Thomasville Entertainment Foundation’s opening family series event hit and surpassed its goals last week, racking up a win with four educational outreach classes, a soccer skills camp and an audience of nearly 125 for a Saturday morning strings concert.

“When you go out on a limb and step out of your comfort zone, you really don’t know how it’s going to turn out. A mash-up of sports and fine arts is truly a unique — some might say crazy — idea, but it really worked,” said TEF Executive and Artistic Director Rick Ivey. “Thanks to a great partnership between TEF, Thomas Area Soccer Association (TASA) and The Opus 76 Quartet, Soccer & Strings really hit the goal.”

The unlikely pairing of soccer and classical music was possible because Keith Stanfield, one of Opus 76’s violinists, is also a former professional soccer player who represented Western Samoa in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds, even scoring two goals in the competition.

Stanfield worked with TASA directors and coaches to devise a Saturday morning soccer skills workout for 25-30 young soccer players at Thomasville High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium, after which the participants walked to the Thomasville Center for the Arts for a one-hour concert featuring music by Mozart and Dvořák. During the concert, the musicians gave background for each work and used sports metaphors to explain the similarities between music and sports and the discipline required to be successful in each.

The Opus 76 Quartet also features Zsolt Eder, violin; Ashley Stanfield, viola; and Daniel Ketter, cello. Formed in Kansas City, Opus 76 performs some 50 concerts a year nationwide and abroad, and, during the 2021-22 season, its musicians and teaching artists will lead master classes at The Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music, among other locations.

During his time in Georgia, Stanfield also took time to work with middle and high school strings students in the Thomasville City and Thomas County Schools music classrooms of Dr. Sally Hernandez and Dr. Boyan Bonev in workshop, rehearsal and master class formats.

Raised in London by a Samoan mother and Australian father, Stanfield shared his experiences in a career in both soccer and strings, including the unlikely path he took as the child of two non-musical parents, neither of whom had the benefit of university education. A student at London’s Royal Academy of Music from early childhood, Stanfield left home at age 16 to pursue his diverse passions.  

At every event over his three days in Thomasville, he and TEF shared the message that participation in sports activities and participation in fine arts activities don’t have to be mutually exclusive; students can choose to do both!

Like all of TEF’s Family Series programming, the Soccer & Strings concert was free and open to the public, made possible by generous donations honoring Artistic Director Emeritus Janice Faircloth by the Parker Poe Charitable Trust, Emily & Bill Searcy Charitable Trust, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas C. McPherson, Diane Williams Parker and other friends of TEF.  And, Ivey added, there is never any charge to a student, school or presenting partner for the educational and outreach components of its programming, thanks to strong community support for both the TEF Family Series and the TEF Education Fund.

In future TEF Family Series programming, Virginia Repertory Theatre returns to Thomasville on February 26 for its production of “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.” Presented during Black History Month and aimed primarily at elementary and middle school students, this stirring drama and musical history lesson blends the incredible true story of the woman who escaped the bonds of slavery and returned to lead hundreds more to freedom.

Finally, TEF brings noted composer and musician Daniel Kelly to Thomasville on March 26 for an interactive program called “Shakespeare in Jazz: All The World’s a Song,” which encourages students and audiences of all ages to experience the power of Shakespeare’s timeless words set to original jazz music, performed by a powerhouse vocalist and jazz combo. 

For more information on these or other TEF programs, visit www.TEFconcerts.com or call 229-226-7404.