Help Wick go to Bang on a Can 2017

Who am I?
My name is Wick Simmons, & I play the cello.   Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, I am finishing my senior year of undergrad. at Northwestern University under the tutelage of my teacher Hans Jørgen Jensen.  This summer, I have been invited to participate in the 2017 Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art). 

What is the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival?
The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival is a "musical utopia for innovative musicians" in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts. The focus of the Festival is entirely on bringing adventurous contemporary music to life.  Activities include daily performances in the museum galleries as well as working and performing alongside the esteemed faculty members.  The Festival also features African and Latin music workshops, electronics and music business seminars, free events in the community, and more.
For more information, please visit their website!

 
What does Bang on a Can mean to me?
While my studies at Northwestern and other summer festivals have been primarily on classical performance, I have always had a deep interest in contemporary music.  The faculty of the Festival includes some of my favorite living performers and composers including the co-artistic directors David Lang and Michael Gordon.  
In fact, my cello journey really started after attending a live performance of Maya Beiser at age 11, one of Bang on a Can All-Stars founding members.  My attendance to this festival will give me the opportunity to continue expanding my horizons with contemporary music.

How can you help?
In order for me to attend, my goal is raise at least $3000 to cover tuition and expenses for the trip.  

After doing the math,
this goal can be reached if only 300 people gave $10. 

It can also be reached if only 120 people gave $25.

It could also be reached if only 30 people gave $100!!!!

The Festival goes from July 17 - Aug 6 2017.
The tuition will be due in June.

I understand fully that parting with money is difficult, especially to fundraisers like these.  However, to assure you that your money is in fact going to a great cause, I will offer you pictures and videos of any of my performances while there!

$10 - a thank you note
$25 - a thank you note & pictures
$100 - a thank you note, pictures & videos

But any amount will be truly appreciated from the bottom of my heart.


More About Me:
Wick Simmons is a cellist that has been described as having “remarkable stage presence and a gift for communicating with his audience” by the Anthony Quinn Foundation.  As a soloist he has performed with the Georgia Philharmonic, the Georgia College and State University Orchestra, and was recorded with the Northwestern University Cello Ensemble.  Wick was the string division winner of the 2016 National Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition. He has received top prizes in several competitions including the Samuel Fordis Young Artists Competition, the Atlanta Music Club Scholarship Competition, the Anthony Quinn Foundation Scholarship, and was selected as a semifinalist for the 2015 Mondavi National Young Artists Competition. In January 2013, Wick organized and performed a memorial concert, “An Outreach and Reflection…” for the benefit of families affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.  Shortly afterward, he performed one of the pieces from the concert on National Public Radio’s “From The Top” show with Christopher O’Riley.  Wick has also produced and starred in a music video featuring cello and contemporary dance for a re-imagining of the rock song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons. The video accumulated more than 24,000 views on YouTube within its first yea on the internet.  In 2016, Wick was invited to perform at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in Evanston, Ill., for its exhibit “A Feast of Astonishments: Charlotte Moorman and the Avante-Garde, 1960s-1980s,” featuring the works of John Cage.  He has also been a performing artist at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta for their program “Harnessing Chaos.”  As a chamber musician, Wick has performed with distinguished artists, including Jennifer Stumm, Kurt Muroki,Christopher Rex, and has been mentored by artists including Frank Huang, Daniel Heifetz, James Buswell, and members of the Dover, Ying, and Cleveland String Quartets.  In past years, Wick has attended the senior division of Pinchas Zukerman’s Young Artists Programme in Ottawa, the Kronberg Cello Masterclasses, the Heifetz International Music Institute, Orford Musique, the Meadowmount School of Music, and the PyeongChang Music Festival in South Korea. He has been mentored by esteemed artists and professors including Frans Helmerson, Jian Wang, Laurence Lesser, Colin Carr, Timothy Eddy, Michel Strauss, Wendy Warner, and Steve Doane.  He is currently studies under Hans Jørgen Jensen at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.  His past instructors have included Daniel Laufer, Avi Friedlander, Mary-Beth Bryant and Christopher Rex.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration,

- Wick