Birmingham has talent! The Birmingham Music Club (BMC) will celebrate its 105th year as a leading cultural resource in Alabama by hosting an elegant gala and presenting BRAVO!Birmingham to showcase widely recognized performers with local roots. Over the years, the BMC has earned a distinguished reputation for bringing world-class artists from around the globe to Birmingham audiences. In 2011, the BMC turns its spotlight on home-grown performers whose talents have brought them recognition on the national and international scene.
The anniversary celebration includes two events: A black-tie gala at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 28, 2011, at Birmingham Country Club and the BRAVO!Birmingham show at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, at Samford University’s Wright Center. Ticket prices, beginning at $125, cover both events. Information and reservations for the gala are available from Martha Black at 205-969-3556. Show tickets will be available after December 1 through the Wright Center Box Office at 205-726-2835.
The gala evening on January 28 at Birmingham Country Club includes a cocktail reception, dinner, live auction, and entertainment by BRAVO! performers. Live auction items include a Hilton Head trip, golf rounds at the best courses in town, a relaxing week in New Hampshire at a lake home, box seats for football games, a dinner for 12 catered by Sherron Goldstein, exquisite jewelry from Barton-Clay Fine Jewelers, and more.
An individual Patron ticket for the dinner in January is $125 and also entitles the holder to attend the show in March. A limited number of Junior Patron tickets is available at only $80. Other ticket levels, which include special amenities for additional guests, are Bronze ($500) and Silver ($1,000). Corporate tickets for tables of eight are $2,500 (Gold) and $5,000 (Platinum). All proceeds from the dinner and the show benefit the BMC Concert Series and BMC Guild Music Scholarship Fund. Co-chairs for both events are Marsha Drennen and Jeannie Bradford.
The BRAVO! production, highlighting nationally recognized musical talent with Birmingham ties, will showcase several musical genres, including classical, bluegrass, country, folk, and gospel, all blended seamlessly for a fun-filled evening. Carl Dean is director, and Bobby Horton is master of ceremonies. BRAVO! performers include Yakov Kasman, Silver Medalist at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; the popular musical comedy act “Three on a String;” gifted baritone Daniel Seigel, who won the National Federation of Music Club’s 2009 Young Artist Competition and, in November 2010, made his Carnegie Hall debut; The Birmingham Sunlights, winners of a prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Lifetime Fellowship; the Birmingham Junior League Choral Group, acclaimed for its performances at Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s International Haydn Festival ; and the ever-popular “Four for Time,” featuring Carl Dean, Kristi Tingle Higginbotham , Jan Hunter, and Lonnie Parsons.
After the show, patrons are invited to enjoy coffee and gourmet desserts with the stars on the Wright Center Mezzanine. For information, call the Wright Center at 205-726-2407 after December 1.
