When The Crescendo Foundation hosted their first Piano Cottage Rocks! Concert at Wealthy Theatre last year, no one really knew what to expect from this first-time, music-focused show.
Over the course of next two hours, students from a private, Suzuki method-based piano studio in Grand Rapids performed to raise money for a conservatory that The Crescendo Foundation was hoping to create in our region.
It wasn't until the next day that the organizers realized, as they fielded more than 100 phone calls from parents during a 24-hour period, that they had hit on something with their concert and mission. Area parents were truly looking for a place where students could study music in Grand Rapids.
Now a year later, Piano Cottage Rocks! returns to Wealthy Theatre for two nearly sold out performances of students ranging in ages 8 -16 for a night of music unlike any other in the city.
After a year of seriously focused instruction using fast-paced teaching techniques, the students of The Cottage get to let down their hair in a program featuring contemporary pop, classical rock, and jazz. These students will also be joined by on keyboards, vocals, drums, and percussion by area student musicians who auditioned for the supporting roles of this production.
In addition, professional musicians including nationally known singers Lisa Butler and Collin Tobin and saxophonist Craig Hribek will supply instrumental support.
"Our first Foundation student, Miss Cathy Kim, has been studying voice and piano with us for a year and will be performing this weekend," says Jody Deems-McCargar, co-founder of The Cottage Piano with her husband Wright McCargar. "Kim has not had an easy childhood as she's been without parents since the age of eight, moving from one foster family to another. She does have a spark for music and was referred to us by Kentwood Public Schools teachers."
The act of providing scholarships from The Crescendo Foundation, like the one presented to Kim, was the pay-it-forward decision of the students who looked at the profits from last year's stellar debut and contemplated what should the foundation do with these funds. The students wanted to make sure that any barriers of entry to the music program would be removed.
It is the ultimate goal of Cottage Piano and The Crescendo Foundation to open their doors very soon to West Michigan's first tuition-free music conservatory. Through the generous underwirting of the Piano Cottage Rocks! event from sponsors Keyboard World and Siteline Display, the total paid admission of each ticket goes directly back to the foundation to help them make good on this ambitious goal.
Admission: $10
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