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News Release

Last modified: Monday, February 6, 2006

IU Jacobs School students to showcase talent in Kennedy Center program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 6, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Eight students from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will perform on Feb. 14 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., for an audience of aspiring young artists and music connoisseurs. The performance is part of the center's Conservatory Project, a week-long concert series designed to showcase artists from America's leading music schools.

The 6 p.m. performance on the Millennium Stage in the Terrace Theater is free and open to the public and will be streamed live on the Web at 6 p.m. EST. The streamed concert will be available at https://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium.

The Conservatory Project, now in its third year, aims to inspire middle school and high school students to be part of the performing arts at the college level and introduces audiences to musicians destined to have important careers.

"Some of these artists are right on the cusp of making that leap to the forefront of the consciousness of the music public," said Garth Ross, director of programming for the Millennium Stage.

Jacobs School students selected to participate include pianist Ayako Toba, baritone Christopher Bolduc, soprano Jing Zhang, violist Frederieke Saeijs, and the Kuttner Quartet, which features violinists Sarah Kim and Robin Scott, violist Yoo-jin Cho and cellist Ana Kim.

Their program includes works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Strauss, Puccini, Charpentier and Sarasate. The Kuttner Quartet, which changes members annually, features four of the top string players in the Jacobs School of Music.

"In a way, it's the first chance I get to play in a fantastic hall in a major city in the states," said Frederieke Saeijs, a student of IU violin professor Mauricio Fuks who won first prize in the prestigious Long-Thibaud International Violin Competition in Paris last October. Saeijs said she is excited "to play for the people -- that is my dream and passion -- to share a musical story with the public, to feel that the people are listening, and to experience the atmosphere and acoustics in the Kennedy Center."

"I think it's a great honor for me to be selected to perform there," said Jing Zhang, a student of Chancellor's Professor of Music Costanza Cuccaro and Professor Gary Arvin. "The Kennedy Center is like a dream place for performers to be. It's one of the most important places to perform, and it's a big step in my career to be able to do this."

The Conservatory Project presents classical music, jazz, musical theater and opera performances bi-annually, in February and May. Past performances by IU music students can be viewed at https://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=SCHMUSINDU.

To read about IU violinist Frederieke Saeijs and her victory in the Long-Thibaud International Violin Competition, go to https://info.music.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/2598.html.

For more about the IU Jacobs School of Music, visit https://www.music.indiana.edu.

For more information or to speak to any of the students performing at the Kennedy Center, contact Ryan Piurek, IU Media Relations, at 812-855-5393 or rpiurek@indiana.edu, or Alain Barker, IU Jacobs School of Music, at 812-856-5719 or abarker@indiana.edu.

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