Florida Southern College’s nationally renowned Christmas Gala holiday concert will be broadcast on WEDU-TV

Florida Southern College’s nationally renowned Christmas Gala holiday concert will be broadcast on WEDU-TV on December 25th at 9:30 p.m. The Christmas Gala will be presented live in the Branscomb Auditorium on Saturday, December 6, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and filmed for telecast on Christmas night. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students and are available through the box office at 863.680.4296.

The Florida Southern College Department of Music’s annual Christmas Gala is a beloved season tradition, delighting audiences with a magnificently performed collection of classic carols as well as more current holiday favorites.

“We are delighted each year to celebrate the holiday season with the many friends and families who have made the Florida Southern gala part of their Christmas tradition,” remarked FSC President Anne Kerr. “This year, it’s wonderful to share the impressive talent of our acclaimed music department with thousands of families throughout West Central Florida.”

Professor Paula Parsché, chair of the Department of Music, adds, “This is one of the year’s most anticipated performances, where a variety of ensembles, student soloists, and alumni come together to create an unforgettable holiday experience for the community. I am especially pleased that we can share what promises to be a dazzling performance with an even larger audience through this broadcast.”

Additionally, Nfocus, the Lakeland company that will be filming the concert, will produce a short behind-the-scenes documentary segment about the making of the FSC Christmas Gala for WEDU’s Arts Plus program, which will air periodically throughout December.

Organic Architecture, a common misnomer

Organic Architecture, a common misnomer: Organic architecture is architecture that is curvy or an imitation of nature, wrong! This description may be appropriate when discussing architecture outside of the context of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, but one of the things that disgusts me is when architects, especially architects from the era of Wright, talk of Wright’s work being organic as in the before mentioned way. Organic architecture is a process, it is a way of thinking, and it is something that is devoid of style. Although there are certain reoccurring principles that occur in Wright’s work, he never allowed style to interfere with his philosophy of organic architecture. For Wright organic architecture is drawn from nature in the sense that everything in nature is in harmony form and function are combined to create a natural ornament. In architecture, Wright did not believe that form follows function, but that form and function are one. This combination of form and function and the philosophy of organic architecture is what makes Wright’s work so unique. He is able to combine form and function into a system of architectural ornamentation that is consistent at every scale. If you are interested in learning more about Wright’s philosophy of organic architecture then I suggest that you read A Testament / Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament is written by Frank Lloyd Wright and outlines his philosophy on architecture explicitly in this text, which was written by him and published two years before his death. “This type of architecture can’t mean much to you until you have had a good look at yourself. This architecture represents the laws of harmony and rhythm. It’s organic architecture and we have seen little of it so far. It’s like a little green shoot growing in a concrete pavement.” – Frank Lloyd Wright Visiting Florida Southern College: Florida Southern College is in Lakeland, Florida, approximately 40 minutes southwest of Orlando, Florida. I suggest spending a full day on the campus if you really want to soak in the details of each and every building. The campus is very walkable, and there is a Robert A.M. Stern building that was nearing completion upon writing this article. Although the structure falls short in comparison to the buildings designed by Wright, since it is on the campus, you might as well visit it. The town, students and faculty are very proud of the fact that their campus was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and are accustomed to architects snooping around their campus, if you are in Florida, then you must visit this site. There are tours available during the week that will allow you into some of the areas that I was unable to gain access to during my weekend visit. Tours are limited and available on certain days only, so be sure to check the website below. I strongly recommend visiting the campus during the week, rather than the weekend like I did. Before you visit the campus, be sure to visit their website “Child of the Sun” Visitor Center. The site and this article will serve as a good primer before your visit. The campus can be overwhelming and you may miss something if not properly briefed, so be sure to stop at the “Child of the Sun” Visitor Center before getting lost in the largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Fine arts

The music department offers the Bachelor of Arts, the Bachelor of Music in performance, the Bachelor of Music Education, and the Bachelor of Science in Music Management. The department maintains several successful large ensembles, including the wind ensemble, symphony band, jazz ensemble, symphony orchestra, and several choral groups. Each large ensemble is featured in concert at least once every semester on the Festival of Fine Arts. Smaller chamber ensembles include the flute choir, clarinet choir, saxophone choir, horn choir, trumpet choir, trombone choir, tuba choir, cello choir, viola choir, percussion ensemble, and vocal chamber ensemble. The opera theater usually produces one fully staged opera or opera gala every academic year. The music faculty are highly accomplished performers and teachers, and over the years have been joined by internationally acclaimed performers Beverly Wolff and Robert MacDonald. The theater department puts on four mainstage shows a year in the Buckner Theater, including two musicals. A musical theatre major was added in Fall 2013. The College's Festival of Fine Arts is the longest running in Polk County, and has hosted world-renowned artists Kathleen Battle, André Watts, I Musici di Roma, Jennifer Larmore, Sylvia McNair, and The Munich Symphony Orchestra.

Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise

In 2011, the College announced an undisclosed contribution from Carol Jenkins Barnett ('79) in honor of her husband, Barney Barnett ('65). The funds would be used to establish the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise. This gesture came shortly after Richard W. "Bill" Becker ('65) gifted $5 million to the School for the construction of a new undergraduate business building. Construction of the Becker Undergraduate Business Building and the Graduate and Executive Building is scheduled to begin late 2012 or early 2013. Like the Barnett Residential Life Center, these two buildings will also be designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern[11] Undergraduate students at the Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise study in one of three programs: Accounting, Business Administration, or Economics. The School also allows students to focus on career tracks in Finance, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Sport Management. The Barnett School also offers the Master of Business Administration to full-time students in its 16-month accelerated program, as well as part-time students in the form of evening and Saturday classes. The Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise was accredited by AACSB-International in 2013.

Campus

The present campus comprises some 64 buildings on 100 acres (405,000 m²) of land and is home to the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.[6] The campus itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, due to the historical significance of its buildings. In 2011 and 2012, it was selected as the most beautiful campus in America by The Princeton Review. In September 2011, Travel+Leisure listed it as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States, and noted that it was recently put under watch by the World Monument Fund as an endangered cultural site.[7] The College has undergone many changes to its infrastructure in the last few years. In 2009, the Robert A. M. Stern-designed Barnett Residential Life Center was completed. The complex includes Nicholas and Wesley Halls, and houses up to 235 students in lake-view rooms designed to complement Frank Lloyd Wright's existing architecture on campus.[8] Meanwhile in 2008, Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker bestowed to the school $1.5 million to construct a technology center. The 4,000 square foot Rinker Technology Center opened its doors in March, 2010.[9] Besides improving the campus proper, FSC has also expanded outward by acquiring properties in adjacent neighborhoods. The biggest example of this expansion to date has been Lake Morton Apartments, about twelve minutes walking distance from campus. In 2011, the school bought, renovated, and furnished Lake Morton Apartments for $5.7 million. As part of the Pathway to Independence Program, upperclassmen and graduate students who are in good standing may be invited to live at this location

Stunning Collection of Frank Lloyd Wright Archtecture

My great grandfather was a land speculator in the 30's in Lakeland. He made a generous donation to FSC and his name is etched in to one of the planters by the business office. My mother was an alumni at FSC having graduated in the 40's. As a child my grandparents lived close to the college, so when visiting them on weekends my friends and I would play on the campus grounds. Later when I was older we would run on the roofs avoiding the security guards. I was a student there in the early 70's and graduated in 76' with a degree in Horticulture. I met my wife there as a student and we married just before I graduated. The College has a world renown collection of architecture, a beautiful rose garden and many more sites to see. They have built a visitors center, an early Wright designed Utonian house, that was designed to be faculty housing originally. They have many new buildings to tour. They have a beautiful auditorium and library. They're are ranked nationally in multiple college sports, including basketball and golf. The college is located overlooking a large lake called Lake Hollingsworth. The college is on the National registry of historic places, Plan to visit the college when you come to Lakeland. Enjoy!

MBA Team Places Second in Case Competition

MBA student Aaron Fallaw gives part of the FSC team’s presentation during the Business Strategy Case Competition hosted by the Barnett School on Nov. 8. Fallaw and teammates Alice Koehler and Brian Faulkner placed second. By Cary McMullen | Publications editor Tuesday, November 18, 2014 Eight teams of MBA students from seven regional colleges and universities gathered at Florida Southern November 7 and 8 for the 2014 Business Strategy MBA Case Competition, hosted by FSC’s Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise. Florida Southern’s team of Aaron Fallaw, Alice Koehler, and Brian Faulkner placed second, behind a team from the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse School of Business. Other schools represented included the University of Tampa, which fielded two teams; Stetson University; Troy State University; the University of Miami; and Southeastern University. Barnett School Dean Bill Rhey said the competition showed the caliber of students at FSC. “A Barnett School MBA team once again demonstrated that they can compete academically at the highest level. Great job of preparation and presentation!” he said. The competition presented a business problem to the teams, which had to develop proposed strategies and give a 30-minute presentation to a team of judges. In this instance, the case involved creating a strategic marketing plan to raise $12 million for a proposed endowment fund for the Peace River Center, the behavioral and mental health treatment center that serves Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties. The event was coordinated by Assistant Professor of Finance Chuck DuVal, with assistance from Coordinator for Institutes and Graduate Programs Andrea Merritt and graduate assistants. DuVal said the key to the FSC team’s second-place effort was extensive research and focusing on the right story lines to sell the Peace River Center to potential donors. “The Peace River people were blown away by some of our slogans and story lines. Our message was just as clear as the team from the University of Alabama, only theirs had a little more sizzle,” he said. “It was a great inspiration to our students to be able to compete on the same level.” This was the first such case competition FSC has hosted, and DuVal said he anticipates it will be an annual event. Dean Rhey noted that the other teams of contestants, the judges, and the event sponsors praised the quality of the event. “Andrea and the graduate assistant team worked hard to coordinate a fine competition, which should only become better known and more successful in future years. It was an example of great teamwork,” he said.

