Hartley’s Legacy and Friends Benefit Concert 2016
We hosted our second Hartley’s Legacy Benefit Concert in partnership with Pencils of Promise, and it was a wonderful experience. Thank you to everyone who came and supported!
Performers Include:
Daniel Kim, Iris Kwak , Joanna Kim, Rosa Shi, Jen Sun, Mr. Casey Beggs, Ashrita Raman, Catherine Wang, Krishna Raman, Joey Howley, Sam Stanford, Jaskirat Vig, Tommy Moran, Michael Shultz, Abhishek Allaka, Justin Quinn, Andrew Chung, Annabel Guo, Jiyoon Ha, Yun Hyon, Sriram Kannan, Jooahn Yoo, Mr. Ken Schmidt and Jinmin Park.
Tickets can be purchased directly from performers, or they may be purchased at the door.
2nd Benefit Concert News and Media
From Cailin McKenna, Development Team @ Pencils of Promise:
“Hi Hartley’s Legacy,
I hope you are doing well! I wanted to personally thank you for your recent gift of $2,100 to Pencils of Promise following your benefit concert on June 18. Your generous contribution means so much to our team and to our partner communities in Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos. The gift you made will go directly to building schools for those who need them most, as well as to our programs that focus on teacher support, community health and student literacy.
Why literacy? 250 million children around the world lack basic reading and writing skills. With the help of incredible supporters like you, we are changing this.
Thanks again for your contribution. If you’d like to learn more about the impact your gift creates, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You’re important to us and it would be a pleasure to speak with you further.
We were so excited to hear that your benefit concert was a huge success! We enjoyed looking at your program flyer.”
From Mrs. Florence Perren-Diaz, President of the Kingston Presbyterian Church Executive Committee:
“Our church family is pleased to support Hartley’s Legacy, a truly gifted group of young people who give their time and energy to help others. Their concert to benefit Pencils of Promise was an awesome display of musical skill and talent that thrilled the audience.”
Q: What was the most impressive about the benefit concert?
A: I was most impressed by the high level of accomplishment and variety of talents displayed by these young artists. Regardless of the instrument, including the vocalists, it is clear that years of practice was required to reach the level of musicianship that was on display at the concert.
Q: What was the most meaningful/inspiring part of the concert?
A: Aside from the entire concert I found the opening slide show about the meaning of Hartley’s Legacy and the accompanying cello duet of “Nearer My God to Thee” to be very moving. I was also inspired by comments by Daniel and Joanna about the purpose of the group. It gives me hope for the future to see young people who are motivated to not only use their talents to help others but who also persuade others to join them.
Q: What was your favorite part of the concert?
A: The entire concert was so great it’s hard to pick a favorite part. There was something for everyone. I thought the marimba duet by Joanna Kim and Casey Beggs was amazing; Iris Kwak’s piano solo was remarkable; the brass quintet’s rendition of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” was awesome especially the New Orleans flavor; Joey Howley’s guitar solo was tremendous; and your electric cello performance was electrifying!
I have to also mention the wonderful vocalists, both of whom have terrific voices and the charming flutists, and violinists. It was also great to see that the artists were dressed professionally which shows that Hartley’s Legacy understands the importance of “dressing for success” and to impress.
It was also very nice to see the “behind the scenes” members who wore Hartley’s Legacy tee shirts and the smooth way that your “stage managers” worked. It was great to see such a well rounded group.
I have been to many programs sponsored by adults that were not nearly as well run as your concert.
Thanks for a great experience!
the article about our concert in KPC’s July newsletter
From Dr. Stephen Parker, President of the South Brunswick Board of Education:
“It was a wonderful concert. You are all great musicians. Thank you for sharing your talents with others and using your gifts to help those less fortunate.”
2nd Benefit Concert Thoughts and Reflections
Our Thoughts and Reflections – A Message from the Members of Hartley’s Legacy
Daniel Kim:
For many reasons, this benefit concert was supposed to be easier than the last one. After all, we had held a benefit concert two years ago, and we were all older. I personally also had more experience running large events, after having started a new school event with my class council. So when we pitched the idea of having another benefit concert, I was pretty confident we could pull it off smoothly.
What I had forgotten since the last concert two years ago or even the school event a few months ago was how much effort and support such a massive undertaking required, not to mention all the ups and downs of trying to organize a sizable group of people. As the night of the concert got closer and closer, I realized how much there was that needed to be looked over, practiced, and organized. But as my confidence began to fail and my worries and stress grew, I found myself surrounded by family, friends, teachers, and even strangers who came to the rescue.
I tried my best to thank everyone at the end of the concert, but my quick words did no justice to the help and encouragement that I found. Teachers who quickly jumped to donate and sponsor our event, pulling money out of their wallets on the spot; friends who rescheduled their own personal parties and events to perform and attend the event; Kingston Presbyterian Church for graciously allowing us to use their building; my parents who pushed me and assisted me in so many ways; and the list goes on and on. Even though we have a separate thank you letter here, I personally realized how blessed I am to have this supportive community. The first time we held a benefit concert, it was so much of a blur, I don’t think I sat down and truly appreciated how many people came together and made it happen. This past concert, I was able to soak in more, and it astounds me to see all these people join forces to make this concert happen, and I am genuinely grateful and happy.
The other thing that I’ll remember when I think back to this concert is how blessed I am personally to even have the opportunity to hold a concert with friends I’ve met at school and with the support of teachers who teach me at school. Even Dr. Parker, the President of the South Brunswick Board of Education, was in attendance after we invited him. Even though balancing concert preparation and finals preparation made the process a little harder, I can’t imagine what it would be like to not attend school, yet these kids–my peers–around the world don’t even have a pencil to write with. As someone who wants to go into education, being able to make an impact on the lives of students in need and directly affect the quality of their education is such an amazing feeling, and was definitely one of the factors that went into deciding on Pencils of Promise. The gratifying feeling that I felt after the concert confirms my desire to pursue a career in education, especially one perhaps in urban education.
Looking back, this concert was by no means any easier than the last one. Nor did the preparation process get any smoother. However, one thing that I know for certain is that it has taught me so much about the people that surround me and myself.
Joanna Kim::
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Thank you so much to everyone who supported our second benefit concert. Whether it was through coming the concert, making a donation, or sponsoring us, you, our supporters, are truly who made this benefit concert happen, and all of your help is very much appreciated.
After having such an incredible experience with our first concert, I was excited to start planning this second concert, but at the same time, I was nervous that it would not live up to the success of the first concert. As we started to organize the concert, we immediately started to face some obstacles, even beginning with just the time and location of the concert. Thankfully, things somehow started to fall into place, and eventually, all of the logistics of the concert were ironed out. As I continued to practice with Mr. Beggs for the concert, we moved into the next stage of preparing for the benefit concert—getting sponsorships and selling tickets. This time seemed even harder than the last as I contacted as many people as I could about supporting our benefit concert. During this process, I began to become more nervous about the turnout and the amount that we would be able to donate to Pencils of Promise.
On the day of the concert, I was so happy to see the number of people that had come out to the concert, and began to become more optimistic about the outcome of the concert. After nervously completing my performance, I could not help but smile as I listened to the truly impressive performers for the rest of the night.
As we counted the money after the concert, I had no idea what we would be in for. When we opened the donation box that had been sitting outside the concert hall, there was a check for five hundred dollars. Astounded at the amount of the donation, we called the donor, who we happened to know, to make sure that the donor was sure of the donation. She said she was, and told us about how she grew up in hard times and without any crayons but wanted to color so badly, and that she was inspired by our concert and Pencils of Promise to help the kids that were in the same place that she was once in. Hearing her story made all of the hard work that the concert took so worth it, and it was so incredibly touching to know that our concert had inspired someone to change people’s lives.
Our total donation, $2,100, was far beyond any of my expectations, and I could not be more thankful for all of the people that helped to put this concert together.
Thank you so much!
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Sriram Kannan:
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The benefit concert on June 18th was wonderful. My favorite performance personally was the brass quintet performance. I did like all the other performances very much, and I have to give credit to the Piano performance because of the complexity of the piece I heard. Overall, I also really enjoyed performing with everyone and next benefit concert I hope to play more to help the cause. I really enjoyed playing the benefit concert with the other Hartley’s Legacy and I hope to see more in the future.
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Yun Hyon:
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Hartley Legacy’s Benefit Concert was a wonderful experience! I enjoyed many of the solos performed that night, as each one had it’s own specialty. I especially enjoyed the very last piece, where many musicians had a chance to make one large “ensemble/orchestra.” It’s wonderful that a group of youthful musicians is capable of so much, and so I hope to continue to play music in Hartley’s Legacy!
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