Alison White and SSO Perform at  Schwartz Center  

SALISBURY, MD--The Salisbury Symphony Orchestra will join Miss Delaware 1997 Alison White at a November concert celebrating the grand opening of Dover’s Schwartz Center for the Arts, formerly the old Capitol Theater. 

A special feature of the November 10 concert will be an open dress rehearsal the afternoon of the performance, to expose children to the sounds of a full symphony orchestra, White said.

“I wanted it to have an effect on the community, and also the children,” White said.  “I hope to make the dress rehearsal a learning experience.” 

The performance, titled “Journey to the Stars,” is designed to raise between $20-$30,000 for the Schwartz Center’s year-around operating costs.  The project by the Friends of the Capitol Theater to restore the 97-year-old opera house has so far raised $6.6 million. 

White, of Millsboro, is a senior at the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, majoring in vocal performance.  She said the concert is designed as a way to give back to the community that supported her as Miss Delaware. “We wanted to reach the young, the old, no matter who you are,” she said.  “I want this theater to be able to reach everybody in the area.” White was the last person to perform at the old Capitol Theater before renovations began.

White and fellow Hartt School student Jon Lasch will lead the SSO in renditions of Broadway and classical selections, including from The Sound of Music and The Phantom of the Opera.  Dr. Thomas G. Elliot, professor of music at Salisbury University, will conduct the 70-piece orchestra. 

During her reign as Miss Delaware, White, now 21, performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  She also has studied at the Tanglewood Music Institute, home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Northwestern University Music Institute.  She is currently studying under Broadway singing legend Marni Nixon in New York City. She graduated from Sussex Central High School in Georgetown in 1997. 

The concert is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets cost $25.  Tickets to the open rehearsal, at 1:30 p.m., cost $5, as do tickets to an after-concert party. For tickets and information, call 800-778-5078 or 302-678-5152.