Fine Arts Center to present Columbia Choral Society’s Jasmine & Jazz: An Afternoon with Dick Goodwin

The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County (FAC) is proud to present the Columbia Choral Society’s Jasmine & Jazz — An Afternoon with Dick Goodwin on Sunday, May 22 at 3:00 p.m. in the Wood Auditorium. This production is part of a celebration of the 85th anniversary of the Columbia Choral Society (CCS.) Tickets are $15 for general admission and are on sale now through the FAC Box Office and website (www.fineartscenter.org.)

• About the Columbia Choral Society
In 1930, a community chorus contest was held in Columbia as part of the annual Community Chest Drive. The winning chorus organized as the Shandon Choral Society. The name was later changed to the Columbia Choral Society. The purpose of the organization then, as now, was to stimulate and broaden interest in musical activities and to actively engage in the rehearsal and performance of choral music. The first director was Leonard C. Moltz, followed by Dr. Guthrie Darr who served as director for 40 years and in 1990, at his retirement, he was named Director Emeritus. Other former directors include Dr. Larry D. Wyatt, husband of Dr. Susan Wyatt who recently retired as musical director of the Chamber Choir of Kershaw County (CCKC) as well as Dr. Timothy Koch, Dr. William Carswell , Christopher Jacobson, and Dr. David Lowry. Dr. Beth Mears will serve as the new Music Director beginning with the 2016-2017 season.

Over the years, the Columbia Choral Society has performed a wide variety of works from the choral repertoire. They have performed with a long list of accomplished organizations, including the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, the Charleston Long Bay Symphony, the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestras, the Carolina Master Chorale, the Charleston Symphony Chorus, the Bulgarian National Chorus, the West Yorkshire (England) Chorus, the Sandlapper Singers, the Palmetto Mastersingers, the University of South Carolina Concert Choir and University Chorus, Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, and the Benedict Concert Choir. Dr. Lillian Quackenbush is serving as the Guest Conductor for the Columbia Choral Society’s current season.

• About Special Guests Paddy Bell and Dick Goodwin
One of the exciting elements of the production is the collaboration of the music, written by Dick Goodwin, paired with lyrics written by Camden Poet, Paddy Bell. Bell’s first writing endeavor, DOGS: The Musical, premiered at the FAC and was then produced in several venues, culminating in a run at the renowned Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival . This success, due in great part to her collaboration with Dick Goodwin as composer/arranger, launched a writing interest that spans the genres of the screenplay, short story, and children’s literature. A series of children’s picture books and her father’s World War II story are projects in development. The team of Goodwin/Bell is currently working on a symphony commissioned by Southeast Missouri State University for an anniversary celebration of the River Campus Performing Arts Center and as a tribute to Saint Vincent Seminary, established in Cape Girardeau, MO in 1843. The performances are scheduled for March of 2017.

Paddy holds a BA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and is an alumnus of the Creative Theatre Institute in New York. Her work in children’s community services as a volunteer with the Kellogg Foundation Art Project and as a Guardian ad Litem for abused and neglected children are always sources of inspiration. She has also spent 26 years bringing music to the elderly at Senior Centers in the Midlands and currently serves as the birthday lady for KershawHealth Hospice. Bell has been published in “The Petigru Review,” South Carolina Literary Journal, “Serving Up Memory,” The Camden Writers Anthology, and as a columnist for The Chronicle-Independent. Like jasmine, she hopes to climb to even greater heights!

Gordon (Dick) Goodwin holds a doctorate in a composition from the University of Texas where he taught theory and composition and ran the jazz program (which he initiated) for nine years. In 1973, he moved to the University of South Carolina to head the Theory-Composition-History area, conduct the University Orchestra, and write music for the USC athletic bands. His compositions in virtually every idiom from jingle to opera, jazz band to orchestra, have been performed across the United States and abroad. Dr. Goodwin is active as a performer, as a recording studio composer-performer-producer, and he is a Yamaha Trumpet Artist. Goodwin was the recipient of the 2001 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Individual Artist Award, the highest honor given in the arts by the State of South Carolina. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at USC. Performing along with Dick (trumpet and piano) will be Doug Graham (clarinet and saxophone,) Charles Polk and David Allison (trumpets,) Brad Edwards, Ashley Fleshman, and Andrew Reich (trombones,) Jerry Sims (guitar,) Terry Trentham (bass,) and Jim Hall (percussion.)

For tickets or for more information, please call 803-425-7676, ext. 300, or visit www.fineartscenter.org. The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County is located at 810 Lyttleton Street in Camden. Summer office hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

The Fine Arts Center is a 501c3 organization that is funded in part by the Frederick S. Upton Foundation and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by the City of Camden, Kershaw County, and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina along with donations from businesses and individuals.