Hahn Family Creates Meaningful Legacy in the Arts

Kinkaid parents Marcy and Roger Hahn were inspired by the experiences of their sons, Alex ’10 and Garrett ’13 (pictured), to create the Hahn Family Visiting Artist Endowment.

Contributed by Kinkaid Parents Marcy and Roger Hahn

Our family has loved our time at Kinkaid from so many different perspectives—the students and parents, the incredible academics, the boundless opportunities, the exemplary faculty, the successful sports programs, and the vision and spirit of its leaders and staff. But, for us, it will be the people, experiences, and memories of the performing arts at Kinkaid that will remain closest to our hearts.

In spring 2010 the Weiner Fellowship program welcomed Alistair Donkin to Kinkaid. Mr. Donkin, representing the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston, spent two days with the Weiner Fellowship students. Mr. Donkin shared his experiences in the performing arts with stories and activities that captured the students' imaginations and stirred their creative juices. He worked with them to produce a performance piece for the student body and faculty during the Weiner Fellowship Assembly. Our son, Alex ’10, was one of the students fortunate enough to work with Mr. Donkin. This experience with Alistair Donkin was one of the highlights of Alex's upper school years. Alex is now pursuing theater and performing arts in college.

Now fast forward almost three years later to the Kinkaid visit of another accomplished guest artist, Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown. This time our younger son, Garrett ’13, along with several other students, had the extraordinary one-on-one opportunity to perform a song and critique it with Mr. Brown. We were impressed with how Mr. Brown, in just a few moments, could cut to the heart of each student's performance and provide uniquely perceptive insights to help each one improve. While Garrett did not pursue theater in college, the visiting artist provided a profoundly enriching learning experience for him and others well beyond what they would ordinarily achieve in the classroom.

As we debated within our family how to further support Kinkaid, we were drawn to the idea of a meaningful contribution to the performing arts. We settled on creating an endowed fund to support an annual visit by a guest artist, given the unforgettable impact these experiences had on our children. The traditionally strong performing arts program at Kinkaid provided such an exceptional learning environment for our boys and so much enjoyment to us as parents. We hope the Hahn Family Visiting Artist Endowment will inspire both students and faculty to raise the bar even higher in pursuit of excellence in the performing arts and that the contributions of such accomplished artists will provide enjoyment and inspiration to all.

Support What You Love

To learn how you can create an endowed fund to support the programs important to you at Kinkaid in perpetuity, contact Lisa Wood at (713) 243-5023 or lisa.wood@kinkaid.org today.