Mental health, music and storytelling merge in Ellipses Ensemble’s concert at Penn Wynne Library

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Former MCES Foresnic Case Manager Erin Keeley (Emily Webb) holds tight to her memory of her mother, Mrs. Webb, played by former MCES Nurse Manager, Naomi Finkel.

Ellipses Ensemble, announcing its New Year’s concert, combines curated chamber music, documentary film, and live storytelling with the aim of de-stigmatizing mental health challenges, creating awareness of suicide prevention resources, and encouraging openness and transparency related to mental health in everyday conversation. The logo and name of the Ellipses Ensemble (…) is a reminder that “there is more” – more to music than notes on a page or in the air, more to people than what we see, and there is more to our story.

Ellipses Ensemble was co-founded by Susanna Loewy, a Philadelphia Orchestra teaching artist and the founding artistic director and curator of the Pikes Falls Chamber Music Ensemble. Loewy is an accomplished musician, educator, and innovator who is collaborating on this initiative with mental health advocate, writer, and editor Gabriel Nathan.

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Nathan, a former employee at Montgomery County Emergency Service (MCES), an inpatient, crisis psychiatric hospital, is the Editor in Chief of OC87 Recovery Diaries, an online publication devoted to stories of mental health, empowerment, and change. Nathan also serves on the Board of Directors of the Thornton Wilder Society. All Ellipses Ensemble concerts will feature short, original OC87 Recovery Diaries mental health documentary films, produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Glenn Holsten.

At this, and all Ellipses Ensemble events, music and storytelling combine to create a dynamic, immersive environment. Mental health resources will be made available to all who attend.

The Ellipses Ensemble comprises nine Philadelphia-area musicians, all professionals in their field. The New Year’s Resolutions concert events will take place at the Penn Wynne Library,  130 Overbrook Parkway, Wynnewood, at 2:00pm on January 12, and at the Philadelphia Ethical Society at 7:30pm on January 13. Works by Hallman, Britten, Koechlin, Hindemith, and Barber will be featured, and staff members from MCES will be speaking about their experience performing in a unique production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Our Town in 2014. Two short films documenting this production, which was supported by The Thornton Wilder Estate, will be shown.

There is no formal charge to attend the concerts, and donations will be collected for the Ellipses Ensemble and Prevent Suicide PA, a non-profit organization devoted to preventing suicide in Pennsylvania through education, outreach, advocacy, and training.

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