[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1328-E1329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING RUSSELL PATTERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 16, 1998

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

[[Page E1329]]

  In addition to his position with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, 
Russell is Festival Director and Principal Conductor at the Sunflower 
Music Festival. He founded both the Sunflower Music Festival and the 
Missouri River Festival of the Arts, and serves as Artistic Director of 
the Buzzards Bay Musicfest. 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 
Award, 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 to 
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.

                          ____________________