Music has a way of soothing the soul.
Kersten Stevens, who grew up in Stratford and is a graduate of Stratford Public Schools, is coming home to record her sixth live album on May 17th.
Stevens, an award winning violinist, is grateful to be home to record an album near and dear to her heart. She said, “To record this album near Stratford, with family, friends, longtime supporters and new listeners in the room, feels powerful. I am looking forward to making something that people will not just hear later, but something they can say they were part of.”
Growing up in Stratford, so close to Bridgeport, Kersten played the violin in the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras, formerly the Greater Bridgeport Youth Symphony Orchestra, from fifth grade through twelfth grade. During a time when so many programs, including music, are being cut from schools, Kersten’s musical development was nurtured outside of school.
An alumna of Yale University and six-time Apollo Theater winner, Kersten was introduced at the age of three to musical instruments when her mom took her to a music class. We sat down with Kersten to learn a bit more about who she is, her hopes and dreams, and why music is so important.
Kersten remembers, “I attended Stratford Academy, Wooster Middle School, and Bunnell High School, and while I studied violin privately, so much of my creative life was shaped right here in town. At the time, there was not yet a strings program in the Stratford schools, so my school music life looked a little different. I played saxophone, performed in the marching band and jazz band, and was very involved in theater. I participated in In The Spotlight, which was a popular musical theater program, and performed in school productions, including Fiddler on the Roof and Annie. I was always finding my way to music and performance, even when the violin itself was happening outside of school.”
Today, there are over 6,000 kids in our public school system, and in 2023 the Stratford Board of Education proposed a $2 million budget cut which eliminated positions and programs like music. For Kersten, and so many students in our Stratford Public Schools, music heals. Kersten said, “In a world where so many things can harm us or harden us, music has the ability to soften, restore, and move us forward. It gives language to what we cannot always say. It helps us feel what we may not know how to feel. It communicates stories, faith, hope, grief, and love in a way that reaches beyond words.”
In my interview with Kersten, she often talked about her community, from school to neighbors, to her music family, friends and others along the way. She recalls a time when she performed in New York at the Apollo and her community from Stratford and Yale, after chartering a bus, showed up to cheer her on. Kersten said, “As a Black woman violinist, I am also very aware that my presence tells a story. Every time I step on stage, I am bringing my training, my ancestors, my family, my faith, my community, and my imagination with me. That matters to me.”
Kersten invites you to her performance on May 17th. She will record her sixth album with special guests Malik Yoba, two-time grammy winning vocalist Nicole Zuraitis, and legendary spoken word artist jessica Care moore .
With such talent, Kersten’s live performance will surely blow you away!
Interested in going to see Kersten perform. Where is the event? What time?
Thank you for sharing.