Thursday, February 20, 2014

Camphill Kimberton presents Astral Artists, March 12 at 7:30 pm in Rose Hall



Camphill Village Kimberton Hills will present a free classical music concert on Wednesday, March 12, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

Performers Adam Fry, bass-baritone, and Dizhou Zhao, piano, from Astral Artists, an organization that guides and promotes the nation’s most extraordinary emerging classical musicians, will offer an evening of music in Camphill Kimberton’s Rose Hall.

Astral Artists is a non-profit organization whose mission is to discover the most promising classical musicians residing in the United States, assist their early professional career development and present their world-class artistry to the community through concerts and outreach programs.  Camphill Kimberton is pleased to once again host these gifted musicians.

There is no charge for the concert, which is underwritten by the generosity of the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation.  Donations will be accepted at the door.

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is located at 1601 Pughtown Road, Kimberton, Pa. Please use Google Maps, and not your GPS system to locate our community.

For more information and/or directions, please visit www.camphillkimberton.org.


ADAM FRY, bass-baritone


Bass-baritone Adam Fry recently completed his tenure in Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artist Program. While at Pittsburgh Opera, he performed such roles as Basilio in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, the Mandarin in Barbe and Doucet’s production of Puccini’s Turandot, the 1st Officer in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, and the Marchese in Verdi’s La traviata. A winner of Astral Artists’ 2013 National Auditions, Mr. Fry was also a prizewinner in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a Finalist in the Lotte Leyna Competition. Recently, he made his Erie Philharmonic debut as soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and performed the roles of Nourabad in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca, and Pasha Selim in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. He returned to the Erie Philharmonic for Rossini’s Stabat Mater and, in the 2012-2013 season, returned to Pittsburgh Opera as a guest artist in the roles of Count Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto and the Imperial Commissioner in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Since making his Dayton Opera debut as the Imperial Commissioner, Mr. Fry has returned to Dayton for Mandarin in Turandot and the Doctor/Servant in Verdi’s Macbeth. He has also appeared as Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La cenerentola with Union Avenue Opera. In the summer of 2009, Mr. Fry was a member of Glimmerglass Opera’s esteemed Young American Artist Program where, as a cover, he went on to perform Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and the Marchese d’Obigny and Dottore Grenvil in Jonathan Miller’s La traviata. He returned to Glimmerglass in 2010 to perform Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. He has also been a member of the Chautauqua Young Artist Program and the Lake George Opera Studio Program. While pursuing an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music degree at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Mr. Fry performed such roles as Colline in Puccini’s La bohème, Don Basilio, Man with a Cornet Case in Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, and Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.



DIZHOU ZHAO, piano

Fanfare Magazine says pianist Dizhou Zhao “offers the blend of passion and intelligence that characterizes the mature artist” and that he “lives fully in the music.” Born and raised in China, Dizhou Zhao began studying the piano at the age of four in his hometown of Shanghai, and by age seven he had performed his first public concert and won First Prize in a competition in Shanghai. Just one year later, he was invited to record five of Mozart’s piano sonatas. At age 17, with only ten-days’ notice, he performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. The winner of numerous competition prizes, Mr. Zhao captured the top prize at Australia’s Southern Highlands International Piano Competition, the International Keyboard Institute & Festival’s Dorothy MacKenzie Artist Recognition Scholarship Awards, and the Louisiana International Piano Competition. He is a winner of Astral Artists’ 2012 National Auditions. Mr. Zhao performed Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto with famed Italian pianist Stefano Miceli in Boston’s Tsai Performance Center in 2010, with the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also the featured soloist in Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include a series of all-Chopin recitals in Texas and appearances at the Bergamot Music Festival and the New York Piano Festival. In 2008, Mr. Zhao recorded his debut solo CD in Moscow, for the Classical Records label. Dizhou Zhao came to the U.S. in 1999, to study at the New England Conservatory, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree with a distinguished performance award and studied with Russell Sherman and Patricia Zander. He also holds a Master’s degree from NEC, under Alexander Korsantia. He is currently the Executive Artistic Director of the Happy Day Music Performing Arts Center in Troy, Michigan.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Camphill Kimberton ED Felicity Jeans among graduates of the Community Health Leadership Academy


New Community Leaders Celebrate 

article and photo courtesy of Phoenixville Community Health Foundation

It all started on September 4, 2013 when nine individuals began their leadership journey through the Community Health Leadership Academy. These committed community volunteers met one evening a week for 11 weeks, learning from experts, both locally and nationally based, on aspects of leadership. They have had to apply their new-found knowledge by developing a community service project that will benefit the greater Phoenixville community.

