Past Events

Beyond the Notes with Trio Oko

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

March 21st, 2026

Sarah Whitney, violin and loop pedal

Emma Powell, violin and viola

Mina Kim, cello

Charles Overton, harp

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Beyond the Notes with Boyd Meets Girl

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

November 8th, 2025

Sarah Whitney, violin and loop pedal

Rupert Boyd, classical guitar

Laura Metcalf, cello

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

2025 Satellite Show with Duo Cello e Basso

@La Grua Center, Stonington, CT

We’re thrilled to share that Beyond the Notes recently hit the road to Connecticut!

We brought our signature interactive concert experience to the beautiful La Grua Center — and what a night it was. The space was stunning, the acoustics were fantastic, and the audience truly made the evening unforgettable. And, as always, it was such a joy to share the stage with Pascale Delache-Feldman and Emmanuel Feldman.

From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed by an incredibly engaged and curious community. The questions submitted were thoughtful, insightful, and sparked meaningful dialogue on stage — exactly what Beyond the Notes is all about.

We’re so grateful to the La Grua Center and everyone who joined us for making this event such a success. We can’t wait to return!

Beyond the Notes with Jessica Meyer

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

March 15th, 2025

Sarah Whitney, violin and loop pedal

Jessica Meyer, viola and loop pedal

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

Beyond the Notes with Aurea Ensemble

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

November 16, 2024 - 7:30pm

Sarah Whitney, violin

Consuelo Sherba, viola

Emmanuel Feldman, cello

Nigel Gore, spoken word

Chris Turner, spoken word and harmonica

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

Beyond the Notes with Joelle Lurie

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

May 17, 2024

Sarah Whitney, violin

Joelle Lurie, singer

John Arcaro, piano

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

Beyond the Notes with Duo Cello e Basso

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

December 8, 2023 - 7:30pm

Sarah Whitney, violin

Emmanuel Feldman, cello,

Pascale Delache-Feldman, bass

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

Beyond the Notes with Ani Kalayjian

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

April 22, 2023 - 7:30pm

Sarah Whitney, violin

Ani Kalayjian, cello

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

Beyond the Notes: Spring Mini

@First Parish Church, Concord, MA

April 23, 2022 - 7:30pm

Sarah Whitney, violin

Featuring students of the Concord Conservatory

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

On April 23rd, 2022 at 7:30pm, violinist Sarah Whitney took the stage at First Parish Church in Concord, MA in partnership with Powers Gallery and Concord Conservatory to present the Beyond the Notes Spring Mini for an unforgettable evening of music, artwork, and community! The program highlighted the works of Black composers and featured some of the rising star students from the Concord Conservatory. Pieces were performed alongside exquisite artwork from Powers Gallery for an evening of collaborative music making the community is still buzzing about! 10% of the proceeds from this concert were donated to Good360 to support humanitarian efforts in the Ukraine.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

Beyond the Notes: Summer Minis

June 19, 2021- 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

The June, 2021 Summer Mini series was presented at a private residence outdoors following social distancing guidelines and featured works for solo violin and for violin and loop pedal. The program highlighted the works of Black composers and 20% of all proceeds were donated to The Center for Constitutional Rights, an organization that is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

August 22 & 23, 2020 - 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

The August, 2020 Summer Mini series was presented at a private residence outdoors following social distancing guidelines and featured works for solo violin and for violin and loop pedal. The program highlighted the works of Black composers and 20% of all proceeds were donated to The Leadership Conference Education Fund, an organization that builds public will for laws and policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of every person in the United States.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

July 25 & 26, 2020 - 3:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

The July, 2020 Summer Mini series was presented at a private residence outdoors following social distancing guidelines and featured works for solo violin and for violin and loop pedal. The program highlighted the works of Black composers and 20% of all proceeds were donated to The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

June 27, 2020 - 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm, 5:30pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

The June, 2020 Summer Mini series was presented at a private residence outdoors following social distancing guidelines and featured works for solo violin and for violin and loop pedal. The program highlighted the works of Black composers and 20% of all proceeds were donated to Campaign Zero, an organization dedicated to changing this narrative and ending police violence in America.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

Beyond the Notes: Autumn Minis

October 17 & 18, 2020 - 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

On October 17, 2020, violinist Sarah Whitney presented the Beyond the Notes Autumn Mini concert live outdoors at a private residence in Concord, MA. The program featured works by Black composers 25% of all proceeds from this concert were donated to Common Cause, an organization working to hold power accountable through lobbying, litigation, and grassroots organizing. Their work has helped pass hundreds of reforms at the federal, state, and local levels and aims to empower the voices of everyday Americans in government.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

