UK Professor Honored with Alabama's Distinguished Artist Award
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 6, 2015) — University of Kentucky's Everett McCorvey received the 2015 Alabama Distinguished Artist Award at the Celebration of the Arts awards ceremony, which took place May 20 at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery.
The Alabama State Council on the Arts annually recognizes individuals who made significant contributions to the arts at the Celebration of the Arts event. The ceremony brings art enthusiasts together to recognize and appreciate a group of exceptionally talented Alabamians and their work in support of the arts in Alabama and beyond. McCorvey was one of seven individuals recognized at this year's event, receiving the 2015 Alabama Distinguished Artist Award. Tenor Roderick George performed at the event in honor of McCorvey with a Metropolitan Opera favorite from "Rigoletto." George is an acclaimed member of the American Spiritual Ensemble.
In 1995, the council added the Distinguished Artist Award to recognize artists who made especially significant contributions to the Alabama arts and their art forms. The award is presented to a professional artist considered a native Alabamian or an adopted son/daughter of the state, who earned national recognition and acclaim for their artwork over a period of time.
A professor of voice and the director and executive producer of UK Opera Theatre at UK School of Music, McCorvey received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama. He is the artistic director of the National Chorale, as well as the founder and music director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, and president of a production and management company for musical/theatrical events named Global Creative Connections. Additionally. McCorvey, a tenor, has traveled the world with performances in a number of festivals and theaters.
A former member of the board of directors for the National Assembly of State Art Agencies, McCorvey was appointed by Kentucky's governor to two terms on the board of directors of the Kentucky Arts Council and currently serves as a vice-chair. He also previously served as the executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
UK Opera Theatre is one of a select groups of U.S. opera training programs recommended by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. The Tucker Foundation is a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community and heightening appreciation for opera by supporting music education enrichment programs.
UK Opera Theatre is part of the UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts. The school has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition, and theory and music history.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu