Plenty of strings attached
Porterville Strings host Summer Concert Series
Porterville has been a long-standing pillar for music. With the legacy of names like Buck Schaffer, The Porterville Panther Band and Jim Kusserow, upholding music within the community is valued.
This is why Porterville Strings, a local non-profit organization, has been able to gain support over the past 11 years.
The vision of Porterville Strings began with Porterville’s Rodelyn Lipumano-smith, who with support of music educators like Pamela Aucutt, sought to establish a music education program of high caliber for youth in the greater Porterville area.
The flagship program of the organization is its annual summer program, which hosts an enrollment of 70-90 students each year, representing all schools in the Porterville Unified School District. Its teaching faculty of 15 include nine master’s degrees, three doctorates, an associate principal cellist of the Bakersfield Symphony and alumni from varying prestigious music schools such as IU Jacobs School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Lynn University and USC.
The Porterville Strings have five dates set for their summer concert series this year, all in July. Three of the five are free and open to the public, while the remaining two have a small ticket fee.
The Porterville Strings will host its first of a five part concert series on July 9 at the Porterville Adventist Church. This concert will host the Chamber Orchestra Concert and will begin at 6 p.m.
The second event will be a benefit concert held at Stafford’s Chocolates on July 11 as part of a wine and chocolate fund
raiser. Tickets for this event are $30 a piece and include a raffle ticket, wine, chocolate and more. This concert begins at 7 p.m.
The second annual Porterville Strings Sunset Serenade dinner and silent auction is slated for July 13 at the River Island Country Club. Tickets for this event are $50 per person, and limited seating is available. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6:30.
The annual faculty recital will be held on July 16 inside the Porterville College Choir Room beginning at 7 p.m., and the final concert in the series will be the summer camp student concert on July 20 at Harmony Magnet Academy beginning at 2 p.m.
Tickets for the benefit concert or the Sunset Serenade may be purchased online at portervillestrings.org or in person at Stafford’s Chocolates or the River Island Country Clubhouse. For more information on the summer concert series, please call (559) 791-8115.