Kutztown Folk Festival awarded grant to host student musicians
The Outreach Committee of the Reading Musical Foundation has announced that a $3,000 grant it awarded to the Kutztown Folk Festival in January will be used to host student musicians on the Main Stage and Hoedown Stage of this year’s festival, which will run from June 29 through July 7.
Students who participate in the initiative known as Rising Stars of Tomorrow will engage with veteran musical artists like Dave Kline & The Mountain Folk Band.
Over the last year, RMF used 100% of donations to support music programs and projects that advance and advocate music education and appreciation. In total, the foundation provided more than $300,000 to nearly two dozen music organizations and area projects.
“RMF is thrilled to join the Kutztown Folk Festival’s tradition of intergenerational celebration, education, and sharing with the new Rising Stars Stage, coordinated by Dave Kline,” said Keri M. Shultz, foundation president. “This new performance outlet will give many talented young musicians the opportunity to shine and perform alongside seasoned professionals. It is surely to be a festival highlight for participants and audiences alike!”
Heather Zimmerman, festival director, is grateful and excited for the new partnership.
“The Kutztown Folk Festival is fortunate to have such a rich history of musical entertainment,” she said. “Local musicians, as well as entertainers from all over the world, have graced our stages, and our attendees have been able to enjoy the free entertainment for over 70 years. Many of our entertainers return year after year; a special example is the Lester Miller Family Dancers. They have four generations dancing and wowing visitors every year on the newly dedicated Lester Miller Family Hoedown Stage. This relationship with Reading Musical Foundation will continue to foster this tradition of friends, family and folklife for years to come.”
Interested student musicians from the Berks County area may contact RMF at 610-376-3395 for more information.
Music
The Hershey Symphony Orchestra has named pianist
Daniel Huang of Sinking Spring, a junior at Veritas Academy in Leola, winner of this year’s Young Artist Competition.
The competition was established by the symphony to celebrate young artists with superior musical ability in South Central Pennsylvania. It is open to all students enrolled in grades 7 through 11 who reside or go to school in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry or York counties. Entrants compete by preparing a concerto for solo instrument (including operatic voice) written with orchestral accompaniment.
Huang chose to perform the Liszt Piano Concerto No.1. He will receive the $1,000 William & Ruth Cagnoli Award and will perform his concerto at the September 2024 Hershey Symphony concert.
“I was impressed with Daniel’s command of the piece,” said Hershey Symphony music director and conductor Greg Woodbridge, one of the judges. “He captured the power and the elegance without ever being out of control. He plays with a rhythmic precision and a beautiful, singing tone. I am very excited that we can perform this piece for our audience. I know this will be a favorite among our season offerings.”
Huang has been studying piano for 12 years and plans to study violin performance in college.
“It has been a great honor to be selected as the winner of the Young Artist Competition,” he said. “I am very excited for this opportunity to be able to play with such an incredible orchestra and in front of an audience of so many music lovers.”
Theater
The Reading Theater Project will present “Prospect Hill” by Bruce Walsh, the second staged reading in its Play Reading Series: Wonder, on Thursday, April 25, at 7 p.m. at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts’ Boscov Theatre, 200 Washington St., Reading. Free parking is available behind the building.
Kimberly Patterson directs Walsh’s play, which takes place in a Midwestern college town. Jacob runs an in-home, sliding-scale counseling practice, partly underwritten by Rex, his wellto-do husband. But when Rex sets his savior complex on Ethan, Jacob’s working-class, drug-addicted client, the couple’s relationship fractures — then suddenly flourishes — as all three men wrestle their addictions, grievances, false idols and yearnings for a higher power.
The play was a Terrence McNally Award Finalist in 2021 at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. The cast features Lady Strongman as Jacob, Jeff Shannon as Rex, Kyle Conrad as Ethan, with Kevin Wade and Rob Weidman in supporting roles.
Walsh’s works have been produced around the country, winning the Heideman Award, the Gary Garrison National Ten Minute Play Award and the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. He will be a William Inge Center Playwright-in-Residence in 2025. He teaches literature and creative writing at Messiah University, as well as theater at Elizabethtown College.
Tickets are pay-what-youwill, with a recommended price of $10, and are available at readingtheaterproject.org