Gary Morris will open Starry Nights season

Last updated Feb 13, 2007 12:0pm0

The Sisters Starry Nights Benefit Concert Series will kick off its 10th anniversary season on Saturday, April 28, with the return of country music and Broadway performer Gary Morris, who last participated in the event nine years ago.

"Many people who were at Gary's performance here in 1998 still point to it as one of their favorite Starry Nights shows," said co-chair Jeri Fouts. "He has one of the most powerful and inspiring voices in the business, combined with a very entertaining stage presence. We are so pleased to be able to welcome him back to Sisters this year."

Morris' richly textured voice and soaring range have earned him acclaim from audiences worldwide - which include four U.S. Presidents and the Queen of England. He is admired for his ability to perform with great intensity while fronting an orchestra, in concert with his own band, or - as he will appear at Sisters Starry Nights - solo with his guitar, his unmistakable voice and dry sense of humor.

The Texas native began his career in country music in the early 1980s, producing 12 albums, 16 Top 10 singles and five No. 1 hits, including "Baby Bye Bye," "100% Chance of Rain" and "Leave Me Lonely." In 1984, his original rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings" won both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Song of the Year Awards.

At the height of his Nashville recording career, Morris boldly opted to play opposite Linda Ronstadt in a New York production of Puccini's opera "La Boheme," an unprecedented move for a country singer of his stature. Critical accolades led to offers from Broadway where he accepted the daunting task of becoming the first American to play the heroic and challenging role of Jean Val Jean in "Les Miserables," one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history.

The full symphonic recording of "Les Miserables" is a platinum selling, Grammy Award-winning album and features Morris' now famous version of "Bring Him Home."

Morris was also seen in the television special "Gary Morris and the Art of the Tretyakov," which aired on PBS affiliates around the country. As the first musician to ever perform live in this famed Moscow museum that houses over 100,000 Russian masterpieces, Morris wove his music with images of classic Russian paintings for an unforgettable documentary.

Closing this year's Starry Nights series will be "A Songwriters' Evening with Vince Gill and Friends," on Friday, May 18, with a special encore show on Saturday, May 19.

Tickets for all Starry Nights shows will go on sale on Saturday, March 10, at 9 a.m. at Leavitt's in Sisters.

For "An Evening With Gary Morris," reserved general admission seats are priced at $45. The Friday night "Vince Gill and Friends" concert will be the traditional Starry Nights show that features sponsor seating plus reserved general admission seating priced at $65.

Due to popular demand, Gill has agreed to do a special encore performance the following evening with reserved general admission seating priced at $65 and $85 plus a limited number of VIP front row seats available. For details, contact Shirleen Cundiff at 549-8521.

Sisters Starry Nights past sponsors have received proposals and have the opportunity to renew their sponsorship. Sponsorship chair Novella Swisher is maintaining a waiting list for potential new sponsors. To be added to the list, contact her by e-mail at [email protected]

Starry Nights series marks 10th anniversary

By Tia Duerrmeyer

It started out as a fund-raiser and has become a signature cultural event for Sisters.

Sisters Starry Nights Benefit Concert Series is celebrating its tenth year of bringing top drawer artists to Sisters. Gary Morris will perform on April 28, and Vince Gill will entertain Sisters audiences on May 18-19 (see story, page 3)

The concert series was inaugurated in 1997 to raise money for Sisters schools as a response to budget cuts due to tax-limiting measures that had passed statewide in 1996.

Jeri Fouts, who has chaired the event with Susan Arends since its inception, told The Nugget that she was asked in 1996 by then-superintendent Steve Swisher to attend a community meeting to discuss proactive methods of fund-raising for Sisters schools.

Bingo, bake sales, car washes and all the normal things that schools use as fund-raisers were discussed. Then, Fouts brought up the idea of a concert.

"My background was in the music end of things, and so I came up with this idea of doing a concert series because I have contacts in that area and people that I thought I could get to come to Sisters and do a fund-raiser for our schools," Fouts said.

Since 1997, The Starry Nights Concert Series has proved a major fund-raiser for the Sisters Schools Foundation (see related article, page 3).

"Susan Arends and Jeri Fouts have been incredible in donating their time and efforts to put that together, and that's been our main fund-raiser year after year," said foundation board chair Darren Layne.

Funds are raised through a combination of the sponsorship support and the sale of reserved general admission tickets.

"We never wanted to make the whole room just be all sponsors. We wanted to make it available to everyone," said Fouts.

Different sponsorship levels are available to companies and individuals, and other sponsorship opportunities are available through the donation of goods and services.

Having the sponsorship aspect is how the event is able to capitalize on the fact that headliner artists are coming to Sisters. Some of the artists who have performed in previous years are: Lyle Lovett; Kenny Loggins; Vince Gill; Lee Ann Womack; the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Leslie Satcher; and Christopher Cross.

It has always been the practice of the event's organizers to schedule the season's concerts around the artists' availability.

"I think it's one of the reasons we've been able to secure the type of artists that we have," said Fouts.

This year's booking of Vince Gill is a perfect example. He was only available in May, and because organizers wanted to bring Gill back to Sisters, this year's concerts were crafted around Gill's schedule.

Although the headliners donate their time and performance to raise money for the Sisters schools, certain expenses are attached to bringing the concerts to town. Often the artists bring crew members who have to be paid. When Kenny Loggins came a few years ago, he brought his entire band and set, and Starry Nights had to cover those expenses.

Net proceeds from the concert series have increased on a per show basis over the years, according to Fouts.

"In the first years, whenever you do a special event fund-raiser, especially a concert, your net is going to be lower, and then it will grow as the event grows," Fouts said.

In the early years, the series netted around $28,000. Fouts predicts that this year's Starry Nights series will net close to $100,000. Since its beginnings in 1997, the series has netted over $600,000 for the Sisters Schools Foundation.

A highlight of the Starry Night Concert Series is the interaction the headliner artists have with the students in all three schools. The artists visit the classrooms and work with the students. For each show, students audition with their music teacher to be selected to perform a piece with the headliner.

"It's always kind of magical because they've just met the headliner ... the day of the show," said Fouts.

A group of elementary students sang "House at Pooh Corner" with Kenny Loggins; with Lyle Lovett, middle schoolers sang "You've Got A Friend in Me."

"It's a once in a lifetime experience for the kids," Fouts said.

Last year's Title Sponsors were: Ray's Food Place and Taylor Northwest. Presenting Sponsor was Bank of the Cascades. Travel Sponsor was Desert Wings Travel Services. Media Sponsors were: Clear 101.7; Country 99.7 The Mountain; and The Nugget Newspaper. Official Car Sponsor was Murray and Holt Motors, Inc., and Official Airline was Horizon Air. Official Printer was XPress Printing, and Graphic Design was done by Gearbox. Ski Area Sponsors were Hoodoo Family Recreation and Mt. Bachelor. Shipping and Supplies was provided by The Pony Express. There were 11 "Star" sponsors and more than 70 "Series" sponsors.