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Nothing brings people together around the holidays like music, from classic carols to sing-alongs with the seasonal standards.
That’s the spirit behind “Merry & Bright,” an event coming to The Center for Rural Development on Tuesday, December 10 that will feature the area’s brightest young talents making musical merriment and sharing their gifts in the arts with the people of this area. The event is presented by The Center and the Lake Cumberland Performing Arts organization.
“Merry & Bright: A Night with The Arts,” will feature more than 500 students from local high schools and middle schools, involved in not only band and choir but also drama and the visual arts. The event lasts from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Center, and is free to attend.
“Lake Cumberland Performing Arts and The Center each year, we get together to talk about the season and one of the things that they wanted to do was work together to bring our schools and our community organizations together,” said Debra Hines, Event Liaison for The Center, “to be able to help the students in music and band and drama to be able to see a purpose for them to be able to do (those arts) long-term or even just have an outlet for their talent. We wanted to be able to connect them and make it a big event.”
That meant including a range of different local schools at different levels. Hines noted that local elementary school students will have their visual artwork displayed in the lobby along with the performances, the result of a group project between schools.
“I reached out earlier in the year, probably June or July, to my son’s band director at the time, Zach Shannon at Southern Middle, and he helped organize (the event) from the school side,” said Hines. “He’s been instrumental in helping get (all the elements) together.”
This is the first year for the event, and Hines said they’re looking at it becoming an annual event.
Performances will be spread out among the Cornelia Dozier Cooper Theatre, ballrooms, and The Center’s main lobby.
The schedule is as follows:
Theatre
6 p.m.: Southern Middle School Band
6:45 p.m.: Southwestern High School Band
7:30 p.m.: Somerset High School Band
8:15 p.m.: Northern Middle and Pulaski County High School Bands
Ballrooms
6 p.m.: Southwestern High School Choir
6:45 p.m.: Northern Middle School Drama
8:15 p.m.: Southwestern High School Drama
Lobby
5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.: Art Shows
6 p.m.: Pulaski County High School Choir
6:45 p.m.: Meece Middle School Band Small Ensembles
7:30 p.m.: Southwestern High School Handbells
8:15 p.m.: Southern Middle School Choir
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