UNIVERSITY NEWS - NOVEMBER 2003

MEDIA CONTACT: Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu

Photos available.

FAU Hosts Richard Rodgers Birthday Tribute

BOCA RATON, FL (November 4, 2003) - Florida Atlantic University's Department of Music presents a "Birthday Tribute to Richard Rodgers" in two concerts narrated by Joanna Marie, director of radio programming and operations at WXEL (90.7 FM). The first concert will take place Saturday, November 8 at 2 p.m. in the Liberal Arts Auditorium on the FAU Davie campus, 2912 College Avenue and the second concert will take place Sunday, November 9 at 3 p.m. in the University Theatre on the FAU Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. The concert tickets are $12 and $15 according to seating, with group discounts available. FAU students, faculty and staff may attend the event for free with ID.

Audiences will be entertained with such endearing favorites as "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma, "Climb Every Mountain" from The Sound of Music and "If I Loved You" from Carousel. Performers for the concerts are Eric Thomas, baritone; Arnold Rawls, tenor; Leslie Umphrey, soprano and Roger Blankenship, piano. Thomas is currently on the voice faculty at FAU, where he teaches voice, diction and opera workshop. The New Yorker magazine stated that "… Thomas displays a vocal polish and stage skill that sets high standards." Rawls is a professor of sacred music at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He has been praised for possessing a "powerful voice, thrilling head tones and a fine grasp of technique and musical fluency." Umphrey is on the faculty in the vocal department at the University of Mexico. She has sung many varied roles in both musical theatre and opera. Blankenship coaches the musical theatre productions at FAU, where he has also taught music theory and sight singing. He has traveled throughout the U.S. as a church musician.

The performance is presented by the School of the Arts' Department of Theatre in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at FAU. Tickets are available from the FAU Box Office at 561-297-3737 or at the door two hours prior to performance. For further information on this performance, call 561-297-3821. For more information on other School of the Arts events, call Arts Update at 561-297-2977 or visit www.fau.edu/artsupdate.

The Richard Rodgers concert is part of the Palm Beach County Cultural Council's 25 Days of Culture. For more information, go to www.pbccc.org/25days.
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