Tampa Prep sophomore Anna Snecinski ’26, recently made the decision to have her first solo piano concert also be a fundraiser for the Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association. Her philanthropy raised $1700, which will go towards research and spreading awareness about this little-known disease. Thank you, Anna, for living Tampa Prep’s call for a “Higher Purpose Than Self!”
TP: How long have you been playing the piano?
AS: “I’ve been playing the piano since kindergarten, so about 11 years. But I started lessons with my current teacher (a USF professor) about a year and a half ago.”
TP: How long did you prepare for this solo concert?
AS: “I played 5 pieces at my concert, and most of them took a few months to learn and memorize. One of them was Rhapsody in Blue, which is a piano concerto, so that required accompaniment and a lot more time to learn. I started looking at that almost a year before the concert, but I really focused on it a few months before my concert.”
TP: When & how did you come up with the idea to make your concert a fundraiser?
AS: “I learned that another pianist who I know did a fundraiser at her concert and raised thousands, so I thought it would be a great idea to do the same. Of course, donations were not required, but we raised a total of around $1700 for the charity, so it was definitely worth it!”
TP: Why did you choose CVSA as the receiving charity?
AS: “I chose the CVSA (Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association) because I have CVS, and they were really helpful when my parents were trying to learn more about CVS at the beginning of this journey. It is a great organization that helps spread awareness and provide research for the syndrome, which I know kids like me and families like mine could appreciate and benefit from a lot.
CVS is a debilitating disease that I experienced when I was younger, actually around the time I started piano. It’s also pretty rare—only around 3 in 100,000 children are diagnosed annually. CVSA helped direct my parents to the head doctor of CVS, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This doctor, and a geneticist, among other things, figured out were my body is deficient. Thanks to a combination of daily supplements and medications, I haven’t had any symptoms for 9 years. I wanted to help them because I wouldn’t be here today without them.”
CVS is a debilitating disease that I experienced when I was younger, actually around the time I started piano. It’s also pretty rare—only around 3 in 100,000 children are diagnosed annually. CVSA helped direct my parents to the head doctor of CVS, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This doctor, and a geneticist, among other things, figured out were my body is deficient. Thanks to a combination of daily supplements and medications, I haven’t had any symptoms for 9 years. I wanted to help them because I wouldn’t be here today without them.”
Anna’s finale piece was George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
