Hello Everyone,
 

This is the second newsletter in a row where I'm not talking about the Alexander Technique.  I promise I'll get back to it in future newsletters, but I want to share with you some thoughts about the horrible events in Boston this past week.  Above all, thank God the violence and bloodshed are finally over.

Although my wife Leslie and I weren't directly affected, the events came awfully close to home for me.  Last Monday afternoon, I was working at my office in Central Square, Cambridge, just a couple of miles from the finish line of the Marathon, and the entire time, I could hear sirens.  Then it turned out that the family of the suspects lives on Norfolk Street in Cambridge, just a couple of blocks from my office.  As you know, Cambridge and surrounding towns were on lock-down on Friday, so I couldn't have gone to work even if I'd wanted to.  The second suspect was finally apprehended literally right around the corner from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown, where I auditioned last year for the Christmas Revels.  So the whole drama unfolded in places that I've known and loved since I moved to Cambridge in 1976 to go to college.  Very, very strange….

Last Thursday, there was a beautiful and moving interfaith service honoring the victims of the bombings.  As you probably know, President Obama attended, along with many other dignitaries.  Near the end of the service, Yo Yo Ma played the Sarabande of Bach's 5th Cello Suite.  A sarabande is a dance, but in this context, the piece came across as a mournful lament.  I want to share with you a recording of Yo Yo Ma playing this piece, as my way of remembering those who died and those who were injured in the bombings.  I'm holding them in my heart.  I can't imagine what they and their loved ones are going through right now.  A painful and difficult time to say the least.  Here's the piece:
 

 

In case you want to watch the memorial service, I'm including a link to a video of it.  It's about 90 minutes long, but I think it's well worth your time.  i was moved by President Obama's speech at the very end – and especially by his simple, beautiful words about the three people who died in the bombings.  Here's the link:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/BombingVi

I hope all of you are well.  My best wishes go out to you in this tragic time.
Kind Regards,
Adam

The Memorial Service:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/BombingVi