Spring Break
Friends of Opera to raise money for hurricane relief
"Music With a Mission" tonight at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall
Tai Estopy, Contributing Writer
Issue date: 10/19/05 Section: Lifestyles
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"Music With a Mission," a concert to benefit Habitat for Humanity's hurricane relief program, will be at 8 p.m. today in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building.
The benefit was coordinated by one of the UA's Registered Student Organizations, Friends of Opera. Surprisingly, the organization was just started this year. During the Spring 2005 semester, UA student Leanne Scaggs decided to begin an RSO dedicated to acquiring adequate funding for the University's opera theater department.
The opera theater department puts on a "scenes program" during the fall semester and a major production during the spring. The program consists of both UA students and singers from the Northwest Arkansas community. They are known for selecting unusual venues such as the Dickson Street Theater and St. Paul's Church. Their productions in the past several years have included such works as Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine" and Britten's "Turn of the Screw." Both of these productions were premiers in Arkansas.
For many years, the department has suffered a number of budget cuts, which has hindered their ability to bring in guest performers and properly fund its productions. The department has become increasingly reliant on advertising to supply resources for these productions. The members of Friends of Opera hope to alleviate this problem both by raising funds for the department and by using their position as a RSO to apply for university funding for their productions, Scaggs said.
Despite their mission to raise money for operatic productions, the organization has dedicated their first production to raising money for charity.
Scaggs, the president of Friends of Opera, explained, "During our first meeting, we decided that we wanted to find a way to aid the hurricane relief effort. We decided to hold a benefit concert for this purpose. We will also be holding a silent auction."
The silent auction begins at 7 p.m. and will continue through the concert's intermission. It is being held in the art gallery adjacent to the concert hall. Ashley Baker, the secretary for Friends of Opera, acted as the event coordinator for this portion of the event.
The benefit was coordinated by one of the UA's Registered Student Organizations, Friends of Opera. Surprisingly, the organization was just started this year. During the Spring 2005 semester, UA student Leanne Scaggs decided to begin an RSO dedicated to acquiring adequate funding for the University's opera theater department.
The opera theater department puts on a "scenes program" during the fall semester and a major production during the spring. The program consists of both UA students and singers from the Northwest Arkansas community. They are known for selecting unusual venues such as the Dickson Street Theater and St. Paul's Church. Their productions in the past several years have included such works as Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine" and Britten's "Turn of the Screw." Both of these productions were premiers in Arkansas.
For many years, the department has suffered a number of budget cuts, which has hindered their ability to bring in guest performers and properly fund its productions. The department has become increasingly reliant on advertising to supply resources for these productions. The members of Friends of Opera hope to alleviate this problem both by raising funds for the department and by using their position as a RSO to apply for university funding for their productions, Scaggs said.
Despite their mission to raise money for operatic productions, the organization has dedicated their first production to raising money for charity.
Scaggs, the president of Friends of Opera, explained, "During our first meeting, we decided that we wanted to find a way to aid the hurricane relief effort. We decided to hold a benefit concert for this purpose. We will also be holding a silent auction."
The silent auction begins at 7 p.m. and will continue through the concert's intermission. It is being held in the art gallery adjacent to the concert hall. Ashley Baker, the secretary for Friends of Opera, acted as the event coordinator for this portion of the event.
