Vision Strength and Arts Festival
Never before has a Tennessee performer or performing group been selected to participate in the International VSA arts Festival, until now. Local group Lake Rise Place has been selected as one of the twenty-eight performers from around the world to perform at the festival on June 6, 2010, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Lake Rise Place is a jazz trio composed of three teenagers from middle Tennessee. Elliott McClain, a keyboard player and vocalist from Mt. Juliet, is a sophomore at the Tennessee School for the Blind. Christian Kissinger, the founder of the group and a drummer from Gallatin, is a freshman at Merrol Hyde Magnet School. Caleb Shown, a bassist from Hendersonville, is a freshman at Merrol Hyde Magnet School. The group will serve as the featured act at a VSA arts Tennessee performance on Monday, May 24, 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds will be used to cover the trio’s travel expenses to Washington, D.C., to represent Tennessee at the International Festival.
VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded thirty-five years ago to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. www.vsaartstennessee.org