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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Pianist Kimberly Cann, 29, makes a musical mark on Asheville

Cann, 29, makes a musical mark on Asheville

Kimberly Cann, concert pianist and teacher, sits at an instrument at the Piano Emporium in Weaverville, near her home. "IIt was not my intention to be at the forefront of musical performance in Asheville," she said--and yet, that's where she finds herself.

Cann plays a piece at the Piano Emporium in Weaverville. She has local concert dates Sunday and in April.

Cann plays a pece at the Piano Emporium in Weaverville. She has local concert dates Sunday and in April. / Bill Sanders/wsanders@citizen-times.com

HEAR MORE KIMBERLY

• View Kimberly Cann's Sept. 29 performance with her sister, Michelle, playing two movements from Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGyC5lAdo1w.
• Cann's performance at the Asheville Art Museum at 3 p.m. Sunday is sold out. To learn more, visit www.ashevilleart.org.
• The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at A-B Tech will present Cann in recital with her husband, Aaron Brown, double bassist, at 7 p.m. April 1 in Ferguson Auditorium. To reserve tickets, call Cynthia Schwartz at 231-2951.
• Cann performs with Asheville Area Piano Forum pianists John Cobb, Philip Dettra, Anna Hayward, Susan Kincaid and Nathan Shirley in a benefit concert at 3 p.m. April 3 at the Asheville North Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 364 Broadway St. Admission is $15, or $3 for students, free for ages 12 and younger. To reserve tickets e-mail rlrodwell@bellsouth.net.
• The YMI Cultural Center presents “Life Beneath the Veneer,” a continuing lecture-presentation series about African-American history in Asheville, featuring musical works by African-American composers at 5 p.m. April 29. Visit www.ymicc.org.

ASHEVILLE — How does a young classical pianist new to Asheville find a place in this area's flourishing, some would say crowded, music scene?

For 29-year-old Kimberly Cann, who moved here two years ago, the answer might be, “Ask not what your community can do for you, ask what you can do for your community.”

With an impressive background that includes winning an important national competition at age 18 and a graduate degree from one of the nation's top conservatories, the Eastman School of Music, Cann has been quietly making a name for herself by using her considerable musical talents to help local organizations.

“It was not my intention to be at the forefront of musical performance in Asheville,” Cann said with a laugh. “I wasn't sure where I wanted to make my little niche. I was careful to get to know the community.”

She played a solo recital in Asheville as a benefit for Habitat for Humanity at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in 2009.

Then she dazzled the audience last September at an Asheville Area Piano Forum benefit at Diana Wortham Theatre. She and her younger sister, Michelle, a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music and herself a rising piano star, played Rachmaninoff's famously difficult Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos to an enthusiastic crowd.

In December, Cann became volunteer music coordinator for the YMI Cultural Center and began planning an ambitious series of events with Darin Waters, a historian of Asheville's African-American community.

She wants to highlight the contributions of African-Americans to classical music. One of her concert pieces — which she'll play Sunday at a sold-out show at the Asheville Art Museum — is “Troubled Waters” by Margaret Allison Bonds, a pianist and composer who in 1933 was the first African-American to solo with Chicago Symphony.

'Rich heritage'

“For this generation (of African-American classical musicians), I think it's really important that more of us continue to do what we do,” she said. “We forget what a rich heritage we all have in this wonderful music

Tips for Success

The Prompt:

“How did you achieve your current employment/choice of study? Compare your current situation to what you had planned or envisioned upon graduation.”

My current situation is, overall, happening according to plan, although with some pleasant surprises. While challenging, the GT BME degree gave me the intellectual confidence to branch out and try new things. After graduation, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland, Africa to work on the HIV pandemic. Looking back to the great people and mentors I met through the BME experience as a part of undergraduate research, PBL, curriculum, clubs, etc, I often realize that the perspectives I gained at Tech helped me in Africa and [even do so] now, in medical school. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Mark Weng

3rd year medical student
Emory University School of Medicine
2000

I achieved my current employment by completing two months of away elective rotations at Emory during the earlier months of my senior year of medical school at Mercer. Over the remaining months of my senior year, I anxiously met one-on-one with the chair of the department, the director of the residency program, and other top faculty members. I also met with two key mentors at Georgia Tech during this time. Having realized that I was interested in imaging and that I had an undeniable desire to incorporate engineering into my ultimate career path, these meetings were to seek guidance and to learn options about my next career steps, as I did not feel like continuing on with “the herd” (i.e. my medical school classmates) directly into residency.

Honestly, I envisioned myself just “becoming a doctor” upon graduation from Georgia Tech. I wasn’t fully aware of the abundance of extra intellectual tools Tech supplied [that I could] apply to my career in medicine. During my senior year of medical school, I gained this knowledge and decided that I wanted to do MORE.

