Usher, Justin Bieber and Ciara to Rock Atlanta's Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center at the New Look Foundation's First World Leadership Awards

/PRNewswire/ -- Justin Bieber will join Usher and Ciara for a special performance at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta on Friday, August 6, 8 pm, in honor of Usher's New Look Foundation's first World Leadership Awards. Eight awards will be given throughout the evening to honor individuals and organizations, including President Bill Clinton who will receive the Service Legacy Award.

According to Usher Raymond IV, founder of the New Look Foundation and host of the World Leadership Awards, "I am honored to share the stage with the individuals and organizations we are acknowledging for their recognition of youth as leaders. They share New Look's understanding that youth are not merely leaders in waiting; they are ready to achieve greatness today."

Says President Bill Clinton, "Over the course of my life in public service, and now through my Foundation, I have tried to give young people the tools and opportunities to make a difference in their communities and around the world. Usher's New Look Foundation has excelled in its efforts to inspire the next generation of leaders, and I am pleased the World Leadership Awards will shine a light on those who have given so much to others."

Emceeing the event will be Kevin Frazier, "Entertainment Tonight" weekend anchor and correspondent, as well as Nadji Jeter, 14-year-old New Look Alumnus 2005-2007, Atlanta native, who has gone on to star in Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups."

Among the Awards and their recipients who come from as far away as Kenya and Korea:

-- Service Legacy Award: President William Jefferson Clinton
-- Global Youth Leadership Award: Justin Bieber, Chantia Robinson and
Summit Series (Jeff Rosenthal and Josh Zabar)
-- Global Ambassador of Youth Award: Michelle Nunn, Hital Muraj, JY Park
-- The Youth Catalyst Award: Jeanne Ashe and Mary Carillo on behalf of
the USTA


The New Look Foundation mentors young people as global leaders. Currently in seven cities, New Look has worked with over 8,700 young people, and has provided over 150,000 hours of leadership training. The program trains high school youth in leadership, business, education and service. Now in its eleventh year, New Look has seen a 98% high school graduation rate among alumni. With its Powered By Service campaign and an international call to youth service, the New Look Foundation has made service more diverse, relevant and accessible to all young people.

The event is co-chaired by John Rice, vice chairman of GE, and his wife, New Look Foundation Board Member, Cammie Rice. Committee members include Senator Samuel and Colleen Nunn, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Governor Sonny Perdue and Congressman John Lewis.

Among the sponsors are: Coca Cola, GE, Turner Broadcasting, Georgia Power, Grey Goose, Ford Motor Company, Christian Stanley Investment Banking Group, AT&T and Sony BMG.

Tickets for the World Leadership Awards are available to the public through Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $35, $65 and $100. Service charges will apply. Tickets are also available at the Bank of North Georgia Box Office at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, 30339. For more information on Usher's New Look Foundation and Usher, visit www.ushersnewlook.org and www.usherworld.com

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Tween Band Snags Opening Slot for Sarah McLachlan

/PRNewswire/ -- An Atlanta indie band has snagged a coveted spot to perform the opening set for Sarah McLachlan's Atlanta show at Chastain Park on August 5.

The band, von Grey, includes 4 sisters between the ages of 10 and 15 who trained classically for several years and subsequently added guitars, banjos, mandolins and harmonized vocals to their already impressive musical arsenal.

von Grey originally competed with hundreds of bands at OurStage.com for an opening slot on Lilith Fair. They were notified they had won the spot, but received the disappointing news a week later that the show had been cancelled; however, organizers were hoping to provide an alternative performance opportunity. Still, the girls soldiered on, continuing their relentless rehearsal schedule while maintaining personal lives typical of any teenage girl. On July 9, they received the call that they would be performing at Sarah's solo concert.

Fiona von Grey, age 13, says, "We were really excited to play Lilith, but this is even better! We've gone to see concerts at Chastain Park, so to play on the same stage where we've seen some of our favorite artists is a dream come true."

von Grey has impressed audiences with many live performances over the past year. In fact, the band has been performing at clubs and venues that Petra, 10, won't legally be allowed to enter for more than a decade. They've opened for other national touring acts in the past, most recently for Candy Coburn at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta.

Aside from preparing, von Grey is hard at work writing and recording original music for their upcoming album and is preparing for several tour dates at music festivals over the summer.

