Ol’ Blue Eyes is back! The Academy Art Museum has announced plans to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the birth of Frank Sinatra with a series of events in 2015.
“Sinatra is widely viewed as the twentieth century’s most remarkable singer of the Great American songbook,” notes Museum Director Dennis McFadden. “We have lined up a great program of music, lectures, and films to honor this American icon.”
The centerpiece of the program will be a gala celebration in May, “Come Fly with Us!” The renowned Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will perform, with award-winning vocalist Allan Harris singing Sinatra hits.
As part of the celebration, the Museum is sponsoring a variety of community activities about Sinatra during the year, in line with its mission to support vibrant arts and educational programming on the Eastern Shore.
A public lecture, “What Makes Frank Sinatra Great,” is scheduled for March 25, 2015, at 6 p.m. at the Museum. Highly respected Georgetown University Professor Anna Celenza will use musical examples to explain the distinctive “Sinatra Sound” — particularly how his phrasing and tone of voice set him apart.
To showcase Sinatra’s accomplishments in film, the Academy Art Museum and Chesapeake Film Festival are jointly hosting a Sinatra Film Festival at the Museum. There will be showings of The Manchurian Candidate on April 11, 2015, at 6 p.m., and From Here to Eternity, earning Sinatra an Academy Award, on April 12, 2015, at 1 p.m. A panel discussion will explore his film career and approach to acting.
An arts education partnership with the Talbot County Public Schools on the music of Sinatra will culminate with a school concert at the Museum on May 7, 2015.
“Our salute to Sinatra is going to be great fun!” adds Kay Perkins, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We hope that all members of the community will ‘Come Fly with Us’ and join the celebration.”
Honorary Chairpersons Tricia and Frank Saul are hosting the gala, and Buffy Linehan is the 2015 Spring Gala Chair.
The Gala’s Signature Corporate Sponsor is PNC Wealth Management. Other corporate sponsors are The Avon Dixon Agency, Wilmington Trust and Guilford & Company.
Donors include Bruce Wiltsie and Bill Davenport, Ellen and Richard Bodorff, Alice and Jim Clark, Jocelyn and George Eysymontt, Maxine and James Farrell, Cathy and Tom Hill, Chris and Bill Hunter, Bette Kenzie, Buffy Linehan and Ed Gabriel, Doris and Robert Malesardi, Catherine McCoy, Courtney and Scott Pastrick, Patricia and Tim Roche, Alexa and Tom Seip, Judy and Henry Stansbury, and Lisa and Tim Wyman.
Information on the schedule of activities can be found on the Museum website:academyartmuseum.org.
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