INAUGURAL B-CC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
 CONCERT FEATURES WORLD PREMIERE

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The world premiere of a musical composition honoring the life of Bethune-Cookman College founder Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune will be the centerpiece of the inaugural concert at the Performing Arts Center bearing her name on Friday, October 3. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance is free and the public is invited to attend.

Judith Baity, Composer The Bethune Suite

The Bethune Suite for choir, soloists, and orchestra, was commissioned for the occasion from composer Judith Baity.  Performers will include the Bethune-Cookman College Concert Chorale, Dr. Rebecca W. Steele, conductor; the members of the B-CC Opera Workshop; soloists Gail Robinson-Oturu, soprano; Claritha Buggs, guest mezzo-soprano; Curtis Rayam, tenor; Karen Walwyn, piano; and the Stetson University Orchestra conducted by Anthony Hose.  Dramatic readings based on Dr. Bethune’s famous Last Will and Testament will be rendered by members of B-CC’s theatre group Tra-Co-Dram under the direction of Julius John and dance performed by members of B-CC Orchesis dance group and choreographed by Carla Lester will be interspersed in the work.

Commissioned as part of the College’s pre-centennial celebration, The Bethune Suite is based on Dr. Bethune’s famed Last Will and Testament.

“The Suite is a legacy coming to life,” says Karla Williams, B-CC music major and member of the B-CC Chorale, “It has historical significance, depth of meaning, hope, love, and power.”

Baity and orchestrator Konstantinos Christides will be in attendance.  Baity has written several works for chorus, orchestra, solo piano, and chamber ensembles that have been performed throughout the United States. In 1994, she won the National Piano Pedagogy Composition Award. Baity is currently pursuing a career in arranging and composition in Los Angeles. Christides, also based in Los Angeles, has served as a music producer for several feature films.

Framing The Suite will be an opening segment including a video presentation by the Mass Communication Department and a rendition of The Impossible Dream by Robinson-Oturu and a closing interpretive dance choreographed by Lester.

Visitors to the Performing Arts Center will view a historic photo exhibit documenting the life of Dr. Bethune as they enter the auditorium.

Bethune-Cookman is a comprehensive college, which offers degrees in liberal arts as well as professional fields, such as business, education and nursing. A United Methodist Church-affiliated school, the college has a diverse and international student population of more than 2,500 and a solid reputation for academic excellence.

As evidence of its outstanding program, the College has been listed in the Templeton Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges and Universities, and it was ranked by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 50” schools in the nation for black students.

For more information, contact our website www.bethune.cookman.edu. 

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