Summerville Orchestra sees momentum with new staff, partnership
Education and outreach programming see boost
Summerville Orchestra is having itself a month.
Last week, it
announced DeAnndra Glenn as the inaugural director and education coordinator for the new Summerville Orchestra Youth Philharmonic (S.O. Youth Philharmonic) and education program, bringing "a wealth of teaching and performing experience to the position," according to a news release.
Glenn (right) has taught strings students of all ages in the Charleston area since 2005 and has performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the North Charleston POPS! and with Mannheim Steamroller, Michael Bublé and Michael W. Smith among many others.
She was conductor of the Charleston County School District Honors Orchestra from 2005 to 2010, and served for seven years as a strings instructor for both the Charleston County School district summer SMAART (Students Mastering the Academic Arts) program and the West Ashley middle and high schools.
Glenn founded Charleston Violin Studio, and many of her violin and viola students have gained admission to the Charleston County School District School of the Arts, Rollings School of the Arts, the Lowcountry Region and South Carolina All-State Orchestras and the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra.
She holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the University of Montana and a South Carolina teaching certification in instrumental music. She received her training in the Suzuki method and “Every Child Can!” from East Carolina University. She studied locally under the College of Charleston’s Lee-Chin Siow.
Glenn and S.O. staff will work with area school music instructors to identify and audition students for participation. Auditions will be held on Monday, Sept. 19, 6-7 p.m., at Alston Middle School, 500 Bryan St., Summerville. Additional information is available at www.summervilleorchestra.org/youth.
The S.O. Youth Philharmonic is being made possible through a $10,000
Term Arts Education Project grant from the SCAC. The mission of the Youth Philharmonic program is to provide an affordable youth orchestra experience to public, private and charter school students as well as home-schooled students in the tri-county. The Youth Philharmonic is scheduled to perform three concerts this year and will also conduct workshops and summer programs that engage students throughout the year.
[caption id="attachment_51010" align="alignright" width="350"]
A Summerville Orchestra string quarter performs. Provided photo.[/caption]
Additionally,
a new partnership the orchestra announced will bring music and art together in a new series featuring the Summerville Orchestra (S.O.) String Quartet at the Public Works Arts Center (PWAC).
Titled “A Musical SPARK,” the first of four free Saturday concert/art experiences, or PWAC Strolls, will be held on Sept. 24 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the PWAC at 135 W. Richardson Ave. This performance will include selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Children’s Album,” the music of PIXAR and more – music inspired by and about our youth – to highlight the featured SPARK exhibition concurrently on display at PWAC.
Registration for the launch event is required and is open here on a first-come, first-served basis. S.O.’s PWAC Stroll events will also be held in December, February and May.
“Following the overwhelming community support for our Encore Series, we have sought ways to expand the reach of our free performances,” said
Andrew Price, S.O.’s executive director. “This collaboration with the Public Works Arts Center allows us to not only increase the number of free concerts, but to expand our offerings to include an interactive, multi-sensory arts experience for attendees.”
Reservations will be available on the S.O.’s website beginning approximately two weeks before each PWAC Stroll event. To maximize the number of participants who can participate in this immersive arts experience, there will be three 30-minute attendance slots for this first PWAC Stroll, and registrants will be invited to select one 30-minute window for participation.
There will be a cash- or check-only bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase for $5 – state-issued ID required.
Additional PWAC Series dates and programs for the 2022/2023 season include the following:
- Sat., Dec. 17: Strings for the Season. A selection of holiday works by American composers will be paired with the work of artist Kent Ambler, the featured PWAC artist on exhibition.
- Sat., Feb. 25: Water in Color. This performance will feature works by composers from around the world exploring themes of water, color palettes and the portrayal of daily life, to be paired with the work of featured PWAC artist Andrea Hazel.
- Sat., May 6: Abstract Chaos. Ensemble members will perform works by minimalist and Impressionist composers, exploring themes of layer, chaos, order, collage and color palettes to highlight the work of featured studio artists Anna Dean and Kate Ritchie.
All performances will run from 6:30-8 p.m. Registration for PWAC Stroll #1: A Musical SPARK is now open at
https://summervilleorchestra.org/pwac-announcement/.
To learn about the current gallery exhibits, visit
https://www.publicworksartcenter.org/.
The Summerville Orchestra seeks to share its love of music by engaging and enriching the community through the orchestral art form. The 75-member orchestra performs an annual subscription series of five concerts at the Summers Corner Performing Arts Center, along with many free concerts and events during the year including an Encore Series of four chamber music concerts (held at Coastal Coffee Roasters), nine Music Chats with Wojciech (held at the Dorchester County Library), and other free concerts and events throughout the greater Summerville area. For more information about the S.O. or the S.O. Youth Symphony and Education Program, contact office@summervilleorchestra.org or call 843.873.5339.
