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• The Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Awards
• South Carolina Arts Commission

 

Clemson University Symphonic Band

November 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 pm - As the top auditioned group of wind and percussion musicians at Clemson University, the Symphonic Ba Learn More...

Free (no ticket required)

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Clemson University Choral Ensembles

December 1st, 2009 at 8:00 pm - The Department of Performing Arts introduces its new choral director, Justin Durham, in a program of Learn More...

$8 adults/$5 students (general seating)

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Clemson University Symphony Orchestra

December 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 pm - Popular orchestral hits fill this winter program, from the “Waltz” and “Polonaise” of Tchaikovsky’s Learn More...

$5 adults/students free (general seating)

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The Spirit of Christmas

December 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm - The Spirit of Christmas takes you on a magical journey to a winter wonderland of fun and festive che Learn More...

$30 adults/$20 students

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Tony DeSare, vocalist

January 14th, 2010 at 8:00 pm - Singer, pianist, and songwriter Tony DeSare has earned critical acclaim for his performances at the Learn More...

$20 adults/$10 students

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Utsey Series Wins State's
Highest Arts Award

The South Carolina Arts Commission recently announced that Clemson University’s Lillian and Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series is the recipient of a 2007 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award. The Utsey Series is being recognized for outstanding contributions to the arts in South Carolina by a government institution.

The Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award, the official Governor’s Award for the Arts, is the state’s highest arts award. The university and five other organizations and individuals will be honored during a ceremony at the State House on Wednesday, May 2.

“We are deeply honored to receive this award, and we would like to thank the hundreds of people who have supported this series with their attendance and by building up the endowment,” said Lillian Harder, the founder and artistic director of the series.

For more than 20 years, the Utsey Chamber Music Series has presented free classical music concerts by many of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles and soloists to the Clemson community, South Carolina, and the nation. Started in 1986, with the simple goal of offering outstanding performances to the public at no cost, the Utsey Chamber Music Series has presented over 100 concerts to an estimated 50,000 audience members.

Over the years, musicians such as piano prodigy Lang Lang, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, violinist Maria Bachmann, the St. Petersburg String Quartet, and many other internationally renowned artists have been showcased at Clemson University’s Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

Recognition in a national publication dedicated to chamber music and regularly heard broadcasts on National Public Radio’s Performance Today have garnered the Utsey Chamber Music Series a national reputation. Furthermore, the series is actively cultivating the next generation of classical music listeners by offering educational opportunities for students attending area schools.

“South Carolina has a rich history of presenting chamber music. The Palmetto State is the home of the Spoleto Festival USA’s famed chamber music concerts, as well as other presenters of chamber music in Columbia, Aiken, Beaufort, and other locations across the state,” said Harder who also serves as the director of the Brooks Center. “The Utsey Series complements those other presenters by providing world-class music to a rural community.”

Recipients of this year’s Verner Awards also include Annette Francis (Arts in Education), a music teacher, arts advocate, and leader of the PatriArts program at C.C. Pinkney Elementary School at Fort Jackson in Columbia; The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg (Arts Organization), an organization that has nearly tripled the size and impact of the cultural community in Spartanburg County; and Kimberly Spears (Individual), who has served as the executive director of the Anderson County Arts Center for more than 20 years.

Other Verner Awards honorees are Marlena Smalls (Individual Artist), who has worked heroically to promote and preserve the spirit, tenacity, and music of the Gullah people who live on the sea islands of South Carolina; and The Palmetto Bank of Laurens (Business), a century old financial institution that dedicates a quarter of its philanthropic budget to the arts.

This is the second Verner Award for Clemson University. In 2002, Harder received a Verner Award in the individual category.