September 11 & 12, 2020 - 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

On September 11 and 12, 2020, violinist Sarah Whitney presented the Beyond the Notes Autumn Mini concerts live outdoors from a private residence in Concord, MA. The program featured works by Black composers. 25% of all proceeds from this concert were donated to The Voter Participation Center, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 2003 to help members of the New American Majority register and vote. Since then, the organization has helped more than 5.8 million people register and cast ballots.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

Beyond the Notes: Winter Minis

February 12, 2022 - 7:30pm

Artists:

Sarah Whitney, violin

Jessica Meyer, Composer

Featuring artwork from Powers Gallery

On February 12, 2022 at 7:30pm, violinist and Concord Native Sarah Whitney presented the February Winter Mini broadcasted live online from Powers Gallery. The program highlighted the works of Black composers and 25% of the proceeds were donated to Race Forward, an organization that catalyzes movement building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, Race Forward builds strategies to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture. 

The February Winter Mini also featured works by composer Jessica Meyer, including a world premiere of the violin version of Delta Sunrise and a special live appearance and Q&A with the composer herself.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

December 10, 2021- 7:30pm

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

On December 10th, 2021, violinist Sarah Whitney took The Umbrella Arts Center Black Box Theater stage to present her highly acclaimed concert series Beyond the Notes Minis for an unforgettable evening of music! The program consisted of works for solo violin and for violin and loop pedal, highlighting the works of Black composers and there were in-person and live virtual ticketing options available. 20% of all proceeds were donated to The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), a national, nonpartisan, anti-poverty nonprofit advancing policy solutions for low-income people. CLASP develops practical yet visionary strategies for reducing poverty, promoting economic opportunity, and addressing barriers faced by people of color. 

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

December 13, 2020 - 7:30pm

Artists:

Sarah Whitney, violin

Jonathan B. McNair, guest composer

Sarah Jane Kenner - The Hungry Musician, guest speaker

Featuring artwork from from Powers Gallery by Peter Batchelder

On December 13, 2020, violinist Sarah Whitney presented the Beyond the Notes Winter Mini concert live online from Powers Gallery. The program featured works by Black composers and guest appearances from composer Jonathan B. McNair and Sarah Jane Kenner, creator of The Hungry Musician blog. 25% of all proceeds from this concert were donated to Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization that works in the U.S. and internationally to equip doctors and nurses with life-saving medical resources to care for the world's most vulnerable people.

Beyond the Notes Minis present mini-concerts that raise money for timely issues and highlight the works of Black composers.

Beyond the Notes at West Concord Porchfest

September 25, 2021

Artist:

Sarah Whitney, violin

Beyond the Notes Founding Artistic Director Sarah Whitney headed out into the community on Saturday, September 25, 2021 to perform a free violin and loop pedal show at West Concord Porchfest! The West Concord Porchfest is an annual grassroots community music festival that presents more than two dozen live acts in your neighbors' yards, within walking distance of West Concord Village.

2020: Beyond the Notes with Mike Block & Sandeep Das

@51 Walden, Concord, MA

Guest artists: Mike Block, cello/vocals & Sandeep Das, tabla

Mike Block (cello/vocals) & Sandeep Das (tabla) are a dynamic, cross-genre duo that originally met as members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble. Featuring a combination of the Tabla: a pair of Indian drums used in Hindustani Classical Music, Cello: a bowed string instrument used in European Classical Music, as well as Vocals: both rhythmic and melodic, this energetic duo has been performing since 2013, sharing their music throughout America and India via tours and residencies, and even on the stage of Carnegie Hall. Their debut album includes compositions from Western Classical and North Indian Hindustani traditions, adaptations of music from around the world, and several of their own original compositions.

2019: Beyond the Notes Satellite Show with Seeing Double Duo

Spokane, WA

Seeing Double Duo

We're going out west to present our first summer pop-up house concert! Artistic Director and Founder, Sarah Whitney, will be joined by violinist and longtime best friend Julia Salerno to present a program of solos and duos as the Seeing Double Duo.

As part of Further Beyond, our community engagement program, we will also be performing at Wheatland Village in Walla Walla and Riverview Retirement Community in Spokane.

Seeing Double is a unique concert of all duo violin music, proving that the music of two violins can be much more than the sum of their parts! The audience will be taken on a journey from Baroque to Jazz, with compositions by Telemann, Leclair, Mozart, Halvorsen, Bartok, Prokofiev, Martinu, Rosza, Summer, Chepaitis, and O'Connor, just to name a few!

Longtime best friends, Sarah Whitney and Julia Salerno began performing duo violin concerts while studying together at the University of Michigan. Though currently residing on opposite coasts, Julia as violin/viola professor at Eastern Washington University and Sarah as a violinist in the NYC based quintet Sybarite5, the concerts have continued over the past decade. This extraordinary opportunity to hear these friends in concert is not to be missed.

