Longtime support of the arts helps create stellar students ready to play with the pros
Members of the Sulphur Springs High School Orchestra and Strings Program will have the chance of a lifetime on March 12 to play “side by side” with their professional counterparts from the Northeast Texas Symphony League in Sulphur Springs Symphony League’s 13th annual Children’s Concert at Hopkins County Regional Civic Center.
“This is the largest number of kids we’ve ever had perform with the Northeast Texas Symphony,” said Charles McCauley, SSHS’s fine arts director.
Several of the students who will be playing with the pros began their musical journey in Sulphur Springs Independent School District’s Strings Program, which is supported by the Sulphur Springs Symphony League. McCauley and Rob Flickinger, the school district’s Strings instructor, appreciate the league’s long-time commitment to the arts in Hopkins County.
“Anytime the symphony league is mentioned in town, it helps every kid in music,” McCauley said during a break between classes Friday morning. “They help us produce more well-rounded kids by showing their support of the arts.”
This year, six orchestra students competed at the University Interscholastic League’s regional solo and ensemble contest, held in Tyler on Feb. 6.
Kade Eckhardt, Jeff Spears, Charles Livsey and Molly Ginn performed solos, with Ginn receiving a superior rating, which qualified her for state solo and ensemble contest. Spears, Livsey, Jemma Caudle and Chris Durant also performed as a quartet.
“Molly got a ‘one,’ while the other students received excellent ratings,” Flickinger said. “They all did really well.”
Along with sponsoring the Children’s Concert and the annual Fourth of July Concert on the Square, the league has long provided classical instruments to SSISD students.
“We’ve got symphony league instruments at the high school, middle school, Douglas and at the fourth grade,” Flickinger, a professional musician who has toured with Ray Price and who recently played at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in Dallas, said before morning orchestra class Friday. “Some of our students probably wouldn’t be ready to play with the pros on March 12 without having access to instruments and training at such an early age.”Cellist Eckhardt agrees.
“My mom took me to a presentation by Mrs. [Terry] Vosse [former SSISD Strings Program director],” Eckhardt said Friday morning. “I was glad Mrs. Vosse started me out. Thanks to her, I’m in orchestra. It may not have happened without her. I’d be in band, but I probably wouldn’t have been in orchestra.”
In the spring of 2009, Eckhardt, the son of Julie and Todd Eckhardt, and fellow student Livsey, who plays the violin, won spots in the New Conservatory of Dallas’ Chamber Orchestra, an internationally known music program with the mission to provide quality music education and performing opportunities for young musicians.
Livsey, the son of Gayla and Stephen Livsey, says the symphony league has helped him and other young musicians to “achieve our goals.”
“I didn’t really know much about the symphony league when I was little, but as I grew up, I learned how much they help out in the community,” Livsey said Friday morning. “I played one of their violins when I was in elementary school.”
Violinst Molly Ginn, who earned a superior rating at regionals and qualified for state solo and ensemble, has used the Strings Program to improve her musicianship and make new friends.
“You learn to play more together as a group,” Ginn, the daughter of John and Eydie Ginn, explained Friday. “You help each other. I’ve made a lot of new friends in the orchestra.”
Of her results at regional solo and ensemble, Ginn said, “I worked really hard. I was really excited. God really blessed me that day.”
According to League President Dwight Corley, The Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, presented by the Sulphur Springs Symphony League, has played live music every year at a number of events in the area since 1991.
“The symphony league is a founding member of the Northeast Texas Symphony Association, which originally included leagues from Terrell, Greenville, Commerce and Paris,” Corley explained in a press release. “Terrell and the Sulphur Springs Symphony League still thrive, even in today’s economy. In spite of the reduction of our already modest budget and the postponement of a few performance plans, the symphony league’s orchestra continues to attract talented professionals who live in cities ranging from Abilene to Tyler. The league pays the artists’ wages, travel expenses, and all the required performance licenses and royalties; and for each concert we sponsor, the league enters into formal contracts with about 50 musicians.”
Along with being a member of the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra, professional violinist Mark Miller was also involved in the early days of SSISD’s Strings Program. Miller is one of the league’s most vocal supporters.
“For as long as I have been in Texas, the Sulphur Springs Symphony League has been doing pioneering work to bring classical orchestra music to the region,” Miller said in an e-mail Thursday. “Their dedication, determination and persistence has enabled them to be a vital part of the culture of Northeast Texas, even after their original partner symphony leagues in neighboring communities ceased to be active.”
The league expects 1,500 Hopkins County third, fourth and fifth grade students and their teachers to attend the March 12 performance.
“The program is open to those grades from homeschool and other education programs,” Corley said, “Through the symphony league’s concerts, students receive valuable life experiences in building their social and cultural knowledge, understanding and skills.”
Corley says that prior to a concert the symphony league provides packets of information to each school in the area.
“The teachers then may advise the students on subjects such as how to behave, what to expect, when to applaud, what the conductor’s responsibilities are, and how the different instruments work together to make up the beautiful result,” Corley explained. “The conductor’s musical selections are geared for the age group, and include demonstrations of various orchestra sections and individual instruments and their sounds, and explanations by the conductor.”
Annada Jones, coordinator of the concert, said, “To broaden their music education, some talented Sulphur Springs High School Strings students have been given a rare opportunity to play with the full orchestra at the Children’s Concerts. Most young music students never get such a chance to perform with professional musicians in concert, but the local program makes this possible. Current high school students, violinists Molly Ginn and Charles Livsey, and cellist Kade Eckhardt, are three such products of the Strings Program.”
Miller praises the league for their continuing commitment to education.
“Support for the Strings Program in SSISD has always been a high priority for the symphony league, and they are to be commended for that,” Miller said. “It is visionary of them because the Strings Program itself has always represented an extra big effort, especially in a time where few other places like Sulphur Springs would attempt such a thing. It’s visionary of them to realize that the future of music is in the next generations, and that we steal from those next generations if we deny them a musical legacy.”
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The symphony league is supported by memberships, as well as by donations in memory of or in recognition of individuals, and by foundation and business grants.
Contributors to the symphony league have optional membership levels – individual, $15-24; family, $25-49; friend, $50-99; associate, $100-299; benefactor, $300-499; conductor’s circle, $500-999; committee of 1000, $1,000 and up. Contributions to the The Sulphur Springs Symphony League are tax deductible, as the league is a 501(c)(3) organization.
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Corley invties league members to this year’s concert at no charge as a special treat to thank them for supporting the programs.
To join the Sulphur Springs Symphony League or for more information, contact Corley at 903-243-2708 or
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