The first Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Insider’s Evening took place on Tuesday, October 9 at a gorgeous home in Buckhead. Jun-Ching Lin and his son, Nicholas played a movement of a Brahms Violin Sonata. What a fabulous duo! Then the Franklin Pond Quartet (Jun-Ching, Carolyn Hancock, Paul Murphy and Danny Laufer) played Gershwin Lullaby and Haydn (“Frog Quartet” of course!). What a wonderfully inspiring evening. THANK YOU all!
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!
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. I love these kids!”
-Ronda Respess
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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 ins and outs of recording. It was a great opportunity for all. THANK you, Bill Allgood and Gloria. This is just one of the great opportunities Franklin Pond kids have. Join us during the year for Fall Into Spring and experience all the opportunities Franklin Pond provides!
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 and Tom all had fun. It was the first full day Summer session and we were all pretty tired by 5:30.
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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.
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Big news for Franklin Pond coaching artists member, Jun-Ching Lin!
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Danny Laufer came to give a masterclass on Thursday, July 12. It’s always great to have him here.
We spent the day with the Vega Quartet on Monday, July 16. We always look forward to that. Exhausting, but great.
We are all back safe and sound and had a great time at the retreat at University of Georgia in Dahlonega. They are great partners. Day 3 and 4 brought, of course, more rehearsals and coaching, a rhythm class, a body mapping class with Dr. William Johnston and the coaching artists concert Saturday evening with guest cellist Hilary Glen and Bill Johnston on viola. We wound up Sunday with a delicious lunch at the Smith House. The kids made an amazing amount of progress in just a few days. They are truly a remarkable and wonderful group of young musicians.