Jazz concert gala to kick off new MVAA season
The Mon Valley Academy for the Arts will begin its 2017 season with a concert gala and kick-off event April 23 at The New Clarion Inn, Finley Road, Rostraver Township.
The event, which will include live performances by The Jessica Lee Jazz Trio, featuring Mark Strickland and George Jones, will be held from 3-6 p.m.
Lee is a professional jazz and blues vocalist, songwriter and recording artist with four solo albums — “Bluebird Fly,” “From a Silent Heart,” “Silver Days, Charcoal Nights,” and “Rhythms of Anyway” — available internationally.
Lee performs at jazz and blues clubs, festivals, major charitable events, universities and theaters throughout the country, and has produced and performed shows from jazz duos, to combo performance, to big band and symphony orchestra performance.
The concert will also include several area vocalists, including members of the Twin Coaches Orchestra.
Tickets are $25, which includes the concert as well as hors d’oeuvres. All proceeds from the event support the cultural and educational programs of the MVAA.
The event is sponsored by Lee Supply Co. Tickets are available at Vic Vitale State Farm in Charleroi or by calling the MVAA office at 724-309-0249.
‘We have so much going on this season,” said Mark Smith, president of the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts.
“We are excited not only about the events we are planning, but we are enthused by the community support, including donations for our cause.”
The MVAA will host a concert series at Chess Park starting June 4. The series, which will go throughout the summer, will feature big bands, Wally Ginger’s Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Big Band Legends, and classic country band, Andy Gregg and the Second Hand Band.
The first phase of MVAA programming is the Twin Coaches Orchestra Project, which was established in November of 2015.
In November, The Twin Coaches Orchestra will play its second major concert, a Night at the Coaches.
MVAA will also be sponsoring the Charleroi Area Middle/High School Art Show May 8-10. The organization will also provide case prices for the winners.
“I’m excited that we’re going to be a part of that because it fulfills our mission of supporting the arts,” Smith said. “It’s not just music, but visual arts, dance, theater. This is our first opportunity to work with the visual arts and high school art teacher Patrick Camut.”
At the start of the year, the MVAA began MORE, or Music Outreach Experience, teaching music lessons and holding the drum circle at the Mon Valley Citadel of the Salvation Army in Monessen.
“We are getting calls from other others to take the MORE program to other host organizations,” Smith said.
An arts and cultural organization serving the Mon Valley, the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts seeks “to educate and inspire all ages through exposure to and active involvement in the arts as a non-profit organization.”
“We are pleased to announce our partnership with the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, as our fiscal agent and partner, as we await finalization of our federal non-profit status,” Smith said.
For more information about MVAA and TCOP, please visit their web site at http://www.monvalleyacademyforthearts.org and FaceBook sites “Twin Coaches