"Rhapsody In Bloom" will grace the Warsaw Biblical Gardens and Center Lake Pavilion June 26.
Sponsored by the Warsaw Biblical Gardens and Lake City Bank, the event will kick off with a champagne reception at 6 p.m. in the gardens, followed by a George Gershwin Concert at the pavilion.
A Steinway piano, which was brought in specifically for the concert, will be played by Walter Cosand, who will perform "Rhapsody in Blue" as well as other well-known Gershwin favorites.
A Biblical dinner will be served before the concert. Sally Hogan, Biblical Gardens board member and tour guide for the gardens, will give a brief talk about the foods that will be served. The Boathouse Restaurant created a menu that includes the herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables and breads of the period.
Cosand has been on the faculty of the MasterWorks Festival in Winona Lake since its formation in 1997. He is a winner of the Eastman Concerto Competition and was awarded the grand prize of the International Piano Recording Competition. In addition to solo tours throughout the United States and Europe, Cosand recently performed in Russia, Korea and Europe.
Cosand currently is a professor of piano and keyboard coordinator at Arizona State University School of Music.
Soloist Denese Ritter also will be featured in the event. She had her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops as a featured soloist, and also performed in The Players Club in New York City as a guest soloist.
Ritter received awards from the American Traditions Competition, Metropolitan Opera, National Association of Teachers of Singing and the National Federation of Music.
Currently finishing her doctorate of musical arts at the University of Oklahoma, she has performed leading roles in dozens of operas and oratorios.
The Warsaw Biblical Gardens was established in 1986, and is one of only a few Biblical gardens in the world. In Biblical times, gardens provided a place of beauty and tranquility and were frequently used for meditation. The gardens are open from mid-May to mid-September.
The public is invited to this fundraising event. Tickets are $75 per person for the dinner and the concert. For more information about purchasing tickets, contact the Warsaw Community Development Corp. at 574-267-6419.
Donations may be made to the Warsaw Biblical Gardens, P.O. Box 1223, Warsaw, IN 46580. Contributions help maintain and improve the gardens for the community and visiting groups to enjoy.
