Richard Cass, NFMC Young Artist Winner

Funeral services for Richard Cass will be Friday, December 4 at 11 AM at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission, Kansas. Donations may be sent to Richard Cass Scholarship Fund at the UMKC Conservatory.

Richard was well known to many of us who have followed his career for many years from his student days at Furman University to his professorship at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Our hearts go out to his family.

More information can be found on the NFMC website.

Crescent Holiday Tea

Crescent Music Club will have its Holiday Tea on December 3. Please go to the "events" section of the web site to see the details. All are invited.

Concert in memory of CMC member Hazle Madsen

Crescent Music Club will present "Opera Extravaganze" featuring arias and duets selected from operatic favorites performed by Myra Cordell, soprano, Jacob Will, bass baritone, Charles Fugo, piano. See "events" for further details.

Crescent Music Club presents pianist Michiko Otaki

Crescent Music Club will hold its March 5 program at the Greenville Woman's Club with Michiko Otaki at the piano, Tony Watson, flute and Kurt-Alexander Zeller tenor. Both Dr. Otaki and Dr. Zeller are professors at Clayton State University near Atlanta. Michiko is no stranger to many music lovers in Greenville for she has performed for us many times. She is from Hazu, Japan and received her early musical training there. After her arrival in 1977 in the United States she studied at the San Francisco Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Miami where she received her doctorate. She has performed with many groups including the Warsaw Wind Qunitet, and the Walllinger String Quartet. Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller is Director of Opera and Vocal Studies at the University and is active throughout the country as a vocal adjudicator and clinician. His book What Every Singer Needs to Know about the Body (written with Malde and Allen) has just been released by Plural Publishing Company. He has appeared in many operas himself and been stage director for others. He has also sung in numerous operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Mr. Watson is the founder and director of the Atlanta Suzuki Flute School and has studied advanced flute repertoire and pedagogy with Suzuki Flute School author Toshio Takahashi. He is also a certified Orff (music education) specialist. He is currently a candidate for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts at the Univ. of Georgia.

Crescent Music Club invites SCFMC members to be our guests at this meeting. Please contact us at this web site if you wish to attend since seating is limited.

Emil and Ruth Beyer Composition Award

NFMC has sent out notices of the Beyer Composition Award. Application www.nfmc-music.org - click on competitions and awards. Deadline March 1, 2010.

Piano Solo: $2,000; $500
Voice: $2,000; $500
Chamber Music: $4,000; $1,000

Junior Chapter Presidents and Student Members

Dr. Shetler has now the application forms for the Stillman-Kelly and Thelma Byrum Auditions. Students from South Carolina are eligible this year (2010). Deadline is March 1, 2010. Teachers who have outstanding students who wish to audition should contact Dr. Shetler as soon as possible.
Dr. Donald Shetler
309 Harbor Pointe Dr. Atp. #4
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
SHETLERCLL@aol.com

Salute to American Music

On November 6, Crescent Music club held its meeting at the Greenville Country Club ballroom where Dr. Darryl Jachens conducted the Greenville Concert Band in a rousing salute to American Music. The program began with "Americans We", a medley of tunes familiar to many, then switched to a suite of "Old American Dances" by Robert Russell Bennett that included the "Western One-Step". A highlight of their performance was "More Than You Know" by Vincent Youmans featuring John McClimon on the trombone. What a treat that was! Others followed and ended with the spectacular "Stars and Stripes Forever", for which the band received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic and appreciative audience.

Other features of the meeting included our Honorary Member Gail Gingery leading us in singing of the "Let there Be Peace" with Janice Flinte at the piano. The assembly received applause from the band for that! The band accompanied our singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" let by Pat Howle, State President, who then gave a charming background for our collect and hymn which everyone sang. Margaret Ulmer led the pledge of allegiance. Much was made over our Holiday Tea to be given on December 3 (see the calendar for details) with the addition of a skit by Patricia Fisher and Sandra Beckham.

Crescent is to be commended for producing such a remarkable program and is grateful to Margaret Ulmer who made it possible with a gift to the club for its underwriting. Margaret also provided refreshments that included breakfast rolls and coffee putting the members and band in an up-beat mood before the program began.

