music and Weston musicians sponsored by the Music Committee of the Friends of the Weston Public Library. On Saturday in the spring, the library will host a series of musical programs of approximately 45 minutes in length that present students of any age and instrument who have a Weston connection. The performances, which are open to the public, will be presented informally in the Community Room of the Weston Public Library. Light refreshments in the Art Gallery will follow each concert.
Who can participate?
Young people of all ages who have a connection to Weston are invited to participate. They may be Weston residents, students of Weston teachers, Weston school students, or in groups that have at least one Weston resident member.
MusicFest is open to any form of music, including voice, and any instrument appropriate to be played in a library. Participants may play for a few minutes or advanced groups may plan a program of up to twenty minutes. There is a beautiful Steinway grand piano in the Community Room. There is no rehearsal time available on the piano itself. An accompanist is available upon request. Rehearsal time will be arranged with the Accompanist.
More questions?
Contact westonmusicfest@gmail.com
Join the Music Committee
Want to help bring music to the WPL? Apply to become a music committee member!
The Committee meets at the Library at 9:30 a.m. on the third Tuesday most months in order to consider potential performers, establish a concert schedule, and assign volunteer duties connected with the concerts. Beyond its tasks of identifying and vetting performers, the Committee makes all the arrangements for each concert. More specifically, Committee members share the following responsibilities:
- Scheduling: Contacting each performer to schedule a performance date; arranging for a mutually acceptable contract, coordinating with the Library to ensure that the Community Room is available and correctly configured for the performances’ and scheduling piano tuning, if necessary;
- Publicity: Collecting biographical information about each performer and musical information for each program in order to publicize the concerts on the Library’s website, on email lists of concert-goers developed by both the Friends and the Committee, and through articles in local newspapers and online arts websites, making posters to announce each concert, and producing the programs for the performance itself; and
- Concert Duties: Organizing Committee volunteers to assist at concerts, meeting the musicians and assisting them in getting settled, introducing the performers, ushering, and providing refreshments for a reception following each concert.
The Committee is responsible for roughly one performance every two or three weeks during the concert season. While it should not be viewed as a requirement to be present at concerts, it is obviously desirable, as staffing the concerts is a vital part of the success of the series. Committee members need not live in Weston; music lovers from other communities are also welcome to apply for membership.
For more information about the Music Committee, contact Inge Thorn Engler at Engleringe@aol.com or (617) 244-1962.
Recital and Piano Use Information
Under certain conditions, the library and Music Committee occasionally permit the use of the Community room and piano for recitals (up to 2 hours in length). In order for a recital application to be considered, the teacher's studio must either be in Weston or the majority of their students must live in Weston. Please contact the library for more information.
Enjoy our popular Sunday concert series from the comfort of home with all new performances. Performances will post at 3:00 PM and will be available on demand thereafter.
Premiering April 11 at 3 PM: Natalie Zhang, solo piano
On Sunday, April 11, 3:00pm, the Weston Public Library Music Committee's virtual 2020-21 season continues with a performance featuring pianist Natalie Zhang.
Sixteen-year-old pianist Natalie Zhang is a scholarship recipient of the National Chopin Foundation and a National YoungArts Classical Music Winner. Since her solo debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of 6, she has performed at venue like the Boston Symphony Hall, Seattle Symphony Hall, Merkin Hall, Pepsico Hall, Rose Wagner Performing Center and Fort Worth Modern Art Museum.
Natalie has won many top awards in regional and international competitions, including the Kosciuszk Foundation Chopin Competition, Piano League International Competition, Hartford Chopin International Competition and the Steinway Competition. She was the first prize winner of MTNA Junior and Senior Piano Competition of Massachusetts, top prize winner of the Harvard Music Association’s High School Achievement Award and the Leonard Wood Concerto Competition of Arlington Philharmonic. Natalie is a student of NEC Preparatory School and studies privately with Professor Michael Lewin.
She will be performing solo piano works of Scriabin, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Bach.
- December 13 - Jon Sakata and Jung Mi Lee, piano four hands (watch now!)
- January 17- May Phang, solo piano (watch now!)
- January 31 – Duo Amie, piano and cello (watch now!)
- February 28– Sayuri Miyamoto and Joel Bard, piano and oboe (watch now!)
- March 21- Shelley Otis, harp with percussion and lecture (Click to watch Sun. 3/21 at 3 PM)
- April 11 – Natalie Zhang, solo piano (click to watch Sun. 4/11 at 3 PM)
- May 23- Minkyung Oh, solo piano
- June 20 - Jon Sakata and Jung Mi Lee, piano four hands (tentative date)