Dear Friends of LiveARTS Franklin,
Here in New England we are especially fortunate to have so many opportunities to support programs in the arts, in education, in social justice, and essential safety net programs that assist our most vulnerable citizens. Since the COVID pandemic, the arts have been particularly fragile, as many resources dwindled and audiences had to overcome fear and inertia to return to live music venues.
LiveARTS worked very hard to produce high quality concerts over ZOOM, and we returned to the live concert hall with wonderful artists such as the LiveARTS String Quartet, delightful wunderkind Kingsley Chen, and most recently, Rachel Childers, horn, from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Many of you delighted in the recent sparkling concert played by young artist Kingsley Chen, piano, giving us such hope for the future of live classical music.
All these efforts have been made possible by the ongoing hard work of the Board of Directors of LiveARTS, and by the faithful audiences who have attended our concerts and often donated above the cost of tickets. We are so very grateful to our loyal supporters!
LiveARTS has provided great live music to the Franklin community at a reasonable ticket price for about 25 years. The range of chamber music and soloists has been just marvelous.
We have loved the FUSF venue, where our wonderful concerts take place in the green serenity of the woods around the church, and we have much appreciated our partnership with FUSF.
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| LiveARTs says Thank You! |
Given all the positive energy in our work, and the continuing high quality of our concerts, we deeply regret having to write this letter to tell you that the 2024-2025 concert season will be our last under the identity of LiveARTS Franklin. The challenges of running even a small, regional concert season continue to grow. Nearly all our costs are rising steadily, and the economic circumstances in which we function are terribly uncertain.
Many donors are anxious about their financial stability, and we know from long experience that we cannot carry on without donor revenue. Our small but mighty all-volunteer board has labored with great dedication for many years, and we all agree that we prefer to end our very good run of concerts on a high note.
That high note includes our partnership year in 2023-2024 with the Chaminade Schubert Music Club of Attleboro, who carried on their excellent concert series in 2024-2025 at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church in Attleboro with a mix of member/community concerts and guest artists such as violinist Nicholas Kitchen and Joanna Poraskova, soprano. They also have a scholarship event for local junior and senior high school music students each year, as well as workshops for independent music teachers.
Since our shared activities were so rewarding, and since they are so nearby, we are joining their efforts to carry on significant musical activities at a regional level. We celebrate our years of great music, and we look forward to putting our energy into the 2025-2026 Chaminade Schubert Music Club season and into the continued visibility of great live music in Southeastern Massachusetts.
If you have donated to LiveARTS during 2025, you will still be able to list that donation on your 2025 tax return if you wish. To make sure you hear about all the wonderful upcoming events, we will add your name and contact information to the Chaminade Schubert Music Club list for announcements about the 2025-2026 season unless you direct us otherwise at asears@wheatonma.edu.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you and the many organizations who have helped us over the years, and we look forward to seeing you this fall at one of the upcoming Chaminade Schubert Music Club concerts.
There's more beautiful music awaiting you at Murray this next season, including another concert by violinist Nicholas Kitchen, an all-opera program of arias, duets, and ensembles, and a chamber music concert featuring Rachel Childers, horn, and Michael Roylance, tuba of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, so please join us in Attleboro!
With gratitude and affection,
David Burnham, President
Ann Sears, Artistic Director
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Our mailing address is:
LiveARTS,
P.O. Box 678,
Franklin, MA 02038
