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“Music was it for me from day one,” says Cape Symphony teaching artist Joe Merrick. “From my earliest memories, music has been the only thing I’ve really wanted to do. My parents had to tie a rope around the stereo when I was a toddler to keep me from playing with it.”

If you’re ever lucky enough to get in conversation with Cape Symphony Concertmaster and Managing Artistic Principal Jae Cosmos Lee, you might miss your next appointment, but you won’t care. When you meet a friendly, fun person who knows an awful lot about a great many things, and is always jazzed to learn more, time just doesn’t seem to matter.

The nonprofit Mark Hennessy Foundation was founded in 2023 to support and provide opportunities to music students, established musicians, and those seeking to further their music careers through education, empowerment, innovation, and celebration. MHF believes that music transforms the lives of youth, families, and communities by empowering those who wish to express themselves through a creative outlet.

Sally Joyce had a front row seat to the power of music therapy before she’d even heard of it as such. “Way back as a teenager,” she says, “I was a counselor at a camp for developmentally delayed children. I’d work with kids all day; many were nonresponsive, with very little participation in activities. But when I did music with those kids, there was singing and moving!”

Cape Symphony patrons Maria Trozzi and Peter Cook happily made Cape Cod their full-time home after having been longtime summer residents. They were very involved in music and culture in Boston, and it delighted them to discover an outstanding professional orchestra right here on Cape Cod.

The Cape Symphony Orchestra presents Ragtime, Blues, & All That Jazz at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM.