Arts Council Grant Helps Bring World-Class Musicians to Methodist University

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Methodist University recently received a Project Support grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. The Arts Council awarded a $3,850 grant for the 11th annual Friends of Music Guest Artist Series, a series of evening concerts and free school workshops.

The 2019-2020 Guest Artists visits are:

  • Friday, Sept. 13 – Violinist Arta Prekadini, a native of Kosovo, performs internationally as well as locally with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Carolina Philharmonic, and Union Symphony Orchestra. Prekadini will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Hensdale Chapel on campus.
  • Friday, Oct. 25 – Flutist Krizstina Dér is an award-winning musician and music teacher, a product of UNC institutions, and current member of Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. Dér will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Linda and Ralph Huff Concert Hall.
  • Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 – Mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, currently with the LA Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill. She will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Matthews Ministry Center.
  • Friday, March 13, 2020 – Flower City Brass, a brass chamber quintet out of New York, includes Brett Copeland (tuba), Steve Felix (trumpet), Dean Oaks (trumpet and Fayetteville native), Sara Petokas (horn), and Tyler Simms (trombone). The quintet will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Matthews Ministry Center.

All the performers will offer a free workshop, open to the public, in Hensdale Chapel on campus at 11 a.m. on the day of their concert, as well as a free workshop for students in kindergarten through eighth grade who attend The Capitol Encore Academy in downtown Fayetteville.

These events would not be possible without assistance from the Arts Council.

Project Support Grants, like the one awarded to the Methodist University Friends of Music, aim to increase opportunities for access to arts and science, as well as cultural and historical programming in the Cumberland County area. Project Support Grants may be awarded to non-profit agencies in Cumberland County that demonstrate financial and administrative stability.