Governor's School bands play for children 10/28/2009 7:47 PM
By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
Amy Kellems helped Silver Bluff High School's Silver Spirit band win two AA state titles in 2005 and 2007.
For the past two years, she has studied bassoon at the Governor's School for the Arts in Greenville. Kellems was delighted to be back in Aiken County for a concert with her Governor's School classmates Tuesday.
She and other wind ensemble members gave a concert for A.L. Corbett Middle School students Wednesday, and the strings musicians performed at Schofield Middle School.
"It's great to be able to see people again who supported me and helped me get here," Kellems said. "Governor's School really means a lot, allowing me to focus on music, which I really love."
Kellems plans to attend the University of Georgia as a music education major and will consider coming back to the area in a few years, she said.
The appearance of the Governor's School students meant a lot to Corbett Principal Dr. Debbie Bass. Her daughter, Alexis, attended the school as a percussionist, graduating in 2002. Now working in advertising and marketing, Alexis is still interested in music, her mother said.
"The Governor's School was a fabulous experience for the students and it provided a lot of quality entertainment for the adults, too," Bass said. "We really enjoyed all the concerts. I'm really proud that our students at Corbett are interested in the arts. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to see what it can lead to. Everybody understands that the arts creates a wonderful foundation for the students."
Corbett eighth-graders Shakayla Wells and Kimberly Mason said they enjoyed the concert.
"I like how they stay on the beat and play the right notes," Shakayla said.
Band Director Seth Forston brought Wagener-Salley High School band members to hear the concert, too. He welcomed the chance for them to hear a semi-professional ensemble perform so well with limited numbers, which is often the case at smaller schools such as Wagener-Salley.
"They gave our students an idea of the level of commitment it takes with private lessons and hours of study," Forston said.
Forston acknowledged that most of his band students won't play music professionally, but "it's important to make them lifelong lovers of music, which helps society as a whole. As the next generation of consumers of music, they will help the industry.'"
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title: Enjoyment
I was there I'm one of the band students at A.L. Corbett the performance. Mr. Forston talked to us about going to the school for high school if we wanted too. I mean now that I've seen how good they are I want to go!
Posted by: On: 10/30/2009
Comment Title: Awesome performers!
The Governor's School band is an amazing group of extremely talented young people that are very dedicated to growing their talents as musicians. Aiken County should be very proud to have produced such an awesome music performer as Amy Kellems.
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