The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Artshas accepted the invitation from the West Virginia Division of Culture andHistoryto make West Virginia the site of the National SymphonyOrchestra’s 2010 American Residency. Between April 5 and April 13, 2010, the members of the Orchestra will participate in approximately 150 education and performance activities throughout the state.
The announcement took place last Thursday in Charleston, at the state capitol building. Participants included West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III and West Virginia Division of Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, as well as two representatives from the NSO and the Kennedy Center: NSO Orchestra Manager Cynthia Steele and Patricia O’Kelly, Managing Director of NSO Media Relations.
The impetus for the invitation from West Virginia came from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. The Division will coordinate all Residency activities. The Appalachian Education Initiative, the West Virginia affiliate of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network will coordinate education and outreach programs. American Residencies are sponsored in part by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, as it has been since 1994. Since 2006, the chamber music and outreach performances have been supported by the Kennedy Center Abe Fortas Memorial Fund for chamber music and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.
On behalf of the National Symphony Orchestra, it gives us great pleasure to accept the invitation of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, to make the state our home for the 2010 American Residency, said Orchestra Manager Cynthia Steele. The American Residency is one of the signature projects of the National Symphony Orchestra and our musicians are incredibly committed and generous with their time and talents.
We are particularly pleased with the way the National Symphony Orchestra will interact with our teachers, students and artists while in West Virginia, added Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith. The Orchestra will invite up to six students to Washington to participate in their Summer Music Institute next June, and will award a Teacher Fellowship to one West Virginia teacher, custom designed to further that teacher’s career goals. Finally, the NSO will commission a chamber work from a West Virginia composer. This intensive involvement will only add to West Virginia’s national reputation as a leader in arts education programming.
From WV Division of Culture and History
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