Violinist HILARY HAHN, Pianists LOUIS LORTIE and YEFIM BRONFMAN, Vocal Ensembles CHANTICLEER and TAKE 6, the EBÈNE QUARTET and DANISH STRING QUARTET, Mezzo-soprano MAGDALENA KOŽENÁ, the O’CONNOR FAMILY BAND featuring MARK O’CONNOR, and Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ 25th Anniversary Celebrations Highlight Spivey Hall’s 2016-2017 Concert Season

ALAN MORRISON to Hold New Five-Year McGehee Family Organist Residency

Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall (spiveyhall.org), the Southeast’s premier recital hall renowned internationally for its superior acoustics and the excellence of its classical, jazz and world music artists, announced details of artists and programs for its 26th Season of Spivey Series concerts at its annual Season Announcement Celebration, held this year at Spivey Hall on Saturday, March 12. Spivey Hall’s 2016-2017 season will feature more than 100 internationally renowned musicians hailing from 14 countries, in 32 concerts that include 15 Spivey Hall debut performances.

Season 26 shines a special spotlight on the 25th anniversary of Spivey Hall’s magnificent Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, dedicated in May 1992. The festivities were heightened by the announcement of the McGehee Family Organist Residency to be held by organist Alan Morrison through the 2020-2021 season, made possible with financial support from Spivey Hall Friends Shelley, Terry and Linda McGehee.  Morrison, named Spivey Hall’s organist-in-residence last season, also holds the Haas Charitable Trust Chair in Organ Studies at Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, and serves as College Organist at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. He took part in the Season 26 Announcement Celebration by performing for Spivey Hall donors and invited guests, and joined Executive and Artistic Director Sam Dixon to preview Season 26’s special organ events.

“Spivey Hall’s visionary founder, Emilie Spivey, took great pride in the Hall’s crowning glory, the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ built by Fratelli Ruffatti,” said Dixon. “There would be no Spivey Hall without it. We take great pleasure in celebrating our majestic pipe organ through the artistry of excellent composers and organists, and invite audiences of all ages to discover and enjoy the incredible variety of music in store for us in Season 26.

“Moreover, I am overjoyed that the McGehee Family Organist Residency enables our distinguished organist-in-residence, Alan Morrison, to continue his close association with Spivey Hall through the next five seasons, for which I offer my profound thanks to Shelley, Terry and Linda McGehee for their extraordinary generosity.”

“My sisters and I are so very pleased to sponsor Alan Morrison in an organ residency at Spivey Hall,” said Shelley McGehee, their grandmother’s namesake and organists both. “Each generation of our family has produced an organist or two. The organ is an instrument for which we feel great affinity and we hold Alan in the highest regard.”

“I have long considered Spivey Hall my artistic home where I have been given opportunities to perform solo, in chamber music, as choral accompanist and as orchestral soloist,” said Morrison. “Having known Emilie Spivey personally and been encouraged by her to pursue an organ career, I welcome this residency as a dream come true, and look forward to exploring creative paths to draw more interest to the instrument through the magnificent Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ at Spivey Hall.”

Twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations of Spivey Hall’s Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ begin with a free Organ Discovery Day (Sept. 10) hosted by Alan Morrison and other organ experts featured in Spivey Hall Education’s new video written and directed by Marshall Peterson, The King of Instruments: History, Science and Music of the Pipe Organ. The video provides an informative, engaging and entertaining overview of the organ. In addition to the video screening, this family-friendly event includes performances by Morrison, audience Q&A with the experts, the chance to come on stage to see the organ console up close, and complimentary refreshments in the lobby. Organ Discovery Day concludes with a screening of Architects of Sound, a 30-minute documentary produced by Melissa Hampton, first aired by Georgia Public Television in 1993, that chronicles the creation of the custom-made Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ by Fratelli Ruffatti in Italy, the shipment of its thousands of pipes and parts across the Atlantic, and its installation at Spivey Hall.

Alan Morrison (Oct. 29) opens Spivey Hall’s Season 26 Organ Series. Fanfare hails his playing as “consummate and dazzling.” Morrison’s new CD recording of his triumphant February 2016 Spivey Hall recital program will be released by ACA Digital Recording early in Season 26. American concert organist Stephen Tharp (Jan. 28), “authoritative, impassioned, supremely musical and technically impeccable” (The American Organist), unleashes the pagan power of Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballet score, The Rite of Spring, whose premiere incited a riot at its Paris premiere. Steven Ball, organist of the world’s largest pipe organ located at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, makes his Spivey Series debut in a special silent-film-and-organ presentation of Funny Bones: The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin (Feb. 25) with mime Dan Kamin (who trained Robert Downey, Jr. for his Oscar-nominated performance in Chaplin), performing the organist’s original score to Chaplin’s 1916 comedy classic, The Pawnbroker. Spivey Hall welcomes the return of international audience favorite Hector Olivera (May 6), who “is in a class by himself” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), giving brilliant performances of popular programs that inspire standing ovations. The Organ Series concludes with the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ 25th Anniversary Celebration (May 13) showcasing the mastery of Ken Cowan (“absolutely stunning,” Organ Canada) and Alan Morrison (“a superlative artist,” Sequenza 21.com) in solo works and duets; University of Southern California faculty organist Cherry Rhodes (“superbly accomplished,” Los Angeles Times) performing Jean Guillou’s transcription of Modest Mussorgsky’s colorful Pictures at an Exhibition; and the world premiere of a commissioned work by Weicheng Zhao featuring the trio of organists playing together in a festive, “three-on-a-bench” finale.

Patrons may enjoy the special value and convenience of a Season 26 Organ Pass.  Each $100 Organ Pass provides deeply discounted admission to all Season 26 Organ Series events, including Organ Discovery Day. Organ Passes are transferrable, making attendance easy for you – or for another music lover – to experience the majesty of the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, live in concert, at savings of 56% off regular ticket prices.

The 2016-2017 Season Opening Celebration also launches the Season 26 Piano Series with the Spivey Hall debut of “a player of uncommon sensitivity” (The New Yorker) and “impeccable musicality” (Le Figaro, Paris), rising star Inon Barnatan (Sept. 25), evoking the luminous eloquence of Franz Schubert’s G-major Piano Sonata, D. 894. An all-audience reception with the artist, hosted by the Spivey Hall Friends, follows the recital. Praised for her “beautifully atmospheric playing” (Gramophone), Cliburn Competition laureate Joyce Yang (Feb. 5) performs Romances and Symphonic Etudes by Robert Schumann, plus Lyric Pieces by Edvard Grieg. “A virtuoso in the fullest sense” (Gramophone), Ukraine native Alexander Gavrylyuk (Feb. 26) makes his Spivey Hall debut with J.S. Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ, transcribed for piano by Feruccio Busoni, plus music by Fréderic Chopin, Sergei Prokofiev, and Sergei Rachmaninov. French pianist Bertrand Chamayou (Mar. 19) is “a force to be reckoned with” and “a remarkable musician, no question” (The Guardian), as he will demonstrate in his Spivey Hall debut recital opening with works by Impressionist composer Maurice Ravel and closing with Schubert’s compelling Wanderer Fantasy. Quebéc native Louis Lortie (Apr. 2) makes an eagerly anticipated return to Spivey Hall with his hallmark “Chopin playing of sublime genius” (Fanfare), performing the highly virtuosic Etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25, and the complete Préludes, Op. 28 – a program that no pianophile should miss. The Piano Series concludes with the “magnificently communicative playing” (The New York Times) and “jaw-dropping bravura” (Chicago Tribune) of world-renowned pianist and Atlanta favorite Yefim Bronfman (Apr. 29), performing Claude Debussy’s Suite bergamasque (with its perennially enchanting “Clair de lune”), plus three vivid scenes in the life of a forlorn puppet drawn from Russian folklore, Igor Stravinsky’s incomparable Petrushka.

Many notable debuts mark the Season 26 Strings Series. Trio Settecento (Oct 30), the Chicago-based early-music ensemble of violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord, will serve up one of its “wonderfully vital and buoyant performances” (Fanfare) of music by Baroque masters including Jean-Phillipe Rameau. Also a first for Spivey Hall is the award-winning Lysander Piano Trio (Nov. 13), including 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition and 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, violinist Itamar Zorman, playing Antonín Dvořák’s eloquent “Dumky” Trio, Op. 40 and works by Rachmaninov and Peteris Vasks with the “full-on emotion we love in chamber music” (Classical Sonoma). Another debut is that of the London Haydn Quartet (Jan. 8), a period-instrument string quartet praised for its “revelatory” and “exquisitely rendered” performances (The New York Times) of Haydn and Beethoven, joined by U.S.-born Eric Hoeprich, long-time principal clarinet of Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century, in Mozart’s heavenly Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581 (famously featured in the film Out of Africa), performed on the basset clarinet. Also new to Spivey Hall and Atlanta is the Danish String Quartet (Feb. 4) which “plays with an urgency that can feel dangerous… This is a group that makes you listen” (San Jose Mercury News) and “one of the best quartets before the public today” (The Washington Post). In addition to new music by Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin, the DSQ offers Nordic folksongs from its acclaimed Wood Works release and Beethoven’s towering “Razumovsky” String Quartet Op. 59 No. 2. Violin superstar Hilary Hahn (Mar. 26) – “the epitome of violinist perfection” (Nürnberger Nachrichten) whose playing is “at once impetuous and authoritative, brilliant and beautiful” (The New York Times) ¬– returns to Spivey Hall with celebrated American pianist Robert Levin, widely renowned for his insightful interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, and contemporary music alike. Back from France is the “superb” Ebène Quartet (Apr. 1) that plays “with no-holds-barred fervor” (The New York Times), performing Mozart’s D-minor Quartet, K. 421 and an iconic work of musical Impressionism, Debussy’s G-minor Quartet, Op. 10, plus – by popular demand, following their memorable debut-concert encore – jazz and crossover selections.

Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená (Oct. 15), “wonderfully vibrant” (The Independent), opens the Season 26 Vocal Series, bringing to life songs by Dvořák, Fauré, Strauss, and Wolf with her “fresh and glowing voice” (The Guardian), concluding with Schonberg’s theatrical Cabaret Songs, which garnered her high praise at London’s Wigmore Hall. Her pianist, Malcolm Martineau, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the song repertoire and an invariably marvelous collaborator. Named after Hieronymus Bosch’s Haywain Triptych, the six-member Estonian a cappella early-music vocal ensemble Heinavanker (Nov. 6) sings folk hymns, runic songs, and medieval sacred works in its Spivey Hall debut. “This is music you don’t forget easily. It haunts… The performances are totally compelling” (Gapplegate Music Review). A Chanticleer Christmas (Nov. 26) kicks off Spivey Hall’s holiday concert season with a retelling of the Christmas story in many musical styles, from Gregorian chant and traditional carols to African-American spirituals, performed with panache by “the world’s reigning male chorus” (The New Yorker) and perennial audience favorite, sure to be a Season 26 sell-out. “This was everything a recital should be,” proclaimed The New York Times of a “superlative” performance by British mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly (Mar. 11) with pianist Joseph Middleton, both Spivey Hall debut artists; “she brings a deeply affecting radiance, sense of wonder and intelligence to everything she does” (Gramophone). Malcolm Martineau returns with his “exquisitely sensitive pianism” (The Herald) to perform a kaleidoscopic all-Schubert program (Mar. 25) of solo songs and duets with internationally-renowned Swedish soprano Miah Persson (who creates “spine-tingling moments of vocal splendor” – Edinburgh Spotlight) and the electrifyingly dramatic Austrian baritone Florian Boesch (“he does not just sing this music, he inhabits it to the hilt” – The Independent).

