//  A Presentation by Me2 Orchestra Manager and Cellist Phoenix Crockett The Me2/ (“Me, too”) Orchestra -- which involves 50 Burlington musicians and over 200 musicians in all of New England -- is the world’s only classical music ensemble created specifically for individuals living with mental illness, and those who support them. Founded in 2011 in Burlington by conductor Ronald Braunstein (who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder), its mission is to "erase stigma" surrounding mental health through welcoming rehearsals and inspiring…

// An Illustrated Talk by Executive Director, Tanya Benosky Boys & Girls Club group photo. Serving 250 kids a day, the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington plays a critical role in supporting the kids and families of the Old North End.  More than just an afterschool program, the Boys & Girls Club works hard to support Burlington youth from kindergarten all the way through higher ed and beyond. If you’ve ever driven by and wondered what actually happens beyond…

// An Introduction by CASAN Board Members Jan Steinbauer and Kim Watkin Above: A little newcomer enjoys her first Winter in Vermont. Below: Memories of home. The Chittenden Asylum Seekers Assistance Network (CASAN) is a volunteer group that welcomes people seeking asylum who are in our local communities. A non-profit since 2019, CASAN has assisted traumatized -- yet resilient -- people from many countries who come to begin new lives in safety. It provides longer-term, wrap-around assistance for several individuals…

// An Illustrated Talk by Author and Translator Janet Biehl Graduation day at the women's academy in Raqqa, a place where ISIS once sold women it captured as sex slaves. Janet Biehl in back row center wearing scarf. During the war against the Islamic State (from 2014), the U.S.-led coalition coordinated with Kurdish-led ground forces to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Almost unreported in U.S. media, those Kurdish fighters represented a new society in northeastern Syria that, since 2012, had…

// An Exploration by Musicologist & Choral Conductor Nathaniel G. Lew 1917 photo of Ernest Bloch. Wikipedia. In May, the Vermont Choral Union will perform the Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh) by Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch (1880-1959). In preparation for this concert, musicologist and choral conductor Nathaniel Lew will introduce this seminal 1933 composition for chorus and orchestra or organ, widely considered the finest concert-music setting of the Shabbat morning liturgy. Lew will examine the circumstances of the work's commission by Congregation Emanu-El in…