Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

Our cards are going out late this year, so we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! 

With Love,

The Ripkas,

Joey, Erin and Clara

Clara and Santa, December 2013

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories 

and love of kindred, and we are better throughout 

the year for having, in spirit, become a child again 

at Christmas-time.” 


― Laura Ingalls Wilder

Thanksgiving Fun!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2013!

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with good food, good drink and good company. Most importantly, we hope you have many wonderful things to be thankful for in your lives. We are certainly thankful for many things this year, including the special Thanksgiving holiday trip we took as a family, which I will tell you about at the end of this post.

The month of November began with a trip to Binghamton, NY for a recital engagement and master class. Joey and I were invited to give a recital at United Presbyterian Church, which was sponsored by the Binghamton American Guild of Organists chapter. Joey provided most of the music on solo organ, but we also performed two works together. Joey also gave a masterclass on organ pedal technique for members of the AGO and did a radio interview on the local classical station in order to promote our concert. The performance went really well. We had a really good crowd, and we were able to meet and talk with many of the audience members at the reception following the recital.

Click on link to hear radio interview!

http://www.wskg.org/wskg_news/binghamton-ago-welcomes-organist-joseph-ripka

Click on link to see photo gallery from Binghamton.

http://www.binghamtonago.org/Gallery-Ripka.html

In front of the recital poster in the lobby of the hotel.

Fall lobby decorations.

Clara had a lot of fun on the trip and especially liked the hotel we stayed in for 2 nights. It had a huge lobby, and she enjoyed running around and playing on the oversized couches and chairs.

So far this year, we have been fortunate to have family members with us to help watch Clara during our professional engagements. Joey's mom took care of Clara when we performed in Killingwirth, CT, and my dad came out for a quick visit to see us and help with Clara on the Binghamton trip. Unfortunately neither of our parents got to hear our concerts, but they did get to spend quality time with Clara, and it was a huge relief to Joey and me to know she was being so well taken care of.

My violin teaching has been going very well, and because I have so many students right now, I decided it would be nice for them to perform for one another on a studio recital. The recital was held in the sanctuary of Calvary Church on November 23rd, and 17 of my 22 students performed. They all did very well, and I appreciated the fact that some church members were in the audience offering their support. The mother of one of Joey's piano students made cookies and sweet bread for the reception after the concert. The students and parents seemed to really appreciate the chance to hear each other and get to know one another. To begin the concert, I led a group performance of my youngest and newest students, which was followed by solo performances.

Leading the beginning group performance. 

Congrats students!

This was the first Thanksgiving week Joey and I have had in years when we were both free to take the whole week off. Normally Joey plays a Thanksgiving service on Wednesday, but this year it was held at a different church. Calvary Music School was also closed for the week. Because of this, Joey and I decided it would be a nice time to get away as a family. We rented a log cabin in Jeffersonville, VT and spent Monday through Friday there. The cabin was really cozy and nice, and we were surrounded by beautiful mountains and a lake. We spent Tuesday morning in the beautiful town of Stowe, VT. The rest of the time was spent at the cabin, and on Wednesday evening we had a large snowfall and woke up to a gorgeous scene on Thanksgiving morning. Clara had so much fun playing at the cabin, doing Christmas arts and crafts, baking cookies, watching Christmas cartoons, and most of all, playing in the snow. We had a full kitchen, so Joey cooked meals, including our Thanksgiving meal. It was a great holiday, and being able to have relaxed, family time together in a beautiful place was just what we needed. Check out our "Vermont Thanksgiving" pictures below:

Watching videos during 5 hour drive to Vermont.

Our cabin. 

Clara's room.

Our room.

Wood stove.

Snow!

Apple Cider in Stow, VT.

Preparing to play in snow.

Snow angel!

Decorating Christmas ornaments!

Ginger bread house! 

Reading with Daddy before bed.

Wow! Look at all of the snow.

Sledding!

"Don't forget to drink your ovaltine!"

Pumpkin Pie!

Well, we are quickly approaching Christmas. Joey is already extremely busy playing extra services and preparing for upcoming Advent and Christmas musical events at Calvary with the adult and children's choir. We do not have any days off now until after Christmas since Joey does Messiah choir rehearsals on Monday nights. Mondays are normally the only day neither of us works. Joey and I are performing a piano and violin recital on Dec. 14th at the LaGrua center in Stonington, and we have prepared a pretty challenging program, so we are trying to fit practice and rehearsal time in along with everything else. I'm going to think twice in the future about accepting recital engagements during Advent! (Family members, this is why your Christmas gifts are always so late! Haha!)

We hope your holiday preparations are going well. Our decorations are up, and Clara is enjoying her advent calendar and Christmas-themed books. She will enjoy a visit with Santa at the Stonington Library this Saturday, and she keeps talking about eating birthday cake, since she knows we are celebrating Jesus' birth.

Wishing you all the best!
Joey, Erin and Clara

October Happenings

Happy Halloween!

Warning: This is going to be a very long blog post! 

Dear Family and Friends,

Is it really almost the middle of November? I'm sorry I am so behind with my monthly update. October was such a busy month for our family that it just seemed to fly by. It was an incredibly beautiful month with mostly warm, sunny weather and amazing fall foliage. I don't think we have ever experienced such a wonderful fall since moving to Connecticut five years ago.

This beautiful tree is right down the street from where we live.

Calvary House, the place we call home, is also looking beautiful these days. The repairs and painting are complete, and the house looks so much better and friendlier than before.

The new Calvary House.

Clara on the porch.

