The First Tuesday Performance Series is in its seventeenth season, and it features a variety of musicians in performances every first Tuesday of each month. “Music Teachers Rock” premiered on Nov. 6 and was one of the many installments of the First Tuesday concerts. The performance included a multitude of music educators from several nearby counties. The counties in which these educators teach include Tift, Ben Hill, Colquitt, Worth, and Irwin. These educators teach a wide range of students in grades Kindergarten through twelfth, and some even teach at a college level. Some of these educators formerly taught and are now in retirement, some currently teach, and a few are future music educators who major in the subject at ABAC.
A wide variety of musical pieces were performed at the concert. The show began with “The Mannheim Musicians’” performance of “Alleluia”. The group was comprised of educators Sheri Wyles and Lesli Holton on flute, Jonni Snyder on violin, Betsy Jones on cello, and former ABAC applied voice instructor Zoe Hobby as an accompanist. The group then performed “Gabriel’s Oboe” featuring the talented oboist Charlotte Cook of Colquitt County.
Following this piece, vocalist Jake Alley of Tift County performed “Les Poissons” as Chef Louis from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” His performance consisted of props to represent the actual scene from the movie. Stan Smith, also from Tift County, then took the stage and floored the audience with his own arrangement of Psalm 23 with his baritone vocals and piano accompaniment.
Vocalists and husband and wife duo, Daniel and Katelyn Gibson of Tift county kept the audience engaged with their duet performance of “Fine” and “Written in the Stars” from the musicals Ordinary Days from Aida. Jake Alley returned to the stage with his astounding tenor vocals and performed” ‘Til I Hear You Sing” from the musical Love Never Dies. Dr. Jennifer Huang of ABAC accompanied the Gibson couple and Alley on piano during their performances.
After these individual performances, all former, current, and future instrumental educators in attendance from the surrounding counties joined together in the performance of “Ballad for a Rainy Day” and “On a Hymnsong of Phillip Bliss.” Each educator performed with the instrument they specialize in. These two songs concluded the concert, and the audience was left impressed and in awe by the talent of these instructors.
The purpose of this concert was to disprove the idea of music educators choosing to teach music only because they are unable to perform. “Music Teachers Rock” executed that purpose and left disbelievers to shame by showing off the talent of these schools’ educators.
The next installment of the First Tuesday Series will be “A Christmas to Treasure” on Dec. 4, and it will take place at the Tift Theatre in downtown Tifton. Tickets are $10 each and all proceeds will go to the music scholarships at ABAC.
