Photo by Nancy Stephan

   The SEARK Concert Association presented the Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra’s performance of “Splendor of Broadway” at the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s Fine Arts Center Sunday, March 25. 

   The evening began with a collection of pieces from the masters of Broadway musicals, Rodgers & Hammerstein. Their songs from “South Pacific” and “State Fair” led the way for other well known tunes from Cole Porter, which included several popular tunes from the Broadway hit “Oklahoma.” 

   Charles Jones Evans, music director/conductor of the symphony, held conducting positions with numerous professional orchestras and music festivals including the Eastern Philharmonic (Greensboro, NC), the Memphis Symphony, the Mississippi Symphony and the Eastman Philharmonic (Rochester, NY). 

   Critics praise Maestro Evans’ conducting as “exuberant.”  He remains a champion of contemporary music, which he displayed conducting popular tunes such as “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Bring him Home” from “Les Miserables.”   

   The second half of the performance offered the audience music from Andrew Lloyd Webber, featuring pieces from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats” and “Starlight Express.” 

   Following the afternoon performance, guests attended a fundraising dinner at the John F. Gibson University Center.  

   An all inclusive duck hunt for two to four people at the Lone Sassafras Hunting Lodge, a New Orleans Jazz Brunch for 10 couples and several paintings by local artists were among several of the items offered at the live auction. 

   The Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra performance was sponsored in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment for the Arts.