Archived News |

September 1, 2006

Tickets for Presidentā€™s Gala on sale now

The Presidentā€™s Gala, a fundraiser that benefits the School of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA), has quickly become one of the areaā€™s premier art events. Tickets are now on sale for the celebration, which will be held on Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Emy Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall, located on University Avenue. The event, which provides scholarships for students majoring in the arts, benefited students affected by the hurricanes last year.

This yearā€™s theme, ā€œA Celebration, 75 years of the Arts at Ā鶹¹ū¶³“«Ć½,ā€ will feature a concert that will highlight events and music from each decade of the past 75 years. Students and faculty from the Division of Music and the Division of Theatre and Danceā€™s newly-formed opera/music theatre program will perform a variety of Broadway hits.

The university orchestra, under the direction of Myron Turner, will premier an arrangement of past and present Ā鶹¹ū¶³“«Ć½ fight songs. Christopher Thompson, violinist, will perform a selection from the first recital given at the college.

Audience members will also enjoy the recent campus hit productions, ā€œThe Game of Loveā€ and upcoming opera, ā€œThe Marriage of Figaro,ā€ and preview the upcoming professional ā€œLouisiana Lyric Opera,ā€ which will open in the summer of 2007.

The concert will also introduce the community to two new directors. Mark Ross Clark, the new director of Opera/Music Theatre, comes to Ā鶹¹ū¶³“«Ć½ from Indiana University where he was the director of opera. He has a DMA in opera production from the University of Washington and has directed his own opera company in Northern California.

Robin Stephens, the new director of Dance, is leaving Coastal Carolina University where she served as a dance instructor and a choreographer. Stephens has a degree in musical theatre from Oklahoma City University and Louisiana State University. She has performed on Broadway and was in the original cast of ā€œ42nd Street.ā€

The social hour, which will include the music of a student jazz trio, will begin at 6:30 p.m. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m., and the event will close with an artistā€™s reception in the sculpture garden.
Tickets cost $50 per person and may be purchased by calling 318-342-1010.

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