Band to feature young soloist
When the Palatine Concert Band takes to the stage for its concert May 11, it will have a special featured soloist -- 17-year-old Sarah Finegan.
Sarah, a senior at Fremd High School and the daughter of Robert and Anne Finegan of Palatine, recently won the Concert Band's student soloist competition. She will be performing Cecile Chaminade's Concertino for Flute.
This is not Sarah's first musical achievement. She is the principal flute in Fremd's top band, the Wind Symphony, and in the Fremd Symphony Orchestra. She also leads the Fremd Flute Choir. She was selected as principal flute for the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA) All-State Honors Orchestra in 2008 and the year before placed as second chair flute in the IMEA All-State Honors Band.
She also has been selected on three occasions for the Palatine-Schaumburg District 211 Honors Orchestra and was principal flute for the District 211 Honors Band as well. In addition, she recently was one of four winners of the Fremd Concerto/Aria Competition and appeared with the Fremd Symphony Orchestra.
"I wanted to enter (the Concert Band contest) because I always love the chance to perform and share music with others. It is quite an honor to be selected as the guest soloist and I am very excited to solo with the band," Sarah said. "The Palatine Concert Band is an excellent band. I already had one rehearsal with them and I found them to be excellent musicians and very responsive to my playing. I also really enjoyed myself because they are a lot of fun to work with and made me feel at home right away."
Sarah plans to pursue a career in music education. Ultimately, her dream is to become a college music professor.
The Concert Band has had student soloists in the past, but not for about 10 years, said John Baumgart of the Palatine Concert Band.
"The main reasons we wanted to start this up were to present some of the talented musicians in our local high schools the opportunity to perform with us and to strengthen our presence in the community," Baumgart said.
The Concert Band plans to make the student soloists competition, which is open to all District 211 students, an annual event, he added.
The Palatine Concert Band performance featuring Finegan will be at 7:30 p.m. May 11 at Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St., Palatine. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for students and will be available at the door.
Feed the Starving: The group Feed My Starving Children will be at some churches in the area, providing opportunities for volunteers to put together simple meal packets that are sent to starving children in Third World countries. My family and I volunteered with this group at an Arlington Heights church in the past. It is a wonderful chance for families with children ages 5 and older to volunteer together and make a difference.
St Mark Lutheran Church, 200 S. Wille St. in Mount Prospect, is providing food-packing opportunities through Sunday. Shifts are: 9:30-11:30 a.m., 1:30-3:30 p.m., 4-6 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m. today and Saturday; and 9:30-11:30 a.m. and noon-2 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call, (847) 253-0631.
Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington is also sponsoring food-packing opportunities at various locations. The Palatine-area one is May 4 at Thomas Jefferson School, 3805 Winston Drive, Hoffman Estates, with shifts from noon-2 p.m., 2:30-4:30 p.m. and 5-7:15 p.m. To sign up or for more information on other available sites and times, see www.willowcreek.org.
Feed My Starving Children also has a permanent Chicago-area site that recently opened at 555 Exchange Court in Aurora. For more information about Feed My Starving Children, visit the Web site at www.fmsc.org.