William Pate

February 24, 2023

Student musicians take top prizes in JMArts’s fifth-annual “Sing and Play”

William Pate

February 24, 2023

SILER CITY, N.C. — Three local students took top prizes last night in “Sing and Play ’23,” the fifth-annual student music competition at Jordan-Matthews High School. From auditions through the showcase concert, the event is designed as an educational experience for young musicians and a benefit concert for JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation.

Audience members voted Emma Ortiz of Pittsboro Elementary as best performance in the elementary division for her vocal rendition of “Never Enough,” a Benj Pasek and Justin Paul song from the film, “The Greatest Showman.”

Hailey King of George Moses Horton Middle School finished on top of the middle school competition with her vocal performance of “Fingers Crossed,” a song recorded and cowritten by Lauren Spencer-Smith.

And in the high school competition, Clara Rojas of Jordan-Matthews High School took the prize for singing Carly Simon’s classic, “You’re So Vain.”

Though this year’s winners were all vocalists, “Sing and Play” also featured instrumental performances on electric guitar, violin and piano. The winner in each of the three divisions received a $50 prize.

Rose Pate, president of JMArts, said the whole event is a real team effort. “This is a collaboration of the Jordan-Matthews students, parents and staff,” she said. “I’m so proud how everyone worked together to produce this great night of family entertainment.”

All money raised by the competition is used by JMArts to expand opportunity for high school artists, including those participating in the annual New York Arts Adventure. That trip scheduled over spring break gives upperclass musicians, actors and visual artists an opportunity to explore one of the world’s great cities, experience the very best in the arts, and gain new perspectives and experiences that will influence their lives and work.

Students this year will have the opportunity to learn from Broadway actor and Tony Award-nominee Andy Grotelueschen; Washington Post theater critic Peter Marks and a notable graffiti writer working in the city. Other opportunities to interact with world-class artists are still being arranged.

Musicians from Chatham County and across the state were eligible for “Sing and Play.” Contestants in the showcase concert were selected by judges Jennifer Benitez, Greg Burriss and Matt Fry during auditions held in early February.

Pate expects “Sing and Play” to return next year with registration for auditions opening sometime around December 1. JMArts is already looking at possible dates for next year’s competition, which is likely to be held once again in mid- to late-February.

More information about “Sing and Play” and other arts events scheduled this season is available at jmarts.org. Photos from this year's showcase concert are online at facebook.com/JMHSArts.

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Champions of “Sing and Play ’23” with the show’s co-hosts are, from left, Clara Rojas of Jordan-Matthews High School, co-host Sanaiya Cheek, Emma Ortiz of Pittsboro Elementary, Hailey King of George Moses Horton Middle and co-host Louis Graham. (Photo by Chip Pate)

High School Winner: Clara Rojas of Jordan-Matthews High School. (Photo by Chip Pate)

Middle School Winner: Hailey King of George Moses Horton Middle School. (Photo by Chip Pate)

Elementary School Winner: Emma Ortiz of Pittsboro Elementary. (Photo by Chip Pate)

William Pate

February 10, 2023

Contestants set for "Sing and Play '23" student music competition on Feb. 23

William Pate

February 10, 2023

SILER CITY, N.C. — Showcase contestants have been selected for “Sing and Play ’23,” the fifth-annual music competition hitting the stage later this month at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City.

The showcase concert on February 23 at 6:30 p.m. highlights talented student musicians throughout the area and raises money for JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to provide what student artists need to excel.

General admission is $5 per person and includes one vote in each age-based competition.

Judges Jennifer Benitez, Greg Burriss and Matt Fry selected 15 musical acts during open auditions to perform in separate elementary, middle and high school competitions. Winners will be selected by audience vote and each receives a $50 cash prize.

Elementary contestants are Joy Forester of Chatham Grove Elementary, Evelyn Miranda of Virginia Cross Elementary, Emma Ortiz of Pittsboro Elementary and Zoey Ortiz of Pittsboro Elementary.

Middle school contestants are Ares Adams of Chatham Middle, London Crowling of Margaret B. Pollard Middle, William Forester of Margaret B. Pollard Middle, Sarah Hill of George Moses Horton Middle, Hailey King of George Moses Horton Middle and Eleanor Reece of Silk Hope School.