The Season 26 Jazz Series features a wealth of outstanding American artists plus the sophistication of a stylistically versatile French string quartet. The Christian Sands Trio (Nov. 12) showcases “the hot-dogging virtuosity” (The New York Times) of the headlining pianist still in his early 20s whose extraordinary talents are well known to Spivey Hall fans from his astonishing performances with the Christian McBride Trio. The Fred Hughes Trio (Dec. 3) provides welcome relief from the hustle-and-bustle of the December holidays with his program, I’ll Be Home for Christmas: “It swings, it relaxes, and it is always done with a lot of style and taste” (All About Jazz). Chicago chanteuse Tammy McCann (Jan. 21) commands a “luxuriant, supple, larger-than-life” voice “that inspires wonder” (Chicago Tribune): “She stepped up to the mic and into the hearts of everyone in the room” (JazzInside), as surely she will do in her Spivey Hall debut. The Sean Jones Quartet (Mar. 4) is “a powerhouse quartet” that can “hit hard from the outset and never give up” (Chicago Tribune), led by former Jazz at Lincoln Center and current SF Jazz Collective trumpeter Jones, who “can marry beauty and pure power like few others” (All About Jazz). “A string quartet that can easily morph into a jazz band” (The New York Times), the Ebène Quartet (Apr. 1, also included in the Strings Series) switches to jazz and crossover with “no sudden stylistic leap,” retaining an “intelligent, smooth, sensuous” sound (Boston Classical Review). Fred Hersch (Apr. 8), “a pianist of unfailing imagination” (Audiophile Audition) with “an intensity of intelligence and emotional directness unparalleled among his peers” (The New Yorker), makes a long-awaited return to Spivey Hall in a solo turn: “When it comes to the art of solo piano in jazz, there are currently two classes of performers: Fred Hersch and everybody else” (All About Jazz).

Special Events add musical variety and spice to Season 26, starting with “master guitarist” Eliot Fisk (The New York Times) and fellow guitar-legend Ángel Romero, who “plays with such grace and elegance” (Guitar World), uniting for a friendly afternoon (Oct. 23) of solo and duo performances introduced by the artists from the stage. For Thanksgiving weekend, Spivey Hall jumps into the Christmas spirit with star-studded vocal ensembles: on Saturday with A Chanticleer Christmas (Nov. 26, also included in the Vocal Series), and then Sunday with the Spivey Hall debut of 10-time Grammy Award-winning Take 6 in its 2016 holiday show, The Most Wonderful Time of Year. “Whether it’s pizzazz or peace, the sextet is a cappella glory” (People). “Without a doubt the finest lute player in the world today” (San Francisco Chronicle), American-born Swiss resident Hopkinson Smith (Dec. 3) offers rhapsodic Pavans, spirited Galliards, striking character pieces, and more hits by English lute virtuosos of the 1580s and 90s in his program, Mad Dog: The Elizabethan Lute. No one put more people “In the Mood” for great American swing music than the world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra (Jan. 7), which under the musical direction of Atlanta native Nick Hilscher takes a lively trip down memory lane with “Moonlight Serenade,” “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” and other timeless tunes from the heyday of swing, sure to put a bounce in your step and a smile on your face. Finally, fiddler Mark O’Connor – “brilliantly original” (The Seattle Times) and “one of the most talented and imaginative artists working in music – any music – today” (Los Angeles Times) – introduces The O’Connor Family Band to Atlanta (Feb. 18) in an engaging, dynamic, family-friendly show of traditional American music with family members Maggie O’Connor (fiddler and Atlanta native), Forrest O’Connor (mandolin and vocals), and Kate Lee (fiddle and vocals), rounded out by National Flatpick Guitar Champion Joe Smart and double-bassist/old-time banjoist Geoff Saunders.

Free and informative Pre-concert Talks, starting one hour prior to selected Strings, Vocal, and Organ series concerts, deepen the pleasure and comprehension of patrons’ listening experiences. Season 26 pre-concert talks will be given by Clayton State University music professor Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller on Oct. 15 (Magdalena Kožená); Oct. 30 (Trio Settecento); Nov. 6 (Heinavanker); Nov. 13 (Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ 25th Anniversary Celebration); Jan. 8 (London Haydn Quartet); Feb. 4 (Danish String Quartet); Mar. 11 (Sarah Connolly); Mar. 25 (Miah Persson and Florian Boesch); and Apr. 1 (Ebène Quartet); and by resident organist Alan Morrison in conversation with guest organist Stephen Tharp (Jan. 28). Convenient, delicious, buffet-style Concert Dining opportunities at the Center for Continuing Education (just a short walk from Spivey Hall) include pre-concert dinners on Oct. 15 (Magdalena Kožená) and Apr. 29 (Yefim Bronfman), pre-concert brunches on Mar. 26 (Hilary Hahn) and Louis Lortie (Apr. 2), and a dinner following the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ 25th Anniversary Celebration on May 13. Concert Dining tickets are $40; reservations are required, and close the preceding Monday at noon. About a month prior to all Piano and selected String and Vocal series concerts, online program notes provide descriptions of the music to be performed, often enhanced with clickable audio samples that illustrate specific ideas being explored, to familiarize patrons with the life and times of the composers and well as their works.

