The Moss Bay Recorder Society is a chapter of the American Recorder Society, based in the Greater Seattle area. We meet monthly, October through March, in the King County, Snohomish, or Seattle Public Library systems, usually on the second Saturday of the month, 2-4:30 pm. Our meetings are led by Director Laura Townsend or guest artists. Our last meeting for the 2025-2026 season was Sat., March 14, 2026. Details and future meeting dates and locations will be found here: next meeting.
Each April we gather on a Saturday to play all day at the annual Northwest Recorder Meet (formerly called the Moss Bay Annual Meet), co-presented by the Moss Bay Recorder Society and the Seattle Recorder Society.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear MBRS Community,
It’s almost time for the Northwest Recorder Meet!! I hope you will come play with us! Two weeks from today, we will host the fabulous Farallon Recorder Quartet (Miyo Aoki, Tish Berlin, Frances Blaker and Vicki Boeckman), who will lead three daytime playing sessions and then treat us to a delightful and varied concert in the evening. Repertoire for the concert will include pieces by Antoine Busnois, Heinrich Isaac, Jean Japart, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Johann Sebastian Bach, Fanny Hensel, and Calliope Tsoupaki.
Learn more about the Farallon Recorder Quartet: https://www.farrallonrecorderquartet.com
Thanks to the many who registered early, we have opened up three groups for each of the afternoon sessions, while the morning will be a single large-group Tutti session led by Tish, Frances and Miyo. The music for the day will range from Medieval to Renaissance to Baroque as well as modern. There is plenty of space for more players to join us for one, two or all three sessions and everyone is welcome to the faculty concert at 7:30pm.
2026 NORTHWEST RECORDER MEET
Saturday, April 18, 10am to 4:30pm
Sandpoint Community UMC, Seattle
Faculty concert 7:30pm
featuring THE FARALLON RECORDER QUARTET
The Farallon Recorder Quartet, with our beloved former director Miyo Aoki along with stellar instructors and players Frances Blaker, Tish Berlin, and Vicki Boeckman, will be leading an extra-special 2026 NW Recorder Meet on April 18 at Sand Point Community UMC, 4710 NE 70th St, Seattle. They will not only teach, inspire, and conduct us in a full day of playing sessions, but also play a concert in the evening. The concert will be open to the public as well as to Meet attendees.
To register, please email mbrsmem@gmail.com with your name, overall playing level, recorder sizes, and which sessions you plan to attend. Registration forms can be downloaded here, or will be available at any Moss Bay or Seattle Recorder Society chapter meeting. Payment is due the day of the meet, by cash, check, or Zelle. All fees are on a sliding scale or pay as able; donations welcome!
You do not need to pre-register to join the fun! Walk-ins are welcome!
For more details see the Northwest Meet/Events page or download flyer.
Presented by the Moss Bay Recorder Society and the Seattle Recorder Society with a generous grant from the American Recorder Society. We look forward to having you join us for a wonderful day of music making, fellowship, and fun!
****
In case there is any confusion about our name and the name of the Meet, we are and will continue to be the Moss Bay Recorder Society, embracing our historic connection to our founder Winifred Jaeger and the bay in Kirkland near where early meetings took place. In order to acknowledge that the Seattle Recorder Society is joining us to present our annual one-day workshop, as well as to clarify the nature of the event, we are changing from the Moss Bay Meet to the Northwest Recorder Meet. We hope to encourage recorder players from all around the area to participate since it’s such a great opportunity to meet other players and experience several leaders in one day.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Seeking Volunteers for Moss Bay Recorder Society
The Moss Bay Recorder Society is a tiny organization with a small but mighty volunteer board. We are looking for a few more people to get involved in helping behind the scenes, either on the board or on an occasional basis.
Communications Coordinator: I want to extend a HUGE thank-you to Sharon Schuldt as she steps down from her work keeping us all in the loop as Communications Coordinator extraordinaire. I am filling in until we find a volunteer with just a little tech savvy and a knack for keeping everyone in the loop! Please let me know if you’re interested in learning more about it.
Laura Townsend
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In Person Protocols:
- Email Laura your intent to come and desired part, if known.
- No blowing mouthpiece condensation outward; “sucking” is OK!
- Please stay at home if you are coughing, feeling ill, or suspect you have been exposed to Covid or the flu.
Email Laura Townsend: mbrsmem@gmail.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Remembering Michael Bancroft
Dear Recorder-Playing Friends and MBRS Community,
I am so sad to share with you the news of the passing of Michael Bancroft, our long-time member, president, and intrepid late-night library-finder. His enthusiasm for the recorder was unwavering and he worked to support and strengthen the Moss Bay Recorder Society as well as the Seattle Recorder Society. We were so lucky to have him playing with us for so many years!
Michael joined my studio in February, 2011 saying that he wanted to “knock the rust off” his recorder playing and get back into active participation. He had taken lessons with Peggy Monroe and, of course, especially loved English country dances. He sought out every opportunity to play with others: in ensembles, chapter meetings and workshops, welcoming any newcomers and providing an enthusiastic, encouraging word. He often did extra research on pieces we were playing and came up with fascinating facts and lovely links to share. He will be deeply missed and his legacy appreciated by many of us for years to come.
There are two versions of his obituary:
https://www.funerals.coop/obituaries/michael-bancroft
https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/michael-holzman-bancroft-1091729276
Our music for November will include a song dear to Michael’s heart, Vine and Fig Tree. I’m working on an arrangement of this gorgeously simple traditional Hebrew melody that we will sight read (to give me more time to make it wonderful!). I hope you will come join us from 2-4:30pm on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at the Mountlake Terrace Library, 23300 58th Avenue W.
Laura Townsend
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sept. 2022
Welcome to our new Music Director, Laura Townsend
We are delighted to announce that we have a new Music Director, Laura Townsend, known already to many of us. Laura is looking forward to working with us starting in the fall. Here is more about Laura’s background and interests:
Laura combined her two passions, recorder playing and teaching, about 10 years ago and has been developing her skills as a recorder teacher and ensemble leader ever since. She has had the privilege to teach dozens of students both individually and in small groups in her studio as well as to lead SRS’s Back Room Gang and a few MBRS meetings and meet sessions. Originally trained as a developmental psychologist, she’s dedicated to discovering the most effective ways to learn and is committed to continuing to grow her own skills. She takes lessons with Vicki Boeckman, plays with the Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound, studied conducting with Peter Siebert, performed with the ensemble Quintessence and attends workshops as much as possible. Covid has paved the way for even more new skills to use for both teaching and learning: online lessons and workshops and weekly hybrid ensemble classes.
Laura Townsend, beginbaroque@gmail.com
Photo by Bill Stickney.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Miyo Aoki, our former Music Director has moved to Indiana with her husband Jonathan Oddie. We thank her for her leadership and inspiration, and wish them well in their new home .
A Farewell from Miyo
Dear friends,
As some of you already know, my husband Jonathan recently accepted a teaching position at Indiana University, starting this Fall. I am overjoyed for him but devastated to have to leave the dear friends, community, and landscape that have brought me so much happiness in the seven years I have lived here. The Seattle and Moss Bay Recorder Societies have played important parts in my life, and I am deeply grateful for the substantial community of recorder players that welcomed me here and introduced me to so many wonderful people. Thank you all for your kindness, warmth, generosity, and, of course, music. I will miss you!
I will be here until the end of September and am looking forward to seeing some of you at the Fall Fipple Flute Forum or perhaps the upcoming Farallon concert. Jonathan, Nathaniel, and I intend to visit the Seattle area regularly, so I am hopeful that I will continue to see and make music with you all; and if you ever find yourself near Bloomington, Indiana, please do give me a call!
With gratitude and warm wishes to you all,
Miyo
miyoaoki@gmail.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Memorial tribute to Wini Jaeger and Mary Whittington
Mary Whittington wrote that MBRS founding Music Director, Wini Jaeger, passed away at age 95 on February 10 of this year, 2022. Mary passed away on July 4, 2022, just a few months after Wini.
In the SRS newsletter of February 2009, Wini wrote about founding MBRS:
In March 1979, Mary Whittington and I moved to Kirkland, after many years in Santa Barbara, CA, where we had been active in the recorder scene and close to Erich Katz, who died in 1973. In April 1979, we attended an SRS meeting, joined the organization and became regular members. Within the following year, we met enough recorder players, including SRS members, who were interested in forming a sister organization to the SRS, and in the fall of 1980, the Moss Bay Recorder Society (MBRS) became a Chapter of the American Recorder Society (ARS).
A tribute to Wini and Mary is posted on the Haiku Northwest website (www.haikunorthwest.org) where they were both active and beloved members. The tribute includes information about their lifelong association with recorders and many wonderful photos. Go to “Celebrating our 35th Anniversary”, click on Poems by Haiku Northwest Members, Winifred Jaeger, Remembering Wini.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our operating expenses are covered by voluntary membership dues of $45/year and by contributions. We thank you for your continued support, and we hope that you’ll remain (or become!) an MBRS member. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!
Please take care of yourselves, keep making music, and stay well!