HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2019) – Led by guest conductor Jennie Quinn, 7th and 8th grade students in Henderson County Public Schools’ four middle school orchestras will come together in a spirit of collaboration for the annual Berrian All-County Orchestra Spring Festival on Tuesday, March 26, at Blue Ridge Community College.
Featuring middle school musicians in the spring, and high schoolers in the fall, the annual concerts are named in honor of Dr. Mae Adele Berrian, an historic honoree of the Henderson County Education Foundation who willed a large sum of money to the Foundation to start the long-term Berrian Fund for the HCPS strings programs.
Each year, the festivals provide the district’s orchestra programs the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by talented professional clinicians, improve their craft by playing challenging music selections, and give back to the community by performing a free concert.
This year, the middle school festival will feature musical selections by Deborah Baker Monday, Carold Nunez, Brian Balmages, Soon Hee Newbold, and Richard Meyer. The orchestra this year will be led by one of the district’s own orchestra directors; Quinn currently serves as orchestra director for Flat Rock Middle and East Henderson High schools.
Prior to teaching in HCPS, Quinn served as orchestra director for Shelby Intermediate and Shelby Middle Schools for 12 years. In her time teaching in North Carolina, Quinn has served as Chair of the Junior Western Regional Orchestra Auditions, Co-Chair of the Western Regional Music Performance Adjudication, and Western Regional Orchestra Chair. She also founded the Shelby Fiddlin’ Devils, an extracurricular group that performed different styles of fiddle music. Quinn holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s of Executive School Leadership from Gardner-Webb University.
The Berrian All-County Orchestra Spring Festival will take place in the Technology Education & Development Center at Blue Ridge Community College on Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. Annually a standing-room-only event, attendees are encouraged to arrive early to secure parking and seating.
As always, the concert is free to the public, though donations will be accepted by the Education Foundation to continue support of the HCPS strings program through its Berrian Fund.
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