To future graduates of Tech’s BME program: seek out your mentors, and follow your heart. With hard work and determination, the possibilities are endless.

Christina Lurie
Research Associate – Radiology, Body MRI
Emory University School of Medicine
BMED – May 2005

I achieved my current employment and choice of study in public health based off of my desire to be involved in patient care. Taking courses, such as CODE and global health, also provided me with a deeper glimpse into the diversity within the public health field. Initially, I planned to go into research and design upon graduation. I wanted to have an impact on patient care from a technical perspective. My desire to impact has not changed. However, I now want to be involved more with the patients themselves.

Carrie Oliver

HIV Counselor

Emory’s Department of Emergency Medicine

May 2010

Network network network! A lot of informational interviews and meeting people goes a long way. Luckily, through my networking skills, I was able to get into the biotech industry and apply my BME degree towards developing manufacturing processes to make biological drugs.

Parika Petaipimo

Development Engineer
Biogen Idec
2004

“Being a BME/Pre-Med, my goal upon graduation was to attend medical school. Unfortunately, my application didn’t meet their criteria, so my time between matriculating and graduating from Tech was spent improving on my weaker areas. This included working at positions at local hospitals and moving half way across the country to work in clinical research. The best advice I would give would be to utilize your fellow BMEs and your contacts. If you know any alumni or have classmates with internships, let them know you are looking for a position and make certain they can have quick access to your resume. The main reason I found my most important job (which helped immensely in my acceptance to medical school) was that a BME from Tech helped my boss move a file cabinet! The personal reference can be the one thing that separates you from the countless other applicants.”

Norman H. Ward IIIClinical Research Assistant/Entering Medical Student

University of Texas Medical School at Houston

May 2007

I currently work in new product development at a large medical device company as a project engineer. When I started at Tech, I knew I wanted to be involved in healthcare in some capacity, and throughout my coursework in BME, I became more confident that device engineering was the place for me. To learn more about the device industry and how to become a part of it, I utilized many campus resources: professional internships, career fairs, resume screenings, lunch and learns, conversations with people in industry, and networking with alums, etc. The common theme among everyone I spoke with was the high level of impact they felt they had in patient care and improving quality of life. As someone in the industry now, I have seen firsthand the reward that comes along with producing a device that vastly improves and even saves many peoples’ lives.

Shelley Eckert

Associate Project Engineer

C.R. Bard

Graduated May 2010

WAC enters as WCC exits at Orleans Arena

The West Coast Conference set the bar high Monday night at Orleans Arena with a competitive tournament title game in front of a raucous crowd on national television.

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson is optimistic his league can enjoy similar success as it tips off its tournament today at the same venue where Gonzaga beat Saint Mary's 75-63 for the WCC tourney title in front of 7,146 fans.

"The reason we came to the Orleans was the neutral court and the destination," Benson said. "We wanted to provide our coaches and student-athletes with a fair playing site and give the fans an attractive destination."

The WAC has a one-year contract with the Orleans with a one-year option for 2012. How long the WAC stays could depend on the league's level of success this week.

The tournament is going head to head with the Mountain West Conference, which is expected to draw big crowds at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Benson indicated that all-session ticket sales are up from the last six years -- when the WAC tournament was played in Reno and Las Cruces, N.M. -- but did not sell out like the WCC.

Benson said the league will probably exercise its option to play at the Orleans in 2012. But there's no telling what will happen in 2013, when UNR, Fresno State and Hawaii leave the WAC and Denver, Texas-San Antonio and Texas State join.

"I don't think we have many options," Benson said. "We either stay at the Orleans or we go back to playing on campus."

Play begins at noon today with Hawaii facing San Jose State. UNR plays Fresno State in another first-round game at 2:30 p.m.

Top-seeded and 23rd-ranked Utah State doesn't play until Friday's semifinals. The Aggies will probably have the largest following, and many of their fans opted not to buy tickets for all four days of the tourney.

"Unfortunately, there's not the incentive there would be if it were a tougher ticket," Benson said. "That being said, we're expecting big crowds for the weekend."

Eighth-seeded San Jose State has the league's top scorer in Adrian Oliver, who is third in the nation with a 24.3 average.

No. 7 seed Fresno State has been led by freshman guard Kevin Olekaibe, who starred a year ago at Cimarron-Memorial High School.

"I think the first two rounds could see some surprises," Benson said. "Those teams are all fairly evenly matched."

The WAC tournament set an attendance record the last time it was in Las Vegas with 81,674 attending the six sessions in 1998. That won't be the case this time.

But if Benson's league can come close to filling Orleans Arena's 7,847 seats, he'll consider that a big success.

