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ABOUT US
OUR MISSION
As many experienced musicians know, one of the most difficult parts of becoming a well-known, sought-after artist is getting the public to recognize your abilities. There's just no easy way to make the leap from school talent shows to public concerts, and unfortunately, many incredibly talented musicians and songwriters go unnoticed outside of their friends, family, and teachers because of this.
That's where we come in: The Stained Glass Concert Series gives young and up-and-coming musicians a chance to show off their talent to a real-life public audience. Participants get the full live music experience: Creative freedom to perform whatever they want at a free, advertised concert at a real music venue with professional sound equipment, lighting, and audio engineering. Our host venues are located in beautiful downtown Winchester, Virginia in an area of high foot traffic which has resulted in amazing turnouts for all of our events. In other words, participants can count on having an audience at their performance. In addition, participants are allowed to sell their own merchandise at the concert if they wish to further advertise their musical identity. Performers are selected through an online audition system.
To witness the largest display of new talent in the Shenandoah Valley, visit the Events page and mark your calendars for the next SGCS event. Whether you're onstage or in the audience, we look forward to seeing you!
RTG at SGCS Vol. II. Photo credit: Sam Kulton
Urban Sprawl at SGCS Vol. II. Photo credit: Sam Kulton
HISTORY
The Stained Glass Concert Series was founded in 2019 by high school senior Claudia Largent to give herself and some of her close amateur musician friends a chance to perform for the public. Her mother, Melissa Kauffmann, was and still is the owner of Vostrikov's Academy of Ballet in Winchester, Virginia and allowed her to use the space for the event. Largent named the event after the tall, beautiful stained glass windows in the main hall of the building, dating back to its former days as a church. Even this early on, Largent and her friends had every intention to continue putting on concerts under the same name and openly advertised the first concert as "Volume I." Volume I took place on the evening of January 17th, 2020 and featured three bands: Parial (Largent's group), The What?, and RTG. Admission was free, all three groups sold merchandise, and the concert was opened with Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1000 Dances" and closed with King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight" and Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby," all performed by all three bands at once.
King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight" performed by Parial, The What?, and RTG. Video credit: Unknown
Volume II was tentatively scheduled for March 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning did not fully resume until June 2021 when RTG's Kevin Romano rekindled the project as part of a fellowship with the University of Delaware Community Engagement Initiative. Solidifying the mission statement of providing young musicians a chance to show off their talent, Romano invited acts based on their young, amateur, or relatively unknown status; not just close friends. This resulted in a much larger roster of performers, prompting Largent and Romano to enlist Parial's Elliot Eyre and RTG's Teagan Hershberger to help run the growing event. Volume II took place on August 7th, 2021 and featured the original three bands from Volume I, solo sets from Largent and Eyre, and six new acts. The concert was split into two separate sections for solos and bands.
Largent, Romano, Eyre, and Hershberger continued their roles as coordinators for Volume III, which was the series' largest event by lineup size and performance time. The team received funding from the University of Delaware Internship Grant to support the growing event, which included some significant changes: Most notably, acts were chosen based on an audition system due to increased potential performer interest, and auditionees were recruited from local high schools and music studios in the interest of furthering the organization's mission statement. The number of acts grew to nineteen, prompting the coordinators to expand the concert to a two-day event and abandon Volume II's solo/band split. It took place on on August 5th and 6th, 2022. This was also the first event where SGCS merchandise was available for purchase.
Skies Over Saturn at SGCS Vol. III. Photo credit: Orion Guerra
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Leeric at SGCS Vol. III. Photo credit: Orion Guerra
Volume IV took place on August 4th and 5th, 2023 and was the most well-attended and most noticeably "different" SGCS event yet. Reminiscent of Volume II's solo/band split, the event consisted of two concerts: a Friday evening "coffee hour" for solos, duos, low-volume performances, and beginners and an all-day Saturday music festival for bands, amplified performances, and experienced/well-established performers. The changes didn't stop there, though; Due to schedule incompatibilities, Vostrikov's Academy of Ballet was unable to host SGCS in 2023, so the two concerts were moved to Espresso Bar & Café and the Taylor Pavilion respectively, both on the Old Town Walking Mall. Administration changed, too; Claudia Eyre (formerly Largent) and Elliot Eyre got married in June 2023 and temporarily renounced their roles as co-coordinators as they began to settle down together in Pennsylvania. As a response, Romano and Hershberger brought on Will Schwantes and Nick Ramdass of The MCs (who performed on Volumes II and III) as co-coordinators. The audition system and event merchandise from Volume III remained in place. The event received funding from the University of Delaware Community Engagement Initiative as part of a research project conducted by Romano on the implementation of Informal Music Learning into SGCS as a means for music-making accessibility for high schoolers. The research was presented at the UD 2023 Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity on August 10th, 2023.
