WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SOUND: Accompanied by pianist Toku Kawata, 18- year-old cellist Brandon Leonard performs a Sunday afternoon recital featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms, Ginastera and Gershwin.

THOMASVILLE—Thomasville Entertainment Foundation officials say their inaugural Young Artist Concert and the associated educational outreach activity both hit the mark and accomplished their goals.

The Sunday afternoon concert by 18-year-old Georgia cellist Brandon Leonard allowed the high school senior to showcase his talents to a diverse audience, and the Monday morning workshop drew a group of local strings students to hear and learn from one of their peers.

“Whenever possible, TEF arranges student interactions with our acclaimed concert artists, sometimes in the form of a workshop or master class, sometimes a matinee performance, and we find those are very impactful,” explained TEF’s Vice President for Education Barbara Lee. “But being able to expose these young string students to one of their peers, someone they can more easily identify with, is even more inspiring.”

Thomasville City Schools strings teachers Dr. Sally Hernandez and Dr. Colleen Wade brought some 70 of their students from fourth grade through twelfth to the Thomasville Center for the Arts’ auditorium on Monday, for the TEF-sponsored event.

A resident of Stone Mountain, Leonard discussed world influences on classical music and jazz; performed works by George Gershwin, Alberto Ginastera, William Grant Still, Antonin Dvořák and Astor Piazzolla, among others; answered a number of student questions; and invited several high school cellists to join him onstage to perform a segment of Rossini’s William Tell Overture.

“Our goal for the Young Artist Concert – in addition to supporting an unusually gifted young musician in the development of his career – was to inspire students in our own community to dream bigger, reach higher and work harder in their study of music and the performing arts,” said TEF Executive & Artistic Director Rick Ivey. “We feel very enthusiastic that it did just that.”

Ivey said the idea for the Young Artist Concert was in development for nearly two years, and TEF plans to bring additional young artists to Thomasville for free public recitals and educational encounters from time to time.

“The Young Artist Concert won’t necessarily be an every-season event, because we want to be sure the student performers we present have the highest level of achievement and have demonstrated their ability to perform and compete in the upper echelons of their field,” he explained.

In the case of Brandon Leonard, by the time he entered high school, he already made a name for himself in classical music. A student of the cello from the age of nine, he was tapped early by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Talent Development Program. As a soloist and as a member of the Sycamore Trio, he has won or placed in a number of regional and national competitions. Most recently, he captured first place – and the $10,000 first prize – in the Sphinx Competition held in January in Detroit.

After graduating as an honor student this spring, Leonard will attend New York’s renowned Juilliard School in the fall where he will continue his study of cello performance.

“There’s an expression that I shared with the students on Monday, one that is true in music, in sports, in school, in work and in life — sometimes hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” Ivey added. “Brandon Leonard is not only a gifted and talented musician. He has also worked very hard to achieve what he’s accomplished.”

A key component of TEF’s nonprofit mission is to cultivate the future of the performing arts through educational programs and events. Outreach activities are funded through donations and grants to TEF’s Education Fund, so there is never a charge to any student participant or local school. TEF also meets its educational outreach mission by providing scholarship opportunities for talented students to continue their training in performing arts disciplines and by setting aside free tickets at all of its series performances for local high school students through its Tickets for Teens program, made possible by a grant from the Thomasville Antiques Show Foundation and an anonymous gift to the TEF Education Fund.