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The Family Stone performs R&B classics at the Villages, July 31

This Saturday, July 31st, The Villages Amphitheater will be “dancing to the music” with R&B/soul pioneers, The Family Stone. In the late 60’s, they came on the scene with a unique blend of rock and R&B that spoke to the youth of that generation.

The Family Stone features original founding members and Rock & Roll Hall of fame inductees, Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson. They were part of the first inter-racial, inter-gender horn section in Rock & Roll history, and will be performing all of the hits of Sly & The Family Stone this Saturday at the Villages. Their performance at the original Woodstock is legendary, and often regarded as the highlight of the entire event. With hit songs that include, “Everyday People”, “Family Affair”, “Dance to the Music”, and “I Want to Take You Higher”, attendees will be treated to what is essentially a big dance party.

Appropriately enough, July 31st is also National Dance Day in America. The Villages is certainly doing their part to contribute. Amphitheater Director, Brian Wismer adds, “This is definitely a ‘get up and dance’ show. We are looking forward to a high-energy performance of some great music from the 60’s,” said Wismer.

Some tickets still remain and are available at the Train Depot and also via the website, www.VillagesAmphitheater.com.

Also appearing at the Villages later this summer is Grand Funk Railroad on August 28. The 2010 concert series is presented by Mercedes-Benz of South Atlanta.

The Villages Amphitheater is owned by the Downtown Development Authority and managed by the Main Street Tourism Association of Fayetteville.
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"Atlanta Symphony Songster 2010" Vocal Competition

ENTRY DEADLINE TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010 at MIDNIGHT (EST)

CONTESTANTS TO SUBMIT VIDEO ENTRIES VIA YOUTUBE.COM

Finalists To Sing Live With Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Before Performance of The Wizard Of Oz at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park
Saturday, August 14, 2010

Prizes To Include Round-Trip Tickets To New York

To Hear Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Perform At Carnegie Hall

Amateur singers, age 18 and older

DEADLINE TOMORROW: The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Turner Classic Movies® are inviting amateur singers to compete in the “Atlanta Symphony Songster 2010” vocal competition, and a chance to perform with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park on Saturday, August 14, 2010. The concert will feature the Orchestra performing the music to the classic film, The Wizard of Oz — a theme carried into the vocal competition.

Contestants will need to submit a two-minute video of them singing “Over the Rainbow,” the famous song performed by Judy Garland in the classic film, The Wizard of Oz, by midnight (EST) TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 28, 2010.

A panel of judges, including The Recording Academy Atlanta Chapter Board Members Brandon Bush and Adam McKnight, will narrow the entrants down to three finalists, to be announced on Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

The three finalists will then sing a portion of “Over the Rainbow” with the Orchestra prior to the start of the concert on Saturday, August 14, 2010, which will also be streamed live on UStream.com. And, in the spirit of American Idol, audience members will select the winner by text message or by online voting.

Prizes include round-trip tickets to New York to see the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform at Carnegie Hall in October 2010.

http://www.atlantasymphony.org/songster2010.

Submission deadline: TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Midnight (EST)

Chinese Youth Orchestra to make U.S. premiere at Georgia State

The Hangzhou Wenlan School Youth Orchestra, considered one of the finest secondary schools in China, will make its U.S. debut at Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts this weekend.

The orchestra’s performance will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday (July 24) at the Rialto Center, 80 Forsyth St. NW. This two-hour family event is free and open to the public.

The Chinese orchestra will feature more than 50 musicians, ages 12 to 18, playing indigenous music on ancient Chinese instruments. The group has performed internationally and across China garnering multiple awards.

“We're very excited about their performance here,” said Leslie Gordon, director of the Rialto Center for the Arts. “This is a perfect opportunity to present Chinese culture to a wider audience.”

Georgia State staff worked with Global Achievers, a non-profit organization based in Newnan, Ga., dedicated to fostering international education, to bring the orchestra to the United States. State Rep. Gerald Greene also aided in the effort.

Master Conductor Yan Jianhua, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, will lead the youth orchestra. A famous conductor and percussionist, Yan Jianhua is also the director of the Chinese Society of Folk Orchestral Music and Percussion, an academician of the Chinese Society of Folk Orchestral Music and a performer in the Zhejiang Province Dance and Song Ensemble.

Parking is available in the Equitable Building lot for $4.

For more information, please visit http://www.rialtocenter.org/directions/index.html or call the Rialto Box Office at 404-413-9849.

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Southern Music at Its Best: Gospel, Bluegrass, Newgrass, and Dixieland Jazz All Featured On the 2010–2011 Series Lineup

The Morris Museum of Art’s Budweiser True Music Southern Soul & Song 2010–2011 concert series includes five concerts September 2010 though January 2011.

