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This award can be given yearly to an outstanding new member of the string teaching profession in recognition of meritorious service and outstanding promise in string and orchestra education. The winner of the award must be a current member of KASTA with NSOA and must be actively teaching at the time of the award. The teacher must have completed from 1 to 7 years of string teaching and must demonstrate exceptional dedication to teaching and involvement in professional activities.

Kansas American Strings Teachers Association welcomes you to our site. If you want to receive information or want to join us, please email. mac5@aol.com or choose the membership link to the left.

A big thank you to Meyer Music, Starkey Music and Senseney Music for their support of String Romp.

The Community Chamber Orchestra will be performing with EMC Artist violinist Andrew Sords on Friday, April 23 at 7:00pm in the Flint Hills Christian School at Green, located at 501 North St., Green, KS 67447. On the first half of the concert Sords will perform the ever-popular "Summer" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concerto set and "Rondo" by Schubert. The Orchestra will be using its loaned KSU Sabathil Double Harpsichord (which was placed at the Green Christian School in 2008) during the performance of "Summer." After intermission, the Orchestra will play a selection of popular works including "Summertime" and "Moon River."

Tickets are available in advance from Orchestra members or Director Anne Clark at 785-926-4725, bclark@diodecom.net, or 454 23rd Rd., Morganville KS 67468-9117. Individual tickets are $5 and family tickets are $13.00.

Violinist Andrew Sords has established himself as the preeminent new face of classical violin. Already a 9-year veteran of the concert stage, Sords has recently toured with the Brahms, Bruch, Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky violin concerti to critical acclaim. He is the winner of the 2005 National Shirley Valentin Violin Award, the 2004 and 2005 National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, the Fortnightly Music Club of Cleveland and the Festival de la Orquesta Sinfonica de las Americas Competition of the Casals Festival among others. The 2009-2010 season will showcase the concerti of Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert and Tchaikovsky.

Sords completed his undergraduate education at the Cleveland Institute of Music with violin pedagogues Linda Cerone and David Russell, and performed for the legendary Midori in masterclasses in New York and at the University of Southern California. Most recently, Sords studied under internationally acclaimed violinist Chee-Yun at The Southern Methodist University of Dallas, Texas. Having been exposed to the international stage, Sords has performed in American concert halls and venues in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.

Members of Community Chamber Orchestra perform without a conductor and commute from home locations in Green, Clay Center, Morganville, Wamego, Olsburg, Junction City, and Manhattan. New musicians of all ages in North Central Kansas may join year round, and family members are encouraged to participate. The Orchestra has ongoing sales of sheet music and an original 2-CD set, "Music of the Kansas Pioneers" which can be viewed on its website. This concert is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency which believes that a great nation deserves great art. The Clay Center Area Chamber of Commerce and Clay County Arts Council, as well as many business, individual, and organizational sponsors, are bringing this concert to the rural North Central Kansas community. Sponsors can be seen on the website, and new donations for this event may be contributed through the week before the concert. (A poster of the concert is attached, which the Orchestra asks you to print and post in your location.)

Please visit www.andrewsords.com, the official website of Andrew Sords. Sords is represented by EMC Artists, Ltd. Contact emcartists@gmail.com for press or booking inquiries.