For more information:
Rob Price, Director of Marketing (Media calls)
602.243.8030
Concert to Aid Scholarship Program for SMCC Students in Need
ISOLA JONES, renowned mezzo-soprano and former Metropolitan Opera leading artist, will perform a benefit concert on Nov. 16 at South Mountain Community College. Popular Pianist Brenda G. Hankins will accompany on piano.
Proceeds will go to the Stars III Campaign, which provides scholarships for SMCC students in need.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. in Performance Hall of the college, 7050 S. 24th St. (just north of Baseline Rd.). Tickets are $20 general and $10 for students. Tickets are available at Showup.com.
Isola Jones — adjunct Voice faculty at SMCC—is internationally recognized as an extraordinary mezzo-soprano. Making her professional debut in the Verdi Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Jones within two years made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin. Since then she has sung more than 500 performances as a leading artist at “The Met.” (See Bio)
Leading roles have included: Giulietta in Les Contes D'Hoffman, Ulrica in Ballo in Maschera, Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino, Amneris in Aida, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto, and Dalila in Samson and Dalila. Carmen has become her signature role.
In 1984, Ms. Jones was presented with the prestigious Merit Award from her Alma Mater, Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill. She earned a Master's Degree of Science in Education from Capella University in Minneapolis, Minn., and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Musical Arts from Providence College in Rhode Island.
Ms. Hankins is a graduate of ASU, where she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Choral Education, with piano emphasis. Until retiring in 2006, she was a music educator for the Tempe Elementary School District. She is currently the Minister of Music at First Institutional Baptist Church. Under her direction, the choirs of FIBC have become well-known and sought after. Ms. Hankins and the choir have performed with such artists as the late Doc Severinsen, Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Sandra Reeves from “The Sounds of Blackness,” and most recently, Michael McDonald.
To learn more about this concert and additional performances at SMCC, please call the 24-hour Performing Arts Hotline: 602.243.8353.