Webster Students Perform at Capitol for Arts Advocacy Day
February 09, 2017
Webster University students provided feature entertainment on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Missouri State Capitol as the Missouri Citizens for the Arts (MCA) hosted its annual advocacy day.
Representing the Department of Music in the noontime concert were Nathan Coleman, senior piano performance major; Brittany Graham, graduate vocal performance major; and Atum Jones, senior guitar performance major. Madeline Purches, senior musical theatre major, represented the Conservatory of Theatre Arts.
“We got the call a couple of weeks ago, and of course we said yes,” said Jeffrey Carter, chair of the Department of Music in Webster's Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts.
Carter also joined the students for the performance. “MCA is an important organization, and I join them each February for this crucial lobbying activity," he said. "We were delighted to add a performance by our students, in the magnificence of the Capitol rotunda, for a noontime crowds of hundreds of Missouri citizens. And of course this was a memorable opportunity for the students too!”
According to the MCA, Citizens’ for the Arts Day at the Legislature, hosted by Missouri Citizens for the Arts (MCA), takes place annually at the Missouri State Capitol. The day is MCA’s signature event in its year-round efforts to advocate for continued public funding for Missouri’s arts industry. The day includes advocacy training, legislative visits, performances and the Missouri Arts Council’s annual Arts Awards ceremony.
"Missouri educators and arts executives joined the audience, as did students from other advocacy and lobbying groups at the Capitol on Wednesday," Carter said. First-term state Rep. Peter Meredith (D-St. Louis) applauded the students en route to a budget hearing, and former Rep. Jeanne Kirkton (D-Webster Groves) checked in for a bit, too."
More photos of the event can be found on Carter’s blog.