The three choirs of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program sing with a remarkable beauty of tone, expression and spirit that is their hallmark. Their highly popular holiday concerts (Dec. 9/10/11 – regular sell-outs, get your tickets early) are Spivey Hall’s most cherished Christmas tradition, with festive music of various styles and nations, audience sing-alongs of two carols to the accompaniment of the magnificent Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, and an abundance of post-concert cookies for the entire family. The choirs’ musical development, nurtured and inspired by Children’s Choir Program’s artistic director Dr. Martha Shaw and assistant director/accompanist Judy Mason and Young Artists’ conductor Craig Hurley and accompanist Marcena Kinney, is fully showcased in the Program’s year-end concerts (May 19/20/21), which include previews of music the 50 most advanced singers will perform during their annual summer tour. Having enthralled audiences throughout the Southeast, North America, Europe, Scandinavia and China, this summer the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir proudly makes its Carnegie Hall debut with Dr. Martha Shaw, Judy Mason, and guest artists on June 26, 2016. Tickets to this special tour performance will be available from the Carnegie Hall box office and carnegiehall.org later this spring.  Admission to the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program is for boys and girls ages 10 to 13, according to artistic merit, with need-based financial assistance available by application. Auditions for the 2016-2017 school year will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2016 and are by appointment only. For more information or to request an appointment, telephone (678) 466-5566 or email [email protected]

Regional Ensembles perform each season in co-presentations by Spivey Hall and leading non-profit music and music-education organizations, including Auburn University faculty artists David Odom, clarinet and Jeremy Samolesky, piano (Oct. 2); Skylark Vocal Ensemble and artistic director Matthew Guard in an a cappella program of Christmas music spanning the centuries (Dec. 11); the Metropolitan Opera National Council Southeast Auditions (Feb. 12), featuring promising young singers from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama performing opera arias with piano accompaniment for an audience and a panel of judges, competing to be a national finalist and sing on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; the rousing Southern Crescent Chorale and artistic director Janice Folsom, making their 12th Spivey Hall performance in Season 26 (Mar. 18); and OurSong: The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus with artistic director Dr. Robert Glor, highly regarded for their spirited music-making of works familiar and new.  Additional performances by Regional Ensembles may be added in the course of the season; visit spiveyhall.org for the latest information on all Spivey Hall artists, performances and programs.

As a rehearsal and performance venue of Clayton State University (CSU), Spivey Hall supports the faculty, students, ensembles and guest artists of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). Many performances are free to the public, with no tickets required; ticketed events are $10 for adults, $5 for students, with free admission for CSU faculty, students and staff with Laker Card. The Department of Visual and Performing Arts’ 2016-2017 performance schedule begins with a recital by cellist Christopher Thibdeau, violinist John Irrera, and pianist Joseph Irrera (Aug. 20). A highlight of the season is the VPA Shakespeare Festival, with four special events. The CSU Chorale and Starr’s Mill High School Chanticleer perform beloved Shakespearian texts set to choral music old and new (Nov. 3). The Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra, CSU Orchestra, CSU Music Drama Workshop and women of the CSU Chorale join forces for a semi-staged production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61, by Felix Mendelssohn (Nov. 4). Faculty artists Kurt-Alexander Zeller (tenor) and Michiko Otaki (piano) offer a musical exploration of Shakespeare’s sonnets, song lyrics, and dramatic speeches (Nov. 5). The festival finale is a joyful celebration of the life and works of “the Bard of Avon” by the Clayton State Community Chorus and the Griffin Choral Arts Chamber Choir (Nov. 5).

