By Brittany Wells |
Contributor
Members of the Augusta University community had the opportunity to express themselves at the Noon Arts: Live at the Lee on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) at the Lee Auditorium on the Augusta University Health Sciences Campus.
The event featured the talents of the Augusta University students, faculty and staff, and it served as an artistic outlet, where AU folks could express themselves through performance art. Noon Arts is an ongoing series.
Before the start of the program, participants collected free boxes of lunch that were provided by the Provost and included a sandwich, chips and chocolate chip cookies.
Everyone then settled into their seats in the auditorium and the master of ceremonies, Bill Andrews, chair of Medical Illustration at the College of Allied Health Sciences, introduced the opening act, which was “Beauty and the Beast” performed by James Dickey on the cello, Bharat Sanders on the piano and Liana Mosley as the vocalist.
The next act was “My Heart Will Go On” performed solo by Si-Long Chen, who sang and played the piano. Her husband, Victor, was supporting her in the audience, and even earned a shout-out from the master of ceremonies.
The third act was a quartet of flutists, Elizabeth DePace, Justyna Szymonik, Lauren Reid and Lynn Tran. They continued the Disney theme and performed “Disney Princess Medley," which consisted of songs from "Frozen," "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin."
The next performance was a poem titled “Variations” composed and performed by Calvin W. Pennywell Jr. The poem was about his future wife, which was a fitting topic for Valentine’s Day.
Pennywell was followed by Melissa Wallin's solo vocal performance of “Writing’s on the Wall."
The final act was a cover of “Hallelujah.” The musicians, vocalist Jessica Cooley and guitarist Doug Blackburn, gave a strong performance with great chemistry.
Before the spectators left, they were able to win a prize to Cirque Zuma Zuma, courtesy of Maxwell Theatre, by searching their seats for a heart. The winner was Rhea-Beth Markowitz.
The Noon Arts Committee will be holding another Noon Arts: Live at the Lee on April 18. Members of AU can sign up to perform or assist by contacting Tricia Perea of Division of Communications & Marketing staff at TPEREA@augusta.edu.