The jury of the Paganini Violin Competition in Genoa did not award first prize this year, but gave second prize to Stephanie Jeong, 21, who currently studies with Cho-Liang Lin and Ronald Copes at the Juilliard School. Some of you may remember Stephanie when she studied with Mrs. Haag, who prepared her for her successful audition to enter Curtis Institute as its youngest student, at age 9.

Congratulations, Stephanie!

Rachel passed from this earth into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior at approximately 2:15 p.m. today [November 7, 2008].  We held her, poured out our hearts to her as we sang, prayed and thanked God for the privilege of having her in our lives.

There are no words for our pain.  There are simply no words for our incredible sense of loss.  We can only trust that God’s ways are bigger than our ways, and He knew what was best for Rachel.  We wanted it different, but my prayer was always that she would not suffer;  Now we are sure that it is we who suffer, not Rachel.  We are assured that Rachel is dancing and singing in heaven and wearing those most beautiful pair of shoes ever.  We are thankful and comforted knowing she is in the loving company of her grandparents, Pa Brown and Nana and Pa Discher, and other relatives, Auntie Evelyn, Uncle Emil, Auntie Joyce, Uncle Joe, Auntie Stella as well as Lois Olsen.  We feel sure she received a grand welcome and is having the time of her life.

We have tentatively scheduled a memorial service for next Friday, November 14.  I will forward the details as they are available.

We are so grateful to all of you who have supported us so well through your amazing outpouring of love and compassion.  We will forever be grateful for having you by our side, lifting us up through this storm.

Love,

Lisa and Bill

From Mrs. Haag-Kuhnke:

I am very sad to report the news that Lisa Discher Olson’s daughter, Rachel Rosmanitz, has passed away.

If anyone would like to send condolence wishes to Lisa and her family, the address is:

Sunday, April 27, 2008, at 1:00PM

33rd annual spring concert of the Betty Haag Academy

Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, Chicago

Alumni, post a comment if you’d like to participate in the event by playing Bach Double onstage. Rehearsal will be on Saturday afternoon, April 26.

Anyone wishing to send a letter of gratitude and pictures for a book Mrs. Haag is putting together for Mrs. Galvin, please send the information to Mrs. Haag at her home address:

2403 Greshan Court, Arlington Heights, IL 60004.

The information must be received before May 7, 2007, in order to be included in the book.

The weekend of March 28-April 1, 2007, marked the first “Residency Weekend” hosted by The Music Within Us program in Palo Alto, California.

Three current high school seniors from the Betty Haag Academy, all of whom began studying violin with Mrs. Haag at age 3 or 4, traveled to California for a weekend of music, mentoring, and fun.

These students were selected on the basis of their overall character development, attitude toward learning, academic performance, commitment to community service, musical aptitude, and ability to represent the ideals of Mrs. Haag’s core teaching philosophy.

Activities included shadowing Dr. Lisa Chu (1993 alum) in her teaching, touring Stanford University, meeting one-on-one with mentors in fields related to the students’ areas of interest (such as medicine, political science, and business), performing in a private concert for The Music Within Us families with Dr. Chu and Mr. Christopher Mah (2001 alum and current “Googler”), and participating in a “talk-show style” panel discussion on the lessons learned through their journey of violin training with Mrs. Haag.

To view an online photo collection of our Residency Weekend and other activities at The Music Within Us, check out this link.

SAVE THE DATE! Sunday, May 20, 2007, at 1:00PM, will mark the 32nd annual spring concert of the Betty Haag Academy at Orchestra Hall.

Mrs. Haag would like to invite all alumni to come and play Bach Double as a tribute in honor of Mrs. Mary Galvin’s nearly three decades of support for the school and the performing group.

REHEARSAL will be on Saturday, May 19, at 3:00pm, Longfellow Elementary School, Buffalo Grove.

PLEASE RSVP by submitting a comment below!