The Art Mob has wintered well, and, once restarted, we’ve just kept on singing. But not all news is good: We suffered the loss of an important member of the Mob, Sven Hartmann. Here’s a message from Dean:

We are deeply saddened by the death of Sven Hartmann, husband of Art Mob soprano and assistant music director Connie Beckley. Sven passed away at home on his beloved upstate farm on December 17th, hours before the Mob went onstage for our first concert in two years. He was 89 years old, and had been in declining health for some time, cared for unstintingly by Connie.
Several of us were fortunate enough to have known Sven for many years, and to have spent indelibly memorable time with him at the farm during the Mob’s annual weekend-long Roadkill Barbecue. (The menu was meatless; it was Sven, with his wintry-dark, Scandinavian sense of humor, who named the event.) In the 1990s, Dean McNeil—another late, great Mobster—anointed Sven, for reasons best known to himself, the Art Mob’s spiritual advisor. Spiritual or not, Sven loved us and we loved him, and it is painful to lose him.

We really miss Sven’s presence in the front row at every concert, not to mention his laugh. Sven was an amazing person; read more about him here and here.

But onward we go, to our Spring concert weekend, presenting Slings ‘n’ Eros (Same as it never was!) May 13, 14, and 15.

So, SAVE THE DATES, WATCH THIS SPACE, and hear all about it … soon.