“Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?” Lewis Carroll

Please excuse the gap in messages last week. I was away on vacation and so my column was on vacation as well! But I am back and rested and ready for the beginning of another great school year at The Music Settlement!

If you have been away during this period as well, you will notice a change or two upon your return. In an effort to continually improve the customer/visitor experience at The Music Settlement, we’re making some upgrades on our Magnolia Drive campus. We are currently reconfiguring our Enrollment and Customer Service Department (ECSD), located in the atrium between Burke Mansion and Kulas House, to provide a more effective walk-up customer space and faculty information center.

• If you are a customer of The Music Settlement, we are working to provide you with more helpful signage and information sharing systems to keep you up to date when you visit us in University Circle.
• If you are a Department of Music (DOM) customer/student, we are relocating the office of the Assistant Director, Linda Allen, to a more accessible office in the main Customer Service area, where she has more direct access to the resources of the ECSD.
• If you are DOM instructor or an administrative staff member, you’ll find mailboxes and communication areas reorganized to better serve you. You will also soon have access to several computer stations within the new office’s layout that will allow you improved access to internal communications and systems.

Beyond these improvements, The Music Settlement is committed to creating more informative, helpful and, yes, inspiring common areas by introducing video monitors that feature pertinent information and “wayfinding” assistance to help you get from Point A to Point B with a minimum of delay. It is our hope through these efforts that everyone who visits our Magnolia Drive campus will feel welcome and aware of the values under which we operate every day!

The middle of August is really the one time during the year that things are quiet here at The Music Settlement, but they’ll be starting up again very soon. Despite the scorching heat currently turning our brains into mush, there are many cool things happening in the arts across our area for you and your family to enjoy. In our neighborhood, the run of the musical Pippin at Cain Park continues through the end of the month, and the Cleveland Orchestra’s season “down south” at Blossom Music Center still has a weekend left with the Joffrey Ballet as their very special guests. If you’re my age or older and you want to introduce the younger generation to an experience largely missing today, check out Playhouse Square’s Cinema at the Square series. The series features movies presented the old-fashioned way, on a large screen in the beautiful Palace Theatre, and they even have pipe organ concerts before the films begin! The series features classics and family favorites and runs through the 23^rd. Relive those days when going to the movies was a real event, not just another trip to the Cineplex. August is also the month for another kind of culture - county fairs! If you have a chance, read Garrison Keillor’s article in the most recent National Geographic Magazine on the experience of a great Midwest state fair; it will remind you of why small animal husbandry, tilt-a-whirls, and deep fried Coca-Cola is such an important part of being an American!

Find your August experience before it’s too late - September’s right around the corner!

Have a great week!