Students to expand musical horizons
Courier - Journal - Louisville, Ky.
Nearly 30 OldhamCounty student musicians will leave at the end of the month for a 16-day tour through Europe with the Kentucky Ambassadors of Music program.
In all, more than 200 musicians will make the trip. Three of the Oldham students -- Sabrina Davis, Jessie Miller and Christian Taylor -- will be part of a completely new section of the program.
The tour has been offering Kentucky students a chance to play and sing overseas every other year since 2000, said Brad Rogers, OldhamCountyHigh School's band director. Rogers has been a staff adviser for the tour since it began.
The two directors of the tour are from the University of Louisville: Frederick Speck, director of bands, and Kent Hatteberg, director of choral activities.
While on the tour, students will share their music in a variety of settings in England, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy and Germany.
Prior to their departure June 30, students will gather at UofL for five days of intensive rehearsal and orientation. On June 28, there will be two pre-tour concerts at Comstock Concert Hall on campus. The chamber orchestra and choir will perform at 5:30 p.m., and the concert band will play at 7:15 p.m.
"It's such a unique experience for them, both as musicians and as young people," Rogers said. "Not only are they getting to play in countries that really value the kind of music they're playing, but they are getting to walk through places they've only read about before. They often come back different kids. It's that life-changing."
To be selected, students had to be recommended, then submit recordings of their singing or instrument-playing, Rogers said. Students were chosen not only for their musical ability but also for their leadership and character, he said.
This is the first summer that the tour will include a chamber orchestra, allowing students who play string instruments to join, he said.
"The individual schools in Oldham do not have string programs the way they have bands and choirs so it is a really great thing that we're adding this," Rogers said. "It gives those students a great opportunity."
Sabrina Davis, who will be a junior at North Oldham High in the fall, has played violin for 10 years as part of the Louisville Youth Orchestra and then the OldhamCountySchoolsArtsCenter.
"I'm not nervous (about the trip) at all," Sabrina, 16, said. "I've been playing so long that it comes easy to me now. I'm just excited to get out of the country to play."
Jessie Miller, who will be a senior at Oldham County High, has played cello since she was a fourth-grader.
"I can't wait to be meeting and playing with the other students," Jessie, 17, said. "I think you can learn a lot from seeing how other people play their instruments because we each have picked it up in different ways."
For Christian Taylor, whose mother is from Germany, the trip offers a bit of a family reunion. The last stop on the tour will be 20 miles from Ansbach, the town where his mother grew up, and his grandparents plan to come hear him play.
Christian, who will be a sophomore at OldhamCountyHigh School, has played the violin for seven years.
"For me, the tour means getting to see more of Europe than I have before, and getting the chance to play music over there is just amazing," Christian, 15, said. "To be able to expose yourself to culture in that way, it's such an opportunity."
Reporter Sara Cunningham can be reached at (502) 582-4335.
Oldham students in the 2010 Kentucky Ambassadors of Music tour
Oldham CountyHigh:
Nathan Baker, Jordan Bates, Ben Blackketter, Bailee Branch, Christopher Deaton, Adam Fannin, Daniel Finch, Michael Gulley, Rochelle Hansen, Chris Howard, Ashley Jacoby, Scott Major, Sarah Millam, Jessie Miller, Kaitlin Parrish, Elaine Scharroo, Randy Stevens, Christian Taylor, Garrett Weeks, Kaitlyn Whitewood and Austin Wilson
South Oldham High:
Alex Bullard, Ryan Miller, Natalie Tate, Katie Vilardell and
Whitney Walker
North Oldham High:
Sabrina Davis
( You can follow Jessie’s trip, her European Jaunt (!), starting with June 30th , 2010 at all the way through July 15th ) Enjoy ~
Reproduced with permission