Get ready for a very Italian Festival this coming May, as the Greenwood Music Festival celebrates it’s fifth anniversary season with a Roman Holiday. Our Opening Night Celebration begins at 7:30pm on Thursday, May 19, with the festive sounds of the Emerald Brass in the Countybank Gallery at the Arts Center at the Federal Building. Then soprano Siân Davies delights the audience with Italian arias and songs by Handel, Mozart, Puccini and others. She’ll also perform popular songs from 1911 in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Federal Building. To bring the night to a festive conclusion, we present a “Bacchus” Reception named for the Roman God of Wine and Revelry.
On Friday May 20 at the Greenwood Museum, the evening begins with Music at the Museum at 6:00pm with a free, 30-minute concert featuring the “Amici Strings” from the SC Governor’s School for the Arts. Following the concert, we present a showing of the classic 1960 film Spartacus at the Greenwood Community Theatre, starring Kirk Douglas, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. On Saturday, May 21 at 2:00pm, get swept away with romance in the 1953 classic film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
Ensemble Radieuse, a trio of flute, oboe, and piano, returns to Greenwood Saturday evening, May 21 at 7:00pm, with a concert of chamber music. On Sunday, May 22 at 4:00pm, we present the Greenwood debut of the Peachtree Symphonic Winds from Atlanta, an 80-member wind ensemble, sure to impress at First Baptist Church. Selections will include Respighi’s monumental Pines of Rome and Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture.
Nat Chandler, Broadway star and Greenwood native, returns for a cabaret evening at Greenwood Community Theatre on Monday, May 23 at 7:00pm, to bring our Festival to a fantastic finale. This event is guaranteed to be sold-out, so get your tickets early!
Our season also features commissioned artwork by local Greenwood artist Skip Shelton. Plus, all of our commissioned artworks by Ruth Martin, Jeffery Callaham, Amy Alley, Trina McNeill-Smith, and Skip Shelton, will be on display at the Arts Center during the Festival weekend. Come celebrate Italian music, Rome, art, and our wonderful fifth anniversary during the Greenwood Music Festival, May 19-23, 2011.
Tickets for Nat Chandler’s Concert will be available exclusively at Greenwood Community Theatre, beginning Monday, April 18th. Call GCT at (864) 229-5704 for tickets for Nat Chandler only. All other tickets will be available beginning Monday, April 18th at the Arts Center at the Federal Building and the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. Call the Arts Center at (864) 388-7800 or the Chamber at (864) 223-8431 for tickets.
Donald Bruce McKellar passed away this morning. His name is synonymous with the arts and theatre in Greenwood. As the Executive Director of Greenwood Community Theatre for over 35 years, he truly gave everything he could to the arts, theatre, and the entire Greenwood community. He was a proud supporter of all the arts in Greenwood, and was a wonderful supporter of the Greenwood Music Festival, and of me. He gave me my first role as a Confederate soldier in the musical Shenandoah, and later Joseph in Joeseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, among many others. He taught me, as he said so often, that “There are no small roles in the theatre, just small actors!” He always taught us to “Project! Project” Project to the back of the house!”. Donald, your inspiration, dedication, support, and commitment, are examples for us all. A true artist, director, and wonderful friend and supporter. You will be forever missed. 
