How to Go:
What: “Fourteenth Annual Giving Strings Concert”
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10
Where: 200 Block of Ridgewood Ave., Oakwood (Ridgewood is off Oakwood Avenue)
Donation: Free with donations requested for Oaktree Corner for Grieving Children. A silent auction includes gift certificates from local restaurants/stores and carbon fiber cello and violin bows.
More information, or if you’d like to join the orchestra, call William Powers at (937) 204-4360.
It’s a benefit concert that pulls at the heartstrings and strings of 100 instruments. One hundred area musicians will once again join together to raise funds for a local children’s charity.
The Fourteenth Annual “Giving Strings Concert” is slated for Saturday, Aug. 10, and will take place on the 200 block of Ridgewood Avenue in Oakwood’s Schantz Historic District. Although the event is free, it’s hoped that patrons will drop money into the hat that’s passed at the event. Proceeds this year will be donated to Oak Tree Corner, the local center for grieving children and teens. Over the years, more than $40,000 has been donated at the concerts.
“It’s not so much about the quality of the music as about raising money for the charity,” explains William Powers, an Oakwood High School junior violinist who has been involved in the project since he was a second grader. He’s organizing this year’s concert with help from his two younger brothers, Gregory and Eric. “You get the music ahead and study it, then we have one rehearsal before the concert.”
Musicians come from throughout the Greater Dayton area. The youngsters who organize the event choose the music, then consult with their conductor Patrick Reynolds, assistant conductor of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. In the past, the Dayton Philharmonic and local music teachers have opened their music libraries to the students who select music with a wide range of difficulty so that beginners can participate as well.
Through the years soloists and guest performers have taken the stage with their violins, cellos, piccolos, guitars. This year’s soloist is Sheridan Currie, principal violist of the DPO, whose 7-year-old daughter will also participate.
“It brings together a whole community of string players to support a good cause,” says Currie, who says she likes the whole idea behind “Giving Strings.” Her daughter, Eileen, is excited because it’s the first time she has ever played with an orchestra.
Some musicians return year-after-year, and there are always first-timers — like Eileen — as well. Sarah Woolson, a ninth-grader from Kettering, heard about the concert from her violin teacher and decided to sign up.
“I am very excited, but nervous,” Sarah admits. ” I’m playing a violin from 1864 that was owned by my great-grandfather’s father-in -law to play Appalachian fiddle music.”
In the Beginning
“Giving Strings” has always been a family affair, it was conceived by sisters Colleen and Julia Judge in 2000 as a way for youngsters to give back to their community. When the Judges graduated from high school, sisters Clara and Ingrid Hofeldt took over and began including both amateur and professional musicians.
Now William, who was Julia Judge’s violin student when he was 8 years old, is running the show with help from his younger siblings.
“It’s a lot of fun and there’s not a huge commitment,” says William, who says it’s not too late for musicians to join the group. The program for this summer’s concert ranges from Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” and “Eleanor Rigby” to “Irish Party in the 3rd Class” and Rimsky Korsakov’s “Dance of the Tumblers.”
Monies Raised
The annual concert traditionally raises funds for charitable organizations that impact the lives of children through donations made at the concert and a silent auction. This year’s recipient, Oak Tree Corner, provides a safe and caring environment in which children and teens from the greater Dayton area can share the death of a loved one with their peers to help develop inner strength for healthy living with loss.
Vicki Braun, director of Oaktree Corner, says her organization is pleased to be the recipient organization this year.
“We do have our main location in Oakwood and people can donate to us that night and actually look through the house after the concert,” she said.
Colleen Judge, who will return to Dayton with her sister to participate in this year’s concert, says she and her sister could never have imagined that a small neighborhood block concert would grow into a large annual community event that now attracts hundreds of people.
Carole Judge, the girls’ mother, believes organizing and participating in Giving Strings has truly shaped her daughters’ lives. Colleen spent the past two years doing research on inflammatory bowel disease at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and has moved to Pittsburgh to start a master’s/doctorate degree.
Julia worked at Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago as a pediatric oncology/hematology nurse for three years and this week will finish a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and move back to Cleveland to work at Rainbow Babies Hospital.
“Through the years, while choosing different beneficiaries, they met so many inspiring volunteers and professionals — from Libby Nicholson who runs Care House in Dayton, to the Boyle family, who through their grief established a fund to help other families of children with cancer,” Carole explains.
“They’ve both worked in pediatrics, chosen health care as a profession, continue to volunteer, and still play music in rock bands, churches and at their hospitals. Giving Strings exposed them to people from all walks of life who loved music and were willing to use their talent to help others.”
Vicki Braun, director of Oaktree Corner says they are so pleased to be the recipient organization and plan to have their Oakwood office open following the concert.
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