Meredith Oatman-Thompson to perform Aug. 7 at Methodist Church

Meredith Oatman-Thompson on Aug. 7 will perform an organ concert at the Orofino-Peck United Methodist Church on College Avenue, Orofino.

  Meredith Oatman-Thompson of Orofino, currently a student at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, will be in Orofino Sunday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. to play an organ concert at the Orofino-Peck United Methodist church on College Avenue, Orofino. She will perform several pieces by J.S. Bach and the Suite Gothique by Leon Boellman. Proceeds will help Meredith with her tuition.

The story below was written by Meredith.

  My name is Meredith Oatman-Thompson. I am 15 years old and I have just completed my freshman year at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. I have been studying music for ten years. I am an organ major and piano minor at the academy. I have been accepted again at Interlochen Arts Academy for the 2011/2012 school year when I will be a sophomore.

  I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the people who helped me go to Interlochen last year; without the support of the local community I would not have had this unbelievable experience. Thank you so much!

  Interlochen Arts Academy is a high school with 500 students in Northern Michigan. Students come from around the world to study there. Students at the academy study music, art, dance, theater, film making, or creative writing.

  Being a student there has totally changed my life. I really like the learning environment on campus; everyone is focused on their art. This past year I made friends from Korea, China, Nigeria, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and many more countries. We are like a big international family of artists.

  I had the opportunity to attend numerous theater productions, concerts and dance performances by my classmates. It was an awesome experience!

  The pipe organ I play in the Interlochen chapel has over 5,000 pipes. It takes three rooms to hold them all. As an organist, I study a lot of music by J.S. Bach and other classical composers.

  I played three organ concerts this year. In addition, the organ students took a field trip to Central Michigan University and had a master class with the organ instructor there. Next year we will be going to L.A. to play and perform on the largest organ in the world.

  At the academy, I also study piano as a piano minor. I was the only freshman who auditioned into a piano major studio. My piano studio has some of the best high school pianists from around the world and I am proud to be among them. On Sundays, I sing with the Traverse City Central Methodist church choir and sometimes play the organ or accompany there too.

  The academics at Interlochen are very advanced. I took four academics this year; Spanish, Algebra, Biology and English. I had a great Algebra teacher at the academy. She was not only a math teacher but a great friend; we even went snow shoeing together. Biology was my favorite class this year. The teacher was amazing and we got to do a lot of really cool labs. We even got to do genetic modification. We took DNA from a jellyfish and inserted it into bacterial DNA to make it glow like the jellyfish. This was very exciting.

  I also met an astronaut who did a presentation for all the Math/Science classes. In English, the reading selections were my favorite part and the classroom discussions were always interesting because of all the different opinions.

  Interlochen is on a piece of land not far from Lake Michigan and is situated between two smaller lakes. In my P.E. class we went snow shoeing and cross-country skiing out onto the lake and all around the land that belongs to the academy.

  I hope to complete my high school experience at Interlochen and be a four year graduate. Once again I have received a $35,000 scholarship for next year. However, the tuition at the Academy is $47,000 per year and I need to raise the difference myself.

  On Sunday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m., I am playing an organ concert at the Orofino-Peck United Methodist church in Orofino to help with my tuition for next year.  I will be playing several pieces by J.S. Bach and the Suite Gothique by Leon Boellman.

  I hope people will come and hear what I have learned this past year and support me in continuing at Interlochen.