The FENCE Family Concert series will begin the new year on Sunday, January 17 at 4 p.m. with a performance by students of Tryon music teacher Jessica Stewart.

A former pianist with the Jacksonville Symphony, Stewart earned her master’s degree in music from Columbia University and studied under Serge Koussavitsky at Tanglewood. She has been privately teaching in the Foothills area since 1996.

This month’s concert at FENCE will feature 17-year-old pianist Mary Thelen, who has been studying with Stewart for seven years and will be performing works by Bach, Chopin and Mendelssohn. Also performing will be the brothers Christopher and Nicholas Vlar, ages 11 and 9, respectively, who study violin and cello with Stewart. They will perform works by Schumann and Oscar Reiding.

FENCE Family Concerts are offered free of charge with the support of the Kirby Endowment Fund at the Polk County Community Foundation.