Also new in 2016-2017 is Christmas at Clayton State featuring the CSU Chorale, Clayton State Community Chorus, and CSU Orchestra (Dec. 2 and 4). Ensemble performances in the fall and spring spotlight the CSU Jazz Combo (Nov. 16 and Apr. 26), the Clayton Community Big Band (Nov, 28 and May 1), and the Clayton County Honor Orchestra with Clayton State Preparatory Music School students (Dec. 8 and May 4). The annual CSU VPA Dance Concert is performed twice this season (Mar. 31 and Apr. 1), as is the annual CSU Music Drama production (Apr. 21 and 22). Rounding out VPA offerings are Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals performed by the CSU Orchestra (Mar. 23), Fauré’s Requiem with the Clayton State Community Chorus and CSU Orchestra (Apr. 27), the CSU Chorale (Apr. 30), and Division of Music Curated Student Recitals (Nov. 30 and Apr. 26).  VPA events are subject to change, and other events may be added to the schedule; visit spiveyhall.org for updates that may occur throughout the 2016-2017 season, and clayton.edu/vpa/music for information about VPA faculty artists including Dr. Richard Bell, Nancy Conley, Dr. Michael Fuchs, Stacey Houghton, Dr. Christina Howell, Grant Jones, Kathleen Kelley, Dr. Michiko Otaki, and Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller.

Spivey Hall Friends and VIP guests attending the Season Announcement Celebration were the first to receive Spivey Hall’s 2016-2017 Concert Series book, which patrons on Spivey Hall’s mailing list will find in their mailboxes in the coming weeks. A Season 26 book may be requested at Spivey Hall’s website, spiveyhall.org, by calling the Spivey Hall Box Office at (678) 466-4200 weekdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM or by visiting Spivey Hall. Subscriptions and single tickets may be purchased by completing and mailing the order form included in each season book; by calling the Spivey Hall Box Office; via fax (by credit card only) to (678) 466-4494; and online at spiveyhall.org, where a downloadable version of the Season 26 book and calendar listings for each concert may be found.

Season 26 subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now. As always, subscribers get the best seats at the best prices. There are no processing or ticket-mailing fees for subscription orders made by mail, telephone, fax, or in person at the Spivey Hall Box Office. Each Spivey Hall subscription is a “create-your-own” combination of four or more concerts purchased at the same time. Subscribers purchasing tickets to four, five, or six concerts receive a 10% discount; Premium Subscribers purchasing tickets to seven or more concerts receive a 20% discount. Subscribers pay no fee for ticket exchanges made with a minimum 48 hours notice. The priority seating deadline for subscribers is June 1, 2016, after which seating for single-ticket purchases will be confirmed. Subscriptions purchased online at spiveyhall.org incur a $10 subscription fee; each online single-ticket purchase incurs a $3 convenience fee. Single tickets may be held for collection at the Box Office or mailed for a $3 per-order fee. Tickets not held at the Box Office will be mailed beginning in August. Educators and students with valid I.D. are eligible to receive a 50% discount (limit 2 tickets per Laker Card I.D., subject to availability); Clayton State University students attend for $10 or less (limit 2 tickets per Laker Card I.D., subject to availability). Groups of 10 or more save 20% off full-price tickets purchased in a single transaction.

Dixon concluded his Season 26 Announcement Celebration remarks by thanking the many individuals and organizations whose generous support make Spivey Hall’s concert series and educational programs possible, including the Walter and Emilie Spivey Foundation chaired by Alex Crumbley, and the Spivey Hall Friends Council chaired by Richard F. Tigner. Dixon offered his heartfelt thanks to the Spivey Hall Friends, whose annual gifts provide critical funding for each concert season. Tax-deductible donations in all amounts to support the artistic excellence of Spivey Hall’s concert and education programs are gratefully received, and may be made with any subscription or single-ticket order. In recognition of their generosity, Friends are proudly acknowledged in all Spivey Hall program books, attend post-concert receptions with Spivey Series guest artists throughout the season, and receive invitations to special events such as the Season Announcement Celebration and the Friends Holiday Open House.

Concert Sponsorships, which vary in level by artist, are available for most Spivey Series concerts, at Silver ($2,500), Gold ($5,000) and Platinum ($10,000) levels and include an array of tiered benefits. All concert sponsors are invited to the annual Season Sponsors Dinner hosted by Clayton State University’s Dr. Tim Hynes. Sponsorships are confirmed in consultation with Spivey Hall’s Executive & Artistic Director. Priority consideration is given to prior sponsors. For information about available sponsorship opportunities, please telephone Spivey Hall’s Development Specialist at (678) 466-4486 or email [email protected]

Dixon also expressed his sincere appreciation for his Spivey Hall colleagues, who work wonders each day to produce Spivey Hall’s concert series and educational programs, ensuring that great music continues to thrive for artists and audiences of all ages at Spivey Hall.