Benefit Concert!!

I'm finally achieving my goal to put on a Benefit Concert for Childhood Cancer Research.  I am thrilled to share the news that several very talented musicians have agreed to donate a performance!

Mark your calendar and come if you can.  If you can't make it, please consider donating to childhood cancer research in honor of Erin.

Cache Valley audiences will recognize Vanessa Ballam in her recent role as Maria, in the Sound of Music.  She spent three years as a Resident Actor at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria and last year as a visiting professor of Theatre at Utah State University.  Vanessa currently serves as Education Director at UFMOT continuing the tradition of Arts Education in the lives of the youth of our Valley.  A former Miss Utah, Vanessa received the Bert Parks talent award while at the Miss America Pageant.

Pianist Brandon Lee has been thrilling audiences for well over 20 years.  Brandon has won first place in more than 40 state, regional, and national competitions.  He has soloed with the Utah Symphony three times and with orchestras in Colorado and California.  He has had the privilege of working with such artists as Leon Fleisher, Stephen Hough, and Olga Kern.

At the age of 8, Trenton Chang, won 1st place in the UMTA State Piano Concerto Competition.  In 2009 and 2011 Trenton was chosen to perform with the Utah Symphony in Abravanel Hall.  In May 2010 he was invited to perform the entire Mozart Concerto No. 23 in the Beverly Sorenson Young Artists.  This March, Trenton appeared on NPR's From the Top.  Trenton is enjoying 8th grade and loves to hike and travel.

Stefan Espinosa has appeared in theaters across the United States, from the central coast of California tothe Bayou's of Texas. Currently Stefan serves as the Conservatory Director for Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre where he also teaches acting and musical theatre classes.  This Summer Stefan will appear in leading roles in three OLRC shows including Huckleberry Finn from Big River.  

Sophie Spreier is in her second year studying Music Performance at Utah State University. Playing music has brought Sophie to audiences in Mexico, Canada, and multiple states with her favorite experience being a trip to New York City for a lesson with Yo-Yo Ma. Sophie aspires to become a freelance studio musician in the film industry.

Nicole Tolson began violin studies at age four and competed in her first National violin competition and was chosen to play at the Suzuki Association of America conference, five years later.  By age eleven, she was touring Poland, with a special performance in Prague and Poland. Throughout her teen years she performed in Florence, Rome, Siena, and Venice.  Nicole is a scholarship student at Utah State University majoring in violin performance and performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto as a soloist with the Utah State University Orchestra in 2011.

Azure Kline is honored to be asked to take part in the support of children's cancer research. She started playing the cello twelve years ago, and over the years her passion for music has grown and developed into a life long desire to bless those who hear her, and to share God's love with them. Apart from playing the cello, she loves spending time with her family, hiking, and learning about the american constitutional system. Azure is a senior at Sky View High School, and currently a student of Anne Francis Bayless.