“The 2010–2011 Southern Soul & Song lineup is one of our best ever,” said Kevin Grogan, director of the Morris Museum of Art and producer of Southern Soul & Song. “From bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley to the New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and from Sam Bush, one of the inventors of ‘Newgrass’ to Mike Farris, who has reinvented Southern Gospel, this year’s series covers a lot of musical territory—but all of it is inimitably, identifiably Southern. It’s going to be a great season!”

The 2010–2011 lineup includes the following bands:

Thursday, September 16
Southern Music Icons the Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band open the 2010 Westobou Festival

Friday, October 15
Nashville, Tennessee’s brightest bluegrass/country stars The SteelDrivers

Friday, November 19
Newgrass King Sam Bush and his band

Friday, December 17
Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys

Friday, January 21, 2011
Gospel and soul giant Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue, featuring the McCrary Sisters

Series tickets provide all five shows for the price of four. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Imperial Theatre. Tickets are on sale now for both series tickets and individual tickets at the Imperial Theatre box office (706-722-8341) or online, www.imperialtheatre.com.

Southern Soul & Song
One of the top-selling bluegrass and Americana concert series in the country, Southern Soul & Song has featured such legendary artists as Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, and Marty Stuart. Southern Soul & Song continues this year with an all-star line-up of spectacular, distinctly Southern music. Proceeds from the series help to support the Morris Museum of Art’s public program initiatives. Series sponsors include Budweiser True Music; The Augusta Chronicle; Augusta Magazine; WJBF Channel 6; Comcast; Seigler HD; Augusta Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Inc.; Wierhouse; KICKS 99, SRP Federal Credit Union; Mullins Law; and Wife Saver. www.southernsoulandsong.org.

Westobou Festival
The Westobou Festival was conceived in 2005 by the Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County, as part of their work on behalf of the Porter Fleming Foundation. Designed to showcase Augusta’s wealth of artistic talent, festival takes place between September 16 and 25, 2010, in downtown Augusta and on the campuses of Augusta State University, and Paine College. It features performances in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. www.westoboufestival.com

The Morris Museum of Art was founded in 1985 and opened to the public in 1992. It is the oldest museum in the country that is devoted to the art and artists of the American South. The museum’s permanent collection of nearly five thousand works of art spans more than two hundred years, from the late-eighteenth century to the present. The Morris is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sunday, noon–5:00 p.m. www.themorris.org.

Melissa Etheridge at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre July 23rh

Tickets went on sale months ago and while we haven't verified that they're sold out, we're betting they are... If you can scrounge up some tickets you'll have a fantastic time as she puts on a great concert!


Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800)-745-3000.

Produced by The Messina Group/AEG Live
Melissa Etheridge Fearless Love

“This album had to be about the songs,” says Melissa Etheridge of her tenth studio album, Fearless Love. This is typical of Melissa, because putting the songs first is one of the hallmarks of her career. From our introduction to her in 1988, and throughout her illustrious career, Etheridge has never forgotten that it all begins with the songs. She has poured everything into those songs and they have served her well.

Those songs—“Bring Me Some Water,” “Ain’t it Heavy,” “I’m the Only One,” “Come to My Window,” “I Want to Come Over,” “Angels Would Fall,” “I Run for Life” and “I Need to Wake Up” among them—have rewarded her with five Platinum albums (including the multi-Platinum sets Melissa Etheridge, Your Little
Secret and the six-million-selling Yes I Am), a pair of Grammys®, an Oscar®, an ASCAP Songwriter of the Year honor and the ASCAP Founders Award.

Easily one of the greatest all-time female rock icons, Melissa Etheridge is also a mother and a cancer survivor. She is an outspoken cultural, political and human rights activist, a thought-provoker and a longtime truth-seeker.

With Fearless Love, which comes out April 27th, 2010, on Island Records, she is at the top of her game.

In early 2009, Etheridge began to think about her next album. She was thinking about what to write about and it hit her. “Everything is either fear or love,” she says. “As I started writing, the working title of the album was Songs of Love and Fear because each song had an ingredient of love and fear, and the battle between the two.”

