Thomasville Entertainment Foundation’s 2021-22 Family Series kicks off Saturday, September 25, with a free classical music concert by The Opus 76 Quartet in Thomasville Center for the Arts’ intimate auditorium.

In a unique mashup of sports and music dubbed Soccer & Strings, TEF hopes to expose a new young audience to the performing arts by bringing the Kansas City-based string quartet and its artistic leader, violinist Keith Stanfield, to the City of Roses next week for a performance of great works by Mozart and Dvořák.

“Basically, we’re inviting the community — music lovers of all ages and those who would might like to know a bit more about classical music — to come out and enjoy an hour of great music at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning,” said TEF Executive and Artistic Director Rick Ivey. “But there’s also a unique aspect to the musicians’ time in Thomasville.”

TEF is teaming up with Thomas Area Soccer Association (TASA) to help reach deeper into the community. Stanfield, a former professional soccer player who represented Western Samoa in the FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds in 2010, will not only perform in Thomasville, but he will also lead a private soccer workout and skills camp for a group of young TASA players prior to Saturday’s concert.

Additionally, Stanfield will be in classrooms in the Thomasville City and Thomas County Schools on Thursday and Friday, working with middle and high school strings program students of Dr. Sally Hernandez and Dr. Boyan Bonev.

“A key component of TEF’s mission is to cultivate the future of the performing arts through educational programs and events, and Soccer & Strings fits right into that effort,” Ivey said. “We’re reaching out to a whole new audience of young people with an important message — participation in the performing arts and participation in sports don’t have to be mutually exclusive!”

In addition to Stanfield, the Opus 76 Quartet includes Ashley Stanfield, viola; Zsolt Eder, violin; and Daniel Ketter, cello. Lauded in reviews for its entertaining and energetic interpretations of the classics, Opus 76 performs some 50 concerts a year nationwide, and, during the 2021 season, the musicians will lead master classes at The Juilliard School and at London’s Royal Academy of Music.

Concert attendees should plan to park in the Jackson Street lot between Scott Elementary School and Thomasville High School’s football stadium — or in the Jefferson Street circle, as the Center for the Art’s Washington Street entrance will be closed off in preparation for Vashti Center’s Dinner on the Bricks event later that afternoon.

Like all of TEF’s Family Series programming, the Soccer & Strings concert is free and open to the public, thanks to generous donations honoring Artistic Director Emeritus Janice Faircloth by the Parker Poe Charitable Trust, Emily and Bill Searcy Charitable Trust, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas C. McPherson, Diane Williams Parker and other friends of TEF. 

Before her retirement, Faircloth envisioned and launched the TEF Family Series as a rich, robust and diverse line-up of performing arts programming presented in settings and at times more accessible to students, families with young children and multi-generational audiences.

Parents and grandparents often want to expose their children and grandchildren to great art, important music and engaging plays, but evening performances can be difficult to work into a family’s schedule, so most TEF Family Series offerings are presented on Saturday mornings. And, Ivey added, there is never any charge to a student, school or presenting partner for the educational and outreach components of its programming.

Founded in 1937, Thomasville Entertainment Foundation is a volunteer-powered, non-profit organization celebrating 84 years of entertaining the community. In addition to its annual series of performances by acclaimed artists, TEF offers the dedicated family series of presentations, provides educational outreach programs for students and awards performing arts scholarships and grants to promising young artists.

For more information on Soccer & Strings, other upcoming family and concert series offerings or Thomasville Entertainment Foundation in general, visit www.TEFconcerts.com or call 229-226-7404.