On Thursday, October 23rd, the first of a year-long series of arts performances will take place at the auditorium of the Advanced Education Center on the Gulf Park campus of USM in Long Beach. USM Music faculty Amber Shay Nicholson and Stephen Redfield will perform as the "Young Romantics" that night at 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Collectively, these events are called "Discoveries: Gulf Coast Performance Series," but in reality the idea and practice are not new. For many years former chair of the division of Arts and Sciences at the Coast, Dr. Joe Thrash, held a recital series featuring many USM faculty. In those days the only venue was the first-floor auditorium space in Hardy Hall. By the time the AEC building first opened, I was serving as division chair, and so I continued the tradition by inviting several faculty and student ensembles to perform in the new auditorium there.
With destruction from Hurricane Katrina, the auditorium was out of commission for nearly two years. Orchestra director Dr. Jay Dean kept the tradition alive by scheduling a series of performances at any available venue (churches, high schools, etc.) on the Coast during that time. But now the AEC has been fully restored and is actually a better performance space than it previously was. I encourage anyone who is able to attend to come and enjoy the show, as we celebrate the ongoing recovery of our Gulf Park campus.