About

Letter from Artistic Director
Rafael Popper-Keizer

Dear friends,

As we prepare to begin our 61st season at Monadnock Music, I find myself both tremendously grateful for what we’ve been fortunate to accomplish so far and profoundly excited for what’s on the horizon. My past two decades with this organization have been inspiring and rewarding beyond anything I could have imagined – and I look forward to its continued evolution as we move forward. But as we strive to imagine new ways to engage and serve our community, we also hold staunchly to our founding values and artistic principles. In a world too frequently obsessed with passing trends and empty novelties, Monadnock Music maintains our commitment to deeply meaningful experiences through both the rich traditions of our musical heritage and the discovery of bold new voices.

Among the many highlights of the summer season, one for which I am especially excited is our presentation of Mark Isaacs’ lavish, whimsical setting of scenes from the Wind in the Willows, which we’ll perform in the Peterborough Town House as well as Nova Arts in Keene. Featuring harp, piano, percussion, mixed strings and winds, and narrator, it’s our biggest family concert so far, and we are delighted to be able to present it – like so many of our summer offerings – completely free to the community. We’re also repeating several of our village concerts in different locations this year to make them more readily accessible to our wider audience. I’m thrilled, as well, to be returning to the Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, for a concert of string quartets by three remarkable living composers, each extraordinary in their emotional resonance and profoundly resonant themes of identity and self-reflection.

As always, we at Monadnock Music are truly thankful for your continued support. After all these years, I remain resolute in my belief in the supreme importance of music’s gifts: to bring us together in shared joy; to create spaces for reflection and healing; and above all, to manifest beauty into the world.

All the best,
Rafael Popper-Keizer
Artistic Director