Grammy winner Dionne Warwick, whose blend of pop, gospel and R&B has transcended musical boundaries for nearly 50 years, will open the University of Central Arkansas’s 2011-2012 Public Appearances season at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.
The concert, set for 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, is part of the Nostalgia Series.
“Don’t Make Me Over” hit the charts in 1962; multiple Grammy awards, movie roles and publishing credits have followed. Warwick was the first African-American woman to have 12 consecutive Top 100 hit singles (from 1963-66).
She has charted with “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” “Message To Michael”, “Walk On By” “Then Came You”, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”, “That’s What Friends Are For”, “Heartbreaker” and “I’ll Never Love This Way Again”, among many others.
“It’s an honor to have an artist of Ms. Warwick’s caliber at Reynolds,” said Catherine Marhenke, director of Marketing and Development for UCA Public Appearances. “Her contributions to the industry have changed popular music and helped to shape today’s artists and audiences.”
Warwick has performed on every continent and in 1968 became the first African-American female performer to appear before Queen Elizabeth at a Royal Command Performance. She received her first Grammy in 1968 (for “Do You Know The Way to San Jose?”), and in so doing became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. That award had only been awarded to one other female African-American legend — Ella Fitzgerald.
In 2003, Warwick, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Hartt College of Music, received a lifetime achievement award from the R&B Foundation, and she was selected as one of the 2003 Top Faces of Black History.
Tickets, on sale now at the UCA Ticket Central Box Office, are $30-$40 for adults, $27-$37 for senior citizens, $25-$35 for UCA alumni, $23-$33 for UCA faculty and staff, and $10 for UCA students with a current student I.D. For tickets, call (501) 450-3265 or toll free from anywhere in Arkansas at 1-866-810-0012 or visit www.uca.edu/tickets.
For more information, contact Jerry Biebesheimer, director of UCA Public Appearances, at (501) 450-3682 or jerryb@uca.edu.
