The Gateway Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee — comprised of professional musicians from Clarksville and Nashville — will give its first Kentucky performance with a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Hopkinsville’s First Baptist Church. Dr. Greg Wolynec, who leads bands and orchestral studies at Austin Peay State University, directs the orchestra.
The performance will benefit the Court Appointed Special Advocates, better known as CASA, and Grace & Mercy. The concert is free but donations will be accepted for the two nonprofit organizations.
CASA works with Christian County’s Family Court to assist children whose families are in crisis, including many who go into foster care. Christian County has about 150 such cases annually, according to a press release from concert organizer Carolyn Self.
“Court referrals to CASA allows an advocate to befriend the child and report to the Court the child’s needs and wishes until a safe permanent home is determined,” Self said in the release.
Grace & Mercy is a Christian residential ministry that provides transitional support for women coming from homelessness or incarceration.
The concert sponsors are Bill and Kaye Munday, First Baptist Church and Hughart, Beard & Giles Funeral Home.
A reception prior to the concert will begin at 6 p.m. in the church narthex. Business or semiformal attire is suggested. Light refreshments will be served, and Hopkinsville Art Guild members will show artwork that may be purchased. The church is located at 1400 S. Main St.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
