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Dream becomes lesson in conducting one's self
Compiled from Times wires © St. Petersburg Times, published March 8, 2001 Braeden Kershner is not your ordinary high school kid. This 18-year-old senior plays a dozen instruments, composes music and tutors other students at his high school in Goose Creek, S.C. And he may just be the nation's latest poster boy for determination. Kershner has been working for two years "day and night," he says, to reach his gutsy goal: to conduct the Boston Pops Orchestra before he turns 20. The desire to conduct the popular orchestra grew through years of watching Evening at Pops on PBS. It hit fever pitch in 1999, not long after Kershner learned that outsiders could conduct the orchestra for a donation of $10,000. One or two people a year pay the price as part of a fundraising campaign. At Christmas that year, he announced to his stunned mother that he would raise the money to wield the baton over the Pops. She suggested he set a more realistic goal. She should have known better. Kershner's love of music goes back to age 2, when he began playing tunes on his little keyboard. "He just kept on going," his mother, Dianne Quzah, said. "I am as serious about music as I can be," said Kershner, who in the last two years of high school learned to play every instrument in the band. A short while later, unbeknownst to her, Kershner began sending letters to every national TV talk show host in the country, including them in "the dream." Last year on Jan. 28, Sally Jessy Raphael aired a tape previously solicited from the teen. Two things happened then. His mother "flipped out big time," he said, and his community -- friends, neighbors, school officials and fellow students at Stratford High -- lined up behind him. Kershner and his band of helpers held game shows and evening talent shows at school. They washed cars, organized garage sales and held "hat days" at school (when students could pay a price to wear a hat inside classrooms). He ran a newspaper route; he bought carnations in bulk and sold them for $1 apiece; he mowed hundreds of lawns; he worked the night shift at Waffle House; and he played his alto sax for dollars on King Street in Charleston, about 25 miles south of Goose Creek. His geography teacher, Jim Howell, said Kershner taught a valuable lesson to others -- students and adults alike -- because he didn't go door-to-door to solicit donations. "Instead, he worked hard and effectively in an honest way," Howell said. All during this time, once a week, every week, Kershner called Pops officials in Boston, telling them that he was serious about conducting and was out there raising money every day. "Sure," they would say. "Right." Pops spokeswoman Bernadette Horgan says they get lots of calls from people wanting to conduct the orchestra and never know whom to take seriously. "So, when I heard in December that he had raised $5,000, we were all just stunned and shocked. Seeing the letters from his teacher describing what all Braeden had done made us realize we had to help make this happen." The Pops got Wachovia Bank to sponsor the teenager's moment of fame so he could use the money he had raised for his education instead. Kershner recently was accepted for the fall semester at Chicago's VanderCook College of Music, which accepts only 85 students a year. Finally, Kershner got the word: The Pops would be in Greenville, S.C., in March as part of its Spring Swing tour and he could conduct it then. Keith Lockhart, the full-time conductor of the Pops, was impressed with Kershner's story. "We are very excited to be part of Braeden's dream," Lockhart said before the performance. "For Braeden, this exposure, this chance might be just the spark he needs." And Tuesday night, his dream came true. Kershner stepped up to the podium, greeted Lockhart, removed his tuxedo jacket and led the orchestra in its signature piece, Stars and Stripes Forever. The only sign of nervousness: a slight tremble in his baton as the song ended and the crowd applauded. "This kid has worked his butt off," his father, Jerry Kershner, said. "People bash kids today, but this kid set a goal and he got there. We are just busting with pride." - Information from the Charleston Post and Courier and the Greenville News was used in this report.
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