A Youth Conservatory for Music
student at Park University has been selected for a fellowship at
the 2008 John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts/National Symphony
Orchestra National Trustees' Summer Music Institute.
Jonathan Dawson, 14, Leawood, Kan., just
completed his first year at Shawnee Mission East High School. He started with
the Suzuki violin method at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He studies
with Gregory Sandomirsky at the Youth Conservatory for Music, part of the International
Center for Music at Park University. “It’s a great program where you learn
from others and it’s competitive too,” he says.
The fellowship gives Jonathan a full scholarship
to participate in the institute this July in Washington, D.C. As part of the
fellowship, Jonathan also will perform in one of the four chamber music concerts
at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Every summer about 70 young students
attend the summer institute. They will have private lessons, rehearsals, coaching
by National Symphony Orchestra members, classes and lectures to prepare aspiring
musicians for their futures in music.
Jonathan auditioned for the Washington
D.C. festival with a recording of the third movement of “Concerto No. 3 in
B Minor” by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns. “I also had to send an application
about my interest in the program and what I hope to gain from this experience.
I look forward to meeting new friends.”
Jonathan will also participate in the
Endless Mountain Music Festival Academy this summer in Wellsboro, Pa. He will
receive coaching and participate with the Festival Orchestra.
“Playing violin is hard work. You
have to work at anything you do, just like schoolwork, sports, just like anything
else that requires practice. Like other activities, there is competition and
lots of preparation. I try to get in three hours of practice daily.”
Jonathan says these festivals are golden
opportunities and a chance to compete against others nationally. Competitions,
including those locally, give him a chance to see what he wants to become musically.
“Music opens many doors,” he says. “I may look at composing or performance.
I am developing my own style.”
www.park.edu/icm/
