Summer Quarter 2006 June 5 - September 3, 2006

Music Arts visits Oak Ridge Schools

During the past year, Music Arts has been sending some of our instructors to visit Oak Ridge schools. Approximately half of the grant which sponsors this comes from the Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance and the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the other half is drawn from individual grants, including WalMart.

Kids in the 3rd and 4th grades at Linden, Glenwood, Willowbrook and Woodland have delighted in the words and sounds of the four band and orchestral instrument groups.

A band director for over 20 years, Doug Farmer was always a big hit with his giant collection of percussion instruments as well as his skill working with young students. Ilia Steinschneider and Lucie Novoveska, violinists, and Nancy England, cellist, entertained with their presentations of the string family, and Beth Sampsel, flutist, with ample humor, trotted out her large collection of wind instruments. Marcay Dickens, armed with things like funnels and garden hoses as well as her French horn, and Warren Clark, assisted by Music Arts Board member Dale Gedcke and his collection of trumpets, demonstrated the various moods and sounds of brass instruments.

Next year Music Arts hopes to receive more grants which will allow them to visit county schools, as happened last year. And there’s always the possibility of additional funding coming in at the last moment, allowing visits to Oak Ridge schools again next year.

Moms feted at Mother’s Day recital

Over the years, Music Arts recitals scheduled for Mother’s Day have proved a great time to pour our gratitude on the mothers (and fathers) of our talented and hard-working students.

This year was no exception! During the usual Intermission Quiz, all mothers in the audience were presented with iris stems done up with paper and ribbons.

Naturally, the students were also appreciated, and those giving correct answers to Ms. England’s music quiz questions earned themselves little prizes (we won’t tell you what the prizes are - you’ll have to be at a recital to find out, so sign up and show off your progress!).

Want some free lessons?

Some of our students are lined up for some big savings on their Summer Quarter lessons. The children of two families are receiving four totally free lessons on their bills (every quarter!), and a number of other students are getting one, two or three free lessons.

Why?

These are Bonus Lessons, earned by referrals that these families have sent our way. Check page 8 on our Student Guide, or visit the webpage. (Look under ‘Activities’ and ‘Student Guide,’ “Do you give discounts?”)

Many of the rest of you are dipping into some great savings too, with the ten percent discount we award to students whose bills have been paid on time - by the fifth of the month - during the past year.

We Welcome Lucie Novoveska!

Lucie Novoveska, violin. Rarely does one meet a person with such a combination of great talent and winning personality! Music Arts is delighted to accept Lucie Novoveska to our faculty, as of the end of May.

Lucie’s originally from Prague, Czech Republic.

After her studies at Prague Conservatory, she earned her Master of Music degree from the Tel-Aviv Academy of Music, Israel.

Just look at this long list of accomplishments!!

She’s played with many orchestras and ensembles, including the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra and the chamber orchestra Collegium Musa Pragensis, where she was featured as a soloist. She collaborated with artists such as Claudio Abbado, and has performed in such famous places as London's Festival Royal Hall and Vienna's Musikverein.

Lucie has also concertized as a soloist in the Czech Republic and Israel, and has several solo recordings for the Czech Radio. Also a composer, she performs her own pieces on her recital programs.

As of August 2006 she will earn a second Master’s Degree, at UT, and is a teaching assistant of Professor Mark Zelmanovich, the Knoxville Symphony concertmaster, at UT. In addition, she served as concertmaster of the UT Symphony for three years and is a member of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. During her studies at UT, she won several concerto competitions and has soloed with both the UT Symphony and the Maryville Symphony.

Lucie with school director Nancy England at Glenwood School, May 22, 2006. Lucie is explaining the violin and bow, and Nancy holds her partially-made cello on a frame (with rectangular hole in the middle) which supports the instrument’s ribs while it’s being built, used as a demonstration. Note the unfinished cello top behind her.

In addition to her recordings made in Europe, Lucie has collaborated with Music Arts piano instructor Rudolph Nemeth to produce a CD of their performances of both Lucie’s and Rudolph’s compositions. She is already familiar to Oak Ridge audiences, thanks to performing in several recent Coffee Concerts sponsored by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, as well as having played with the Oak Ridge Symphony.

Lucie enjoys teaching students of all ages and works especially well with younger students. With a calm and loving personality, she radiates confidence and involvement with her students’ progress.

Our long-time violin instructor, Ilia Steinschneider, is very enthusiastic about Lucie joining us, and joins us in urging you to let your friends and neighbors know about Lucie. And remember, if they sign up for lessons (with any of our instructors, not just Lucie), you’ll be in line to get some free lessons from the referral! Check our Music Arts Student Guide (page 8) for more info or on or website copy of the Student Guide.