A slew of entertainers will perform at the Winters Gala Fundraiser to raise awareness and funds for the renovation of student space in Winters College.
The gala evening will take place Tuesday, March 22, starting with student performers at 6pm, followed by headlining acts from 7 to 10pm.
Right: Rita di Ghent
Jazz musician and composer Ron Westray, the Oscar Peterson Chair in Jazz Performance at York who was formerly with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, jazz singer Rita di Ghent (BFA Hons. ’83), a two-time Jazz Vocalist of the Year nominee for the National Jazz Awards, and Ori Dagan (BFA Spec. Hons. ’07), winner of CBC’s “Canada’s Next Top Crooner”, will take centre stage.
The Celtic Ensemble, directed by York Professor Sherry Johnson of the Faculty of Fine Arts and two-time Canadian Open Group Step Dancing Champion, and York music Professor Casey Sokol, winner of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Award for Excellence in Teaching, will also perform.
Left: Ori Dagan. Photo by John Bregar Photography.
In addition, the York University Gospel Choir and Winters A Capella Choir WIBI, among many others will showcase their talent.
The fundraiser is for the Winters College Dining Hall, which has been a cornerstone of the college community for more than 40 years. “It is one of only two remaining grand rooms out of the original seven constructed during the 1960s,” says Marie Rickard, college master of Winters College.
Right: Ron Westray
Over time, and with campus expansion, each of the others were in turn deemed obsolete and turned into classrooms, labs and offices. “These historic sites, widely used by students and faculty alike as educational and social spaces, served the college community for decades – our goal is to ensure the continuation of the Winters Dining Hall for many years to come,” says Rickard.