Julliard-Trained Christian Youth Aim to Inspire New Generation of Artists
An increasingly popular ensemble of Christian youth has announced plans for their 2009 Fine Arts Summer Academy (FASA).
The Annie Moses Band (AMB), one of only two U.S. Christian bands invited by North Korea to perform at its annual spring arts festival this year, says 2009 FASA will be held July 10-26 on the campus of Nashville's Lipscomb University.
And though they may be away right now, attending North Korea's 2009 Spring Arts Friendship Festival, they'll certainly be at FASA this coming summer.
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"We are heavily involved in every aspect of what goes on with the camp," explained AMB lead vocalist and violinist Annie Wolaver before she and the five other Wolaver children who make up the group left for this week's April 10-18 event.
"It (FASA)'s not just an event we endorse, it's an event we teach, plan, administrate, write, and arrange," she added.
According to Wolaver, the Fine Arts Summer Academy counters current cultural trends of low expectations and inferior accomplishment by offering students an opportunity to hone their craft.
"It is an artistic workout that leaves even the most inexperienced participants with a life-changing revelation of their own potential," she said.
Each day, FASA attendees will participate in classes designed to build technical skills and to prepare for a series of performances. Students select a study track based upon their area of expertise. Tracks are offered for instrumental arts (strings, brass, woodwinds, guitars, drums/percussion and piano), musical theater arts (dance, drama and voice), and technical arts (sound, lighting and video).
The second week culminates with FASA's Final Gala Performance, a thematic presentation featuring the "best of" performances from the two weeks, as well as new music collectively featuring all students. The Gala will be professionally filmed and is slated to feature several special guest artists.
Through FASA, the Annie Moses Band hopes to ignite a passion for excellence in the arena of the arts and inspire obedience to the scriptural mandate to "Make His Praise Glorious" and to "Play Skillfully."
Together with parents Bill and Robin Wolaver, the Annie Moses Band is a Christian family of Juilliard-trained musicians dedicated to virtuosity in the arts.
