The University of Central Arkansas’s College of Fine Arts and Communication will hold its biennial fundraiser, BRAVO!, Friday, March 21, with special guest Bruce Adolphe.
Adolphe is a well-known composer, educator, performer and author perhaps best known for his weekly appearances as the “Piano Puzzler” on American Public Media’s radio program Performance Today.
BRAVO! is put on by CFAC to raise funding for students traveling to professional conferences, competitions and workshops in the U.S. and abroad. This year, BRAVO! will support students in the UCA Music Department. In 2012, the event hosted travel writer Rick Steves. With the help of sponsors and guests, the event raised $10,000, and 20 writing and li
nguistics students were able to attend various conferences, such as the International Conference for the Short Story and ones related to native and endangered languages.
“We had such a wonderful time two years ago with Rick Steves,”said professor and associate dean Dr. Gayle Seymour. “This year, too, will truly be memorable with such a distinguished guest as Bruce Adolphe.”
In addition to his role as the “Piano Puzzler,” Adolphe is an outstanding composer in his own right, and leading orchestras and artists from around the world have commissioned and performed his music. Adolphe is also the resident lecturer and director of family concerts for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (since 1992); composer-in-residence at the Brain and Creativity Institute in Los Angeles; and the founding creative director of The Learning Maestros. He is the author of three books on music, including The Mind’s Ear: Exercises for Improving the Musical Imagination for Performers, Listeners, and Composers (Oxford University Press). In the midst of all his work with writing and music, he is also a professor. He has taught at Yale, Juilliard, and New York University.
This year’s gala will consist of a meet and greet reception with Adolphe at 5:30 p.m. at the home of Dr. Brad and Suzanne Banister, sponsored by Table Mesa. Following the reception, there will be a seated dinner and private concert, including “Puzzlers,” on the Reynolds Performance Hall stage at 7 p.m., sponsored, in part, by ARAMARK. Guests will also enjoy a performance of selections from Adolphe’s most recent new work, commissioned by UCA, Mary Cassatt: Scenes from her Life, which was inspired by works of art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Tickets are on sale now and are $100 a person. This includes both the meet-and-greet and the private dinner. There is a limit of 100 people. To purchase a ticket, email Joshua Miller at jdmiller@uca.edu or call him at (501) 450-3293.
For more information, contact Seymour at (501) 450-3295; gayles@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