RTG at SGCS Vol. IV. Photo credit: Andy Espinoza
Amanda Leigh at SGCS Vol. IV. Photo credit: Andy Espinoza
COORDINATORS
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Kevin Romano is an instrumental music education major at the University of Delaware. He sings; plays the French horn, trumpet, and piano; and is the head arranger/songwriter for the band RTG, who has performed on every volume of SGCS. He wrote most of the tracks featured on RTG's upcoming album, "Sic Semper Funk," including the songs "R.T.G.I.F." and "Arbiters of Funk," which were pre-released on all major music streaming platforms and currently have over 9,000 cumulative streams. At SGCS Vol. III, he premiered his experimental songwriting project R-Deco. Alongside coordinating SGCS, Kevin teaches early childhood music at the UD Community Music School, performs with the UD Wind Ensemble and UD Chorale (which recently performed in Czechia and the UK respectively), and participates in professional music education research, co-creating a culturally relevant early childhood music curriculum in 2022.
Teagan Hershberger is a freelance bassist and multi-instrumentalist studying cybersecurity at Laurel Ridge Community College. He helped form the rock band Skies Over Saturn, who recently released their debut album, "The Sound of Motion," on all major music streaming platforms and Punk Valley Records. He is also a member of the band RTG, who has performed on every volume of SGCS. He wrote the opening track to their upcoming album, "Sic Semper Funk," and does most of the band's event booking and networking. In early 2023, he joined Georgia-based punk/country (yes, that's a real thing) band FARSEEK, touring throughout the US south, east coast, and midwest. Teagan briefly renounced his role as SGCS co-coordinator for Summer 2022 as he was touring nationwide with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps as their bassist.
Will Schwantes is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist majoring in choral/general music education at the University of Delaware. He started playing the violin at age 4 and added guitar, piano, bass, and singing to his musical arsenal throughout high school. He currently has three original songs on all major music streaming platforms as part of his solo venture: "I Think I Like You," "I Can't Stand To Be Alone," and "Coffee Cup." He is also one of four MCs in the band The MCs, who released their debut single, "Crush," on all major music streaming platforms in November 2022. Will is in the midst of entering a renewed perspective on songwriting, finally embracing his acoustic side with hopes of capturing even more obscure emotions than ever before. He was brought on as an SGCS co-coordinator for Vol. IV following the temporary resignations of Claudia and Elliot Eyre.
Nick Ramdass is a guitarist, bassist, and vocalist majoring in psychology at George Mason University with a minor in music therapy. He is one of the founding members of the band The MCs, who performed on SGCS Volumes II and III and recently released their first single, “Crush,” on all major music streaming platforms. In addition to The MCs, Nick maintains a solo performing/songwriting career and has recently entered the world of guitar/bass freelancing by filling in for two bands’ musicians at SGCS Vol. IV. He has plans to create and release his own music (but is known to procrastinate) and has written songs for The MCs including “A Song For Her,” “IFKN,” and more that the band plans to release in the future. He was brought on as an SGCS co-coordinator for Vol. IV following the temporary resignations of Claudia and Elliot Eyre.
Claudia Eyre is the founder of the Stained Glass Concert Series and has degrees in recording industry and pre-law from Middle Tennessee State University. She sings; plays guitar, upright bass, piano, and oboe; and has performed with various groups in Winchester, Virginia including the duo Parial, who performed on SGCS Volumes I - III. She is also part of the Tennessee-based band Half-Pack Heifers, gaining useful experience as she aspires to be a freelance country/folk artist. Although a longtime songwriter, she only recently released her first original song, "Come and Go," to the world on all major music streaming platforms. She plans to release her next single, "The Dentist," soon. Claudia has briefly renounced her role as SGCS co-coordinator as she and her new husband Elliot settle down in Pennsylvania. SGCS wishes them the best!
Elliot Eyre is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and sound engineer majoring in business analysis at Grove City College and minoring in computer science. He writes music for his group songwriting project, EYRE, and has released two EPs on all major music streaming platforms: "A Brief Foray into the Mind of a Musician" Parts 1 and 2. EYRE performed on SGCS Volumes II and III with varying lineups and guest musicians. He has recently branched out into film scoring, having composed soundtracks for multiple short films. He has won awards such as "Best Original Score" and "Best Audio Editing/Mixing" at the Lux Mea Film Festival. Eyre is currently developing a social media platform called "Bridge" specifically designed for musicians, which he recently won a grant for. Elliot has briefly renounced his role as SGCS co-coordinator as he and his new wife Claudia settle down in Pennsylvania. SGCS wishes them the best!