The Winter Park Institute looks to celebrate its tenth anniversary by giving a free concert on Park Avenue on Feb. 18.
The event at Central Park is part of Winter Park’s Weekend of the Arts and will showcase a variety of entertainers, including the Bob James Jazz Trio, Chip Weston and the Gazebros, poet Billy Collins, flute player Shannon Caine, and our own Rollins student musicians.
The diversity in entertainment exemplifies the dedication to cultural enhancement that characterizes the Winter Park Institute. The institute is a non-profit organization that focuses on fostering intellectual growth in Winter Park and Rollins College. For ten years, the organization has enhanced the community through talks, seminars, interviews, master classes, and many other events. One of the most popular of these is the speaker series, which has featured such esteemed guests as Gabrielle Giffords and Dr. Jane Goodall.
The free concert is not only a show of appreciation to the Winter Park community for its support of the organization, but an encouragement from the institute for support in a new era.
Gail Sinclair, executive director and scholar-in-residence, stated that the “Winter Park Institute at Rollins College has joined this year with the city of Winter Park in their new arts and culture initiative. This organization’s inaugural event… provides an opportunity, beyond our already engaged speaker series, to thank the greater community for supporting our first decade and to invite them to continue the journey with us.” The new partnership will also allow for the institute to accomplish more of its goals.
The Winter Park Institute will continue the aforementioned speaker series, this time featuring more high-profile guests, including former astronaut Story Musgrave and former NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
A celebration of the institute would not be complete without featuring the talents of the students of Rollins College. Rollins student musicians will perform the City of Winter Park “Fanfare,” a piece that was composed by Dr. John Sinclair, the John M. Tiedtke professor of music at Rollins College. Therefore, this piece will be a fitting tribute to the culture of Winter Park.
As for what to expect from the institute in the next decade, one can be assured that the organization will not falter on its commitments. Sinclair promised, “The second decade of Winter Park Institute history will continue to provide thought-provoking scholars, artists, and humanitarians who bring the world to our doorstep for intellectual contemplation.” Sinclair continued, “we promise to challenge, unsettle, inspire, and entertain our campus and our community.”
The free concert will take place on Sunday, Feb. 18 from 3 to 5 p.m. It is recommended that guests arrive early and bring lawn chairs or blankets, as well as food and beverages.
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