For Immediate Release                      Contact:   Gail Towns              or           Tara Strickland
                                                                                   732.987.2266                          732.987.2291
                                                                                    gtowns@georgian.edu         tstrickland@georgian.edu

Orchestra of Saint Peter by the Sea Rings in the Season at GCU

Father Alphonse Stephenson Conducts 10th Annual Christmas at The Court Concert

Lakewood, N.J., Dec. 7, 2009—Get in the holiday spirit with the delightful sounds of the Orchestra of Saint Peter by the Sea, conducted by Father Alphonse Stephenson, at Georgian Court University. The 10th Annual Christmas at The Court concert will take place on Sunday, December 13, at 1:00 p.m.

Father Alphonse is renowned for being the conductor of Broadway’s A Chorus Line. A student of the late George Schick of the Metropolitan Opera and Dr. Robert Abramson of the Juilliard School, Father Alphonse has been a guest conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic, Delaware Valley Philharmonic, Metro Lyric Opera, the Greater Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, and the Key West Pops Orchestra. He is the founder and conductor of the Festival of the Atlantic in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey's largest outdoor music festival. The festival's popularity has led to Father Alphonse receiving the Monmouth and Ocean Development Council's Silver Gull Award for Tourism Development.

All of the musicians in the orchestra are members of the American Federation of Musicians. They represent some 750 collective years of study, 684 teachers, and 57,000 concerts and recitals.

The concert will be performed in the Casino Auditorium on the Lakewood campus. Admission is $30 per person in advance and $45 per person at the door. Availability is limited, and reservations are required; please call 732.987.2263 or e-mail specialevents@georgian.edu for tickets or more information.

Founded in 1908 and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Georgian Court University is a comprehensive university with a strong liberal arts core and a special concern for women. A forward-thinking university that supports diversity and academic excellence, Georgian Court serves over 3,100 students of all faiths and backgrounds in a residential Women's College and a coeducational University College with undergraduate and graduate programs. Georgian Court's main campus is located at 900 Lakewood Avenue, Lakewood, N.J., on the picturesque former George Jay Gould estate, now named a National Historic Landmark. Georgian Court also offers classes at its site at 90 Woodbridge Center Drive in Woodbridge, at Coastal Communiversity in Wall, and at Cumberland County College in Vineland.

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