[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1264-E1265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      TRIBUTE TO RUSSELL PATTERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. 
Russell Patterson,

[[Page E1265]]

a major contributor to the arts community in Missouri and a friend of 
mine who is retiring after 40 years as founder and Artistic Leader of 
the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. He also organized The Kansas City 
Symphony and has served as its Artistic Director.
  In addition to his position with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, he 
is Festival Director and Principal Conductor at the Sunflower Music 
Festival as well as founder and serving as Artistic Director of the 
Buzzards Bay Musicfest, Mr. Patterson also is credited for founding the 
Missouri River Festival of the Arts in Boonville, Missouri. He has 
appeared as guest conductor in opera and concert engagements in Mexico 
City, London, New York, Seattle, Cincinnati, and Sacramento.
  Mr. Patterson has spent his career enriching Kansas City with his 
talent and vision. He is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at the 
University of Missouri-Kansas City. He helped establish the Middle-
America Opera Apprentice Program in conjunction with the Conservatory. 
The Apprentice Program is designed to prepare exceptional young singers 
for a professional operatic career. The Program continues to gain 
national recognition for its commitment to aspiring artists.
  As a trailblazer in the arts community, Mr. Patterson has served on 
the Advisory panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the 
Missouri Arts Council, as a consultant to the Ford foundation, and on 
the Board of Directors of OPERA America. He has received numerous 
awards and honors including the Alumni Achievement Award, the Dean's 
Awards, the nationally prestigious Conductor's Award from the Alice M. 
Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the W.F. Yates Medallion from 
William Jewell College. In 1996, Mr. Patterson was honored at the OPERA 
America 25th Anniversary Conference for his years of service.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Russell Patterson for 
his commitment to our community's future artists and his service in 
music in Kansas City. I wish he and his lovely wife Terri well in all 
of their future endeavors, and hope we can enjoy some tennis at the 
Cape.

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