HOISINGTON —  “How lucky can you get?”
Craig James asked that question after learning a world-class chamber orchestra will join him for a benefit concert this month in his hometown of Hoisington.
Jaynes, an organist from Jamestown, Ohio, will present “Cavorting With Concertos” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, at St. John Evangelist Catholic Church, 5th and Main, Hoisington. Admission is a freewill donation to benefit Kans for Kids Fighting Cancer Foundation.
Jaynes said he was excited about presenting his 10th concert for Kans for Kids, but it almost didn’t happen. When the Hays quartet scheduled to perform with him had to pull out, he said, “I toyed briefly with the idea of canceling.” Instead, he received some support from his alma mater, Wichita State University, and will be joined by members of the Suprima Chamber Orchestra.
“This is a major musical event,” Jaynes said. The Suprima Chamber Orchestra is the only student group from the United States invited to play at the 12th International Conservatory Week Festival dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. It is the chamber group founded by The St. Petersburg Quartet, the quartet in residence at the School of Music at Wichita State.
“This is musicianship at an extraordinarily high level,” Jaynes said. “You don’t get to hear this sort of thing very often.”
Jaynes is tonal director of Jamestown Organ works, and music director and organist at St. Colman Church in Washington Court House, Ohio. He has served churches in Ohio and Kansas as an organist and choir director for more than 40 years.  He attended Wichita State University and The Ohio State University, is a graduate of Kent State University and studied organ with Paul Lundquist, Dorothy Addy, Diane Bish and Virgil Fox.