Five BMS Students Participate in the 2014 FAIRFIELD COUNTY STRING FESTIVAL

Report and Photography by Paula Antolini

See video here: http://vimeo.com/90219148
See more photos on picturesbypaula.com

The 40th Annual Fairfield County String Festival (FCSF) took place on Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Ives Concert Hall, in White Hall, on the Midtown campus of Western Connecticut State University, 181 White Street in Danbury, CT.

This year five students from Bethel Middle School (BMS) were chosen to perform in the FCSF concert and they are eighth grade students Gia Antolini on Violin I, Cosette Domkofski on Violin I, and Hajer Shaker on Violin II, and seventh grade students Elizabeth Fagan on Cello and Jillian Paulin on Viola.  These BMS students had orchestra instruction for the last three years from BMS teacher Mr. Richard Baumer, named "2013 Teacher of the Year" by the principals and teachers at BMS.

There were 62 Connecticut students in the FCSF 8th/9th Grade Orchestra, 83 students in the 6th/7th Grade Orchestra, and 26 students in the Honors Orchestra.

Music performed by the 8th/9th Grade Orchestra was:
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, I. Moderato……….J.S. Bach arranged by Merle Isaac
Overture to Lucio Silla……….W. A. Mozart arranged by Sandra Dackow
The Billboard March………..John Klohr
Capriccio Espagnol, IV. Fandango Austriano……….by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Music performed by the 6th/7th Grade Orchestra was:
Concerto Grosso……….G.F. Handel arranged by Del Borgo
Reverie……….John Corigliano
To Tame the Raging Rapids……….Brian Balmages

Music performed by the Honors Orchestra was:
Don Quixote Suite, I. Overture……….G.F. Telemann
Pizzicato Polka……….Johann Strauss
Suite for Strings, IV. Dashing Away…..John Rutter
"Somewhere" from West Side Story……….Bernstein

The festival always includes a promising young artist as soloist at the concert.  Soloist Ankit Anil performed on Viola this year, with Alexis Zingale on Piano. (See more info. below.)  He performed Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, I. Andante comoro, by William Walton.

Through the years the festival has featured a number of prestigious conductors and performers. This year's conductors are Emmett Drake (6th/7th Grade Orchestra), Harvey Felder (Honors Orchestra), and Joseph Brennan (8th/9th Grade Orchestra). (See more info. below.)

The concert is organized for the purpose of providing a stimulating , challenging and motivating experience for selected, highly qualified, sixth through ninth grade string players, through participation in this event.  Since its inception thirty-seven years ago, the festival has maintained a high quality of musical performance and the number of student participants has increased. The event is provided by the Fairfield County String Teachers.

Past participants have also come back as soloists in the festival. Some of the soloists have gone on to illustrious careers in music.  

Students participating in the Fairfield County String Festival are from the following towns: Bethel, Bridgeport, Danbury, Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, New Canaan, New Milford, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Shelton, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton.

It is an honor to participate in the Fairfield County String Festival.

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ABOUT THE CONDUCTORS

Emmett Drake

Originally from Long Island, NY, Emmett Drake is currently the Director of Suzuki Orchestras at the Hartt School in West Hartord, CT where he also teaches composition and coaches chamber music. Mr. Drake has had many engagements as a guest conductor/clinician. Recent appearances include the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (CT), The Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas (MN), CMEA Eastern Regional Festical (CT), and Westchester All County Youth Orchestra (NY).  This year he will conduct the CMEA Southern Regional Festival Orchestra, the Fairfield County String Orchestra, as well as the Suzuki Yout Orchestra of the Americas.  Emmett is also active unmusical theater, having served as musical director/conductor for over 65 unique productions since 2006, working with high schools and community theaters across the state as well as the Playhouse on Park, Hartford Stage, West Hartford Summer Arts Festival, and Hartt Summer Vocal Institute; Music Theater Intensive.  Aside from his duties at the Hartt School, Mr. Drake is part of the 3penny Chorus and Orchestra, a volunteer group that was featured in this past season of NBC's "America's Got Talent," and he is currently the Director of Orchestra at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford, CT.

Harvey Felder

Described by the Milwaukee Sentinel as "a thoughtful and sincere musician, with a stylish, poised podium presence," Harvey Felder is currently the Music Director of the Tacoma Symphony.  The Tacoma News Tribune has said of his leadership, "…Felder has instilled a high level of ensemble discipline and energized musicians."  Equally at home with repertoire ranging from Bach and Mahler to Gershwin and Ellington, Mr. Felder leads the Tacoma Symphony in a season of subscription, family, education, outreach and pops concerts.  Also active as a guest conductor, Harvey Felder made his Carnegie Hall debut during the 1991 "Carnegie Hall 100th Celebration," leading the American Symphony Orchestra in a series of young people's concerts. These appearances launched and extensive guest conducting career throughout the United States.  He conducted the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in outreach, education and family concerts, as well as a holiday concert that was nationally televised on PBS. With the Chicago Symphony, Mr. Felder has lead family and education concerts, as well as a nationally televised concerto competition concert on PBS. Outisde of the U.S. Mr. Felder has appeared with the Osaka Telemann Chamber Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estados de Mexico, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Mikkeli City Orchestra of Finland and the New Japan Philharmonic. He has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Alicia de Larrocha, Sarah Chang, Jeffrey Siegel, Jennifer Koh, Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Ida Kavafian, Jose Feghali, Nathaniel Rosen, Leon Bates, and pops artists Doc Severenson, Maureen McGovern, the Dallas Brass and Marvin Hamlisch. He currently serves as th symphony orchestra director at UCONN.  

Joseph Brennan

Joseph Brennan received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education from Temple University while studying violin with Julian Meyer.  While at Temple University, Mr. Brennan also participated in small ensembles on trumpet.  He is the director of the string program at Haverford Middle and High Schools, a position he has held for the last 25 years.  He directs three orchestras at the secondary level and also teaches  general music at the Middle School.  In 2006, Mr. Brennan was recognized by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) with the Citation of Excellence Award. Mr. Brennan has presented past sessions as American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conferences, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, National Association of Music Educators (NAfME) conferences, PMEA Conferences, other state music educator conferences in Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, and Delaware, as well as a (NAfME) sponsored string workshop at Temple University.He is an active violinist and trumpeter throughout the Philadelphia area. Mr. Brennan lives in Hainesport, New Jersey with his wife and children and enjoys doing many DIY homeowner projects.  Since being a kidney donor, Mr. Brennan has been an advocate for organ donor awareness.

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ABOUT THE SOLOIST

Ankit Anil

Ankit Anil is a senior at Fairfield Warde High School and an alumni of the Fairfield County String Festival. He has performed at The Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, and Lincoln Center, and has been a part of many prestigious organizations.  Ankit has performed with the NAFME 2012 All-National Honors Orchestra and the 2013 All-Eastern Honors Orchestra, is a former member of the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras, and hs been chosen for principal and assistant principals positions in Region and All-State orchestras. He was a merit scholarship recipient of the 2012 Aria International Music Academy and the 2013 Foulger International Music Festival.  Ankit holds principal chair of the Norwalk Youth Symphony and was named winner of the NTS Concerto Competition. He was also chosen as a winner of the 2013 Eastman Award from Rochester's Eastman School of Music.  Ankit's teachers include Rita Porfiris of the Hartt School, Teo Tetel, and Carrie Mascaro. He serves as a student board member of Chamber Music Central of Westport, CT, as well as a member of the National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and the New York Viola Society.