The first new song, a dramatic number called “To be Loved,” came out much darker than the album as a whole. As more songs were written, potential singles began to emerge: “Indiana,” a ballad-cummonster-of-a-rocker that relates the story of a girl who has overcome a difficult childhood in the Heartland; “The Wanting of You,” a classic Etheridge rocker based on the story of a small-town, Midwestern girl who lives in fear of the life-changing choices she’s made; and “Company,” a mid-tempo rocker that will all undoubtedly amass
plenty of airplay in 2010. The big Pete Townshend-inspired power chords in “Company” are an example of Etheridge’s propensity for proudly displaying her influences on Fearless Love; listen carefully and you’ll hear a U2-like guitar line here, a ZZ Top-like lick there, some Led Zeppelin-style rock for all to hear.

“I wanted to unabashedly use the influences I’ve had all my life,” Etheridge explains, “I wanted to present them in this album, and honor them and respect them.”

Also influencing Fearless Love were Melissa’s four kids. “I can’t help but be influenced now by my children. I said I was thinking of calling the album Songs of Love and Fear and my daughter said, ‘No mom, that’s way too long.’ ‘It has to be about love and fear,’ I said, ‘so how about Fearless?’ ‘That’s Taylor Swift’s song,’ she told me, ‘what about Fearless Love?’ ‘That’s perfect,’ I thought. ‘Now I have to write a song called “Fearless Love.”’ And so she did, and when the modern rocker with the full-throttle guitar attack became the first
single it immediately assaulted the Hot AC and Adult Album Alternative radio charts.

To make Fearless Love, Etheridge invited old friend John Shanks to produce and play guitar. “I like to tell people I discovered John Shanks,” she teases. “He toured as my guitar player on my very first tour and he worked with me from 1993 to 1999.” Shanks’ first production credit came when he co-produced Melissa’s 1999 effort,
Breakdown. “ “After that he went on to produce Michelle Branch, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette—he’s Mr. Pop guy now. He’s done quite well,” Notes Etheridge. The 2005 Grammy® winner for Producer of the Year has written with and produced an A+ list of stars including Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Sting, Fleetwood Mac, Bon Jovi, Jewel, Robbie Robertson, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson and Rod Stewart.

“I hadn’t done a whole project with him since Breakdown, so I called him up and said, ‘John, I want a whole album, the way great rock and roll groups used to do it where they would go away, live together and give their time and energy just to the music.’”

So Etheridge, Shanks and a new core band—bassist Sean Hurley (Ringo Starr, Josh Groban, Alicia Keys), drummer Victor Indrizzo (Willie Nelson, Five For Fighting, Colbie Caillat) and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow)—moved into Malibu, California’s Document Room studios where they cut the basic tracks as live as possible.

“John gathered these incredible musicians that I had never worked with,” Etheridge beams, “and he dedicated himself day and night to this album. I’m extremely proud of how it sounds—Fearless Love was exactly what I intended when I first spoke with him.”

Fearless Love arrives two and a half years after her autobiographical The Awakening and six years after her battle with breast cancer. At this point, her accomplishments are endless and well-documented. This has allowed Melissa Etheridge to find herself in the enviable position of being able to make exactly the music she hears in her head and feels in her heart. In 2010, that music embodies much of what we’ve come to anticipate from Etheridge—giant, soaring melodies, her bold, expressive voice, plenty of musical, lyrical and emotional drama—and it also embraces a freshness, with the appearance of mandolin and more piano, and guest vocals from Joss Stone and Natasha Bedingfield. Fearless Love offers pounding rockers and whisper-light ballads, and nods to her musical muses are tastefully sprinkled to and fro.

Fearless Love pulls no punches—again, very typical of Melissa Etheridge—as it expands the musical and topical boundaries that she has never stopped redrawing.


For more information on Melissa Etheridge: www.melissaetheridge.com

Zeller to Hold Body Mapping Workshop at Spivey Hall, July 21 to July 23

Clayton State University Director of Opera and Vocal Studies Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller will be the instructor at a three-day body mapping workshop for teachers and performers, to be held in the University’s world-famous Spivey Hall from July 21 to July 23.

“What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body” will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The registration fee is $300. Teachers and performers who would like to register for the course may download and complete the Body Mapping Workshop registration form at www.spiveyhall.org/education/pdt and submit same to Spivey Hall. Or, they can register by phone at (678) 466-4491.

Topics for the workshop include; cultivating an accurate and adequate body map, the core of the body and its places of balance, and mapping the structures and movement of breathing. For more information on Body Mapping, go to the Andover Educators website at www.bodymap.org.

