Welcome to April – Welcome to April showers!
April is commonly associated with the season of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The Romans gave April the Latin name “Aprilis” with the traditional etymology being from the verb “to open”, an allusion to its being the season when the trees and flowers begin “to open”.
Many Roman months were named after or in honor of some of the divinities, hence April was sacred to Venus along with the Greek equivalent goddess named Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.
Anglo-Saxons called April aestre-monab, hence the Venerable Bede noted that this month then is the root of the word “Easter”. Many of the various countries of the world such as France, China, etc. basically have very similar words in their language relating to the season of Spring and/or “to open”.
Some of the astronomical events of the month of April include:
- Earthshine Nights – always just prior to the New Moon – the Da Vinci Glow
- Pink Moon – basically the Full Moon
- Liquid Meteor Showers – related to the Constellation Lyra
Birthstone of the month is the diamond along with the birth flower being either the Daisy or Sweet Pea.
So, everyone please welcome to this new month of April and the season “to open” along with the flowering of all trees and flowers. And maybe this is also the season for all of us organists and musicians “to open” up to a new season of our own flowering in our musicianship with new ideas and directions to go forward in life!
Over The Land Is April
by Robert Louis StevensonOVER the land is April,
Over my heart a rose;
Over the high, brown mountain
The sound of singing goes.
Say, love, do you hear me,
Hear my sonnets ring?
Over the high, brown mountain,
Love, do you hear me sing?
By highway, love, and byway
The snows succeed the rose.
Over the high, brown mountain
The wind of winter blows.
Say, love, do you hear me,
Hear my sonnets ring?
Over the high, brown mountain
I sound the song of spring,
I throw the flowers of spring.
Do you hear the song of spring?
Hear you the songs of spring?
Word was received recently about the death of the long-time friend of the North Shore AGO Chapter John Kemper. He was the husband of long-time active member and Past Dean of the Chapter Margaret “Maggie” Kemper. John was a very ardent supporter of the American Guild of Organists and especially the North Shore Chapter. There will be a Memorial Service on Friday May 5th, 2023 at 2:00pm at Elliott Chapel at the Presbyterian Home of Evanston on Golf Road. Rest In Peace, John, after a life-time support of the AGO!
Every Member Challenge
Last month we discussed starting an Every Member Challenge to invite other organists and musicians in every member’s area to join the North Shore AGO Chapter. I am sure that each of our members does know of a neighboring church or churches where the organist and/or musician is not a member of the North Shore Chapter or any AGO Chapter and so now is the time to invite them to come to one of our concerts and then also to join the North Shore Chapter. Obviously now is the time to join since in June the Chapter is hosting the Great Lakes Regional Convention and it should be known that members of the North Shore Chapter do receive a very good discount on the costs of registration – and now it has been noted that the deadline discount for early registration has been extended to April 15th. So, let’s see how many new members we can invite and to join our Chapter! Also, please remember that just maybe there may be a prize for getting the most new members added to the Chapter!
North Shore AGO Election 2023
Please note that elsewhere in this Overtones newsletter is an article regarding the election of three (3) new Board members for the three-year term 2023-2026. This year there are four Chapter members running for three open positions on the Board – so please vote for three. The three Chapter members with the highest number of votes will be elected to these three-year terms. Best wishes to all!!