17-year-old runs ‘playathon’ for Iowa City music programs

CORALVILLE - In the wake of music program budget cuts in Iowa City, 17-year-old Jae-Hee Lee found a way to help performing arts programs while giving students an opportunity to perform.

Lee started a daylong student recital last year called the 'Music Playathon” to raise money for the Iowa City Music Auxiliary, a non-profit that supports performance music programs in the Iowa City Community School District.

With the help of her family, she continued the event for a second year at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday.

'I just want students to have the same opportunity to get involved in music from a young age,” she said. 'And not just performing individually, but as a group as well. I just want to raise more awareness about how important music is in this community.”

Lee and her family moved from South Korea to Iowa in 2007. She attended school in Iowa City from third through seventh grades and now attends Groton Boarding School in Massachusetts. She said she plays the cello and sings in the choir at Groton.

But she said Iowa City is her true home, so she wanted to give back to the programs she benefited from when she was younger.

Lee's mom, Soo Park, said she was surprised by Lee's idea for the fundraiser and perseverance to pull it off.

'It's a cultural gathering from younger beginners to older professionals and through this event they can come together,” Park said. She added that it's also an opportunity for the audience to see talent within the community.

Park said last year the event went on for four hours with 34 performers, but already had expanded into a seven-hour recital with 46 performances this year.

'This year will be even more successful,” said Carey Bostian, Lee's private cello teacher. 'I would expect going forward, it will prove that Jae-Hee has started a really terrific event that will keep getting bigger and more successful.”