Season Finale to be a Musical Tour of the U.S.A., with Roger Wise as narrator.
JCSO to Collect Donated Food Items at Concert for North Fulton Community Charities Food Pantry as part of “Orchestras Feeding America” National Campaign.
Johns Creek, Georgia– The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra will conclude its 2017-2018 season on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. with a program titled “The American Dream” at Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek. The program, conducted by Maestro J. Wayne Baughman, will feature Roger Wise as narrator and Brent Davis, baritone.
This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov. Additional support comes from the Rotary Club of Johns Creek North Fulton.
“This concert is a musical tour of the country we all call home,” said JCSO Executive Director Linda Brill. “We will play a little jazz, some Broadway favorites, old American songs, and we will go all the way out West to the wide, sweeping soundscapes of the American frontier. Along the way, we will salute the heroes who have made the American Dream possible for us all.”
TICKETS for this public performance are $32 for adults; $27 for seniors; and $16 for students. Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more. For tickets, call (678) 748-5802 or visit www.johnscreeksymphony.org.
In conjunction with this performance, the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra has joined forces with 36 other orchestras across America as part of the “Orchestras Feeding America” national campaign spearheaded by the League of American Orchestras. “We are encouraging our audience members to bring nonperishable food items to this performance, which we will collect and transport to North Fulton Community Charities Food Pantry. Many people in our community are struggling to achieve the American Dream, and we’d like to lend a helping hand by joining this national initiative,” said Brill.
North Fulton Community Charities distributes more than 9 tons of food and staple goods each week. NFCC’s pantry most needs: pasta sauce, rice, and toothpaste. Canned goods: potatoes, spinach, collards, beets, carrots, mixed veggie pea/carrot combo, sweet potatoes/yams, tomato sauce/paste, ramen noodles, Hamburger Helper-type meals, corn meal, grits.
The League of American Orchestras first joined forces with Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, in 2009. More than 215 orchestras in all 50 states participated in an unprecedented coordinated effort by collecting and donating food to their local food assistance agency or food bank within Feeding America’s network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 agencies. Since then, over 360 orchestras have participated in the annual effort.
Roger Wise is originally from Goldsboro, North Carolina, and he attended Goldsboro High School and East Carolina College. Roger had a successful 30-year career with the Ross division of Abbott Laboratories. He retired as the Southeast Regional Manager of Academic and Government Services.
Roger and his wife, Claire Jo, have been married for 45 years. They have lived in the Horseshoe Bend community of North Fulton County for 35 years. They have three grown children and five grandchildren.
During his 35 years in Fulton County, Roger has been a member and chairman of the Fulton County Housing Authority and the Fulton County Planning and Zoning Commission. He has been an active citizen, working with many leaders and the membership of local organizations. He is on too many boards to mention and is the ambassador to the community at large for numerous organizations. Roger has worked with government officials at all levels on countless projects and ideas that have benefitted our community and the state of Georgia. He is always available to move a project forward and to see it through to a successful conclusion. Roger has helped so many individuals and organizations around the state to become better leaders, and in so doing his efforts have created stronger organizations through stronger leadership.
He has worked directly with leaders and members of the Johns Creek, Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton communities. Roger has always been available to work with elected officials and organizations to promote good ideas that benefit the citizens of North Fulton. In so doing he has promoted, assisted with, and worked with just about every organization in the cities and communities of North Fulton. Roger is known as “Georgia’s Mr. Facilitator – The Go to Guy” who always gets the job done in the best possible way.
An Army veteran, Roger is the ambassador for Post 201 of the American Legion and is always an active participant in recognizing and assisting our community in giving special recognition to our local men and women who serve in our military. He is the national ambassador for the Shriners Hospital System, the Shriners of Georgia, and the Masons of Georgia, always working tirelessly to support our greatest natural resource – our children. Roger pays his civic rent. Georgia is a better place because of his contributions to his community, county, state, and nation.
Baritone Brent Davis, a Georgia native, made his professional debut with The Atlanta Opera in 2004 and has since performed with opera companies and orchestras locally and abroad. Mr. Davis has collaborated on projects with the National Endowment for the Arts and Meridian Herald, and performed in company premieres with The Atlanta Opera in Akhnaten and Cold Sassy Tree with the rare opportunity to work with composer Philip Glass and Carlisle Floyd. Last season included performances with Meridian Chorale featuring soprano Jessye Norman and tenor Timothy Miller, Dona Nobis Pacem with Michael O’Neal Singers and Georgia Philharmonic, and a Patriotic Concert with Atlanta Wind Symphony and Roswell UMC Sanctuary Choir. This season includes Brahms’ Requiem with Michael O’Neal Singers and Songs of Brotherhood concert with Mark Miller Band and tenor Timothy Miller at Roswell UMC Chapel. Mr. Davis received his Master of Music degree from University of Illinois and Bachelor of Music from Clayton State University, and has worked extensively with acclaimed Metropolitan Opera baritone Frederick Burchinal.
JCSO Music Director and Conductor J. Wayne Baughman studied choral and orchestral conducting, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in music education from the University of Alabama, as well as advanced studies in conducting at the University of Michigan.
Upon his arrival in Atlanta in 1974, Maestro Baughman immediately became involved with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Choruses, and for 25 years he was a frequent vocal soloist, chorus member, and rehearsal conductor under the guidance of the late Robert Shaw. Well known for his oratorio performances as bass soloist, he collaborated with Maestro Shaw on numerous performance projects, including the Mozart Requiem Mass, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, and Handel’s Messiah. In 1990, as bass soloist, Maestro Baughman shared the honor of a Grammy Award for the Telarc recording of Belshazzar’s Feast (Walton) and Chichester Psalms (Bernstein) with Robert Shaw and the ASO.
Maestro Baughman has held conducting positions at the State University of New York at Cortland and Brevard Music Center. He also served as music director at Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta for nine years, where his performances of major choral-orchestral works received critical acclaim. Maestro Baughman is recently retired from liturgical music.
Now in its eleventh season, the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra is metro Atlanta’s only fully-professional, part-time symphonic orchestra, made up of professional musicians from all over the greater metro Atlanta area. The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Founder and Music Director J. Wayne Baughman, provides musical enrichment for the community of Johns Creek through a three-concert series of performances, as well as additional educational programs and special events each year.
Thanks to our season supporters:
