Resa's Pieces Concert Band

CBC Radio's "The Sunday Edition" Features Resa's Pieces: "Watch My Stick, Please!"

What a terrific way to start a Sunday morning!

Alisa Siegel's documentary on Resa's Pieces was broadcast June 6th on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition. The magic of radio did wonders for our little band. Thank you Alisa and the CBC for featuring our band to reawaken the music in all of us.

• The Sunday Edition: Watch My Stick, PLEASE!
  Includes a recording of the documentary and snapshots of the band.

• If you're having trouble with the CBC's audio stream, use the following link  

Resa's Pieces on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition June 6, 2010 10am

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Do you play a string instrument? Resa's Pieces Strings started September 2010!

FROM CBC LISTENERS - COAST TO COAST...

Just finished hearing your broadcast and I have tears running down my cheeks. What a moving portrait of your work that CBC doc is! Done with respect, affection and enthusiasm, just as all your "Pieces" demonstrate: mutual respect, affection and enthusiasm. I can't tell you how proud we both are of you. You are doing really, really important work! —CM

I so enjoyed the piece on CBC Radio this past Sunday which gave we listeners a bit of an idea about your marvelous band and great conductor who knew that there were performers out in the community who just needed a venue and some encouragement to get those instruments back out and play!

Having been fortunate to grow up in a musical family with my father a physiotherapist whose first love was his music, I know how life giving and life preserving the ability to play music and bring such joy to others, can result in longer and happier lives for many.   My father was in his nineties when he died and although arthritis plagued his joints, he continued to play - sax and clarinet and flute and ...violin and whatever else one placed in his hands.  Actually listening to Harry and to Al brought back some keen memories of conversations we had shared as Dad was getting younger and me older.

Journey on! Godspeed, and have a great time doing what obviously brings you so much joy.

I will be with you in spirit from my home in Kentville, Nova Scotia imagining you playing your encore piece, Colonel Bogey's March.

Kindest regards —JB, Nova Scotia

Greetings Resa~

I just happened to turn on the radio as the interview of your orchestra was unfolding. It was truly touching and delightful.  Kudos on creating this wonderful opportunity for others.  As a continuing education arts instructor, I see the joy each week in my classes - their struggles, their persistence, the social aspect, but most of all the accomplishment in their painting and ideas and the great joy it truly brings. In 99% of all cases, these are threads they are picking up after a long hiatus.

What a valuable and joyful situation you have created.

I look forward to catching one of your concerts at some point !!!

Best —GB, Ancaster, ON

Resa's Pieces Featured in the North York Mirror

See the October 6, 2011 article in The Mirror!

Feedback from the article:

From: Tyler Greenleaf <tyler.greenleaf@utoronto.ca>

Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 11:21:07 -0400

To: kochberg@rogers.com<kochberg@rogers.com>

Subject: Insidetoronto article

Dear Mrs. Kochberg,

I just saw your article in insidetoronto! How inspiring! Congratulations the growth of Resa’s Pieces and for bringing music back into people’s lives. It is really nice to hear alumni of the Faculty of Music doing such great things in the community. Music and performing are powerful. Another Faculty of Music graduate is doing something somewhat similar in Manhattan (see: http://www.musicgiveslife.com/)

Good luck with your upcoming concerts. I’ll put a link to the article on our facebook alumni page today. I’m sure other graduates will be excited to learn what you are doing in North York.

Take care and all the best,

Tyler

Tyler Greenleaf

Development Associate

Faculty of Music

University of Toronto

www.music.utoronto.ca

tyler.greenleaf@utoronto.ca

416-946-3580

Big News on Resa's Pieces Fundraising Efforts

Some big news on our fundraising efforts.

We've reprinted the article "Grant is sweet for concert band" below...

A grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will assist Resa's Pieces Concert Band with its growing pains.

"We were ecstatic, ecstatic, ecstatic because now we're able to move forward and let the organization head in the direction it should head," said Resa Kochberg, founder of the North York band.

The band is receiving a $51,000 grant over three years, one of 51 not-for-profit and charitable groups across Toronto receiving almost $5.3 million from the foundation.

