Methodist University announces support of its annual “Friends of Music Guest Artist Series” with the help of a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.
Methodist University announces support of its annual “Friends of Music Guest Artist Series” with the help of a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.
Each year, the “Friends of Music Guest Artist Series” provides live classical and contemporary musical demonstrations and recitals for up to 500 youth and adults in Cumberland County.
“Friends of Music has existed since the 1990s, and the mission has always been to support the Music program at Methodist University,” said Dr. Keith Dippre, professor of Music at MU and coordinator of the Friends of Music Guest Artist Series. “This is accomplished through its Guest Artist Series in conjunction with the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. We’ve been able to bring in a rich and diverse array of different performers and musical experiences that enrich our students and our community. These artists are real people with real stories and gifts to share. Our series grant makes all of this possible.”
Methodist University’s Series Support grant from the Arts Council will help the institution for the entire 2023-24 season, which includes the following lineup for the “Friends of Music Guest Artist Series”:
- September 15, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. – Guitarist Guy Unger will visit and perform with students in the Gray’s Creek High School Orchestra, directed by Chuck Bossert. Unger and the Guy Unger Band are well known performers throughout Cumberland County, but Unger has been teaching guitar lessons to students of all ages for years. Unger will rehearse and perform with the middle school orchestra during his visit.
- October 12, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. – Composer and pianist Charis Duke will visit and direct students in the Gray’s Creek High School Chorus, directed by Amy Stovall. Currently with the University of the Arts music theater department, Duke composes and directs musical theatre productions and children’s operas based on folktales and literature. Duke formerly lived and taught piano in Fayetteville.
- February 22, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. – Bassist Carroll Dashiell, Jr. and accompanist will visit and perform with students in the Pine Forest High School orchestra, directed by Nathan Artley. Currently Director of the East Carolina University jazz ensemble, Dashiell has decades of experience as a performer, director, and composer/arranger. He has performed and recorded with orchestras and internationally renowned musicians, and he will rehearse and will be partnered with a local high school orchestra during his visit.
Each guest artist will collaborate with students from the mentioned school to prepare a recital or performance. Then, on the selected night, the guest artist will perform at Methodist University with the selected high school students joining the guest artist for a selected piece of the performance.
“The Arts council is pleased to partner with Methodist University in support of the Friends of Music Guest Artist Series,” said Bob Pinson, president and CEO of the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. “Our community looks to our local universities to enlighten our lives and the Friends of Music Guest Artist Series accomplishes this by bringing in several renown artists for all to enjoy.”
Project Support Grants increase opportunities for access to arts, cultural, and historical programming in Cumberland County. The grants are awarded to nonprofit agencies, institutions of higher education, and municipal entities in Cumberland County that demonstrate financial and administrative stability.
More information about each of the “Friends of Music Guest Artist Series” events – including exact time and location—is available on the MU Events Calendar.
About the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County
The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization based in Fayetteville, NC that connects our communities, embraces diversity, promotes individual creativity, advances economic development, and fosters lifelong learning through the arts.. As a primary steward of public and private funding for arts, cultural, and historical activities in the Cape Fear Region, all affiliated programs of the Arts Council exemplify our 5 core values: Excellence, Accountability, Transparency, Collaborations, and Innovation.
In the year 2022-2023 year, the Arts Council distributed more than $1 million in grant funds and special allocations to Cumberland County non-profit organizations, artists, and municipalities producing arts and cultural activities.
Grants, programs, and services of the Arts Council are funded in part by contributions from community partners, and through grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.