VCU news

By Lydia Dodd

Two Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts students made music – and history – this school year when they performed not only for, but with, members of Congress.

The unprecedented event took place at Congressional Record 2024, an inaugural concert featuring performances by members of Congress.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which co-hosted the Sept. 17 event, invited three college students from the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute - including VCUarts music performance majors Arianna Greggs and Kevin Nguyen - to play in a string quartet with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Iowa. The group performed an instrumental version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” with Hinson and Greggs on violin and Nguyen on cello.

“How many people can say they did that?” Greggs said. “They could have chosen anyone. But they asked me, Kevin and another member of SMI to play with the congresswoman. … That was really cool.”

For one night, the gathering, which highlighted the importance of arts education and funding, fostered a sense of unity in Congress as “an example of how the arts really have the power to bring our nation together,” said Warren Williams, director of music education at The Kennedy Center. “Particularly at a time where politics can be very divisive, and the arts have that power to just transcend these sorts of cultural barriers and political differences.”

Longtime friends Nguyen and Greggs have been playing music together since they were in middle school in Norfolk. They first mingled with legislators at this year’s NSO Summer Music Institute at The Kennedy Center. Since a large portion of the program’s funding comes from a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the NSO arranges for students to visit the Capitol and advocate for the arts.

In the orchestra world, such programs serve as a musician’s “internship experience,” but they usually are unpaid and have a tuition fee. Not only does the NSO institute appeal to students because of its exclusivity, the full scholarship allows them to immerse themselves in the experience without worry of how to pay for it.

The institute gives students ages 15 to 20 a sense of life as a career orchestra musician. Throughout the four-week program, young musicians receive private lessons from orchestra members, master classes, side-by-side rehearsals and performance opportunities.

For one day, students also meet with three Senate and House of Representative members from their respective districts, allowing students to share their personal experiences with the arts and how the arts have affected their community. This kind of advocacy allows their legislators to see and hear from the “products” of the institute’s programming. 

“I am thrilled that our training programs have that component of being an artistic citizen,” Williams said. “Citizen artistry is very important to us. So, this component of advocacy is embedded in all aspects of what we do.”

The ability to tell their lawmakers about these issues can open the door to change in their communities.

“We’re just showing them this is the product of the money that you’re putting into these programs,” Greggs said. “There’s so many people behind us, younger than us, that also want to be in this position.”

Nguyen wanted to show congressional leaders that musicians have an influence and necessary role in society as well.

“It breaks my heart that not everybody gets the opportunity to even hold an instrument,” he said.

Being the voice for students at public schools with underfunded programs gave him pause and helped him to grow as a musician.

“I think [it] really stuck out to me,” Nguyen said, citing a renowned cellist, “because there could be somebody out there who could be the next Yo-Yo Ma.”