OPUS will be holding a 1-day intensive “Never Too Late to Play Chamber Music” (NTL) Workshop on Saturday August 23rd, 2014 at Naperville North Central College’s Larrance Academic Center and Koten Chapel!

This workshop is open to strings, clarinet, flute, and piano players of all levels who would like to make music and receive coaching in a relaxed and supportive environment. Preformed groups are encouraged to apply. Individual applicants will be placed in a group according to ability and experience. Each group will have four (4) coaching/rehearsal sessions with OPUS NTL faculty members as led by Mara Gallagher (violinist/violist), the Music Director. Lunch will be provided. The day will culminate with a performance in NCC’s Koten Chapel.

Hope you can join us! We look forward to seeing you!!!

Time: Saturday August 23, 2014: 9 am to 5 pm
Venue: Larrance Academic Center and Koten Chapel, North Central College, 309 E. School St., Naperville, IL 60540.
Fee: $90/person for 24 to 64 years old. Others: $60/person. Lunch is included.
Registration deadline: August 8, 2014.

For more information and to register, download our application form here, or contact Linda Yu at theyus@aol.com; 630.983.8902; or email Mara Gallagher at mara5@mindspring.com.

“Music is like a dialogue because we can play a certain thing  – let’s say the violin can play something back –it could be the same melody different notes and it’s like a conversation talking back and forth.”

The Documentary Short subject Oscar winner Lady in Number 6: How Music Saved My Life about the late Alice Herz Sommer, who died Sunday in a London hospital at the age of 110, has just been acquired by Netflix. Those wishing to see the picture can on do so on April 1 in the U.S. and Canada exclusively on Netflix.

“Music is a dream. It brings peace, beauty and love. It is the first place of art…. I am full of joy in my heart. I am the only one laughing in this house.”

Herz Sommer, a concert pianist, was the oldest living Holocaust survivor and had stayed alive in a Nazi concentration camp by giving piano recitals. Her mother and husband perished in Nazi camps. The documentary shares her very positive philosophy of life about how she maintained her happiness despite enduring pure evil.

The 38-minute film began its theatrical release in 100 specialty theaters in select markets this past Friday, Feb. 21 via HD Shorts. It is also set for playdates internationally. Herz Sommer, was an accomplished concert pianist and music teacher in Prague who became a prisoner in Theresienstadt after Nazis invaded her country in 1943. Her mother, her husband and their six year-old son were transported to camps where her husband and her mother would lose their lives. After she and her little boy were liberated, she returned to performing professionally and her son also became a concert cellist. He died later, leaving his mother to survive him. The documentary is executive produced by Phillip Goldfine, Larry Abramson, Frederic Bohbot, Christopher Branch and Timothy Marlowe executive produced. The Oscar show is this Sunday, March 2nd.