March 19, 2000 76 Lexington Ave, Apt. 1 Somerville, MA 02144 617-628-0406 cjsmith@mit.edu Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter in application for the SWEA grant for study in Sweden. I have been playing recorder for several years with Stambandet, a Scandinavian musical ensemble located in the Boston area. Through working with Stambandet, I have been exposed to some of the culture and music of Sweden, and have discovered an interest in the musical style. I would love an opportunity to study more intensely the Swedish folk music tradition, in particular the Spielpipa which appears to be the nearest relative of the recorder in Sweden. I believe it would help my performance and understanding of the music I play with Stambandet and would enrich my interactions with that group and groups of a similar nature. I have been studying recorder since I was nine, and I recently completed a Master's Degree in Early Music Performance from the Longy School of Music. I perform in the Boston area with Stambandet as well as a Baroque trio, Cantata a Trois. I have performed in a variety of concert series, including the Boston Recorder Society Concert Series and the Society for Historically Informed Performance Summer Concert Series. I have participated in the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute and the International Baroque Institute at Longy, and have studied with Sonja Lindblad and John Tyson, as well as taking Masterclasses with Paol Leenholts and Gerd Lunenberger. My training has been primarily in the baroque style and I would love a chance to explore more thoroughly the music that I have been exposed to through working with Stambandet. Sincerely, Carolyn Smith