Crystal Lake church to host piano recital with high school senior Feb. 19
First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake, 461 Pierson St., will host Ryan Tucker's senior piano recital at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, as the culmination and celebration of his fine achievements in music. The public is invited to attend this free event.
Ryan currently attends Prairie Ridge High School where he sings in a cappella choir, Madrigals, plays trombone in the concert, Musical Pit, jazz and marching bands and arranges instrumental accompaniments as needed for choral productions. He serves as section leader for both choir and band as well as is a student co-conductor of the Madrigal Singers. He has been selected to District 7 Level Chorus for three years and in January 2017 he will be performing for the second year in the Illinois Music Education Association's All State Chorus as well as participate in the McHenry County Honors Band. As a composer, he has attended several summers at Illinois Summer Youth Music Composition Camp where one of his compositions was used in promotional advertising for the camp and another was performed live on the radio. During his sophomore year, he submitted an original composition to the Illinois Music Education Association Composition Contest and earned second place in the Instrumental Solo-Chamber Ensemble Music category.
As a pianist, he has consistently earned exceptional scores during piano guild competitions as well as accompanied choirs and soloists for performances and college auditions. He has performed during worship services at First Congregational Church and has participated in their music program since a young child, currently singing with FCC's Alleluia Sound High School Choir and ringing with FCC's Good Vibrations High School Handbell Choir.
In addition to his volunteer service to his church, Ryan sang for 10 years in the Encore Youth Choir and was fortunate enough to travel with the Encore Touring Choir to New Orleans, the Pacific Northwest and to Austria and the Czech Republic. Ryan is an avid reader, enjoys being outdoors and has been on the High Honor Roll all four years. He has been awarded the distinction of AP Scholar with Honors, and will have successfully completed 12 AP classes by the end of his high school tenure.
His piano teacher, Eva Wedel, states "Ryan has been a part of my piano studio for 11 years, having started piano lessons at the ripe old age of 6. He has many musical talents, but the study of classical music has remained a constant in his life. His senior recital in piano will be a celebration of his work and talent and will include works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Shostakovitch, Rachmaninoff and Muczynski. Please join us."
The church is handicapped accessible. For information, call the church office at (815) 459-6010 or visit www.fcc-cl.org.