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KHS Alumni Benefit Concert
December 22, 2009 at 7 p.m.
KHS Keating Center
Update: December 18, 2009: THE CONCERT IS SOLD OUT! THANK YOU!Cellist Patrice Jackson, a media proclaimed music prodigy and daughter of Kirkwood High School Symphonic Orchestra Director Patrick Jackson,will join other musically gifted Kirkwood High School orchestra alumni, including several members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at “The Road to Carnegie Hall” Benefit Concert in the Keating Performing Arts Center, located at the high school (801 W.Essex). The concert will begin at 7 p.m.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit the KHS Symphonic Orchestraʼs trip to Carnegie Hall in March 2010. The KHS orchestra is one of three musical groups selected nationwide to perform at the Instrumental Music Festival. This past May, the students kicked off their year long “Road to Carnegie Hall” fundraising campaign which, thus far, has generated approximately $40,000, a little over one-half of the $72,000 required to make the four-day trip.
“This benefit concert will present a rare opportunity for our community to hear world renowned musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and internationally acclaimed string virtuosos,” said Patrick Jackson. “Believe it or not, these artists have one shared musical characteristic -- the Kirkwood High School orchestral program. It will be a night of wonderful music.”
Kirkwood orchestra alumni scheduled to perform include:
- Patrice Jackson, a sixth generation string player and a recent graduate of Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School;
- St. Louis Symphony Orchestra members Felicia Foland (bassoon) and Rebecca Boyer Hall (violin);
- Sisters Meg and Liz Freivogel, members of the famed Jupiter String Quartet and their brother, J Freivogel, a member of the Jasper String Quartet;
- Emilee Newell, recent graduate of the Indiana Universityʼs renowned music program; Sarah Drake, a fourth year music major (violin) at Indiana.
- A special performance by Patrick Jackson, a music educator for 24 years, Kirkwood orchestra director since 1991, and a former Kirkwood School District Teacher of the Year.
“I couldnʼt be more proud of my dad and the students in the symphonic orchestra,” said Patrice Jackson. “To be able to come back and perform for everyone in Kirkwood and to help these students make their way to Carnegie is just extremely exciting. Iʼm very excited that my dad will be performing too.”
Jackson, 27, began piano lessons at three with her mother and cello at eight with her father. She made her debut at 13 with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Elgar Cello Concerto. Since winning the 2002 Sphinx Competition, Jackson has already performed with the Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Omaha, Cincinnati, St.
Louis, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Hartford, Chautauqua and Colorado symphonies, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra. In June of 2002 she made her international orchestra and recital debut in South Africa.
“It means a lot to me to return to perform in Kirkwood to support the upcoming Carnegie trip,” said violinist Meg Freivogel. “I express myself best through my music and to be able to perform in honor of Mr. Jackson and the KHS orchestra program is wonderful. Just to be a part of the thriving group of Kirkwood orchestra alumni is exciting and something I look forward to.”
Freivogel performs with her sister, Liz, and her husband cellist Daniel McDonough, as members of the Jupiter String Quartet. As international performers, the group has won several chamber music honors, including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition,first prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The quartet completed their schooling together at the New England Conservatory of Music where they were in the Professional String Quartet Training Program. They currently live in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Freivogels' brother, J, is a member of The Jasper String Quartet
(www.jasperquartet.com). This group is currently the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music studying with the Tokyo String Quartet. The Jasper String Quartet has won many string competitions including the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2008 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, first place at the 2008 Coleman Competition, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Formed at Oberlin Conservatory in 2003, the Jasper String Quartet graduated from Rice Universityʼs graduate quartet program where they studied with James Dunham, Norman Fischer and Kenneth Goldsmith. The quartet has performed across the United States and throughout Canada, Norway and Italy.
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra member Felicia Foland is excited to be returning for the performance at Kirkwood. “I am thrilled to be part of this very important event. I am looking forward to this wonderful gem stone of a concert. For me, it will be the best event of the concert season.”
Tickets are $20.00. The ticket price includes a dessert buffet immediately following the concert. All tickets will be held at the in the Keating Performance Center and may be picked up the night of the concert.
A team of judges from the Field Studies Center of New York, sponsors of the Instrumental Music Festival and other educational travel programs, reviewed the KHS orchestraʼs application form as well as an audition tape before making the final selection for the March 2010 Carnegie Hall event. The Instrumental Music Festival is held annually to provide students with a rich educational experience.