Zeller is a natural for the workshop, since he is one of three co-authors of a book on Body Mapping, a book that illustrates how a singer uses more than the larynx. “What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body” (ISBN10: 1-59756-324-2, ISBN13: 978-1-59756-324-6) is an illustrated, 232-page soft cover practical resource published last year by San Diego-based Plural Publishing (http://www.pluralpublishing.com/), and authored by Dr. Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen and Zeller.

“What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body” gives singers and their teachers a resource – from anatomy and physiology to body awareness – that helps them discover and correct misconceptions about the way their bodies are built and the way they function. The illustrated part of the book provides maps with detailed descriptions of the structures and movement used in breathing, phonation, resonance, articulation and gesture. And, the illustrations are supported by many exploratory exercises.

“Body Mapping is an approach to teaching music that works well with students of all ages, although the primary audience of this particular workshop is music teachers, rather than music students,” says Zeller. “It’s suitable for musicians of all instruments and styles, because what we’re exploring is the basis for technique, not playing technique itself. Technique concerns itself with the choice and execution of particular movements to make particular sounds, but without an accurate and adequate understanding body map, or, as the neuroscientists prefer to call it, internal self-representation, it is impossible to move freely and efficiently and no technique is going to be able to be optimally effective.

“Each participant will be encouraged to apply the work in his or her own medium — at the moment we have singers, keyboard and woodwind players, and conductors among the registrants.”

Zeller recently returned from presenting three sessions on Body Mapping to the 51st National Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in Salt Lake City. (http://www.registration123.com/nats/2010CONFERENCE/Program-Sessions.cfm)

“They went pretty well,” he says of the NATS presentation. “My publisher was there among the exhibitors and sold out of the stock they’d brought of the book by the second day. By the last day, they’d run out of order forms and were taking orders on hotel stationery.”

For more information on “What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body,” go to http://www.pluralpublishing.com/publication_wesntkatb.htm.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to present The Wizard of Oz at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park

“Atlanta Symphony Songster 2010” Vocal Competition Finalist To Perform Live With The Orchestra

Conductor Jere Flint will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as they present The Wizard of Oz on the Amphitheatre’s big screens, accompanied with live music by the Orchestra.

Singers may audition for "Atlanta Symphony Songster 2010" by posting a minimum two-minute video-performance of the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's YouTube.com channel. Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - midnight: Deadline for submitting a video-audition and application. Entrants must be 18 years or older, and will be judged solely on the merit of their performance. For complete competition details, and to submit an online application, visit http://www.atlantasymphony.org/songster2010.

Prizes to include: two domestic round-trip tickets to New York, one hotel room, and two concert tickets to see the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, October 30, 2010, along with a TCM gift basket containing books, DVDs, and more.

Where: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
When: August 14 at 8:30 p.m.
Who: All Ages
How: Purchase Tickets
Cost of event: $27 - $59
For more info: CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase tickets online.

The Newnan Cultural Arts Commission Proudly Presents Hangzhou Wenlan High School Chinese Youth Orchestra

The Newnan Cultural Arts Commission in partnership with the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts presents the Hangzhou Wenlan High School Chinese Youth Orchestra to perform in Newnan. The performance will be Sunday, July 25th at 3 p.m. at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts.

This group is a traditional Chinese orchestra and was founded over ten years ago. The youth orchestra has currently over sixty members. The members include children of all ages. Every year a number of new members join the orchestra, they practice new programs every semester.

“This will not only serve as a wonderful musical concert for the city but also a superb opportunity for the local youth to bond and exchange culture from different sides of the world, says Bette Hickman, Newnan Cultural Arts Commission, co-chair of the event.

The orchestra has performed throughout China and internationally. To introduce the graceful Chinese traditional music to people around the world, the orchestra visited France in October of 2005. They performed six shows in six different venues all over France. The youth orchestra has also won several outstanding awards for their music.

Master conductor Yan Jianhua is from HangZhou, Zhejiang, China. Jianhua is a famous commander and percussionist. He is also the director of the Chinese Society of Folk Orchestral Music and Percussion. Some of Jianhua’s other accomplishments academician of Chinese Society of Folk Orchestral Music and concert performer of Zhejiang Province Dance and Song Ensemble.

The youth orchestra will also be performing in Atlanta at the Rialto Center for Arts during their stay in Georgia.

