CEDAR CITY — The Department of Music at Southern Utah University is launching a new concert series this month, “The Great American Songbook Series.” The first concert will take place Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Utah Museum of Art and will featured the music of George Gershwin performed by both students and faculty.
The Great American Songbook Series will include two concerts each semester. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students and $25 for a season ticket to all four concerts.
Carol Ann Modesitt, director of Opera/Voice at Southern Utah University, was inspired to create this exciting new series when she was in Indianapolis last January at a National Opera Association Conference
“Indianapolis is the home of the Great American Songbook Museum that was founded by Michael Feinstein,” Modesitt said. “I started thinking about the museum and about the great American song writers that have contributed many pop standards to our culture. The list of composers is amazing. You have composers like George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen just to name a few.”
The proceeds from this concert series will be used as a fund to assist students with instrument repair, to purchase instruments for the Department of Music and to help contribute to tours and students having the opportunity to go to conferences throughout the year. This will relieve a portion of the financial requirement that faces students studying music.
The second concert in the series will be performed on Dec. 6 and will feature the music of Irving Berlin. That concert will also be performed at the Southern Utah Museum of Art.
“Once I saw SUMA this summer I thought, ‘What a great place for a series like this’” Modesitt said, “so I approached both Dean Mendini and Reece Summers and made a proposal for this series. They encouraged me to put in a written proposal for utilizing SUMA as the venue.”
For more information about Carol Ann Modesitt and the Department of Music at Southern Utah University, please visit the department’s website.
About the Southern Utah University College of Performing and Visual Arts
According to a press release from Southern Utah University, the College of Performing and Visual Arts is composed of nationally accredited departments of art and design, music, theatre arts and dance, as well as graduate programs in arts administration and music and a center for Shakespeare studies.
More than 60 full- and part-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 550 majors in the College of Performing and Visual Arts. Over 1,100 students enroll each year in over 195 arts classes on the SUU campus. The college presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations and exhibitions each year. Affiliate organizations include the Southern Utah Museum of Art, Utah Shakespeare Festival and SUU’s Ballroom Dance Company. For more information, go to the College of Performing and Visual Arts website.
Event details:
- What: First concert of “The Great American Songbook Series,” featuring the music of George Gershwin.
- When: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Southern Utah Museum of Art, 13 S. 300 W, Cedar City.
- Cost: Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students and $25 for a season ticket to all four concerts. General public invited to attend.
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This will be a wonderful gathering of friends and family to enjoy the music. I would like to thank all those involved in making this possible, thank you. looking forward to being there !