Author: Franklin Pond

Update from Tim Richardson (2008 & 2009)

Tim Richardson (2008, 2009) has been hired by University of Southern California to collaborate in their chamber music program this fall, and he will be working directly with Glenn Dicterow (the former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra).

Update from Stephen Upshaw (2003)

(From Stephen Upshaw’s newsletter) Dear friends and colleagues, After a busy summer season which ranged from the Schubert Octet in the Cheltenham Festival to a run of Lutoslawski at Sadler’s Wells with Rambert Dance, I’m writing to share a few exciting events which you might be interested in. Firstly, on October 31 I’m incredibly excited…
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Way to go, Wick Simmons!

This video by alum Wick Simmons (2009 & 2010) recently hit You Tube. He always LOVED playing. We’re so proud of him!

City Springs Festival

The Prokofiev quartet and Mozart quintet groups played very well and made us proud at the City Springs Festival (Saturday, August 11). Wish we could have tried out the big hall (much better acoustics), but we were glad to be part of the celebration. What a beautiful building and city center to represent our city!

Christopher Wang makes headlines!

Fox 5 Atlanta recently featured Christopher Wang (FIS 2013-14 & Summer 2015) for his spirit and talent, as he plays for patients inside the Winship Cancer Institute infusion center at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. Read the full article

Summer Finale Concert

Our Summer Finale Concert was on Sunday, July 29. “I was very proud of all the kids. They worked very hard and showed their best Sunday, as well as the three Community Concerts they played last week. Seeing these kids grow musically and technically, and particularly seeing them grow personally, is food for the heart.…
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Franklin Pond Students Visit a Recording Studio

We had the pleasure of visiting Bill Allgood’s new recording studio where each group was recorded and got to listen to themselves. Quite an eye-opener! After a snack provided lovingly by Gloria (his wife and Associate Principal Bassist of the ASO), we all piled into the control room where Bill showed them some of the…
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Masterclass with Tom Key

Tom Key, Artistic Director of Theatrical Outfit (next to the Rialto – easy parking & great shows) gave a FANTASTIC masterclass on Monday, July 2. The video below is just a snippet of some of the many things he did. Everyone learned a lot and we hope they will remember what they learned! The kids…
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Ronda Respess featured in local newspaper!

Ronda Respess grew up in a musical family in New Jersey. Her mother was a pianist, her father a cellist. An aunt was a professional musician in Boston.

Jun-Ching Lin Named as New Concertmaster of The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

Big news for Franklin Pond coaching artists member, Jun-Ching Lin!