Our Debut at the CSO!

The Sherwood Conservatory Suzuki String Ensemble made our debut at Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on May 16, 2009. We were chosen to perform for the closing day of the CSO's 2009 Festival of Youth in Music, part of their Young Musician Initiative. This was really exciting because we played onstage at the CSO where virtually every great musician in the world has performed over the past 100+ years. I've seen Joshua Bell and Anne-Sophie Mutter play on this same stage.
Here is a video of the Violins (with me) playing Handel's Chorus from Judas Maccabeus.




The Suzuki Department Head is my teacher Marija Bubanj. The violins are led by Marija Bubanj and Emilia Blaszak-Freymiller. Our accompanist is Miss Massumi Ichise.

Here is another video of our CSO debut (with me in violins) . The Suzuki String Ensemble (Violins and Cellos) is playing French Folk Song. The Cello Director is Martine Benmann.



This was a really exciting event for us. Hope you enjoy the music. (Video by my dad.)

Prize Winning Photograph!

My entry into the Beaubien Cultural Arts Contest and Fine Arts Festival has been awarded the 1st Prize in Photography! I am receiving a trophy at the Fine Arts Festival on May 16, 2009 and then a special celebration awards luncheon from the Beaubien PTO.

The theme of the contest this year was "Go Green." I'm so excited! I took my winning photograph in Times Square, New York City. It is a photograph of a wind-powered billboard display on Times Square. When I saw the billboard, I knew it was a perfect image for the contest so I stood in Times Square in January waiting for the images to cycle so I could catch just the right shot of the "green" image.

Photo (c) 2009 by Stas' Gunkel.

Prize Winning Poem !

My entry into the Beaubien Cultural Arts Contest and Fine Arts Festival has been awarded the 1st Prize in Creative Writing! I am receiving a trophy at the Fine Arts Festival on May 16, 2009 and then a special celebration awards luncheon from the Beaubien PTO.

The theme of the contest this year was "Go Green."

I'm so excited! My poem is below:


Our Earth's Future

Garbagey globe.
Stinky skies.
No place to live,
The earth in disguise.


Polluted planet.
Odorous orb.
No world for us anywhere,
No light to absorb.


Get rid of this scene!
Should Wall-E clean up our earth?
No Way!
I say …Go Green!



Poem (c) Stas' Gunkel 2009.

Eco-Poetry & Eco-Photography

This poem & photo are my submissions for the 2009 Beaubien Cultural Arts Contest. The theme of the contest is GOING GREEN so my poem is about the environment.

The photo is my entry in the Photography category of the Contest. It is a photo I took in New York's Times Square of a wind-powered billboard display. Photography is one of my favorite hobbies. I won a ribbon in last year's contest with my photo of The Sears Tower & I won the 2008 National Photo Contest for the Polish National Alliance with my photo of Michigan Avenue. I hope you enjoy them.


Our Earth's Future

Garbagey globe.
Stinky skies.
No place to live,
The earth in disguise.

Polluted planet.
Odorous orb.
No world for us anywhere,
No light to absorb.

Get rid of this scene!
Should Wall-E clean up our earth?
No Way!
I say …Go Green!

Poem & Photo (c) Stas' Gunkel 2009.

Review: Mozart's Magic Flute at the Met

Review: Mozart's Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera of NYC

December 31, 2008

Production Design: Julie Taymor

The Metropolitan Opera is a very beautiful place. This is the first opera I've ever been to and it was very good. I was there on New Year's Eve. There were lots of big puppets designed by Julie Taymor; they were very pretty and colorful.

The opera, The Magic Flute, by Mozart was very lively. It is also very happy. Papageno was my favorite character. The Magic Flute was very good.

Review: Wagner's Tristan & Isolde at Lyric Opera Chicago

Review: Wagner's Tristan & Isolde at Lyric Opera Chicago

February 2009

Soprano: Deborah Voight

Tenor: Clifton Forbis

Production Design: David Hockney

Wagner rocks! The singing was excellent. The music was excellent. This is much more serious than Mozart. This is music for serious people!

It was obvious to me that the Star Wars guy stole everything from Wagner! This is the original.

My mom & dad said I could choose any opera to see this season and I picked Wagner. They were surprised because it is 5 hours long. But it was outstanding and I loved it.

Chicago Music Awards: Report

Thank you to everyone for your support. I performed at the Park West at the Chicago Music Awards on January 18th, 2009. I played Bach's Musette.

It was a very exciting opportunity. I enjoyed sitting next to CMA & Grammy winners Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones and I had the chance to wear my first tuxedo! Congratulations to the winner of Most Talented Kids category, a young gospel music singer called Joshlyn Lomax. She was excellent!

Video of my performance is on YouTube. It includes the very nice introduction I received from WGCI readio host Dana Divine.