FREE CONCERT – SAT JAN 12 – ACWORTH UMC

FREE Community Concert

The Acworth Cultural Arts Council and the North Cobb High School Foundation is pleased to announce the presentation of a world-class concert, at no charge, for our community.
The Lopez-Tabor Concert Duo will perform at 4:00pm on Saturday, January 12, 2019, at Acworth United Methodist Church.
The Lopez Tabor Duo, Alfonso Lopez, violin, and Michelle Tabor, piano, have performed and toured together in the southeastern U.S. and Venezuela since 2004. Alfonso Lopez is one of the most prominent and versatile musicians of his country. He holds the important position of concertmaster of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, the national and principal orchestra, which has been nominated twice (in 2013 and 2017) to receive a Latin Grammy award. He is also a conductor, teacher, and composer. Michelle Tabor grew up in Venezuela and now lives in Tallahassee, FL. She holds doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in music from Florida State University, the University of Denver, and Tulane University. More information and videos of performances of the Lopez Tabor Duo on their website: www.lopeztaborduo.moonfruit.com.

RECEPTION FOLLOWING THE CONCERT

The Lopez Tabor Duo community concert will take place at Acworth United Methodist Church located at 4340 Collins Circle, Acworth, on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 4:00 pm – 5:30. Following the concert, there will be a coffee, tea, and cookie reception. In lieu of admission, donations will be accepted to North Cobb Foundation 501 (c)(3) for the benefit of North Cobb High School.

Orchestrating a Community Concert
by Paige Medina

“Only you” is a regular comment from friends and family when I share stories of what I like to call extraordinary experiences. Being in the right place at the right time with the right people is critical to take full advantage of opportunities. I do find people challenging who say “that won’t work” without even trying or asking someone a question or three.

I caught my husband off guard after reading “The Anniston Star,” Labor Day weekend 2016. I emphatically stood up and announced that we would be returning to Alabama in two weeks to attend a classical music concert by the duo, Tabor Lopez, in Gadsden, Alabama. The look of the faces of my family was like, “Why?” It made perfect sense to me with our son playing cello in middle school, my husband being from Venezuela, and my love of classical music that we needed to be in the audience.

At the concert, we met the duo, Alfonso Lopez and Michelle Tabor. The meeting was much like old friends catching up. After the songs were played, Michelle announced they would be playing one piece that wasn’t listed on the program in honor of Nelson Medina, a fellow Venezuelan, and his family, who drove over from Georgia for the concert. The song they performed was Alma Llanera (“Soul Of The Plains”) Venezuela’s unofficial second national anthem. My husband and I were moved to tears. At that moment an idea popped into my head and heart, that one day they would perform in my hometown and I would express my appreciation for their musical gifts and talents.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how this was going to come together with Alfonso living in Venezuela (a country in chaos) and Michelle living in Florida. Then in September this year, while emailing Michelleand expressing that one day we would like for them to perform in our town, she replied that they were scheduled to perform January 13th in Marietta. I immediately wrote back to her that Acworth is less than 20 miles away, and could they perform the day before in Acworth? It became apparent that the dream was soon to become a reality, but wait – they needed a place to play, a piano, an audience, and a place to stay. I started praying that the right people would be placed in my path and soon!

We attended NCHS 9th grade orientation and heard from a very passionate retired band teacher, Greg Williams, the North Cobb Foundation’s president. Then in an “ah ha” moment, I reached out to Greg about the concert idea and found he was completely open and onboard to make it happen.

And the right people crossed my path: with the help of Jeri Hadaway, Darlene Knight, Sylvia Flanagan, Greg Williams, Amy BeVille and Nelyn Duckworth, a piano, a venue, an audience and a place to stay were found.