This month we enjoyed seeing a lot of family. My parents came to visit at the beginning of October for a week,s and my aunt and uncle from Virginia also came up to see all of us for a weekend during that time. A few days after my family left, Joey's mom came to visit for two weeks. Clara really loved seeing all of the family and, since Joey's mom Cathy had a longer visit, we were able to take some fun trips, including a visit to one of our new favorite places, Kringle Candles in Massachusetts. Kringle Candles is located in a beautiful part of MA and is home to a large selection of candles, a toy store, a Christms shop, a chocolate shop and a farm to table restaurant. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed looking at the various shops and fall decorations.

Clara and Grandma Ripka.

Fun at Kringle Candles.

  
Joey, Clara and I took a ride on the Essex Steam Train and river boat this month with members of the New London American Guilld of Organists, of which Joey is currently dean. Clara loved riding on the train, and the boat trip down the CT river was beautiful.

Fun on the Essex steam train!

Clara continues to enjoy ballet classes. She is always so excited to go to class and doesn't want the class to end. Sometimes we have to pick her up off the dance floor and carry her out of the building, because she is refusing to stop dancing and get dressed. It's fun to see how much she loves her class and her teacher and fellow little ballerinas. She also really loves spending time playing on the Calvary Nursery School playground in our backyard. 

Going to ballet class.

Getting dressed after class.

Having tea in the CNS playhouse.

Joey and I had a busy performance month in October. We performed an organ/violin recital of about 90 minutes of music on October 20th at Emmanual Episcopol Church in Killingworth, CT. It's a beautiful little white church out in the woods. We had a really good turn out, and the audience was very receptive. There was a wonderful reception following the recital, and we enjoyed talking with various audience members. We also performed on Calvary Music School's annual faculty concert. We played some piano trio music by Piazzola with our friend and CMS cello teacher Carly, as well as a piece for violin and organ. We recently had some new publicity photos taken, a couple of which are shown below.

Rehearsing together. (We don't always look this happy when we rehearse. Haha!)

We celebrated my 30th birthday on October 19th. We went out to a Mexican restaurant with Joey's mom, since she was here visiting. Somehow the waiter figured out it was my birthday, and I ended up wearing a sombrero and being sung to by wait staff. Anyway, it was fun, and so far being 30 isn't so bad.

Joey made the cake and Clara decorated it.

Unfortunately, October also turned out to be a rough health month for all three of us. I developed a cold toward the middle of September that would not go away. After 5 weeks of severe sinus congestion, I finally sought medical advice and was told I most likely had the beginnings of a sinus infection. I have just finished a 10 day course of antibiotics and am feeling better, although I still feel a bit stuffy. Clara also developed two separate colds during the month and is currently dealing with a cough. 

Joey definitely suffered the most last month. He did manage to avoid the cold virus, but had to deal with something much more uncomfortable. While Joey's mom was visiting, Joey woke up about 4:30 AM one morning with horrible back pain. It was so severe that he could barely stand up. Thank goodness Joey's mom was visiting and was able to stay with Clara while I drove him to the Westerly Hospital ER. When we arrived Joey was given heavy pain medications and underwent a CT scan. It turned out Joey had developed a kidney stone. This is the first time he has ever had a kidney stone (and hopefully the last time!). He was given pain medications to take at home and was told the stone should pass quickly. Joey suffered for almost three days before the stone passed. We all felt so bad watching him deal with such severe waves of pain. The pain medications also made him feel sick, and he was unable to eat much. Somehow Joey still managed to play Sunday services, which amazed me because he was suffering so much. It was a terrible experience, but we are thankful that it was not something more serious. 

We ended the month of October with a fun Halloween day. Clara developed a bad cold the day before Halloween, and we were afraid she might not be up for trick-or-treating, but when the time came she was so excited that we decided to let her go out. She dressed as a ballerina kitty. We invited some friends over with their daughter who is a few months younger than Clara, and we went trick-or-treating for about 40 minutes. I was surprised the girls lasted as long as they did. Clara had so much fun, and we enjoyed giving out candy to a lot of children, including some of our music students and choristers. 

Helping daddy get the pumpkin ready for carving.

Clara and her friend going out to trick-or-treat.

We hope you had a wonderful October and that November is going well. Joey and I are giving concerts both this month and next month, so we are keeping really busy practicing and rehearsing. We leave for Binghamton, NY early tomorrow morning to prepare for a Friday evening concert. See information about our upcoming concerts at the bottom of this blog.

I will try to post a bit sooner next month. We hope you have a fun and safe Thanksgiving Holiday!

Until next post!
Joey, Erin and Clara

CONCERTS 2013/2014:

Sunday, September 15, 2013  Joseph Ripka, organ, Joint Presentation & Recital with Scot Huntington on the 1870 Hook organ at United Church in Stonington, CT.  Program begins at 4:00 p.m.  (Sponsored by the Stonington Historical Society)


Sunday, October 20, 2013  Emanuel Episcopal Church in Killingworth, CT 4:00 p.m recital, with organist Joseph Ripka and violinist Erin Ripka as the Ripka Duo

Friday, November 15, 2013  Recital for the Binghampton Chapter of the American Guild of Organists with Joseph Ripka, organ and Erin Ripka, violin. Joseph Ripka   Workshop on Saturday Nov. 16.  United Presbyterian Church, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday December 14th, 2013 La Grua Center Music Matters Series presents the Ripka Duo: Chamber Music Recital, 5pm

Sunday, February 2, 2014  House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, MN recital, with organist Joseph Ripka and violinist Erin Ripka as the Ripka Duo. 4:00 pm. 

Friday, March 21, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, St John's Episcopal Church in Niantic, CT. Bach birthday celebration featuring the Leipzig Chorales with members of the New London CT chapter of the AGO.


Wednesday, March 26, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, St Paul's on-the-green in Norwalk, CT.  Lunchtime Recital, begins at noon.  


Wednesday, July 16, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, Bethel College, Saint Paul, MN.  Part of the Young Artists World Piano Festival.