On March 15 Jessica Zhu won first place in the 18th Annual U.S. Army Orchestra Young Artist Competition. Jessica has been a very active and strong presence among Tacy volunteers for four years. She began playing at Shady Grove Hospital on Saturday afternoons. As a 9th grader, she already played unaccompanied sonatas and partitas by Bach. Jessica continued to volunteer faithfully. In high school, she volunteered for several long-term Chief Internships at such places as Sunrise Friendship Heights in Chevy Chase and the National Institutes of Health. She has continued to lead events with other youth, play for seniors and hospitals, and send videos for the Foundation’s private playlist to hospitals and senior assisted-living facilities.

I still enjoy a poignant memory of the day during COVID in 2021 when Jessica received a scholarship from Tanglewood summer studies. Immediately, her parents contacted us to donate to the Foundation the full tuition that she and they had saved for the summer. Jessica wanted to donate it since she had won a scholarship.

Congratulations to Jessica,her parents, and her teacher! Her pattern of charitable service shows that shehas also become a very compassionate and accomplished philanthropist. 

In addition to Jessica, Katie Hwang, a new volunteer with the Foundation, was also a finalist in this competition. Katie was called in at the last minute to take the place of a finalist who became ill. You can see and hear her on the Tacy YouTube playlist. We are honored to have both Jessica and Katie in our midst. The video below is Jessica Zhu's performance. Jump to 3:11:03 to see Katie Hwang's performance as well.

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Sept. 28, 2022, in Cayo Costa, Florida, a barrier island west of Fort Myers in Lee County. It was one of the strongest hurricanes to land in Florida, a Category 4 storm with 150 mph sustained winds and a 10-15 feet of storm surge. Many parts of Lee County were devastated, along with other areas.

The Tacy Foundation mailed a package containing volunteers’ cards and QR codes with music to the Lee County Emergency Management Center in Fort Myers, Florida. The cards and QR codes were shared with hundreds of people, including staff and volunteers who helped many people in the devastated area. The center director acknowledged our package by stating, “Ian was a stressful and challenging time for us, but the healing power of your music certainly helped us get through.” 

Thank you to all the Tacy Foundation volunteers who participated in the Hurricane Ian project! Please continue to volunteer for our card projects. Right now, we have the Turkey/Syria card project, which is focused on uplifting the spirits of the many refugees. For more information, email: cards.thetacyfoundation@gmail.com. Please continue to sign up for our future projects.

We had an especially lovely event at Landow House in Rockville on March 19. The residents were very engaged and talked a lot with the kids. Harrison Benford, the Chief Intern, kept things running smoothly, and everyone was well prepared. We even had a young trumpet player! Harrison offered the residents a choice of Beethoven or a modern piece to close out the concert, and surprisingly everyone chose the modern one -- a nice surprise, and I think a special way to engage the audience, too, with a poll.

I would say this was one of the most heart-warming events we've had at the Hebrew Home so far. It felt like everything that the Foundation is intended to do happened there today. 

It has been a pleasure volunteering for Piano Pals at Great Seneca Creek Elementary School. The students are excited about advancing to higher levels in the piano book and earning bracelets of different colors after each level. 

The middle- and high-school volunteer mentors are top-notch. Some of them go on competitions and performances on weekends.

It is amazing to see the students and mentors grow and feel more confident as the program progresses. We are looking forward to showcasing their talents during the closing program on March 24.