Co-founder Sheri Cain leads the Gemini Orchestra of Ad Astra Chamber Orchestra. Photo by Andrew Gaug/Johnson County Post.
In Thursday’s (10/10) Johnson County Post (Kansas), Andrew Gaug writes, “A new Johnson County-based youth orchestra is hoping to bring a younger, brighter energy to classical music concerts in the area. Created by two local music teachers, Ad Astra Chamber Orchestra of Kansas City consists of two groups of young string players, from violins to violas to cellos and more. The intent of the orchestra, its organizers say, is to give young musicians in grades 6-12 the chance to not only spend more time learning their craft but also meeting other kids their age with a similar interest in music. ‘They have orchestra in their school, but they’re choosing to do it outside of that,’ Russ Pieken, one of Ad Astra Orchestra’s co-founders, said…. The orchestra is preparing for its debut concert, at 8 p.m. on Nov. 9, at Atonement Lutheran Church … in Overland Park. Pieken, a music educator in the Kansas City area, and the group’s other co-founder Sheri Cain, an orchestra teacher in the Blue Valley School District, began brainstorming the idea of a youth orchestra last year…. ‘My goal was 20 to 25 kids,’ Pieken said…. Now, the groups boast 94 players.”