"We think the players, coaches and the fans are going to like the change coming to the Orleans,'' he said. ''But at the end of the day, we have to make sure this move makes financial sense. You don't want your conference tournament to lose money."

Pirates Coach Tips Rangers

Johannesburg, South Africa — ABSA Premier Soccer League (PSL) league leaders Orlando Pirates coach Ruud Krol has tipped Zambia's 2011 Orange CAF Confederations Cup envoys Nchanga Rangers for success in the competition.

Krol, whose 'Buccaneers' side lost 2-0 to Nchanga in a friendly on Monday at Johannesburg Stadium, said the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) sponsored side had the potential to succeed at the highest level.

"They are good side. They have young players with a potential to succeed. Credit to the Nchanga Rangers," said Krol, who set up a full training session immediately after the match, obviously with Saturday's clash against Mamelodi Sundowns on his mind.

He could, however, not be drawn in predicting whether the Chingola side would come out of the clash against St Eloi Lupopo unscathed, saying he did not know match about the Congolese side.

"I don't know much about that team but from what have seen of Nchanga, they are capable of beating any team," said the maverick coach as he carpeted his players in his fiery manner as if they had just lost a cup final.

The sometimes temperamental mentor was even seen waving an imaginary card during the match each time any of his players was fouled showing how desperate for a win their fourth match was, having gone without a win after three draws and Monday's loss, notwithstanding that it was not a competitive match.

Despite the praise, Krol lavished on Nchanga, their own demanding coach Bruce Mwape was less than amused with their showing, saying the strikers were wasteful and the midfield did not close down Pirates.

Mwape said his top man Mathews Macha should have killed off the fixture as any contest within the first half but bemoaned the agile link play from George Chilfya who was playing just ahead of the defence.

"We lost possession cheaply especially in the opening 10 to 20 minutes. The link play between the backline and the midfield was a bit disorganised. We didn't do well enough to cut their supply lines,"

Even as difficult as he is to impress, Mwape still drew some positives from the match saying beating Pirates was like defeating a national team because the team is comprised internationals.

After a rather dull hour of football, the match burst into life in its last quarter with Floyd Phiri in the 68th minute before Lewis Macha doubled the advantage with an easy tap-in from substitute Bornwell Mwape's cross.

Today, Nchanga's clash with Amatuks at the Pretoria University High Performance Centre (HPC) grounds which the two teams have shared since the Zambian side arrived here last Thursday night.

Like Pirates, who had Isaac Chansa in their starting line-up, Amatuks, coach by former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker, have some Zambian interest in form of former Green Buffaloes defender Lawrence Phiri and junior international Constantinou Iaonou.

Pirates Coach Tips Rangers

He could, however, not be drawn in predicting whether the Chingola side would come out of the clash against St Eloi Lupopo unscathed, saying he did not know match about the Congolese side.

Even as difficult as he is to impress, Mwape still drew some positives from the match saying beating Pirates was like defeating a national team because the team is comprised internationals.

Today, Nchanga's clash with Amatuks at the Pretoria University High Performance Centre (HPC) grounds which the two teams have shared since the Zambian side arrived here last Thursday night.

7 Tips for Landing an SBA Loan for the Manufacturing Industry

While SBA loans are available for the manufacturing industry, it may take a bit more work to obtain one and banks are requiring more information than they have in the past

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Here are a few recommendations to facilitate getting your SBA loan approved.

