The first performance scheduled for the 25th Anniversary Season of Music for the Lunch Bunch series is Wednesday, June 17th at 12:15pm at First Presbyterian Church in Smithfield. Kate Pearson will perform on violin.

Pearson first began taking violin as a first grader at the Academically Gifted Center in Smithfield. She began private lessons with Molly Olah before starting second grade. She now takes lessons from Yang Xi of Raleigh, a prodigy in China during his youth. She is the daughter of Rob and Nancy Pearson of Smithfield and is a rising senior at West Johnston High School.

Pearson has been a member of the Triangle Youth Symphony where she was Associate Concertmaster, Triangle Youth Philharmonic where she was Associate Principal of Second Violins, and Lamar Strinfield Chamber Music Orchestra where she was Concertmaster. She was recently Concertmaster of the Hayes Barton Baptist Church Orchestra.

Pearson was the 2008 winner of the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition and was a 2009 winner of the Chapel Hill Philharmonia Youth Concerto Competition. She is currently Assistant Principal of Second Violins with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra and recently won a full Fellowship to the Kennedy Center/National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Over the four week Institute, Pearson will take conducting lessons, play in Master Classes, attend National Symphony rehearsals, and perform with the Summer Music Institute Orchestra in and around the Washington, D.C. area.

The Music for the Lunch Bunch is a series of summer concerts held every Wednesday, at 12:15 pm, featuring local artists performing a variety of music, with particular emphasis on classical music. The concert series is grassroots funded by the Johnston County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. There is no admission charge but donations are accepted.

Related Links

1. http://www.johnstoncountyarts.org