Monday, May 20, 2013

Activities

Three Phoenix Musicians Attend Grenoble Music Festival in France


Alex Sipes, Christopher Kontos and Collin Sleasman, local Phoenix musicians, will participate in the fourth annual Grenoble Music Festival in France from June 11 to June 22.

The festival committee invites musicians from its international sister cities to attend the week-long festival.  Grenoble is one of Phoenix’s nine sister cities.

The three teens will attend several music workshops during the week, staying in a local youth hostel along with the other international musicians.  The festival ends with a concert at the local St. Andre Square.


“We are pleased to be invited to participate in this international music festival,” said Sipes.  “I’m looking forward to collaborating with so many musicians from around the world.”


In 2010, Sipes visited Catania, Italy, as a participant in the Phoenix Sister Cities Youth Ambassador Exchange program while he was a student at Desert Vista High School. Currently a freshman at Arizona State University, he hopes to continue with his music and receive a Ph.D. in psychology.  Kontos will be a senior next year at Desert Vista High School, and Sleasman is a junior at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

Listen to their music



French Culture and Cuisine!
Membership Mixer at Sophie's Bistro in Phoenix, AZ

On February 8, the Grenoble committee held a membership reception at Sophie's restaurant in Phoenix. Approximately 25 people attended. The heavy hors d'oeuvres were superb and the wine was flavorful and terrific. The goal of such receptions is to develop camraderie and membership within the general community so as to further develop membership in Phoenix Sister Cities and the Grenoble sister city committee. The committee plans other such events in the coming year and hopes that members of all the sister cities' committees join us for these delightful culinary and cultural events.




Grenoble Committee Activities

The Grenoble, France committee's November 2nd Soiree was an outstanding success. The wine, cheese and jazz party was attended by over 120 guests not including staff, entertainment, volunteers and special guests. That is almost double the number of attendees from last year's event! Revenue was over three (3) times that of last year and almost equaled the amount of revenue received from the past three Soirees combined. The committee chairman, Phillip Glasscock, looks forward to planning future events, with champagne tasting and Beaujolais nouveau events being possibilities.

The setting was the outside patio of the Pueblo Grande Museum. Although there were some initial concerns regarding the location, it turned out to be the perfect setting. Tables were set for approximately seventy attendees, a number that increased soon after the event began. The sponsors and volunteers set up serving tables just outside of the conference center, allowing easy access to the wine and food storage inside the conference room. The weather was beautiful and the outside lighting created the perfect ambiance to sip wine and enjoy the temperate autumn night. The location even had convenient access to electricity to power the musician's amplifiers and a slide show of the last PSCC trip to Grenoble in 2004.

Prior to the main event, guests were greeted by staff and volunteers and were serenaded by the Paris-cafe-style French accordion music of Tony Patrino.

Once the guests paid for their entrance tickets and entered their tickets into the door prize contests, they entered the candle-lit reception area, where they sampled the vast array of wine and gourmet hors d'ouvres. Many different types of wine were available, donated by JPG Law, LLC and Leading Integrated Designs. Brigitte Tersuer provided gourmet cheeses and pate on attractive serving plates. Lufthansa flight training school chef Stan Reinhold and Maria Chapman, a former citizen of Grenoble, provided the delicious appetizers. Guests enjoyed the food and wine while mingling with friends and relaxing to the sounds of Tony Patrino and the Grenoble Quartet.

The event began with announcements and recognitions by PSCC President Tracey Uffelman and Phillip Glasscock. The main event featured live jazz music by the Grenoble Jazz Quartet. The Grenoble Quartet, made up of four ASU jazz students, John Sims, Danielle Cooke, Jeff Gutierrez, and Shaun Lowecki, traveled to Grenoble this past summer to participate in the Grenoble International Jazz Students Symposium. The Grenoble Quartet did a wonderful job of entertaining the jazz enthusiasts and are a great example of the relationships that are formed through Phoenix's various Sister City programs.

Between sets, door prizes were awarded. Included in the door prizes were a gourmet wine basket, wine, wine caddie, and wine bottle opener.

We received many favorable comments from attendees. In particular, they liked the outdoor location and open wine bar. We received feedback from many interested parties and contact information from people who would like to be part of future events! Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers and staff who made this successful event possible!