FIRST TUESDAY PERFORMANCE SERIES CONCERT OCTOBER 7 AT ABAC

Claire Fox Hilliard and Leroy Bynum will be the featured performers in the next event in the First Tuesday Performance Series on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at Abraham Baldwin College.

As part of the Arts and Entertainment Series, sponsored by the Abraham Baldwin 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 concerts, which last one hour, are designed to be light, entertaining, and informative.

Individual tickets for the concert may be purchased at the door. The cost is $3 for adults and $1 for students. ABAC students are admitted free with ID.

Hilliard serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Music Advisor to the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta and the Artistic Director of OPERAlbany. As a violinist, Hilliard served as concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, University of Iowa orchestras, and the Danville Symphony Orchestra in Illinois. On occasion, he performs in the dual role of violinist/conductor and remains active as a chamber music performer.

Bynum is Chairman of the Fine Arts Department and Associate Professor of Voice and Opera at Albany State University. Active as a performer, Bynum has appeared as a recitalist and soloist throughout the United States and Europe. He has sung operatic roles with the Munich Opera Company, the German States Opera in Berlin, the Lyric Opera of Salzburg, the St. Petersburg Opera, Orlando Opera, North Carolina Opera, and the Godovsky Opera Workshop. Since coming to Albany, Bynum has collaborated with Hilliard in founding OPERAlbany. Bynum is the former choral director at ABAC.

Accompanying the two artists will be Meri Beth Hilliard, who began her piano studies at an early age and is active as a teacher, performer, and church music administrator. She provides accompaniment for music majors and the college chorus at Darton College. Hilliard is also the music assistant in charge of children’s choirs, hand bells, and pianists at First United Methodist Church in Albany.

For more information about the First Tuesday Performance Series, contact Dr. Susan Roe, First Tuesday Program Coordinator, at (229) 386-3097.

This year, in conjunction with each First Tuesday Performance Series concert, there will be an art exhibit in the Music Building, adjacent to the Chapel of all Faiths. The exhibit will feature paintings, drawings, and two-dimensional designs by ABAC art students. This month, Donna Hatcher, assistant professor of art, will feature works by her students. The exhibit will be open for viewing before and after the concert.

The cost for season tickets for the Arts and Entertainment Series performances is $50 per person for adults and $15 for students 18 years old and under. This cost includes all six events in the Arts and Entertainment Series as well as the seven First Tuesday Performance Series events. For more information about the Arts and Entertainment Series, contact the Abraham Baldwin Arts Connection at (229) 386-3558.

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