“Let the music play!” St. John School of the Arts (SJSA) is excited to announce its 2018 Sis Frank Concert Series.
After the hurricanes, it was uncertain if the school was going to hold any concerts. However, the Board of Directors and the Executive Director Kim Wild decided that the concerts were needed as they would help to bring a sense of community, inner peace, and joy to St. John residents and visitors.
This year’s series is smaller than originally planned with only three concerts instead of five. All of the musicians have been supportive, wanting to come down to the island and perform, knowing that they are coming to a different St. John but a St. John that is stronger in so many ways with community centeredness in the forefront.
“We are truly blessed to have these outstanding, world renown musicians coming to St. John,” shared Kim Wild, SJSA Executive Director.
Joseph Johnson and Jeffrey Sykes will be the opening concert for the series on February 9. Johnson and Sykes visited St. John a couple of years ago while visiting Jay and Monique Walters, homeowners on St. John. During that visit, the cellist and pianist put on a special concert at the school. The special concert solidified that SJSA wanted to have the two artists back as part of the concert series.
SJSA is also welcoming back the extraordinary jazz ensemble Alex Brown Trio featuring Victor Provost to the island on March 23. This group is special to the St. John audience as it reflects its culture and celebrates the incredible talents of these musicians.
The series will close with the fabulous Ahn Trio on April 6 and is partly funded by the Special Presenter’s Initiative grant through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. The trio, who are sisters, have been visiting St. John for many years. Sis Frank, SJSA’s co-founder, called the sisters her “butterflies.” She brought them to St. John when they were students at Juilliard.
The Ahn Trio was originally scheduled to give a concert on October 27, but the storms decided otherwise. Instead, they performed at the benefit concert held in New York City in October of last year. The funds raised from their performance and the entire concert are helping to provide free classes to children on St. John as the community and families recover from the hurricanes.
The full concert series tickets are $90 each and individual concerts tickets are $35 each. To purchase tickets, visit www.StJohnSchooloftheArts.org or email Jenna Fox at info@stjohnschoolofthearts.org
All concerts start at 7:30 pm. SJSA will be offering a free student outreach performance for each group. The schedule for the outreach performances has not yet been set.
Before each concert, SJSA will showcase some of its students in performance as well as display artwork throughout the concert hall. SJSA would like to share what extraordinary gifts its faculty is able to give to the children through the support and donations received. It is also a unique way for the school to say thank you.
SJSA is partially funded by Virgin Islands Council on the Arts (VICA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
