BLINN TO OFFER COMMUNITY STRINGS COURSE

  

Blinn College is offering a new way for beginning musicians to cultivate their skills.

Students of all ages are invited to enroll in a non-credit, continuing education strings course focusing on the violin, viola and violoncello. The course is offered Thursdays at 5 p.m., Jan. 21 – May 12, at the J. Hal and Allyne Machat Music Facility on the Blinn-Brenham campus (map).

Blinn music professor and violinist Nicole Cherry will teach the course. Cherry is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York and is a member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, the first African American ensemble to win a classical competition. Cherry holds a master’s degree in violin performance and regularly performs at concerts and educational seminars across the nation.

“This course is a perfect example of serving the person who has always dreamed of playing an instrument, and due to life circumstances, had to put it down temporarily. Or the person who is currently playing and wants to pursue the highest possible level in their music,” Cherry said. “Blinn is offering a platform so that everyone’s musical dreams can become a reality, may they be big or small.”

Interested students must register in person at Blinn’s A.W. Hodde, Jr. Technical Education Center (map). The cost is $350 for the semester, and students must supply their own instrument.

Blinn anticipates adding a second section of the course on the Brenham campus and expanding to the Bryan campus.

“This is a wonderful community enrichment opportunity,” said Debbi Vavra, assistant academic dean for the Division of Visual, Performing Arts & Kinesiology. “We heard a course like this was a desire in the community, and we are excited to fulfill it as a community college. We hope this will plant seeds that encourage students to continue their music education, especially at Blinn College.”

For more information, contact Vavra at dvavra@blinn.edu or 979-830-4241.  Story courtesy of Blinn College.