Provide details on exactly how much financing you need and how you will use it.
Banks like specifics, so be prepared to provide a precise dollar amount and give details of how you will use the funds. For example, if you're seeking $250,000 to expand your business, explain to your lender how you will use the funds, such as you need $200,000 to purchase and install equipment and $50,000 for working capital to support marketing expenses and three months of employee salaries while you ramp up production. Banks are impressed with research, so provide a written quote for the equipment. If you're planning to consolidate debts and refinance for a longer term, provide copies of your promissory notes and state how much you think you can save with the refinance. Detailed loan amounts with copies of bids, promissory notes or proposals can help strengthen your loan package because your lender can understand the facts backing up the request.
Provide information about company management.
When banks lend money, they like to understand who runs the company and to be familiar with their backgrounds. This is a key factor in presenting your loan for approval. Help your lender by providing a resume for each owner or key employee and describe their functions and responsibilities. If certain key positions have not yet been filled, include a thorough job description of the type of person you are seeking. This will confirm for the lender that you have analyzed your needs and have determined the requirements of the position.
Be prepared to offer collateral.
The SBA requires collateral to fully secure your loan, to the extent that it is available. If you own a home, you will likely be asked to pledge it. The SBA may also request a lien on your business assets and may require life insurance on sole owners of a business. Most loans made by banks are secured loans, and therefore approval may be contingent on a guarantor who is willing to offer collateral.
Detail your credit history and credit score.
Your credit score is an integral part of the loan process because it illustrates the ways in which you handle your other obligations. Your bank will eventually run its own credit report, but if you can provide information prior to them doing so, you can discuss any issues ahead of time. If you don't know your credit score, take the time to research it on the Internet, where low-cost reports are available. If you've had problems such as identity theft, bankruptcy, or divorce, you'll want to discuss it with your lender up front and provide proof that issues have been resolved or discharged.
Provide complete copies of tax returns, financial statements and bank statements.
While it can be time consuming to gather these documents, your bank will want to know everything about you and your business if they are to become, in essence, your financial partner. One way to streamline the process is to scan your financial documents and provide them to your lender in the form of a disk or a flash drive. Your lender may even be willing to accept your documents via email.
Explain how you'll achieve your projections.
Now is the time to brag about you and your business and to sell your lender on your vision and forecasted success. If customers have expressed a desire to do business with you, give your lender a copy of their correspondence. Prove to the lender that a market for your product or service exists and demonstrate the validity of your sales and expense figures. If your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) has historically been 65% and you can lower them to 55%, provide details of your calculations. If the loan for which you are applying is intended for a new piece of equipment that will allow you to reduce your staff needs, describe how this will occur and show the math.
Expect questions and be patient.
Your lender needs to connect with your story and business and will appreciate your assistance in doing so. Take the time to thoroughly explain the nature of your business, your vision and your background. Your banker will likely be presenting your loan approval to other parties, so he or she will need your help in making your case. The process may be time consuming, so it helps to be patient. Feel free to request an estimated time frame for approval and respect that the projected date may slip a bit. It's best not to call or email your lender frequently -- remember that in lending,

Top Five Tips for Job Seekers

In this economy, with more and more people applying for fewer and fewer positions, being prepared is crucial, and Patch is here to help with “Five Tips for Interviewing Success” from Washington Career Services.

Washington Career Services (WCS) provides individual career counseling, career development trainings for organizations and individuals such as: Networking, High Impact Resumes, and Myers Briggs Type Indicators, plus outplacement services for organizations.

The “Five Tips for Interviewing Success,” according to WCS’s Melissa Fireman are:

Focus on quantifiable, specific results. When asked what you did in your previous position, being general doesn’t really tell the employer much. Tell the hiring manager more about specific accomplishments than tasks and duties, like you are telling a story: “Last week I encountered a problem and did X, Y and Z to solve it.” This allows them to see that you’ve done it somewhere else and can do it for them – bringing your skills and abilities to the new company which will make them better.

Tailor your answer to the opportunity. Really study the job description before you go into interview – it has all the answers you’ll need. For example, if they want an accounts payable person who has worked with both customers and businesses alike, you want to mention specific experience in accounts payable working with both customers and businesses. Using your resume like a “cheat sheet” practice answering questions based on the job description.

Differentiate yourself. You have unique talents and skills, as well as experiences that no one else has. Make sure to focus on what is different about you and how that can benefit the company. Again, use the job description and make the differentiators relate to the specific job skills listed.

Preparation, preparation and preparation. You can’t prepare too much for one of the most important meetings in your life. Write notes about your plan of attack, role play, do mock interviews with friends or family members – this will let you work out any kinks before the actual appointment. Focus on the questions you are afraid they will ask, and practice those. Then you won’t be afraid! People freeze up the most when they don’t know what to expect, but if you are prepared, you won’t!

Show interest and enthusiasm. People forget this basic courtesy many times. At the end of the interview, let the hiring manager know after that you are very interested. Interviewing can be a lot like dating – neither party is sure how they are being read each other. If you are feeling good about how it went, ask them for a tour of office or organization so you can see where you’d be working – close it like a sale. Then ask for a business card and about the next steps – are there other people to meet with, do they need writing (or other work samples), or any additional paper work. Also, make sure you follow up with a thank you letter - an email is very appropriate. Enthusiasm is important, you want to show them you are really interested and they are the company you are interested in. It’s OK, to let them know you are interviewing elsewhere, but that this company is your #1 choice and why.

Fireman also believes that managing your social media is important. Make sure your Facebook, Twitter and other accounts are professional. Scour the internet to see if your friends have pictures or information about you that would not be appropriate for your potential employer to see. As a part of LEAP (Linking Employers and Applicants Project), WCS and the Montgomery County Commission for Women are hosting a number of upcoming workshops at the Silver Spring Library, including “Interviewing for Success” on March 8, “High Impact Resumes” on March 10 and “Networking Made Simple” on April 14. All workshops begin at 11am.