Narional awards

The 2009 Autumn "Junior Keynotes Magazine" Vol.82, No.1, page 24 lists four South Carolina Junior Music Clubs that received ratings on their National Junior Rating Sheet:
Greenville Harmony Music Club 10 ribbons
Greenville Melody Music Club 10 ribbons
Greenville Tempo Music club 10 ribbons
Crescent Heritage Jr. Music club 7 ribbons

Congratulations to these juniors for work well done.

"Coming Home" concert

This event on March 8, 2010 will be at the Poinsett club and is a gala fundraiser concert to support scholarships and music education in our schools. Karen Parks is a Greenville native and it is a singular honor to present her in this "coming home" concert since she has replaced Michael Rice as the voice instructor at the Fine Arts Center (he will accompany her on piano). Ms. Parks has performed in fifteen countries and sings in twelve languages. She has performed with prestigious orchestras including those at Carnegie Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center and The Boston Pops. She continues to perform both nationally and internationally. For more information, phone 864-879-0813.

Russian Concert

Maria Potapova holds BA degrees from University of North Carolina, Asheville in Psychology and Music. She is a member of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Spartanburg Philharmonic, and Symphony of the Mountains in Kingsport, TN.
Elena Saladukha has performed numerous solo recitals as well as performances with UNCA Concert Band. She has recorded several CDs including solo works for piano, duets for violin and piano and accompaniment for mezzo-soprano Theresa Veach. She gives private piano lessons at her home studio in Asheville.

These two artists will present a concert with works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov and others at the USC -Union Auditorium in Union, SC. See the calendar for October for more information.

Crescent Music Club

"Clara Schumann- Her Life and Letters" will be presented by the Crescent Music Club on 6 January, 2010 at the Greenville Woman's Club at 11 AM. A refreshment time precedes the program. Margaret Ulmer, former President of the music club and NFMC Opera Chair, will speak about Clara Schumann's life, particularly about how it is revealed in her letters to such luminaries as Chopin, Brahms, and other men in her life. Shirley Sarlin, a noted actress in Greenville and the surrounding areas, will read several of the letters. Shirley is active in the Warehouse Theatre and Center Stage and will appear in two productions this year. She has also acted in plays in other parts of the country. Space is limited, thus we will need to know of guests who will attend so that we can prepare for you. Respond to this blog if you have questions or want to make a reservation to attend.

S E Region News

Dear Friends, as you know, we are part of the SE Region of the NFMC that meets every year in July at our music camp - Brevard Music Center. Beth McAuley, VP of the SC Region announced last July that we are to have a scholarship for the Music Center and that all of us can have a part in making this scholarship possible. We had to form an organization to formalize our activities to be in line with Brevard's requirements. We worked out our 501-C-3 status, elected officers and made by-laws. We must have approximately $25,000. to have enough money to give a $1,000. scholarship. Beth suggested that we have a drive over a five-year period when we will have had time to collect that amount. Our campaign will be called "Bucks for Brevard". Since we have about 6,000 members in the SE Region, in five years we will have enough money if all of us give 1 dollar per year! Some clubs have already begun to collect money for this year. We have always helped Brevard during its years in existence and can continue to do so by joining the rest of the region in collecting enough money to give a worthy student the chance to study a summer in this wonderful environment. More about this later!

Shirley Diggs

Friends, Shirley died last Friday, August 14, 2009 as the result of the car accident. Her best friend Martha Ann Blackwell alerted me this morning and I want you to know how much she will be missed by the SCFMC and the local Hartsville Club. Martha Ann is planning to implement Shirley's objectives for this year in her honor. If you knew Shirley, perhaps you would let Martha Ann know. Her address is in the state manual. We are all saddened by the loss of one of our own.

Lancaster Music Study Club

Shirley Hunter, who is the President of the LMSC is to perform at The Christian Women's Luncheon on Sept. 22 at 11:30 AM at Captain's Galley in Lancaster. She will sing "To Where You Are" and "The Prayer". If you are in the area, give Shirley a call to get the details. Her number is in the state manual.

News Blog at SCFMC

Welcome to the News Blog for SC Federation of Music Clubs.
We are changing the world through music!