FREE CONCERT

Launched by violinist and Sudbury resident Nicki Payne and colleagues Liane Zaretsky, violin, Emily Rome, viola, and Rebecca Thornblade, cello, the Thoreau Way Ensemble is a group of professional musicians dedicated to social justice causes and the preservation of our democracy. The group aims to bring people from the community together to focus attention on urgent issues such as the protection of civil rights and government accountability. Each concert features a national or local organization dedicated to social justice efforts.

More About the Performers:

Nicki Payne
Nicki grew up in Sudbury, and began playing violin at age 4. A graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, she earned her Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and her Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has performed with multiple orchestras in the United States and Spain, including the Kansas City Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife, Orquesta de La Coruña, New World Symphony and many others. Currently a freelancer in the Boston area she performs frequently with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Orchestra of Indian Hill, and the Lexington Symphony. She is principal second violin of the Peter Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, OR. Nicki has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, Israel, and South America, and had the privilege of playing in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Conductors she has worked with include Michael Tilson Thomas, Georg Solti, James DePreist, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, and Larry Rachleff. Nicki is an active teacher of violin and viola, with 35 students from Sudbury and surrounding towns. Nicki has triplet sons, all young musicians, and is married to double bassist Robb Aistrup.

Emily Rome
Violist Emily Rome is currently a free-lance player and teacher in the Boston area. Emily has performed with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Lyric Opera, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra of Indian Hill among others. In addition, Emily also has a very active teaching career. She especially enjoys working with children and teaches a number of private students through her program Brioso Strings. She also serves as a chamber coach for students at Harvard University and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. In the summers Emily performs and coaches at Greenwood Music Camp and Berkshire Summer Music Festival. In the past she has served as a coach at and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, the Youth Festival Orchestra Summer Program at the New England Conservatory, and has led orchestra sectionals, lessons and chamber music coaching for the NEC Preparatory Divisions. Emily studied with Atar Arad at Indiana University, Kim Kashkashian at New England Conservatory and Martha Katz at Rice University.

Rebecca Thornblade
Rebecca Thornblade, a grand prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, has had an active and versatile career as a chamber music and orchestral cellist. Ms. Thornblade has played with many ensembles throughout the country which include the award-winning Fry Street and Avalon quartets and as principal cellist of the New World Symphony in Miami and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Rebecca has worked with many renowned quartets such as the Vermeer, Juilliard, Orion, Takacs and members of the Cleveland and Emerson Quartets. She was featured on WGBH’s “Classical Performances” with pianist Gilbert Kalish and has collaborated with flutist Carol Wincenc and pianist Randall Hodgkinson.
Rebecca is currently a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed with Opera Boston, Odyssey Opera, the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Cantata Singers. She has appeared as a chamber musician with Lyrica Boston, the Suzuki School of Newton’s Artist Concert Series, the New Gallery Concert Series, The Radius Ensemble, The Firebird Ensemble and the Worcester Chamber Music Society. In addition to her private teaching studio, she is on the Music Performance Faculty in cello at Wellesley College and on the music faculty of Point Counterpoint in Vermont.
She received her Bachelor’s in Music from the Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Norman Fischer and Peter Rejto and her Master’s in Music from the Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick. ​

Nancy Hudgins
Originally from Florida, Nancy started playing horn at age 12, having been inspired by watching the Boston Pops on PBS. She went on to receive her Masters in French Horn Performance at Boston University in 1993 and has been playing in Greater Boston area ever since. A member of the Orchestra of Indian Hill for the past 25 years, Nancy is also a member of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra and has played with Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, the Portland Symphony, the Plymouth Philharmonic, the New Bedford Symphony and other area ensembles. She has also performed with Luciano Pavoratti, Josh Grobin, Bjork, The Irish Tenors and other star acts. Nancy enjoys spending time with her son, Jackson and her fiancé, Dave, walking Hop Brook with their two beagles, Ted and Scarlet, and playing as much golf as possible.

Daniel Dickson
Daniel enjoys a diverse career as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher, and musical entrepreneur. He graduated from the University of Missouri St. Louis, studying with the Arianna String Quartet, and earned a Masters degree in performance from Boston University. Along the path of his education, he has been fortunate to study with musicians such as Alan Chou, Olga Kern, Natalia Antonov, Andre Watts, Anne Williamson, Alisa Weilerstein, the Emerson, Tokyo, Borromeo, Ying, and Muir String Quartets, with many others. He has performed over 1,000 concerts worldwide, including venues such as Boston Symphony Hall, Powell Symphony Hall, the Samara Ballet Theater, and Shanghai Symphony Hall. In addition to teaching private cello, piano and theory lessons, Daniel is a full time teacher in the Brookline School District, where he diligently strives to live out the phrase “be the change you wish to see in the world.” He is also a founding member of the DeNovo String Quartet, a quartet formed out of Boston Universities College of fine arts. The quartet has found success early on, booking concerts through the Boston Botanical Gardens, the New England Conservatory of Music, and others through the end of the year. The quartet plans to compete internationally during the year and represent the city of Boston at the most prestigious competitions in the world.