The competition will conclude with five high school performances. Ari Ibarra, Natalie Morales Zagada, Clara Rojas, Elisa Vasquez Perez and Traycee Wall all represent Jordan-Matthews.

This year’s showcase will feature a guest performance by Buck and Maggie Thornton, also of Jordan-Matthews High School, who won last year's high school competition.

“We’re looking forward to another great show featuring students from all over Chatham County,” said JMArts President Rose Pate, who noted that performers from outside Chatham also were eligible. “It’s great to provide a chance for students to perform on the ‘big stage’ and the showcase celebrates them as they grow musically from first through twelfth grade.”

All money raised by the competition will be used by JMArts for educational projects, including its New York Arts Adventure. That annual trip scheduled over spring break gives upperclass musicians, actors and visual artists an opportunity to explore one of the world’s great cities, experience the very best in the arts and gain new perspectives that will influence their lives and work.

More information about “Sing and Play” performers will be published on JMArts social media. Details about JMArts and other events scheduled for this season are online at jmarts.org.

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Buck and Maggie Thornton of Jordan-Matthews High School won the high school competition at last year’s event and will return to perform as guest artists at Sing and Play ’23 on February 23 at Jordan-Matthews High School. The annual competition was created as a performance opportunity for student musicians and a fundraiser for JMArts. (Photo by Chip Pate)

William Pate

February 7, 2023

JMArts receives Chatham Arts Council grant to develop the foundation for future success

William Pate

February 7, 2023

SILER CITY, N.C. — Not long ago, after celebrating a successful first decade serving Jordan-Matthews High School artists and the broader community, JMArts was poised to launch a campaign to recruit new volunteers that could sustain the high school arts foundation for years to come.

The future seemed bright at that moment, the beginning of the 2020 spring semester, and then everything stopped.

The COVID-19 pandemic killed that project and made life even more difficult for nonprofits worldwide. Volunteers disappeared. Many contributors did, too. Audiences evaporated; even after live performances returned with stringent safety guidelines, many people were worried about their health and no longer in the habit of attending in-person events.

All of a sudden, JMArts was scrambling to provide creative opportunities for student artists to develop their talents and keep moving forward. The future that once seemed so bright was in real jeopardy.

JMArts has just received some much-needed help in the form of a Chatham Arts Council Capacity Building Subgrant, a $5,000 award to help the nonprofit foundation strengthen itself for a sustained, promising future. The official purpose of the grant: to “review, revise and add to the structural framework of JMArts — including by-laws, board makeup, volunteer recruitment and strategic plan.”

“The bottom line is that we now have some money that will help us find and welcome the volunteers we hoped to draw into the foundation just before the pandemic hit,” said JMArts President Rose Pate. “It also will allow us to seek long-term funding and develop new tools that should strengthen JMArts for many years to come. I’m excited to have the chance to work on behind-the-scenes projects that will make JMArts function better in the long term, especially our outreach to parents and other volunteers.”

Chatham Arts Council and JMArts have worked together over many years to provide opportunity for students.

Last winter, JMArts produced a Latin jazz clinic for high school and some middle school musicians. Gregg Gelb and La Fiesta Latin Jazz Sextet taught Latin jazz technique and performed a demonstration before returning later for a free public performance. And the spring before, in one of the first in-person workshops after pandemic lockdowns, JMArts produced an after-school theater dance workshop open to all students and led by Temple Theatre Producing Artistic Director Peggy Taphorn, a Broadway actor and choreographer.

And later this spring, Jordan-Matthews visual artists and students studying occupational and basic life skills will participate in “Gourd-geous Art Day: Art Meets Nature,” a day-long workshop where artists Martha Danek and Cara Bevan will show students how to incorporate natural materials into works of art.

All three events were offered with Chatham Arts Council through Grassroots Arts Grants supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“The Grassroots Grants offered by the Chatham Arts Council have been key in helping bring arts opportunities and expertise to students at Jordan-Matthews,” said Pate. “We’re excited to continue our relationship with this vital community organization as we learn how better to serve students and families in Siler City.”

More information about JMArts, including a schedule of all upcoming arts events and information on membership, is available online at JMArts.org.

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