ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK RECEIVES ALLI AWARD

Adolphus Hailstork, Old Dominion University professor of music, eminent scholar and composer-in-residence, received the Vianne B. Webb Award for Lifetime Achievement Nov. 6 in recognition of his longtime involvement in the area's cultural community.

Ten recipients in all, including ODU alumnus Frank Garcia, were honored at the Alli Awards program, which is sponsored by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads. It was held at the Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University.

Hailstork, who joined the ODU faculty in 2000 and who has been writing and performing since the early 1970s, has been hailed as one of the most prolific African American composers of his generation. He writes symphonies, operas, concertos, choral works and other classical pieces. His cantata "Crispus Attucks" premiered last month at Norfolk's recently renovated Attucks Theatre.

The Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony and the New York Philharmonic have performed his work in recent years.

Garcia, a 1986 graduate of Old Dominion and director of bands at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, was honored for his role in creating a partnership between his high school program and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to offer students a high-level artistic experience.

Twenty-six nominations in all were received this year for the annual Alli Awards.

This article was posted on: November 7, 2005