About the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts

Coweta County’s Centre for Performing and Visual Arts is a modern 48,000-square-foot multi-disciplinary arts facility offering state-of-the-art performance facilities, rehearsal and lecture halls, and the Francoise Gilot art gallery - all anchored by a 1,000-seat performance hall. Located at 1523 Lower Fayetteville Road in Newnan and operated by artistic director Don Nixon, the Centre is available for use by all of the citizens of the surrounding communities with priority given to school system events and performances. Since its opening by the Coweta County School System in 2004, the Centre has become a significant destination for artistic events in metropolitan Atlanta’s Southside region, and a true center of community events and arts education for the residents of Coweta County and surrounding areas. The philosophy of The Centre is to strive to be a house of excellence — an extension of the classroom no matter the age of the student.

The Centre’s wide range of artistic activities is supported in part by private citizens through the Centre Patrons. The Patrons organization recognizes the importance of the Arts in a community, and gives supporters of the arts an opportunity to share their time, talents and resources to ensure that Coweta County’s commitment to the arts continues to grow and prosper. The Patrons help staff and organize Centre events, and coordinate private donations that fund professional performances for the benefit of students and the community, Master classes and other educational opportunities, student scholarships, and other support for the Centre’s mission. Its purpose is to provide opportunities that will expose its patrons to the arts, increase their knowledge and appreciation for multiple forms of artistic expression, and enhance the total living experience for all the people the Centre is able to touch.

For additional information concerning the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts and the Patrons of the Centre, please contact The Centre at 770-254-ARTS (2787). Or visit the Centre website at www.centreonline.net, or the Patrons website at www.centrepatrons.org.

The youth orchestra performance in Newnan will be Sunday, July 25th at 3 p.m. at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts. Tickets for adults are $8 and $5 for students and seniors (65+). Tickets are on sale at the following locations the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts, Morgans (Ashley Park), Bank of Coweta (Thomas Crossroads location) and Scott’s Bookstore in downtown Newnan. A percentage of all ticket sales will go back to the Centre Strings program. Please email gsnider@cityofnewnan.org or call 770-253-2682 ext 203 for concert information.

The Little River Band performs at the Villages, July 10

Saturday, July 10th brings American Top 40 hit makers, The Little River Band, to The Villages Amphitheater in Fayetteville. In their heyday from 1977 to 1982, the group originally from Australia cranked out thirteen hit songs that played on eight-tracks all across America.

Their smooth harmonies and strong melodies made them the soft rock kings of the late 70’s. This is one of those shows that will have audience members slow dancing in the aisles and singing along to every song in the set. Standout hits include “Reminiscing”, “Cool Change”, “Lady”, and “Lonesome Loser”.

Amphitheater Director, Brian Wismer commented on the group, “The Little River Band is one of those groups with a ton of hits that you just didn’t know were theirs. The audience will be saying ‘I didn’t know they did this song!’ after every song. We are especially excited to have them in Fayetteville,” said Wismer.

Some tickets still remain and are available at the Train Depot and also via the website, www.VillagesAmphitheater.com.

Also appearing at the Villages later this summer are The Family Stone on July 31st and Grand Funk Railroad on August 28. The 2010 concert series is presented by Mercedes-Benz of South Atlanta.

The Villages Amphitheater is owned by the Downtown Development Authority and managed by the Main Street Tourism Association of Fayetteville.

Spivey Hall Hosts Annual Sacred Harp/Shape-Note Singing School, July 16 and 17

Clayton State University’s world-famous Spivey Hall will host its annual Sacred Harp/Shape-Note Singing School on Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17.

The school will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The cost is free, or participants can pay $35 for one PLU Credit.

Singers and history buffs alike will enjoy this annual event. Sacred Harp singing, sometimes also called fa-so-la or shape-note singing, involves singing parts without instrumental accompaniment. The repertoire includes psalms, fugues, odes, and anthems by the first American composers (1770-1810) as well as folk songs and revival hymns (1810-1860). This is a non-denominational community music event that emphasizes participation, not expertise.

At Friday’s “singing school,” composer/conductor Richard DeLong will instruct beginners and experienced practitioners in the history, tradition, and performance practices of this piece of Americana. Participants will also view the documentary Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp.

On Saturday, Sacred Harp singers will travel from throughout the southeast for the annual singing and potluck luncheon at Spivey Hall. For more information about Sacred Harp singing, go to www.AtlantaSacredHarp.org or visit www.fasola.org.

Attendance at both Friday and Saturday’s events are free and open to the public, but registering for Friday’s singing school is required. More information and registration forms can be found at www.spiveyhall.org/education/pdt.

A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.