Five-time Grammy Award winner Sandi Patty will be the headliner for the second “StarLight at the University of Mobile,” a free outdoor music festival on the campus of the University of Mobile (UM) featuring fireworks and a family atmosphere.
Designed as a way to showcase the Center for Performing Arts at UM, the fast-paced event will spotlight more than a dozen student music and theater groups while featuring a solo performance by Patty, as well as a special performance by UM alumnus Chauncey Packer.
The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. April 13 on the UM campus.
Audience members are encouraged to arrive early and should bring chairs or blankets to the lawn in front of the outdoor stage at Martin Hall. The evening will end with a “bang” as fireworks light the sky.
Last year more than 3,300 people attended the first StarLight featuring bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs.
That number is expected to grow this year as university officials hope to draw an audience of more than 5,000.
This year’s StarLight will feature a larger stage, and food and soft drinks will be available for purchase.
Roger Breland, director of the UM Center for Performing Arts, said the audience can expect an outstanding evening of entertainment.
“Sandi Patty is the consummate entertainer, and we will hear one of the finest singers in America,” said Breland, who will serve as emcee of the Starlight festival.
“She’s a major artist with major symphonies around the country, and she has performed for the President of the United States and appeared on ‘The Tonight Show.’ It will be a great evening,” Breland added.
The variety of selections to be presented at the music festival will include something for everyone, including Broadway show tunes, pop, gospel, jazz, opera and patriotic songs.
The event will highlight the talents of more than 100 students plus faculty in the Center for Performing Arts, including the University Singers, Voices of Mobile, University Band, Jazz Band, Guitar Ensemble, Piano Ensemble, Opera Workshop and Upper Room Dinner Theatre.
Chauncey Packer is a 1998 graduate of UM with a master’s degree in vocal performance from University of New Orleans.
He has been a featured soloist with the Mobile Symphony, Mobile Symphonic Pops, Baton Rouge Symphony, Gulf Coast Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.
Patty has received five Grammy Awards, 39 Dove Awards and four Billboard Music Awards. She was recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
In case of rain, StarLight will be held at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile.
To find out more information about StarLight, call UM at 251-442-2215 or visit them on the Web at www.umobile.edu/starlight. (UM)
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