2019: Beyond the Notes with PUBLIQuartet

@51 Walden, Concord MA

Guest Artists: PUBLIQuartet

Applauded by The Washington Post as “a perfect encapsulation of today’s trends in chamber music,” and by The New Yorker as “independent-minded,” PUBLIQuartet’s creative programming lends a fresh perspective to the Classical music scene. Dedicated to presenting new works for string quartet, PUBLIQuartet was selected as Concert Artists Guild’s New Music/New Places Ensemble at the 2013 CAG Competition, and then garnered Chamber Music America’s 2015 ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award for outstanding and innovative approaches to contemporary classical, jazz, and world chamber music. PQ’s genre-bending programs span the classical canon and also feature open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet.

2018: Beyond the Notes with David Leisner

@51 Walden, Concord MA

Guest Artist: David Leisner, guitarist, composer, and author

David Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performing artist, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher.

“Among the finest guitarists of all time”, according to American Record Guide, David Leisner’s career began auspiciously with top prizes in both the 1975 Toronto and 1981 Geneva International Guitar Competitions. His recent seasons have taken him around the US, including his solo debut with the Atlanta Symphony, a major tour of Australia and New Zealand, and debuts and reappearances in China, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the U.K., Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Puerto Rico and Mexico. An innovative three-concert series at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall included the first all-Bach guitar recital in New York’s history, and currently he is the Artistic Director of Guitar Plus, a New York series devoted to chamber music with the guitar. He has also performed chamber music at the Santa Fe, Vail Valley, Rockport, Cape and Islands, Bargemusic, Bay Chamber, Maui, Portland, Sitka and Angel Fire Festivals, with Zuill Bailey, Tara O’Connor, Eugenia Zukerman, Kurt Ollmann, Lucy Shelton, Ida Kavafian, the St. Lawrence, Enso and Vermeer Quartets and many others. Celebrated for expanding the guitar repertoire, David Leisner has premiered works by many important composers, including David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov, while championing the works of neglected 19th-century guitar composers J.K. Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka. Full bio: www.davidleisner.com

2018: Satellite Show with Ani Kalayjian & Cynthia Huard

@Rochester Chamber Music Society

Rochester, VT

Sarah Whitney, violin, Ani Kalayjian, cello & Cynthia Huard, piano

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “representing the young, up-and-coming generation,” and a “superb cellist with a large, expressive, singing tone, passionate musicianship, and magnificent playing” by the Journal Tribune,  Armenian-American cellist Ani Kalayjian enjoys a prolific career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and educator that has taken her to Japan, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and throughout Europe and the United States.   

Ani’s engagements in the 2016-2017 season included tours with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra around the U.S. at Ordway Hall in St. Paul, Dartmouth University, the 92nd St. Y in NY, and in Rome, Bologna, Siena, Berlin and Vienna.   She made several trips to Lebanon serving as principal cellist of the Lebanese Philharmonic for multiple concerts given at the American University of Beirut as well as solo concerts at Haigazian University where she performed a World premiere, ‘Yesterday is No More’ written for her and violinist Rebecca Jackson by award-winning composer Polina Nazakinskaya.  During her time in Lebanon, Ani gave outreach performances to underserved communities at St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Insan School for Iraqi & Syrian refugee children, Byblos Birds’ Nest Armenian orphanage, KarageusianFoundation, and in the Syrian refugee camps. Full bio: www.anikalayjian.com

Cynthia Huard has appeared in recital as a pianist and harpsichordist throughout the United States and in Europe. Her versatile musicianship is a key element of the summer concert series of the Rochester Chamber Music Society, where as artistic director she performs with internationally known artists.

Devoted to chamber music and collaborative music making, she has performed with the Lark Quartet, cellist Nathaniel Rosen, and with chamber players of several orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the National Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She has been a featured soloist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and at the Aston Magna Early Music Festival, among others.

In addition to performing chamber music repertoire, she frequently performs with renowned vocalists. She has been heard on National Public Radio with the vocal ensemble “Counterpoint,” with whom she has recorded a CD of South American music. Most recently she has been presenting contemporary music, including a Vermont premier of a piece by nationally recognized composer Nico Muhly, commissioned works by Vermont composers Erik Nielsen and T. L. Read, and a piano solo by Middlebury College’s own Tristan Axelrod.

Ms. Huard spent three years as a fellowship student in Austria, studying piano and early keyboards and earning degrees in Piano Performance and Harpsichord Performance as well as Music Theory. At Indiana University she earned advanced degrees in piano and harpsichord as well as studying modern chamber music with members of the Borodin Trio and baroque chamber music at the Indiana University Early Music Institute. A grant for study of the Dorothy Taubman piano technique led her to Boston, where she established the Arlington Piano Trio and the Duo Florestan and developed classical music concerts for children. Ms. Huard is currently an affiliate artist at Middlebury College and teaches at the Middlebury Community Music Center.

