String recital Oct. 17 to benefit local food pantry

The community is invited to a string recital, hosted by Jerry and Annette Johns, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1915 N. First St., DeKalb.

The recital will feature family members and a friend of the Smelser family of DeKalb.

Cellist Linc Smelser is the conductor and music director of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a musician with the Grant Park Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Chicago, and a faculty member of Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University. Ann Montzka Smelser, violinist and violist, is the concertmaster and principal violinist of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, director of the Suzuki Strings Program and a faculty member at Northern Illinois University, and principal violinist of Camerata Chicago.

Violinists Genevieve Smelser and Michael Siess are juniors at the Cleveland Institute of Music, are both premier winners of the 2015 Concerto Competition at CIM, and have played with the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

A freewill offering benefits the Community Food Pantry. For more information about the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, visit www.kishorchestra.org or "like" the orchestra on Facebook.