APSU Department of Music hosts A Holiday Dinner in Paris Dec. 7-8

(Posted Nov. 9, 2018)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Over the centuries, artists have flocked to Paris, France. The famed City of Lights, birthplace of ballet and cinema, has welcomed such luminaries as the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, French actress Bridgette Bardot and American writer Ernest Hemingway.

Next month, the Austin Peay State University choral activities program will celebrate the city’s artistic heritage during the annual Holiday Dinner – A Holiday in Paris – at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7-8 in the Morgan University Center.

“This year, there will be several colorful collaborations, and audiences will hear some traditional French carols, sung in different languages,” Dr. Korre Foster, associate professor of music, said.

This year’s formal holiday dinner will feature music professor Lisa Wolynec’s flute students performing a ballet piece while dance students pirouette their way through a choregraphed ballet by dance professor Marcus Hayes. The University Choir will sing holiday melodies, accompanied by French horn professor Kristen Sienkiewicz, and art professor McLean Fahnestock will project silent videos of early 20th century Paris.

“We’ll also enjoy a French-inspired formal dinner, with a soup, entrée, salad, cheese and dessert,” Foster said.

The menu, which honors France’s culinary heritage, includes four entrée options – Boeuf Bourguignon (beef cooked in Beachaven wine), Coq Au Vin (chicken cooked in Beachaven wine), Ratatouille (vegetarian) and Halibut in a lemon aioli sauce.

Tickets for the black tie optional dinner are $75.

“This successful fundraiser has allowed for the creation of the endowment for choral activities,” Foster said. “We officially endowed that scholarship this fall, and we are continuing to raise money for more scholarships.”

For more information, to purchase tickets or to RSVP before Dec. 4, contact Foster at 221-7002 or fosterk@apsu.edu.