CFC started off the new year with our fifth annual Winter Concert! This concert marked our first performance at CareOne at Livingston. It was wonderful sharing our music and getting to know the residents of CareOne! This concert featured a combination of popular favorites and classical music, from "Winter Wonderland" to Mozkowski's Caprice Espagnol. CFC also debuted a series of piano/cello duets by Joseph Hollman, with myself and Christina Qiu performing Berceuse and Tempo di Mazurka. This Winter Concert served as a wonderful reminder of the effect of music on our community. The residents loved the pieces, tapping their feet along to the dance-like melodies and singing familiar tunes. It was very rewarding to spend time with the residents of CareOne and to see how much music can brighten both the residents' and members' day. I am grateful that CFC has now celebrated five years of serving our community with music, and I look forward to many more!
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Members Involved:
Violins: Rohan Sampat, Christopher Bae, Christina Qiu
Viola: Jessica Li
Cello: Jeanna Qiu
Piano: Christina Qiu

--Jeanna Qiu, President

December 27th marked CFC's fourth annual winter concert at The Cliffs at Eagle Rock. Furthermore, this concert marked the first joint concert between the High School and College Divisions of CFC. Christopher Bae--president of the High School Division--recruited and organized high school members of CFC, while I organized the repertoire for the College Division. Together, we created an unforgettable concert for both the residents of The Cliffs and an exciting experience for CFC members, old and new. 

Coming back from college to rehearse and perform for this concert was an amazing and enjoyable experience. One of the motivating factors of founding CFC in the first place was to foster a love of chamber music among young musicians. For me, chamber music is one of the most enjoyable forms of music, because it requires teamwork and friendship between the involved musicians, not only to make long rehearsals enjoyable, but also to create a united sense of sound. Throughout our rehearsals in high school, we have fostered this sense of camaraderie among our members, and it was wonderful to see that this was not lost among our college members as we rehearsed together for the first time in months. Furthermore, it was exciting to see that Chris had continued this tradition of chamber playing among the new high school members. Finally, to combine our love of music with the opportunity to play for residents of this nursing home, who we have grown to know and love, was just the perfect culmination as I returned from my first semester at college. This concert represented both the start of the new chapter of CFC, but also the continuation of the best aspects of CFC from the past: chamber playing, the opportunity to serve our community, and also a fun time with our members! I look forward to the next joint performance!

Members Involved:
Violins: Rohan Sampat, Christopher Bae, Christie Hung, Christina Qiu
Violas: Jessica Li, David Lin
Cellos: Jeanna Qiu, Danielle Lee, Annie Song
--Jeanna Qiu, President

When I started CFC with my sister and other founding members, our goal was to provide a space for students like us to use our musical talents to serve the local community. However, both CFC and our members have undergone major changes since the founding of this organization two years ago. While change and transitions can often be scary, I like to think of change as exciting and a chance for evolution. The largest transition that CFC has undergone is our members' matriculation to college. As students head off to college, this major transition marks the first time that many students begin to live outside of the communities they grew up in. Now, as president of CFC and a recent graduate of Livingston High School, I have had to ask myself this question: how can I continue to keep the mission of CFC alive, even as CFC members begin the next chapter of their lives outside of the northern New Jersey community?

After discussion with our board, CFC has decided that the best way to continue our dedication to service in our home community during our transition to university is twofold:

Chamber for a Cause held its first Spring Concert on May 26, 2016 at the Livingston Public Library. Admission was open to the public, with a $5 suggested donation for the Arts Council of Livingston, which has so graciously supported CFC for the past three years, providing us with rehearsal spaces and numerous performance opportunities. 

Repertoire included selections by Borodin, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mahler, and more. A complete concert program can be found below:

Nearly 100 people attended the concert, and we were all very humbled to present the culmination of our hard work to the Livingston community. Overall, I am extremely proud of the progress we have made together as an ensemble. Although I know that we will all reunite during school breaks to put together more concerts in the future, it still feels like the end of an era, with the graduation seniors splitting off to different corners of the country. According to CFC member Christopher Bae, the graduating seniors in the ensemble have "grown to be more than just [his] friends; [they're his] role models." I will definitely miss playing music, laughing, eating, and growing up with the CFC family. 

Members Involved:
Rohan Sampat, violin
Christopher Bae, violin
Christina Qiu, violin, piano
Jessica Li, viola
Iris Peng, cello
Jeanna Qiu, cello
Danielle Lee, cello
Mallissa Vuong, photographer

Guest Artists:
Ellim Kim, piano
Aidan Garrison, viola

--Danielle Lee, Co-Vice President

On December 20, 2015, Chamber for a Cause held its annual holiday concert at The Cliffs at Eagle Rock. Our members were excited to return for a third time, giving the senior citizens warmth and joy on a cold Sunday night.
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The concert opened with some classic Christmas music, with most of our members joining together to perform Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, and Jingle Bell Rock. The audience gladly hummed and sang as they played, inviting in holiday spirit and cheer for all. Other pieces included former co-president Christina Qiu's solo piano pieces, "Pagodas" by Debussy and a Brahms concerto, and a viola-cello Beethoven duet with special guest member Aidan on viola. In addition, our three cellists, Jeanna, Iris, and Danielle, played a special Beyonce-Bach medley called "Bachyonce," which the audience enjoyed immensely. To cap off a lovely evening, all our members joined together again to perform our beautiful signature piece, "Over the Rainbow." After the concert, our members happily engaged themselves with the senior citizens, taking time to talk about holiday plans and life. Taking pictures and hugs, Chamber for a Cause ended a beautiful evening of music with joy and laughter. We hope to return to The Cliffs again and again, to continue to bring happiness through the gift of music. 

--Jessica Li, Co-Vice President

As the election date of November 3rd approaches, many campaigns have begun the process of closing in on the tight margins of voters for victory. Chamber for a Cause had the great opportunity to play again for the campaign of Won Kyu Rim for New Jersey Assembly, on October 22 at Antioch Presbyterian Church in West Orange for one of his final community meetings with the people of District 27. Being able to see the growth of the campaign since its commencement last June to the end of the campaign season has been awe-inspiring, and Chamber for a Cause was also happy to support an Asian American candidate in District 27, as it is a huge step forward for Asian presence in public service—a niche that must be filled. 

Members played various selections of Haydn, as well as a feature performance before the agenda began. Highlights of this performance were definitely seeing Rim’s children dance to the music; it is very heartwarming to see even younger children being moved by the power of classical music. This was also the first performance of one of our newest members, Ellen Park (flute), and our first performance of wind chamber music. We hope to continue our growth and breadth in repertoire as the year goes on with the addition of new members. Chamber for a Cause is always happy to support any candidate of public service and we hope to continue to play our part in the future by improving the community around us through music. 
 
--Jeanna Qiu, President

Members involved:
Ellen Park – flute
Rohan Sampat – violin
Jeanna Qiu – cello
Danielle Lee – cello
 

On Saturday, October 3, Chamber for a Cause was invited by the the Arts Council of Livingston to play at its annual Art at the Oval Event in the Livingston High School’s auxiliary gym. Art at the Oval is a fine craft exhibit and sale with diverse and unique exhibits from many well-known local and tri-state artists. The tradition, coupled with the music of Chamber for a Cause, continued to bring smiles to the community and helped spread love and appreciation of art to all, old and young. 

Our members performed an array of contemporary and classical pieces, ranging from Over the Rainbow to Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Attenders of Art at the Oval enjoyed the live music as they went from booth to booth, simultaneously immersing themselves in both art and music. “It was so nice to see people of all ages and communities come together to enjoy art,” said Danielle Lee, one of our cellists. “We would love to come back next year and do it all over again!”

The sixteenth annual Art at the Oval was, as always, an enriching and enjoyable event for the community and other local towns. It was a joy to be there and to help serve our community through various forms of art.

Members involved:
Rohan Sampat, violin
Chris Bae, violin
Jessica Li, viola
Danielle Lee, cello
Mallissa Vuong, photographer

As a new school year ends, we also say goodbye to some of our dear board members of Chamber for a Cause, Christina Qiu and Jessica Yang. Christina will be attending Harvard College this fall, and Jessica will be attending University of California Berkeley. Before they left, Christina and Jessica wanted to share some parting words.

Christina Qiu:
I still remember when my sister, Jeanna, woke me up early one summer morning, her eyes wild with excitement, her face revealing that she had an idea. Together, we nurtured this idea, through long emails with teachers, administrators, and finally the Arts Council of Livingston, to whom we are forever grateful, for allowing us the chance to start this organization. The hard work didn’t stop there, however, and although the past two years have been lots of hard work, from pursuing talented Livingston High School musicians to participate, to rehearsing for hours on Friday nights, to getting through the logistics of organizing “gigs”, I have also found incredible enjoyment from these past two years, developing of my closest friends, introducing me to new ones at different community events that we have played at, experiencing the joy of helping others, and observing the power of music in healing our world, a little at a time. My experiences and memories as co-president of Chamber for a Cause will always have a special place in my heart, and the lessons I learned about humanity will continue to be valuable to me for as long as I live. 

Jessica Yang:
When Jeanna approached me with this idea, I immediately thought it was a great community service project. As a Girl Scout of many years, I saw Chamber for a Cause as a way to incorporate the service I already did for my nursing home and other projects with music, another passion of mine. Viola has been a part of my life since elementary school, and Chamber for a Cause was the perfect opportunity to use this beloved hobby to serve our community. Now that I have graduated, I look back on these two years with fondness and pride. I received my Gold Award in Girl Scouts as a result of playing with Chamber for a Cause, the highest award available to a Girl Scout, and also played in many community venues and events that meant so much to other people. This organization touched the lives of the elderly and the young alike, and performing music to others gave me a sense of pride that I haven’t felt anywhere else. I am proud of Chamber for a Cause and the role I “played” (haha, get it) and wish nothing but the best for its continued success. 

Thanks so much to Christina and Jessica for sharing their thoughts, and we wish the best of luck to all of our graduating seniors in their future endeavors!

--Jeanna Qiu, President

Chamber for a Cause was invited by Fredrica Glucksman, an English teacher at Livingston High School, to perform in the Chamber Music Society of Orange’s last performance of the season on June 14, 2015. The Chamber Music Society of Orange is a group of music lovers that have been meeting for decades to share music and showcase the talent of Orange residents. Unfortunately, however, the meeting on June 14 was their last meeting. At the Society’s last meeting, Chamber for a Cause was the third group to perform in a program of four performance groups. The other performance groups included a piano duet, a married couple who performed multiple waltzes and dances by Dvorak, Brahms, and Mozart; a singer and her accompanist, who performed arias by Dvorak; and a retired Broadway pianist, who played show tunes and described memories and musical observations related to the pieces. Chamber for a Cause’s program was very diverse, including pieces by Haydn, Mozart, Telemann, and Gabrielli, as well as their signature “Over the Rainbow”. After the performance, Esther Bearg, president of the Chamber Music Society praised their performance:

“Thank you, thank, thank you, you were all so wonderful. The folks in the audience kept coming to me after you left, telling me how wonderful; you all were. Of course I agree with them 100%. Everything you did was so well done, even bringing your own chairs and music stands. All most appreciated. I also thank you for being so polite while the others performed.”

Fredrica Glucksman also mentioned praise for the members following their performance:

“Everyone was ecstatic about your performance.  The sound, the precision, and the emotion were so moving.  I was moved to tears.  The audience also was impressed by your poise and charm as well as your use of the cellphone to get the music.” Furthermore, through only one meeting, we at Chamber for a Cause learned so much from the Society themselves, about they captured music’s influence: the ability to educate and exchange, to learn regardless of mistakes or technical imperfections. But Society members’ performances also displayed the essence of music’s power: the willingness to be utterly transformed by a piece, to love it enough to internalize it and share it personally with the others around you. 

We would like to thank the Chamber Music Society of Orange for such a wonderful experience of sharing music, truly a humbling experience that allowed our members to fully appreciate the universality of music. 

--Jeanna Qiu (President)
Christina Qiu (Co-president)

Members involved:
Rohan Sampat, violin
Christopher Bae, violin
Christina Qiu, violin
Jessica Li, viola
Danielle Lee, cello
Iris Peng, cello
Jeanna Qiu, cello

Chamber for a Cause was invited to perform at the celebration for the kickoff of Won Kyu Rim's campaign for New Jersey Assembly on May 21, 2015. Highlighted as an example of young talent in New Jersey's 27th district, our members had a wonderful time playing in the beautiful Park Savoy Estate in Florham Park (see pictures in our gallery!) Starting off the evening with some Haydn and Mozart, our members created a wonderful atmosphere for the event. Chamber for a Cause then played a stirring performance of the Star Spangled Banner and Over the Rainbow, which was met with thunderous applause. Our members really enjoyed the opportunity to see people from all over District 27 and in state and local governments come together in the tradition of American democracy, and we loved playing a role in this as well through sharing our music. 

--Jeanna Qiu, President

Members involved:
Violins: Christina Qiu, Rohan Sampat
Viola: Jessica Yang
Cello: Jeanna Qiu, Danielle Lee