Louisburg College Announces an Exciting Line Up for the 2015-2016 Allen de Hart Concert Series


LOUISBURG, NC | The College is pleased to announce an exciting line-up for the 2015-2016 Allen de Hart Concert Series.  With seven sensational shows and two pre-concert holiday dinners, this series is sure to offer something for everyone!

The series will open with a concert by Melissa Manchester on Friday, September 11, 2015. Manchester’s extraordinary career has earned both critical praise and commercial success. “Don’t Cry Out Loud” delivered her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1979, and she won the award in the same category four years later for “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” Two of her songs, “Through the Eyes of Love” and “The Promise,” were nominated for Academy Awards in the same year. Today, Manchester teaches music to students at the University of Southern California.

On Friday, October 2, 2015, Florence LaRue and The 5th Dimension will float back in time with such hits as “Up, Up, and Away,” “One Less Bell to Answer,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stone Soul Picnic,” “Last Night, I Didn’t Get to Sleep At All” and “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In.” The group has received fourteen gold records, six platinum records and six Grammy Awards for their multi-million-selling hits. The timeless music of The 5th Dimension could best be described as somewhere between smooth, elegant soul and straightforward, adult-oriented pop, often with a distinct flower-power vibe.

Showman Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives will perform on Friday, November 13, 2015. As a four-time Grammy Award winner, platinum recording artist, Grand Ole Opry star, country music memorabilia preservationist, stylist, designer, photographer, songwriter, all-around renaissance man, charismatic force of nature, and leader of the extraordinary, versatile touring and recording band The Fabulous Superlatives, Marty Stuart has a showman’s zest for every conceivable flavor of country music, and has evolved into one of the most important roots musicians and visionaries in America.

The Lettermen will join us on Friday, December 11, 2015 , to light up the holidays with their well-loved Christmas Show. Back by popular demand, Tony Butala, Donovan Tea and Bobby Poynton will sing the hits you grew up with and the holiday tunes you treasure. The letter sweaters may only make a brief appearance at each Lettermen performance, but the harmony is non-stop. From their first hits in the 1960s, including “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” “When I Fall in Love” and “Theme from a Summer Place,” to their current hits of today, the sound is undeniably Lettermen. Eighteen gold albums, scores of top singles and more than 10,000 sold-out shows attest to their lasting popularity.

The Grass Cats will bring bluegrass alive on the stage on Friday, February 12, 2016, as they continue to entertain audiences with their exciting performances and critically acclaimed recordings. Their shows feature lively foot-stomping fiddle and banjo music, bluegrass classics, tight vocal harmonies, acapella gospel quartets and chart-topping original songs. Though careful never to lose their traditional bluegrass footing, the Cats also perform cleverly arranged “covers” of songs by Eric Clapton, Duke Ellington and Tim McGraw. The Grass Cats are the only group on an independent record label to have three singles reach #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited national chart.

The Celtic Tenors share the sounds of the Emerald Isle  – and beyond – on Friday, March 18, 2016. The only tenor group with a truly global audience, The Celtic Tenors will give you a night to remember. Whether playing a neighborhood cathedral or major concert halls in New York, Amsterdam or Shanghai, audiences are assured of a professional, sparkling — and, most of all — good-humored performance. They genuinely love what they do and you’ll see that shine through in each rendition of beautiful Celtic songs, like the haunting “Danny Boy” and exhilarating classics such as “Nessun Dorma.”  Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Daryl Simpson are comfortable in all genres, bringing the audience on a true musical voyage.

Audiences will flip for Cirque Zuma Zuma as they take the stage on Friday, April 8, 2016. Described as an African-style Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Zuma Zuma packs every show with non-stop action and incredible features that keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Comprised of 120 uniquely-talented individuals from across sixteen African nations, the Zuma Zuma show features fantastic cirque acrobats who made their North American primetime television debut on America’s Got Talent. The cirque spectacle is wrapped in a colorfully costumed troupe of talented artists, including South African vocalists, gumboot dancers and contortionists, Zimbabwean percussionists, Egyptian limbo dancers, Gabonese tumblers, amazing pole acts and many more.

All concerts will take place in the Frances Boyette Dickson Auditorium in Louisburg College’s Seby B. Jones Performing Arts Center (JPAC). Tickets are available by calling the Louisburg College Box Office at (919) 497-3300 or toll-free at 1 (866) 773-6354.

Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the day of show; the Box Office is located in the JPAC at the left front entrance of the Holt Lobby. It is open 1:00 – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at 6:00 p.m. the evening of each performance. Additional information and tickets are also available online at www.JPACarts.com.

All performances over the entire season will take place of Fridays at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:45 p.m. Children 12 and under, accompanied by an adult, are admitted free to all performances. The JPAC offers a special discount rate for groups of 20 or more.

There is an abundance of free parking in the lots surrounding the JPAC, as well as handicapped parking and ramp access to the building on the right side of the facility. Accommodations are available in the JPAC for patrons with special needs. Please call our Box Office in advance of the performance for more information and to make arrangements.

Additional support for the Allen de Hart Concert Series comes from the Franklin County Tourism Development Authority ( www.visitfranklincountync.com).

About the JPAC
The host of Louisburg College’s annual Allen de Hart Concert series, the Seby B. Jones Performing Arts Center is also home to the 1,200-seat Frances Boyette Dickson Auditorium, Norris Theatre, Faulkner Gallery (the College’s permanent art collection), and Lumpkin Community Gallery (site of the College’s Traveling Exhibition Series). Learn more at www.JPACarts.com.

About Louisburg College
Related by faith to The United Methodist Church, Louisburg College is the oldest two-year residential college in the nation, and the only one in North Carolina. With a student body of 700 students, over 90 percent of Louisburg graduates continue their education at four-year schools. Learn more at www.louisburg.edu.