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Alabama School of Fine Arts and Jones Valley Urban Farms teamed up several years ago and designed a program to benefit the school, the farm and the surrounding community.  Rachel Reinhart, Program Director for JVUF, had this to say about their relationship: Read more...

Years ago, Birmingham had a youth orchestra overseen by and affiliated with Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  With the ASO's bankruptcy and subsequent healing campaign, the youth orchestra was effectively lost.  A huge void was left as a result.  Other than school bands, the city of Birmingham has few opportunities for young musicians to experience the craft and repertoire of ensemble, particularly for stringed instruments.  The ASO has a new initiative in place that will revive their youth orchestra program beginning in September of this year. 

In 2007, after years of hard work raising funds and building awareness, the ASO hired Conductor Justin Brown.  This has proven to be a magnificent turning point for the symphony program.  Brown has brought great energy and fresh ideas to the program here in Birmingham.  One of the first things on his list when he arrived?  A Youth Orchestra.  ASO Education Director Meaghan Heinrich and I spoke about their plans for the youth orchestra last week. Read more...

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Brochure for ASYO Audition and Festival Weekend

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I was born in Birmingham, was once a young Birminghamian, and being a Baby Boomer and a fan of Peter Pan, my heart still believes that I won’t grow up.  But my mind perceives I am no longer all that young, since one of the youngest Birminghamians I know is my granddaughter Emmeline Violet Glenn.  She was born last July 7 – or 7-7 – appropriate since she is the seventh generation Birminghamian in my family.  She was named for the sister of my great-great-grandfather.

I hope Emmeline is a grandmother worshipper. She actually already shows signs that she might be, breaking into a big grin and immediately waving goodbye to her mother, my daughter Elin, when she arrives at my house every Friday morning.  I adored both of my grandmothers, but the one in this line of the family of whom I am writing, Dorothy Bowron Collins, likewise had a cherished relationship with her grandfather, the Englishman and Southern steel industrialist, James Bowron.  The name is pronounced as a gentleman’s genuflection (bow) and a sprint or race (run).
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I wonder how my life would have been different had I attended one of these conferences. 

Developing your sense of identity as a young lady is a challenge all on its own.  When you are a teenage girl, distractions range from boys, boys, boys to drugs, popularity, family, and plain old peer pressure.  If we all just had one day to focus on our future and be surrounded with like minded girls, if we had just one day to be in the presence of real role models with real, meaningful advice for us, what choices would we have made differently?  What kind of future could we have created for ourselves? Read more...