Express the Music

The 11th Annual Awards Ceremony for the Express the Music Competition was held on Wednesday, April 23 at Powell Symphony Hall.  Thank you to the Employees Community Fund of Boeing St. Louis for sponsoring this year’s program.  We were pleased to have Dr. Flint W. Fowler, Executive Director of the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club, as Master of Ceremonies for program.  Mr. William Locke, Board Member for the Employees Community Fund and Shannon Farrell Williams, Violist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, presented Certificates of Merit to all 54 finalists and Certificates and Monetary Awards to the top winners.  
                                                                                           
This year’s musical selection was the fifth and final movement of the “Rhenish” Symphony, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, by Robert Schumann.  Over 1,000 entries were received from 35 area junior and senior high schools and homeschools.  A preliminary screening by the Express the Music committee selected the 54 finalists, 29 in the Junior Division (Grades 6-9), and 25 in the Senior Division (Grades 10-12), and then a panel of four distinguished judges chose the top three winners in each Division.  This year’s final judges were:  Stephanie DeChambeau, Director of Institutional Giving for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, George Stern, retired from Boeing and an active community volunteer; Susan Teicher, retired from her position as Department Head of the English Department of Principia High School; and Tippi Thole, the Design Director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

(click image for larger version)

Front Row - from left to right:
William Locke – Representative from the Employees Community Fund of Boeing St. Louis – the financial sponsor for Express the Music  
Ryan  Hartz – Eureka Sr. High School – 2nd place winner Senior Division
Angela Packwood – Parkway South Sr. High School – 1st place winner Senior Division
Sidney Asher – Eureka Sr. High School – 3rd place winner Senior Division
Mackenzie Toth – Robert H. Sperreng Middle School – 2nd place winner Junior Division
Katie Dillon – Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School – 1st place winner Junior Division

Back Row - from left to right:
Dr. Flint Fowler – Executive Director, Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club – Master of Ceremonies
George Stern – Saint Louis Symphony Volunteer Association
Anne von der Heydt – President, Saint Louis Symphony Volunteer Association
Nathan Quinn - Victory Christian School – 1st place winner Junior Division
Shannon Farrell Williams – Violist, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra – Award Presenter

The winning students and their essays are:

SENIOR DIVISION

First Place:
Angela M. Packwood (read essay)
Parkway South High School
Manchester, MO

Second Place:
Ryan Hartz (read essay)
Eureka Sr. High School
Wildwood, MO

Third Place:
Sidney Asher (read essay)
Eureka Senior High School
Pacific, MO

JUNIOR DIVISION

First Place:
Nathan Quinn (read essay)
Victory Christian School
St. Louis, MO

Second Place:
Mackenzie Toth (read essay)
Robert H. Sperreng Middle School
St. Louis, MO

Third Place:
Katie Dillon (read essay)
Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School
St. Louis, MO

Congratulations to all the winners!