Now is the summer of our discontent…

Things to think about when you’re laid up at home with a bad back in July:

Is it just me, or has almost every weekend this summer been rainy? Weekdays (like today) are sunny and hot and enticing, and then as soon as you hit Friday evening, the clouds roll in and the wet stuff is not far behind. Of course I try to make the best of it, and grab whatever bits of sunshine each weekend ekes out, but it is starting to get to me. Our summer is much too short to not be filled with sunny and hot weekends. We deserve it, darn it!

We at The Music Settlement are embracing our future as a “green” communications site – one that eventually will minimize paper and rely solely on e-mail for inter-organizational communication, but the last several days have reminded us here that even e-communication has its flaws. I don’t know whether it’s solar flares or hardware failures or a squirrel somewhere chewing through the lines, but The Music Settlement has had a spotty electronic connection at best to the outside world for the last week and a half. You won’t be surprised to hear that this has been affecting the office environment, where we’ve all gotten pretty comfortable with thinking that we can sit at our desks and send a message out to anybody, anywhere, anytime. It’s startling to be plunged back into the “dark ages,” when you needed to pick up a telephone (which is still working, at this point!) or actually get up and walk to someone else’s office to be able to speak with them. I guess the “green” office initiative still has a little way to go…

We’re nearing the end of the summer session at The Music Settlement. Music Builders and Musical Theatre Camp have wrapped up with outstanding finales for both that really showed off our creative teachers and just how much young people can do when you give them a challenge. Our ArtWorks summer apprentice program partnership with Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio ends this week with a great performance scheduled for this Wednesday July 29th beginning at 5pm at Wade Oval. It has been a pleasure to host the band and choral groups for ArtWorks this summer. The apprentices are talented, attentive, motivated and inspiring to all who meet them. They have filled our campus with great music and represented their many communities and schools in the best light. I will miss their presence dearly. Many other activities are winding up as we head towards August, but it has been a very satisfying summer on our little corner of Magnolia Drive.

There’s a lot to be excited about at The Music Settlement in the coming year, and you will have a chance to see it all for yourself in our 2009-10 Course Listing for fall and spring, due to hit the stands today! When you see it, you will recognize immediately that The Music Settlement is sending a new message. It’s our featured branding instrument and it honors the past, unveils a new present, and hints at the future. You can get a taste of our offerings right now at our website, www.themusicsettlement.org, but I recommend that you also get your hands on the course booklet itself. If you would like to receive one in the mail and you are not on our mailing list, contact Rob Bruder, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at rbruder@themusicsettlement.org and he’ll get one in the mail to you. Or better still, come visit us and pick one up at the Enrollment and Customer Service office in the Atrium.

I want to take a moment to thank the Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, and the John P. Murphy Foundation for their support of our rebranding efforts. Their support helped make the catalog a reality. It’s going to be and exciting year at The Music Settlement – don’t miss out!

Well, it’s time to ice my back again. Have a great week!