What a Feeling: Wynee Warden Dance Studio Dedicated

Arianna Morrison of the Florida Dance Theatre dances a short program during the dedication ceremony for the Wynee Warden Dance Studio on Nov. 6. By Cary McMullen | Publications editor Monday, November 17, 2014 With relevés, jetés, and flying feet, the College dedicated the spectacular home of its new dance program on Nov. 6, further expanding FSC’s reach in the fine arts. The Wynee Warden Dance Studio was formally opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included hundreds of local dignitaries and patrons of the arts. The studio is named for Mrs. Winifred “Wynee” Warden of Orlando, a philanthropist and benefactor of Florida Southern, who gave the lead gift. Mrs. Warden has supported several important projects on campus, including the new Wynee Warden Tennis Center; the renovation of the College student cafeteria, Wynee’s Bistro; and Tutu’s Cyber Café at the Roux Library. Her family’s charity, the Bert W. Martin Foundation, also contributed to the studio. “I’ve had the privilege of being friends with Wynee for many years and she loves students and she loves dance, so this is a perfect partnership and wonderful opportunity for her to express that at our beloved college,” said President Anne Kerr. “I have said for many years we have one of the best music departments in the nation and certainly one of the best theater departments. Now with the addition of dance, we will have one of the best musical theater and ballet programs. So we have an ambitious agenda ahead of us and we look forward to it.” The College’s new dance program began in August under the direction of Assistant Professor of Dance Erin LaSala. In her remarks at the ceremony, Mrs. Warden noted that she used to be a dancer and expressed the hope the studio would help create a new generation of dancers. “It gives me great pleasure to be able to give a school like this an opportunity for all their students to be able to take dance lessons, enjoy dancing, and I don’t know what else I can say,” she said. “I’m just really, really happy about what’s going on here.” Designed by Mike Murphey of the Lakeland firm of Wallis Murphey Boyington Architects, Inc., the 4,700-square-foot studio features a high glass half-rotunda facing toward Lake Hollingsworth that allows natural light to illuminate the dance floor. It also includes a faculty office and dressing rooms. The studio also includes a new Steinway grand piano made possible from gifts from the Glenn W. and Hazelle Paxon Morrison Foundation, the Votum Foundation, and the Nona J. Rawls and H. Taylor Jones Foundation. Offering a prayer of dedication during the ceremony, Bishop-in-Residence Robert Fannin ’58 asked God “to join your spirit with ours as we celebrate this beautiful building and its ministry of dance. Our vision reveals in the future students passing through these doors practicing and practicing and practicing until their bodies move in tune with the music and the two become one.” To celebrate the opening of the studio, Florida Dance Theatre performed “An Evening of Classical Ballet” in Branscomb Auditorium, which included dances from Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Cinderella. The performance also featured international ballet stars Katia Garza and Israel Rodriguez, who were principal dancers for many years for the Orlando Ballet and for the Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico. The husband-and-wife duo performed the thrilling grand pas de deux from Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam.

Florida’s Best Kept Secret

The campus, along a lake front, is jaw dropping gorgeous, and then you begin to see the stunning architecture among the trees and tropical plantings. Wow doesn’t do it! We first stopped at the admissions building for directions to the visitors’ center. That building with a wall of glass facing the lake is almost sensory overload. A most pleasant person told us a bit about the college at our request and provided us with a map and directions. The visitors’ center is a Sears kit house from the turn of the last century that has been restored and given a “prairie style” in keeping with the Frank lloyd Wright legacy. The gift shop in the center is tastefully filled with Wright inspired products including a very good selection of books. John, our tour guide for the in-depth 2 1/2 hour tour was not only a font of Wright knowledge but an obvious devotee of his work. His tour sped buy with interesting anecdotes, historical information about this site and other Wright building locations, and detailed insight into the man and his accomplishments. The buildings on campus are an amazing gift, and the newly completed Eusonian house which you tour is not to be missed. This might be the most enjoyable cultural stop I’ve made in many years. The restoration is ongoing, and so the tour will probably change as time goes on. A return trip is a probability. I so highly recommend a day-long visit.