My Final Farewell

Dearest Friend,


This afternoon I had the immense pleasure of performing for a benefit luncheon for the Anson County Arts Council in Wadesboro, NC. For quite some time now, plans had been underway for this event-and I was very honored to be able to participate.

The Arts Council has been such an incredible means of encouragement and support to me as a student artist- providing me with performance opportunities, helping me gain exposure etc... When approached by one of the board members about being the guest performer for this afternoon's lunch, I was thrilled accept!

For the past few years, the Arts Council has been putting on three "Bach's Lunches" over the summertime in an effort to gain support for their renovation project of the old Ansonia Theatre ( a wonderful historic theatre in downtown Wadesboro with an intensely rich biography!)

In appreciation for all that has been afforded me through the council and its kind board members, I composed a special piece of music for this Bach's Lunch and titled it "Ansonia". I do believe it was received well...:)I consider my time spent with the council as a truly sweet time in my life. Now, as I prepare to begin my professional career as a composer, all the memories and faces of gentle souls who warmly prodded me along as a child and into my young adult years flood back to me, and the Arts Council holds many such dear faces.

May the most remarkable and enduring of blessings be with these kind people, and may their efforts to strengthen and encourage the youth of our community through the world of art never be forgotten.

Affectionately Yours,

Kate

p.s. I hope you enjoy a few of the photos I have enclosed below!








My mom and I arrived at the church at around 11:20 a.m. Imagine our surprise when we saw this sign outside! It was a pleasantly warm afternoon, brimming with promises of a beautiful time of fellowship and music. What a combination!






Haha- can you tell that I talk with my hands??? This shot was taken from across the dining table by my mother, who thought my engrossing account of how music is built around "themes" would make for an...interesting photo. Thanks, mom. :) (Although now that I think of it, I don't look very excited, do I? Just a thought...)











I played altogether six pieces of music, ranging from the first song I ever performed as a student composer, all the way to a piece that I finished two nights ago-"Ansonia". I composed and dedicated this music to the Anson County Arts Council, and performed it in honor of the future young artists who will one day grace the stage of the renovated Ansonia Theatre...

A very kind gentleman complimented my playing and asked me if I wanted to go to New York one day to pursue my endeavors there---now, do I ever??

Following the performance, I had the opportunity to talk with some of the wonderful people who came to the luncheon. We shared a good deal of smiles and hugs and made promises to meet again. I intend to keep that promise!

Getting Ready for College...At Last

Hi There! It's been awhile since my last post and I am hoping to fall back into the groove of writing again. It's been another year of growth and learning for me-in my faith, schooling, music, and essentially entire life. Over the past months, seemingly insurmountable obstacles have been conquered, broken hopes and dreams restored, and a resurgence in my faith in Christ as my only hope and redemption has blossomed within me. Soli Deo Gloria.
The chapter in my life entitled "HIGH SCHOOL" is finally finished- including years' worth of writing, re-writing, and editing. Now, as my university education looms ever nearer, I look back at all the many wonderful blessings and memories during the past four years and cherish each with a happiness that seems to grow every day. Truly, the days for me now are bittersweet. It is with joy that I enter college life with many wonderful plans for pursuing music composition, but I also long for the comfort and rest found within the arms of my family. My prayer is that my trust will be rooted firmly in the Lord, and that I will look to Him always.
In two months' time, I shall step on the campus grounds of the University of Miami and (hopefully!) enter an exciting time of my life. My roommate and I are communicating back and forth, eagerly sharing ideas for what to bring, how to prepare, and praying about how we can be shining lights for the Lord while at school!
I hope to post more regularly, and look forward to sharing this journey with you all!

Bleaching, Pressing, Packing

Tonight I have begun packing for my upcoming trip. Tonight? you wonder. Well, rightly so. You see, I have a tendency to wait until the last minute to do important stuff, like make sure I pack my toothbrush and plenty of socks, so I decided to remedy that situation by starting early.( Four days ought to do it :) Hopefully I won't forget anything...
Recently I finished a book by Alexander Solzhenitsyn entitled One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich , a rather horrific account of life in a Soviet labor camp. It was cleverly written and kept me interested throughout, though the heart-wrenching part was that it really happened to real people. I have now begun Ana Karenina by Tolstoy and will write my thoughts on it when I finish it.
Our garden is blooming profusely now- no more scraggly plants and weedy-looking areas. Most of our produce this season has been green, from cabbage and collard greens, to green beans and asparagus. Even the tomatoes are green! (They're just beginning to ripen now :) Our biggest dilemma has been the cabbage, though. I suppose when we planted the vegetables we didn't pay much attention to the labels- instead of broccoli and lettuce, it has ALL turned out to be cabbage! What to do, what to do!
Anyhow, the folks down our road and the families at church have been thrilled. Plenty of cabbage for the rest of their summers.>grin<
Well, I think I'll stop for this evening-more later.

To Illinois and Beyond...

I just got the official schedule for my upcoming week at the Illinois-Wesleyan Summer Composition Institute. Yes, I'm nervous, but excited,too! Everything from 20th century orchestral music to modern-day film composing is planned to be covered, as well as techniques and ways to develop compositional ideas. All paricipants will be writing a small piece for piano, cello, and flute while there, and at the end of the week it will be performed and recorded by faculty. Right now, I'm trying to get last minute preparations ready, as well as trying not to panic about switching planes during traveling. (I've heard way too many stories about missing flights) But I'm sure everything will be fine.
On Monday morning my dad and I took our trailer up to the Livestock Auction in hopes of finding the right cattle to add to our stock. We didn't see anything there that really persuaded us, so we just went about doing a handful of errands and getting ready for the soccer games that night. He and I coach my brother and sister's team, the Crew, and this will be our last week for the season. Several games had been rained out , so we're playing four to finish the season this week. Monday night, we won 9-0, and yesterday we won again, 7-1. Thursday and Friday will determine if we get to be undefeated this year, so we'll see what happens...
Mom and dad went up to Charlotte today to buy some clay so that my mom can turn more of her pottery (wow-is she an artist!) and tonight my siblings have piano lessons. I usually go too; however, tonight is my turn to milk our dairy cow Hershey, but I'll talk more of that later.