On May 5, 2012, Children in Need performed at the Bocce Tournament at the Saint Vincent De Paul Conference in San Rafael to raise money for the needy families in Marin County. The performers; Caitlin Gowdy, Niki Fukada, Jacqueline Reese-Mikula, and Joyce Kwon  from San Domenico performed as a quartet under the bright sun of the afternoon. They were greeted by the smoldering smell of the freshly barbecued chicken, the lively crowd playing Bocce Ball, and friendly faces of the hard working fundraisers. At first, everything went well until the quartet had realized that there were no stands to place their music! With a hectic struggle, the quartet scrambled to do their best to assemble the stands and music needed to make the event happen. Finally after numerous phone calls, and back and forth texting everything came together and they were able to begin their performance.

   The performance kicked off with the quartet playing the arranged version of Por Una Cabeza (Tango) by Carlos Gardel in which they filled the event with an upbeat energetic spin. Next they assembled to play the Smetena String Quartet No. 1 in E minor however with the strong wind they were immediately faced with music flying everywhere. So with no other option, one of the girls opted a way of securing their flying music by breaking the ends of plastic forks and weaving it through their music to their folders. Next, the girls played the Prelude by Maurice Moszkowski and then moved on to playing the Carmen Fantasy by Pablo de Sarasate with Caitlin Gowdy playing the solo. Their performance ended with a replay of their tango and with the crowd roaring into applause of immense appreciation. The performers were able to experience a tight knit environment that came together to help those in need and the event emphasized the importance of helping out the people in the community and the importance of giving back.

Related photos: http://www.childreninneedclub.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=13416745.