We are extremely grateful to the Rowland Foundation for their support of Emmanuel Music's Community Connections program.

Community Collaborations
Emmanuel Music works in partnership with staff and faculty at a variety of Boston-area schools and performing arts organizations to develop in-depth opportunities for music education. These programs, including master classes, solo recitals, quartet performances, visiting artists and career exploration, feature instrumental musicians and vocalists from the Emmanuel Music core ensemble who are chosen for their commitment to education and young people, and for their enthusiasm to share their skills and knowledge. In the 2007-2008 academic year, collaborations are ongoing with the Boston Arts Academy, the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute, the Perkins School for the Blind, and the Boston Children's Chorus, and involve approximately 1,000 young people.

Subsidized Tickets
Boston-area organizations working with underserved populations have access to subsidized tickets for Emmanuel Music afternoon and evening concerts. Organizations in this program include Big Sisters of Greater Boston, Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay, Year-Up, Boston Arts Academy, Belmont Public Schools, Boston Children's Chorus, and Beacon Hill Village. Last season Emmanuel Music was able to fulfill requests for over 215 tickets from these organizations.

2007-2008 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellows
Over 200 artists perform each year with Emmanuel Music. The Community Connections Program features three of these talented performers each season for special career opportunities within the concert and cantata series, and as part of our community collaborations. The 2007-2008 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellows at Emmanuel Music are:

Soprano KRISTEN WATSON praised for her “silver-spun tone” and “winning stage presence,” has appeared as a soloist with Emmanuel Music on several occasions as part of the Bach Cantata series. Anticipated to “become a valuable presence in the early-music world” ( Boston Globe ). Other solo performances include the Carmel Bach Festival, Aston Magna Festival, Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio, Evansville Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Camerata, Columbus Bach Ensemble, New Bedford Symphony, Music Worcester, and the White Mountain Bach Festival . She has appeared at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops as the featured soprano on their “Holiday Pops” program, as well as “Mozart's Greatest Hits” both under Keith Lockhart. Opera audiences have heard her in productions with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera New England, Opera Boston, Boston University Opera Institute, Intermezzo Opera, and the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. Ms. Watson is originally from Topeka, Kansas, and holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Boston University.

Tenor JASON MCSTOOTS has been hailed as one of the "new generation of New England singers" and described by critics as "particularly outstanding" with "a perfect light-opera voice.” He is a member and soloist with Emmanuel Music in the Bach Cantata Series and has appeared in numerous concert and productions with the organization. He has already established himself on the operatic stage, in the concert hall, and in the recital hall. His broad repertoire includes music from Mozart's operas to Britten's Canticles and Handel's oratorios to Floyd's Susannah.

Cellist RAFAEL POPPER-KEIZER has been hailed by the New York Times as "imaginative and eloquent", and praised by the Boston Globe for his "dazzling dispatch of every bravura challenge" and "melodic phrasing of melting tenderness." He has appeared with Emmanuel Music in the Bach Cantata Series and as the continuo cellist in last season's Handel Festival. He has concertized with many of New England's most esteemed chamber musicians , including members of the Lydian, Borromeo and Muir String Quartets, the Museum of Fine Arts Trio, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Popper-Keizer was invited to the Tanglewood Music Festival, where he acted as Yo-Yo Ma's understudy for Richard Strauss' Don Quixote under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. He is the cellist of the Fibonacci String Quartet.