The City of Redmond Arts Commission will present awards to the 2010 Arts Awards recipients on Tuesday, June 1 at the City Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 15670 NE 85th Street. A reception for the winners will be held prior to the presentation at 7 p.m. in the City Hall lobby.

The recipients this year are Paula Ferguson, orchestra teacher for the Lake Washington School District and the SecondStory Repertory Theatre.

Ferguson began teaching at Redmond High School in 2003 and in six years built the orchestra from 15 students to a two-period per day program with over 50 students. Evergreen Junior High has enjoyed similar growth with its own orchestra of 30 members and under her leadership, the Redmond Junior High program has grown to two orchestras.

Ferguson challenges her students to perform at their best and encourages them to excel in a variety of musical genres. In addition to the classics, students learn to play pop and jazz music. The Redmond High School orchestra was chosen to perform at Carnegie Hall last year, giving a 35-minute performance.

The SecondStory Repertory Theatre opened in 1999 as the Eastside’s first full-time theatre ensemble. Since then, it has offered a year-round season of musicals, comedies, revues and dramas, along with its popular Children’s Theatre series of original musicals for ages four and up.

SecondStory Repertory also offers performing arts education, primarily for children, and has presented jazz and folk concerts, improvisational comedy, poetry readings, informal stagings of new works and many other special events. In all, there are more than 150 performances each year.

The reception is open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Mary Yelanjian, Arts Administrator, at 425-556-2316 or myelanjian@redmond.gov.