Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble

Dedicated to making music accessible to wider audiences

The Sarasa Ensemble is "... a mix of Boston's best and finest with prominent English players and American musicians based in Europe."
— The Boston Globe

Sarasa musicians finishing up a residency at Westboro Secure Treament (Westboro, MA) in May 2010. (left to right) Kristen Watson, soprano; Timothy Merton, cello; Nathan Troup, baritone; and David Richardson, piano.

Reactions from a residency participant:

Yes I did enjoy the Sarasa Residency very much. They were very accepting, warming, and understanding. They captured everyone’s attention and kept it well. They knew how to entertain teenagers well.
I’ve never sang in front of people before, but they made me want to.
I like our performances because it brought us closer together and brought out our talents. It helped us feel for each other more and understand what each one of us was going through. It helped us with our self-esteem and showed us that if you give it your all w/o caring what others think, in the end, others will think even better of you. It gave kids confidence and [more...]

Sarasa News:

Added June 2010: Listen to a song written by three residents of Westboro Secure Treatment during Sarasa's May 2010 visit to the facility.
Read letters from participants in Sarasa's January 2010 residency at Pelletier Center

May 2010: Sarasa has just concluded its 2009-10 concert season. Check back here in the late summer for updates.

We've just updated our list of outreach concerts for those completed in late 2009 and January of 2010. You can read some letters sent to Sarasa by outreach concert audiences in 2008. The letters show how classical music can calm, but also provide an outlet for self-expression that these youths sometimes lack.

From our last set of concerts in February featuring Vivaldi's Four Seasons, we received this very nice review by the Boston Musical Intelligencer. If you missed this concert, do come and bring a friend to our last ones of this season, May 22-23..

"Radiating elegance and eloquence" —Boston Globe

"...informed and impassioned musicmaking..." —The St. Petersburg Times

Sarasa's guiding mission is to bring professional-quality classical music to enrich the lives of the broadest possible community, especially those who do not have easy access to live chamber music.

Join Sarasa in making music accessible to wider audiences! Attend one of our concerts, tell your friends about Sarasa, or make a tax-deductible donation.

Recent Sarasa Reviews & Interviews

Hear the interview of Tim Merton and Maggie Cole by David Osenberg of WWFM radio on his show Cadenza, recorded while Sarasa was in NYC on February 14, 2009 for the concert at the Morgan Library.

Read the Boston Globe review of Sarasa's February 2009 concert by Matthew Guerrieri.
"...with only four players and two singers, it ranged from polished miniature to operatic extra-large."

Read the Hub Review of the same Sarasa concert.
"The concert was one of the most subtly moving evenings of music I've heard in some time, and provided memories I'll treasure for a good while to come."

Read past reviews of Sarasa performances.

Sarasa CDs

Hear clips from and purchase Sarasa CDs.

"A Baroque Mosaic

Bach Cantatas

"Labelle and Sylvan . . . both perform with their customary beautiful tone, scrupulous musicianship, and verbal communicativeness."
— Boston Globe on the Sarasa Bach Cantata CD.

Shop via www.GoodShop.com

Let your gift dollars do double duty. Sarasa is now a registered charity withGoodshop.com. Shop through www.GoodShop.com and an average of 3% of all of your purchases will be donated to Sarasa.

Go to www.GoodShop.com,, type in Sarasa as the beneficiery and click on the store's logo. Then shop as you normally would! You get the exact same prices and service as if you went directly to the store's website.

And looking for gifts? Try using www.GoodSearch.com, a search engine which makes a donation to Sarasa for each search.