KINGSPORT — Carol Stone Piano Studio students have happily accepted an invitation to perform on Africana Telethon, sponsored by the Brooklyn Music Teachers Guild, Inc.

The philanthropic virtual concert series took place on December 5 with donations from the telethon going to the Africana Project, which supports music education in Uganda, Africa.

The performers included young musicians from different countries around the world. They came from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America. It’s part of building musical bridges between continents, children playing for children to bring the world together through music.

Stone said the students were excited to play for such a worthy cause: the opportunity to help start a music school for children in Uganda. Alexander Peskanov and his brother Mark donated their family piano to the school. Funds raised from the event will be used to help cover the cost of shipping the piano to Uganda.

Local students who participated are Joleen Liang, Cecily Tillitson, Charlotte Tillitson, Sadie Farmer, Jessie Gu, Ashlyn Kirk and Emmy Nannenga.

Separately, Gu took second place in the Piano Advanced A Solo category of the Brooklyn Music Teachers Guild International Competition last month. She received rave reviews from the international judging team. The strong finish would have earned Gu the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, but due to COVID-19, the concert was canceled.