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News from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
UAMS
Caduceus Club Trustee Shines on One of Music’s Biggest Stages
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APRIL 16, 2003
| For Alan Storeygard, M.D., playing the
piano has always come second to his family
medical practice in Jacksonville,
Arkansas. But in some respects, Dr.
Storeygard has reached the top of the
music world. On Mon., March 3, he played
his own stylized version of “Amazing Grace” in New York City’s Carnegie
Hall.
“It was
thrilling,” says Dr. Storeygard, a
trustee of the Arkansas
Caduceus Club at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences
(UAMS).
His
Carnegie Hall performance was part of the
Ibla Awards Concert, held every year in
Carnegie Hall and other spots around the
nation. Dr. Storeygard took part because
he was a grand prize winner last fall in
the prestigious International Bellini
Voice & Piano Competition in Ibla, the
old town section of Ragusa, Italy, Little
Rock’s sister city. It was the
participation in the sister city program
by Dr. Storeygard and his wife, Little
Rock attorney Paula Storeygard, that led
to his entry in the competition, the first
ever by an Arkansan.
Dr.
Storeygard won a “jazz special
mention” in the music composition
category for selections from his CD
“Church Jazz.” Not only is the award
unique, so is the genre, a blend of two
types of music the pianist at
Jacksonville’s First United Methodist
Church loves.
He is
donating part of proceeds from sale of the
CD to the James
R. Weber, M.D., Endowment for Family
Practice Residence Education. Dr.
Weber was a longtime family practice
physician in Jacksonville who volunteered
many hours of time to train UAMS resident
physicians before his death in 1998. Dr.
Storeygard considered him a mentor. |
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The Storeygard family
of Jacksonville, Arkansas posed at a reception
following Dr. Alan Storeygard's performance in
Carnegie Hall in New York March 3: Dr. Storeygard,
Paula Storeygard, Thomas (8), and Allison (7).
Click
on photo for larger view.
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“I just took the church pieces that I really liked and we sang a lot and did
it in the style of jazz piano,” Dr. Storeygard said of the CD that took five
years to write and three more to record. “It was an attempt to marry church
music and jazz piano, something I don’t think anybody had ever done
before.”
The CD includes religious standards like “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou
Art,” and “The Old Rugged Cross,” as well as one secular jazz piece he
wrote in college, “The Red Blues.” “They are written reverently enough
that you can play them in a service. I hope churches that don’t have large
music programs can put the CD in during the offering, or prelude, or
communion,” he said.
Remembering Dr. Weber, Dr. Storeygard says,
”Jim just shared his knowledge with people, and he loved to teach. I could
pick his brain whenever I wanted to. He was a good personal friend.” So far
about $1,000 dollars from the sales of the CD have gone into the endowment.
“Church Jazz” is on sale at several
locations in central Arkansas, including the UAMS Bookstore and the Arkansas
Cancer Research Center Gift Shop on the UAMS campus.
There
is more music to come, Dr. Storeygard promises. “I’m working on a second CD
right now. I’ve recorded one piece and I’m working on three others I want
to complete this year,” he said.
Links on This Page
Arkansas Caduceus Club: http://www.uams.edu/com/caduceus.htm
James R. Weber, M.D., Endowment: http://www.uams.edu/advancement/weber.htm
Medical Foundation: http://www.uams.edu/today/053101/weber.htm
© 2003 University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences (UAMS). A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for
noncommercial personal use only. “UAMS,” “UAMS Online,” “UAMS Today,” “UAMS
Update,” “uams.edu,” and “Here’s to Your Health” are marks of UAMS.
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08/08/03 |
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