2017: Beyond the Notes with Natalia Lavrova

@51 Walden, Concord, MA

Guest Artist: Natalia Lavrova, piano

Natalia Lavrova is a highly regarded performer of multi-faceted artistry, whose sincerity of interpretation and beguiling charm upon the stage has won the hearts of audiences around the world. Ms. Lavrova enjoys a diverse career upon the international platform, and additionally holds substantial positions in the worlds of arts administration and pedagogy. 

Solo and orchestral performances have taken Ms. Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, Peru, Chile, South Africa and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall.  Ms. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Ms. Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round.  In her repertoire, she has over 30 concertos and extensive solo recital programs, as well as substantial chamber music repertoire, including an ongoing partnership with her duo partner, pianist, Vassily Primakov.  Her repertoire includes works of Arensky, Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Schubert, Liszt, Debussy, Milhaud, Godowsky, Saint-Saens, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Corigliano, Liebermann, Barber and many others. 

Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow. She entered the prep division of the Moscow Conservatory at the age of five, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin.  Ms. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.

Ms. Lavrova is the founder and president of a very successful private school, Music School of New York City and together with Vassily Primakov, she is the co-founder and partner of LP Classics, a record label dedicated to unearthing rare, never-before released recordings and live performances of celebrated artists and emerging stars.

Natalia Lavrova is a Yamaha Artist in Education.

2016: Beyond the Notes with Laura Metcalf

@Concord Art Association, Concord, MA

Guest Artist:

Laura Metcalf, cellist

Cellist Laura Metcalf, acclaimed for her "gorgeous cello legatos" (Washington Post) and her "sensitive, melodic touch" (Blog Critics Magazine), is known for her compelling solo and chamber music performances both worldwide and in her home of New York City. She has given concerts in 40 states, as well as Argentina, Canada, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Germany, France, Mexico, England, and South Africa. She has appeared as a soloist with the One World Symphony, the Laredo Philharmonic, Ensemble 212 Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa. She is the cellist of the acclaimed string quintet Sybarite5, which was the first ensemble of its kind to win the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and which has since toured the globe performing to sold-out audiences in Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress and many others. Sybarite5's debut album reached the Billboard Charts Top 10, and the quintet gave the world premiere of a concerto written for them by Dan Visconti with several American orchestras in 2015. Laura has performed at the Aspen, Caramoor, Ravinia, Newport, Chautauqua, Taos, Sarasota, Fontainebleau Music Festivals and is routinely invited to the Open Chamber Music session at the IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall, UK. She performs with acclaimed guitarist Rupert Boyd, with whom she toured Australia in 2013. Among other accolades and awards, she has won the Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition and Mannes College's James E. Hughes Award. Comfortable performing a variety of genres, Laura is a member of the cello and percussion quartet Break of Reality with whom she has given hundreds of concerts and educational workshops across the country and whose recorded music has a reach of millions worldwide. She has appeared on the David Letterman and Conan O'Brien late-night shows, as well as the Today Show and the View, and at the US Open, New York Fashion Week, and in Johannesburg, South Africa with legendary rap artist Nas. As an educator, Laura routinely gives masterclasses from the elementary to the collegiate level, and has served on the faculty of Opus 118 Harlem School of Music (through which she founded the first-ever cello program at New York's PS 129) and the New York Summer Music Festival. Her debut CD with the Sono Luminus label is set for release in 2016.

2015: Beyond the Notes with Angela Pickett

@Concord Art Association, Concord, MA

Guest Artist:

Angela Pickett, violist

Angela Pickett has performed as a violist, violinist, and fiddler throughout North America, Europe. A member of the Princeton Symphony, Angela has also performed with Wet Ink Music, Ne(x)tworks, Continuum, and recently premiered a new version of Helmut Lachenmann’s Mouvement with the Argento Chamber Ensemble. In 2006, Angela performed Ann Southam’s Re-Tuning for viola and tape at the 34th International Viola Congress, and a subsequent performance of Re-Tuning at the 2006 International Sound Symposium was recorded for national radio broadcast. As a fiddler she has performed with Irish tenor John McDermott, the Chieftains, and appeared on numerous recordings of Irish/Newfoundland traditional music. A doctoral candidate in viola performance at the Manhattan School of Music, Angela completed a Masters degree from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music in her hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Angela has attended Tanglewood Music Centre, Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Centre d’Arts Orford, and has twice been a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Grant for Classical Musicians. Angela’s principal teachers include Michael Tree, Samuel Rhodes, Karen Tuttle and Karen Dreyfus.