FIRST TUESDAY SERIES PERFORMANCE MARCH 4 AT ABAC

The sixth concert in the First Tuesday Performance Series at Abraham Baldwin College on March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Chapel of All Faiths will feature an evening of chamber music. The concert will include performances by a well-known professional solo artist accompanied by an ABAC faculty member and a distinguished chamber ensemble, featuring an ABAC adjunct professor as one of its members.

The performers will include David Lee Johnson, baritone; and his wife, ABAC Social Science faculty member Susan Johnson, as his accompanist. The Mannheim Trio, which includes Sheri Grabowski, an ABAC adjunct professor, flute; Lesli Bellflower Holton, flute; and Betsy Sone Jones, cello; will also perform.

As part of the Arts and Entertainment Series sponsored by the ABAC Arts Connection, regional professional artists will be featured on the first Tuesday of every month in the Chapel of All Faiths on the ABAC campus. The series is made possible by a generous gift from Lowe’s of Tifton for the Arts and Entertainment Series.

Individual tickets for the performance may be purchased at the door. The cost is $3 for adults and $1 for students. ABAC students are admitted free with ID. Patrons of the Arts and Entertainment Series can also attend at no charge. For additional information, contact the ABAC Arts Connection at (229) 386-3558.

Since David Lee Johnson’s debut as “Danilo” in the Merry Widow with Atlanta’s Pocket Theater, he has continued to be a highly respected and requested soloist throughout the Southeast and Mid-West. He has appeared with the Kentucky Opera Association, the Birmingham Civic Opera, the Opera of the Palm Beaches, the Gainesville Theater, and Valdosta State University’s Summer Music Theater in Jekyll Island. For the past 18 years, Johnson has been a member of the music faculty at Valdosta State University where he is Director of Choirs and Vocal Instructor. He has also been vocal/choral instructor for the Governor’s Honors Program for the past 10 years, a position he will continue during the summer of 2003.

Susan Johnson is in her third year as a faculty member in the Division of Social Science at ABAC. She teaches courses in psychology and accompanies the ABAC Concert Choir. Johnson is the rehearsal accompanist for the Valdosta Symphony Chorus and serves as the Chancel Choir accompanist at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Valdosta. She holds a B.A. degree in psychology with a minor in piano from the University of Georgia and an M.S. degree in clinical psychology and counseling from Valdosta State University. 

Grabowski earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Columbus College and a Master’s in the Science of Education from Troy State University. She is known throughout Georgia as a band and flute clinician. In addition to managing and performing with her own professional chamber group, the Mannheim Trio, Grabowski is also a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Grabowski, who is in her seventeenth year of teaching band and general music, is employed by the Tift County School System. The daughter of Eugene and Gail Wyles of Sylvester, Grabowski is an adjunct professor of applied woodwinds at ABAC.

Holton, who performs regularly as a member of the Mannheim Trio, is currently Director of Choral Music for Worth County Middle School in Sylvester. She earned an Associate of Arts degree in Music from ABAC and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and a Master of Music Education degree, both from Valdosta State University. She currently serves as Associate Conductor of the Tifton Choral Society and is the director of the Young Musicians Choir at First Baptist Church of Chula.

A native of Houston, Texas, Jones is a resident of Tifton and performs regularly as a member of the Mannheim Trio. She also performs at Northside Baptist Church. Some of her playing credits include the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Baylor University Symphony Orchestra, the Baylor University Cello Choir, the San Angelo Symphony, the Marshall Symphony, the Shreveport Chamber Music Festival, and the Texas All-State Orchestra. She currently teaches elementary music at Annie Belle Clark Primary School.

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