Notably, there will be a worship service on Thursday, June 22 and a dedication ceremony and community gathering on Saturday, June 24.
“We have waited a long time for this moment – we have many to thank and much to celebrate,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of IAAM. “It’s exciting to invite the community to join us for this historic moment. We’re preparing to open our doors with music, food, poetry, incredible visuals and words of wisdom – and to truly celebrate African American culture and its connection to and influence on the world.”
As the day nears for the 2023 South Carolina Arts Awards, The Hub is focusing on this year's recipients: five receiving the 
In 1968, the National Trust for Historic Preservation warned that American artisans in the traditional building arts were aging out of the job market as the educational system was eliminating traditional crafts training. No new generation was being trained to create or repair, restore, and preserve American architectural, historic, and cultural treasures. It hit home in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo as owners of historic Lowcountry properties had to look to Europe to find artisans who could repair and restore them.
A group of Charleston’s preservation leaders created ABCA as a unique higher education experience that fills a gap. While many trade schools across America offer technical training and some traditional colleges offer preservation studies, ACBA was the first to combine old-world apprenticeship training with a liberal arts core curriculum. ACBA students graduate with the skills to practice their trade and broad liberal arts foundation that allows them to design while leading their fields. They understand not only how to do something, but to think critically within the context, science, and history of their artisanal specialization; to manage a business; and to communicate effectively with clients.
ACBA students have hones their training through a wide range of community service projects—from repairing windows in the Oval Office, to designing and building a gift shop for Charleston’s Old Powder Magazine (c. 1712), to building attractive and safe bus stops that encourage public transportation use.
Some notable items for your attention as we close out another week...
This shot is from the TransAtlantic exhibit, a four-minute, large-scale, immersive media experience taking visitors on a journey from African cultural roots, through tragedy of the Middle Passage, and into local and international diaspora scenes and traditions. Provided photo.[/caption]
“We’re excited to open IAAM’s doors and showcase the incredible breadth of African American history,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the International African American Museum. “IAAM strives not only to provide a space for all visitors to celebrate and connect to this history, to these stories, and to this art, but also to find meaning within their own stories. The African American journey is far longer than the 20 years it took to build this museum and we are humbly proud to step up and play our part in this story. It is time.”
The museum’s originally scheduled opening of Jan. 21 was delayed as city of Charleston staff and contractors worked to stabilize humidity and temperature levels within the new building. The museum says those issues are resolved, and building operations will be transferred to the IAAM over the next several weeks in preparation for the June opening.
The IAAM, which sits at the site of Gadsden’s Wharf, one of the nation’s most prolific former slave trading ports, includes nine core exhibition galleries and a special exhibition gallery as well as a “floating” gallery that weaves contemporary art throughout the museum. The museum will open with more than 700 artifacts dating from 17th century to contemporary objects, alongside 1,000 image and media collection pieces—all of which help connect the African American journey to its roots and connections to African and African diaspora communities and cultures. The museum also houses the Center for Family History, a world-class genealogy and ancestry resource center, which began hosting genealogy classes and workshops in 2020.
The museum’s opening date coincides with celebrations of Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the day in 1865 when 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they had been freed by the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation nearly two years earlier. The event has been long celebrated by many African American communities and was formally designated as a national holiday in 2021.
Through programming and a unique, authentic, empathetic storytelling, the IAAM activates its mission to honor the untold stories of the African American journey – celebrating the connections and contributions to American and global cultures – in unique and thought-provoking ways. Earlier this year, IAAM kicked off virtual and in-person programming in honor of Black History Month with a series of opportunities for both the local community and future visitors to engage with a variety of educational content. Next month, as final preparations for the official public opening begin, IAAM will host several in-person programs for the community to attend.
Challenges with the International African American Museum building’s humidity and temperature controls are resulting in a delay to its planned opening, the museum announced this week.
The program director serves in a senior leadership role and works collaboratively with other staff to integrate the foundation’s Lowcountry work with its other efforts. The successful candidate will possess a strong combination of critical thinking, interpersonal, communications, and program management skills. This is a fulltime position based in Charleston and reporting to the executive director in Chicago. Extensive travel within South Carolina, to Chicago, and elsewhere is required.
Ed. note: The GDDF is a regular partner of the SCAC.
To learn more and apply, 
Please email your resume to 