Presidential Showcase

With the advent of Dr. Gwendolyn Stephenson retiring, after serving the college and the community since 1997, the annual Presidential Showcase has taken on a deeper meaning.  The Fine Arts Department has always played a large role in this fundraising event sponsored by the president and the HCC Foundation by providing music, art work, vingettes of theatre productions and dances taken from HCC's many performances on and off the Ybor City Campus.  Food has been prepared by our HCC's culinary school and students from many different departments have enjoyed helping out as car parks, ushers, servers etc.  This year's event will take place at the Westin Hotel on Harbor Island and promises to be an evening to remember!  

At 5:50 p.m. Dr. Mark Switzer began serenading the guests at Dr. Stephenson's private reception with a wide range of repertoire for the guitar.  In the general reception area the Ybor City Campus Faculty Quartet played forty-five minutes of jazz standards.  As guests moved into the Ballroom, the Ybor Campus jazz band began with Moonlight Serenade and Sunny after which Professor Kenneth Hanks played some beautiful Chopin Pieces.  At 8:00 the band returned with their well polished arrangement of Spain featuring trumpet player Eduardo Mora.  Carol Abbott and the chorus did two spectacular numbers while a slide show prepared and created by the art department depicted Dr. Stephenson's 19 year career at HCC.  The band filled in with some sweet big band charts until 9:00 when the speeches began.  At the close of the evening, the band took everyone home with their newest Gordon Goodwin arrangement, "Samba del Gringo" and "South Rampart Street Parade".

Mike Schmidt, percussion and Marcos Robles, guitar

Kenneth Hanks and Robert Winslow play a lively
Ellington tune at the reception.

The Brass kickin' some Gordon Goodwin ~ "Samba del Gringo" ~

The Chorus singing "Omni sol" and "Make a Joyful Noise"