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Community Invited to Remembrance Concert on Sept. 11 at UA Fort Smith
(Posted: August 25, 2006) (Printable Version)
The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith will host what Stacey Jones calls a “touching and patriotic” remembrance concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 on the Campus Green.
Jones, associate vice chancellor for campus and community events, said the concert follows a Sept. 7 opening ceremony for “Five Years from Ground Zero — Through the Lens of the Photojournalist.” The UA Fort Smith exhibit includes numerous photographs taken by photographers and photojournalists form throughout the United States, all shot during the attacks and aftermath of the events occurring on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States.
“Our concert is a community effort,” Jones said, “and is another means to bring citizens of this area together. We want to remember what took place, but at the same time show each other that we are moving ahead as a community and a nation, closer and stronger, because of what happened.”
Groups participating in the event include River Valley Community Band, UA Fort Smith Symphonic Band and UA Fort Smith choirs. In addition, selections will be presented by Don Bailey, director of the UA Fort Smith Jazz Band; Elizabeth Momand, associate professor of music; and Miss UA Fort Smith, Brooke Whitney.
“We’ll also have some visual elements for the evening,” Jones said, “which I believe the audience will enjoy. And when I think of the titles of some of the pieces to be presented — ‘Quiet Courage,’ ‘Solace’ and ‘Hymn for the Fallen’ — I can’t help but believe all of our hearts will be touched by what we see and hear on this five-year anniversary of what was a tragedy.”
Following a concluding bell peal, those attending the remembrance concert will be invited inside the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center to tour the exhibit, which also includes video and audio recordings, magazine articles, and other artifacts.
“This will be an excellent time for viewing the exhibit,” Jones said, “because we normally are not open that late in the evenings. This will also be one of the last days for the Associated Press part of the exhibit, and I know people will want to see that.”
The Associated Press display is titled “9/11 Five Years Later,” and it has four photo panels showing images of the attacks and aftermath alongside the same scene, shot by the same AP photographer today. AP also provides a video with journalists discussing the images they captured, how they captured them and how it affected them.”
“Many of the AP photographers and the other photojournalists from around the country were greatly affected by what they saw,” Jones said. “Two of those photojournalists — David Handschuh and Gulnara Samoilova — are scheduled to present a seminar titled “First on the Scene: Journalism and Trauma Seminar” from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sept. 7 at UA Fort Smith. We are very fortunate to have this as a part of our month-long activity in remembrance of Sept. 11.”
In addition, David Friend, creative development editor with Vanity Fair magazine, will come to the UA Fort Smith campus on Sept. 29 for a noon book signing of his book, “Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11.” The book signing is scheduled for the university’s Campus Store. A 2 p.m. lecture follows in the Reynolds Room of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center. Friend also has a book signing scheduled at Books-A-Million on Sept. 30.
All events are open to the public. For more information, contact the Campus and Community Events Office at 788-7300.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations |
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