The Jessye Norman School of the Arts’ annual fundraiser features rising opera stars in a concert Sunday, Oct. 2, afternoon.
“This is the first live in-person (fundraiser) since before COVID,” said Gary Dennis, the organization’s executive director.
The 20th anniversary concert features four rising stars to raise money for the arts programs at the school.
Performers include Diana Thompson-Brewer; Courtney Ankerfelt; Johnnie Felder; and Richard Hodges.
A lyric coloratura soprano, Thompson-Brewer, made her international debut in Geneva, Switzerland with L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and has also sung in New York City, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Vermont, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
Ankerfelt, a mezzo-soprano originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a regular performer in Vegas City Opera’s Voice of Women concert series and is currently enrolled in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices where she studies in the American Wagner Project.
Felder, a tenor and native of Vance, South Carolina, has served on the faculties at Augusta University as well as Paine College and made his 2019 European debut in Varna, Bulgaria as Rinuccio in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.” Felder’s leading roles include Beppe in Donizetti’s “Rita,” Don Ottavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Nemorino in Donizetti’s ”L’elisir d’amore” and Tamino in Mozart’s ”Die Zauberflöte.”
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Richard L. Hodges, who has sung with the Vegas City Opera and is the assistant professor of voice at South Carolina State University. Some of his roles include Frank in “Die Fledermaus,” Porgy from “Porgy and Bess” and Peter in “Hansel and Gretel.” He is an Emerging Artist in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices program.
The event raises funds for the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, which provides arts enrichment and tutoring classes.
“The Jessye Norman School of the Arts is an afterschool program designed to develop and nurture the artistic and creative talents of students,” according to its mission statement.
The school is named in honor of Norman, an Augusta native and highly acclaimed opera singer who won multiple awards including five Grammy Awards and the National Medal of the Arts. She was a Kennedy Center Honors awardee.
“She absolutely glowed at any mention of The Jessye Norman School for the Arts and was grateful indeed for this tangible, living opportunity to address the need for education in the arts in the town where her own studies and training began,” according to the program for Sunday’s concert.
The concert will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, at the Augusta University Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre. Tickets are $40.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
