[387] VSA Tennessee Celebrates Ten Years Promoting Creativity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lori Kissinger, 615-826-5252, userk7706@comcast.net

VSA TENNESSEE CELEBRATES TEN YEARS PROMOTING CREATIVITY
Song, Dance, Artwork Show Disabilities Need Not Inhibit Personal Expressiveness

(MURFREESBORO) – Former “American Idol” competitor Scott MacIntyre is scheduled to lead a lineup of talented entertainers helping VSA Tennessee celebrate its 10th anniversary at a 7 p.m. performance Tuesday, April 12, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville.
The 7 p.m. event will be the culmination of a daylong appreciation of VSA Tennessee, the state organization on arts and disability.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by calling The Arc of Tennessee at 615-248-4878 or at the door.
MacIntyre, a national VSA Young Soloist winner and a top 10 finalist in the 2009 “American Idol” competition, was “Idol’s” first blind finalist. His latest CD, “Heartstrings,” debuted at #15 on the iTunes Pop Album Chart.
A summa cum laude baccalaureate graduate of Arizona State University at age 19, MacIntrye earned his master’s degree at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Royal College of Music.
Other entertainers slated to perform in the 7 p.m. event include 2010 ICM New Artist of the Year and former national VSA Young Soloist winner Laura Dodd; 2011 Tennessee VSA Young Soloist winners Lake Rise Place; internationally known storyteller Estelle Condra; and country music singer J.P. Williams.
The day’s events will start at 9:30 a.m. with hands-on activities with musical instruments, as well as theater, art and dance activities for special education students, followed by an 11 a.m. performance for students.
In addition there will be four art exhibits created by children with disabilities representing various workshops recently offered by VSA Tennessee.
At 1 p.m., the Nashville Symphony will lead a workshop connecting the arts to core concepts of literacy.
The hands-on opportunities will open again for the general public with art activities at 5:30 p.m. and a multifaceted performance at 7 p.m.
“Over the past 10 years, VSA Tennessee has worked tirelessly to bring the arts to all people and to celebrate the abilities of all people,” said VSA Tennessee Executive Director Lori Kissinger. “The arts are an investment in the education of our children, the economy and the lasting imprint that our society leaves as a record for generations to come.”

--more--

VSA
Add 1

Coinciding with MTSU’s 100th anniversary year, the VSA Tennessee celebration is especially meaningful as the University served as a “fiscal agent” for the organization in its inaugural year, enabling it to survive until it could obtain 501(c)3 tax-exempt status.
Kissinger, who teaches organizational communication at MTSU, says students from her class are coordinating logistics, public relations and volunteers. Other MTSU contributors include Omega Phi Alpha, Golden Key Club, the Department of Human Sciences, and faculty members from organizational communication and communication disorders.
Sponsors for VSA Tennessee’s 10th anniversary celebration include the National Endowment for the Arts, VSA’s national offices, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the National Arts and Disability Center at the University of California-Los Angeles, the Memorial Foundation, Publix Supermarket Charities, First Tennessee Bank, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, CVS/Caremark and Harman.
For more information, contact Kissinger at 615-826-5252 or userk7706@comcast.net.

--30--


Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. Recently, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.