Another $5.5 million is being distributed to community organizations across Ontario.

An agency of the provincial government, the Foundation gives grants to not-for-profit and charitable community organizations.

Resa's Pieces Strings Featured in July 2011 WholeNote

 

Wholenote Blog - New Bands and Performances

Written by Jack MacQuarrie

Wednesday, 11 May 2011 17:03

Have you ever thought about learning to play a musical instrument but never got around to it because you were too busy with work or family activities? It’s never too late. If you are retired or pondering about what you will do when retired, taking up a musical instrument might just be the entry into a new phase of your life. You may have taken piano lessons and enjoy playing to entertain yourself, but that can be a solitary pastime. Playing in an ensemble could open up a new social dimension to your life as well. Last fall Wholenote reported on the formation of two new community ensembles for beginners, or those reconnecting after many years away from music. Now, less than nine months later, both of these groups have developed to the stage where they are presenting inaugural concerts this spring. Most recent medical research indicates that one of the keys to a healthy and fulfilling life in retirement is to keep active. In particular, it is crucial to keep the brain challenged. What better way to do that than to learn to play a musical instrument in a non-threatening situation with a group of like minded individuals who soon become part of a new social circle. For both of the groups mentioned the socializing and sharing of treats during the break in rehearsals has become an important component of their transformations into the world of performance. Visit one or both of these concerts and see what you might do with music in under a year. The New Horizons Band, organized by Long and McQuade Music and directed by Dan Kapp, will be performing at the CBC Glenn Gould studio Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 pm. This is a full concert band which has grown to almost 50 enthusiastic members. This first public performance is appropriately titled “The Beat Goes On.” For information Phone 416-531-4506. The other beginners’ group is Resa’s Pieces Strings, organized by Resa Kochberg and directed by Ric Georgi. Their “Gala Debut Performance” will take place Sunday, June 5 at 7:30 pm at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, 10268 Yonge Street. As the name implies, this is an all string orchestra. If trumpet or saxophone are not your thing, then perhaps a cello or viola might be more to your liking. For information go to www.strings.resaspieces.org.

Resa's Pieces Strings & Resa's Pieces Concert Band in The Wholenote

Resa's Pieces Strings made The Wholenote again. This time with a picture of our new  string section - RPS and the trumpet section in RPCB! Check it out!

Wholenote mention of RPS

From The Wholenote Oct 1- Nov 7 2010 issue:

The fourth of our new startup groups is Resa’s Pieces Strings. In previous issues we have referred to the very successful beginners' band know as Resa’s Pieces Concert Band. Established some years ago by Resa Kochberg, this band was created with the philosophy that “everyone grows musically together, with each "piece" completing the whole. Now, Resa has decided that former and/or new string players deserve the same opportunity to develop their skills. As a result, Resa's Pieces Strings or the RPS will be launched in September 2010. This new beginners' string ensemble will be under the directorship of Ric Giorgi.

The RPS will follow the same philosophy that Resa Kochberg established when she founded Resa's Pieces Concert Band some years ago. It is "to provide an opportunity for people to return to playing instruments that they had not touched for years.” If I thought that I could handle a string instrument, I would be there in a flash with a viola in hand. For information visit their website, http://www.resaspieces.org, or email strings@resaspieces.org.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

With all of those opportunities available, if you have thought about getting back to music, there is no better time than now. Listen to the advice from Resa. “Recall those sounds, reawaken that talent, rediscover playing music!”

Resa's Pieces and RP Strings in Whole Note, Again

This time with a spoiler alert on the upcoming CBC documentary... Stay Tuned...

(click to enlarge)

CJN News Eye on Arts May 2010

Download CJN Eye On Arts Write up on Resa's Pieces May 6th

Jewish Tribune Features Resa's Pieces at Baycrest

Here's a really nice write up in the Jewish Tribune. There are some nice stories of how members of the band found Resa's Pieces as well as kudos to our own Al Fitleberg.

Download Original Article from Jewish Tribune on Baycrest March 200 concert