The Ross Foundation and Southern Bancorp will be honored at Henderson State University’s annual President’s Concert on Tuesday, Feb. 8, for their generosity in establishing and funding the Arkadelphia Promise scholarship program.
The annual concert features the talents of Henderson students and faculty, and pays tribute to individuals or groups who have been instrumental in advancing the university and its academic programs.
Past President’s Concert honorees include: Dr. Charles Welch, Dr. Charles Dunn, Dr. John G. Hall, the Board of Trustees, Betty Bruner, Eugene Kuyper, Jesse Branch, Paul Barringer, Mary Ella Clark, and the Diamond Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Arkadelphia Promise Scholarship will increase the college-going rate for local students, reduce the number of students dropping out of college for financial reasons, and provide for a more educated workforce.
From its beginning, the Ross Foundation has funded education, arts and cultural enrichment projects throughout Clark County and the region. Southern Bancorp is a unique organization that combines the vision, passion and creativity of non-profit organizations with the stability and permanence of America’s largest and most profitable rural development bank.
These two organizations are providing Arkadelphia young people with an opportunity currently available in only a few cities nationwide.
The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Russell Fine Arts Harwood Recital Hall. Rick Dimond and Stephen Eaves will conduct the concert, which will include performances by:
Chris Sanders on marimba. Sanders is a senior working on his bachelor of music in education. He is a student of Dr. Rick Dimond. Sanders will perform Concerto in A Minor by Antonio Vivaldi.
Lauren Honea, soprano. Honea is a junior seeking her bachelor of music in performance degree. She is a student of Dr. Laura Storm. Honea will perform Donde lieta from La Boheme by Giacoma Puccini.
Cameron Warren on tuba. Warren is a senior working on his bachelor of music in education degree. He is a student of Jamie Lipton. Warren will perform Concerto for Bass Tuba by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Darnelle Rhone, tenor. Rhone is a junior working on his bachelor of music in education degree. He is a student of Dr. William Higgins. Rhone will perform It Ain’t Necessarily So from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin.
Corey Barta and Danielle Lyle on flute. Barta is a sophomore seeking her bachelor of music in education degree. Lyle is a senior working on her bachelor of arts in music degree. Both are students of Jennifer Amox. They will perform Andante and Rondo, Op. 25 by Franz Doppler.
The performers will be accompanied by an orchestra comprised of string players from the Arkansas Symphony, along with wind and percussion musicians who are faculty and students at Henderson and Ouachita Baptist University.
The concert, funded in part by the Mae Whipple Music Endowment, is free and open to the public. For more information, call 870-230-5036. Tax deductible donations to support the President’s Concert may be made to the HSU Foundation-President’s Concert.