By David Bugli, Conductor, Carson City Symphony The Carson City Symphony Assoc. presents "Cello Fest: On and Off the Page with Sera Smolen" on Saturday, November 16, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Eagle Valley Middle School, 4151 E. 5th Street, Carson City. This one-day workshop is an opportunity for cellists of all ages and experience levels to play chamber music and learn improvisation from an expert. Bring your cello, bow, and endpin disk or strap, and join the fun! Registration fee of $25 includes lunch. To register, go to CCSymphony.com. Dr. Smolen will also present a group lesson on improvisation for C-instrument teachers. Admission is free. This workshop will be on Friday, November 15, at 6:00 p.m., at the Carson City Historical Society Carriage House, 1207 N. Carson Street. Teachers of string instruments, flute, oboe, and piano are invited to reserve a spot by calling 775-883-4154 or emailing [email protected]. Sera Smolen loves teaching cellists from age 3 up. In her cello program at Opus Ithaca, she combines traditional cello study with improvisation, composition, and world music, and invites guest artists to contribute to the program. Some of her projects are practice marathons, winter workshops, composers’ projects, and "Dances from Around the World." Dr. Smolen earned her PhD in music education from the Union Institute in 2000. Her Doctoral thesis, Moons of Osiris, is inspired by her longstanding research into string pedagogy in Waldorf education. Smolen has a deep understanding of how to present improvisation parallel with repertoire study. She is a frequent guest clinician in Europe, the US, and Canada for workshops and teacher training seminars on improvisation and composition for string players. She has taught at Mansfield University; Alfred University; the Kanack School in Rochester, NY; and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. For further information about the Cello Fest and teachers’ workshop in Carson City, call Priscilla Hawkins at 248-904-6013 or email her at [email protected]. Carson City Symphony Association concerts and other activities are supported in part by public funds through a grant from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, grants from Carson City, and by private donations. This Cello Fest is also funded by a special grant from ACMP - Associated Chamber Music Players.