Welcome to the May 2022 chapter newsletter.  For May’s musical selection, I’ll resist the cliché of Vivaldi’s “Spring,” as it’s probably the most ubiquitous and overplayed classical piece in history. Try instead Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances. These are two sets of light musical pieces I discovered by accident one spring evening in Portland, as […]

Contents CHAPTER NEWS CHAPTER EVENTS FEATURES Welcome to the April 2022 chapter newsletter.  April, quite unexpectedly, is a month of mystery. Though it derives from the Latin Aprilis, the root of the name is unclear. It may come from aperio – “to open”, in reference to the blooming of April flowers. Or, so says Ovid, […]

Contents CHAPTER NEWS CHAPTER EVENTS FEATURES Welcome to the March 2022 chapter newsletter. March is named for Mars, the Roman god of war and divine father to Romulus and Remus. March inaugurated the ancient season of warfare, when swords clanged, soldiers rallied, and emperors were made, not born.  If you haven’t yet, listen to The […]

Contents CHAPTER NEWS CHAPTER EVENTS FEATURES Welcome to the February 2022 chapter newsletter. February is the coldest, and most treacherous, month of the year. It strikes without warning—icy venom paralyzing creatures large and small—and vanishes quickly as it came, leaving a pounding silence in its wake. Indeed, like no other month, February seems to expand […]

Contents CHAPTER NEWS CHAPTER EVENTS Welcome to the January 2022 chapter newsletter. January is named for Janus, the Roman god of duality and transition. With two faces gazing forward and back, Janus ushers in the new year while shedding a single, solitary tear for times past. He appears at beginnings and at ends: he sparks […]