Spring Appeal

Support Apple Hill this Spring!

Dear Friends,

Like many of our summer workshop participants, I arrived at Apple Hill for the first time as a scholarship student. In the winter of 2006, I was a wide-eyed pre-teen taking cello lessons at Manchester Community Music School. When we learned that musicians from Apple Hill were coming to work with us, I felt  nervous— I was barely keeping up with Barber’s Adagio for Strings. But the way that Eric, Mike, Elise, and Rupert taught was deeply encouraging and kind. I was spellbound.

That summer, I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship funded by donors like you to attend the summer workshop, and the experience changed my entire life. My first group had participants representing three continents, and the horn player was a nun—a classic Apple Hill debut! I seized every opportunity to attend Apple Hill throughout high school, college, and graduate school. I was a Driving CW (counselor worker), Recording CW, Breakfast CW, Teaching Assistant, Quartet Fellow, and Guest Faculty member. In 2024, my lifelong dream came true and I joined the Apple Hill String Quartet. 

While playing alongside a nun doesn’t happen every day at Apple Hill, the experience of meeting people from all over the world and collaborating with musicians of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels is at the heart of our mission. Your support is a critical part of sustaining and nurturing this one-of-a-kind community.

Since that first transformational summer in 2007, I have toured internationally with my now-colleagues and seen firsthand this organization’s global impact. There are people all over the world whose lives have been changed by Apple Hill and by the donors who have made it possible for them to learn and grow as musicians and citizens of the world. They have implemented the skills of chamber music and our Playing for Peace initiative into their lives and communities, inspiring others to practice acceptance, inclusivity, creative expression, and mutual encouragement.

The Quartet returned to Manchester Community Music School this year for the first time in many years to work with today’s generation of young musicians. Two of those New Hampshire students will attend Apple Hill’s Summer Chamber Music Workshop this summer on scholarship, just as I did.

It would mean so much to me if you supported Apple Hill with a gift today online at applehill.org/give. Your generosity will enable more musicians like me to discover their unique potential through Apple Hill and strengthen our diverse, global network of musicians, mentors and friends. Thank you for the gift of opportunity.

Gratefully,

Jacob MacKay
Cellist and Co-Artistic Director, Apple Hill String Quartet