The students and their projects are: Karen Bearden who is re-designing the GRIMES after-school program; Robert Fedick, Jr. who is designing a web-based sharing program called “ShareOurStuff.org;” Felicity Jeans, Executive Director at Camphill Kimberton, who has instituted a Community Craft Conference for the Camphill communities; Kim Howard who has started her journey to develop Growing Up Farms to provide healthy foods to those in need; Christine Keisling has begun a campaign to ensure the Philadelphia Freedom YMCA is accessible to people of all abilities; Gloria Kelly is collaborating with meals programs and food cupboards to ensure access to all in need; and Margie Watson is developing an initiative called “Reclaiming Yourself” to empower teen girls against bullying and abuse.

l/r: Bob Fedick, Felicity Jeans, Gloria Kelly, [Lynn Hartman, PCHF] Karen Bearden, Margie Watson, Christine Keisling, Kim Howard


“The Community Health Leadership Academy is designed for adults who want to become more involved in their community,” said Lynn Pike Hartman, Phoenixville Community Health Foundation Vice President for Programs and Academy Facilitator. During the graduation luncheon at the Freedoms Foundation on November 26, Hartman encouraged all of the graduates to continue their leadership journey and their desire to create positive change in their communities. Hartman said, “I hope you have come to understand that leadership is not a one-size-fits-all jacket you can take off the hanger and put on. Instead it is personal qualities that show you to be a person of strength and integrity. Show the world, and this community, the true leaders that I know you are.”

The Community Health Leadership Academy is sponsored by the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation and the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations. The mission of the Academy is to provide a vehicle to identify, train and empower greater Phoenixville area citizens for leadership roles that promote our community’s health and advance its quality of life.

Dr. Louis Beccaria, President and CEO of the Foundation, addressed the graduates. Beccaria said. “This Academy is designed to grow future Champions of the Community, and with now 105 graduates, the program is having a positive impact on the greater Phoenixville community.”

For more information on the Community Health Leadership Academy please contact Lynn Pike Hartman, Vice President-Programs, Phoenixville Community Health Foundation at 610-917-9890 or LPHartman@pchf1.org.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Have you found a match?

Michael and Charlene - a great match!  
I just spent five minutes validating a matching gift request.  Only five minutes to receive an additional $500 for our Village Support Fund.

How can that be?

Matching gift programs are charitable giving programs set up by corporations in which the company matches donations made by employees to eligible nonprofit organizations. Through these programs, when you make a donation your company will also make a donation to the charity in the same amount or “match” your gift. Some companies will even double or even triple match a donor’s gifts.

Today's donor made a $500 contribution to us in December. He requested a matching gift from his employer. The company contacted us to make sure he made the donation, I just validated it, and in a week or so, the company will send us an additional $500 gift.  With just five minutes of time, our donor's contribution was doubled!

How can you find a match?

Speak with a representative at your company to see if they participate in a matching gift program and see if Camphill Kimberton is eligible to receive matching gift funds. If your gift is eligible, simply request a matching gift form or website link from your employer, and send it and your contribution to Camphill Kimberton's Development Office, or make your gift online here.

Some companies who have recently matched gifts are:
Glaxo Smith Kline
Intuit
Johnson & Johnson
Swiss Re
UBS

Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions.  Thanks for your continued support!

Bernadette Kovaleski, Director of Development
bernadette@camphillkimberton.org

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

9,803 volunteer hours!


from guest blogger, Mimi Coleman

It’s February; I’m celebrating!

“Why February?” you may ask, “The holidays are over; why celebrate now?”




Because I finished tallying all the day-volunteer hours for 2013 and it came to 9803 hours total.  That is so many hours!

That includes all non-resident volunteers: individuals, summer volunteers, and groups.  All these interested people put in a lot of hours collectively and we are all very grateful for that.  I calculated that it would take one person almost five years to put in that many hours, working 40 hours per week!




So that is why I am celebrating!  The numbers of volunteers, all of their hours, the great help you all gave in 2013, the better system for tracking hours that I put together with the help of my faithful volunteer-friend Barbara, I celebrate all that, and ask you to celebrate, too!  Keep volunteering.  Bring a group out to work for the day.  Do the day-volunteer ‘victory dance’ when you finish a hard day of work.  It all goes to a great cause here at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills.


And, if you or your friends or family are interested in volunteering, please contact me.  I am often available for tours and to welcome new volunteers.  

Thanks again!

Mimi Coleman
Day Volunteer Coordinator