I love the tradition of these Rose Sunday Concerts. What could possibly be better than filling a beautiful space with beautiful flowers and having a concert? Just as these flowers are so unique to Nantucket, this concert affords an opportunity to showcase some of the human roses of this remarkable island. The great beauty of Nantucket nurtures remarkable talent, and we are truly, infinitely blessed to have this altogether.

I've been here but two years, and yet my vision for these concerts is to present something different, unique, worthy of these roses. This year's program begins with the most pleasant and happy of Mozart's piano works and is followed by two heart-breakingly beautiful Handel Arias.

Then the bulk of the show. I met Frank Cunningham soon after moving here and quickly fell in love with is poetry. I was instantly drawn to the idea of setting his works, and this is what came of it; eight poems, structured around the cycle of a year on Nantucket. There are four anchoring poems (January Storm Visitors, Early Spring, Cobbled Together, and Soft November Mourn) which represent the four seasons. Between each of these is a poem representing a Nantucket character, walk, or emotion. In the case of my figurehead, it is the sensation of missing a loved one far away. In Margareta, a familiar person who was loved by many. Not all of the music is pretty - remember what it is like to be here on the 12th of March? - but my hope is that the music combined with Frank's poetry artistically circumscribes the experience of a year on Nantucket.

I love the lines from the poem traversing - "Pulls close the universe / What a spec am I." Of course, we all feel the weight of history, the stars at night, the wind howling in winter. Yet, for specs, how lucky we are? I feel so overwhelmingly fortunate to be here with these amazing artists - with Frank, with the incomparable pianist John Buttrick, with Armen and his lovely playing and gentle spirit, with Greta, whose artistry leaves me speechless, with Mathew, a new friend for me, but such a good Jazz player, and all the patient, eager and energetic people in the choir and hand bell choir who have made this project possible.

So yes, we are specs, and yes, life on Nantucket is not always easy, but this day is about how lucky we are to have sunlight, music, beaches, and the roses that we are all to each other.