Magical night will entertain crowd and help college programs

The evening will start with the sights and sounds of the SCF Presidential Jazz Combo, which will play at the VIP tents at 5:30 p.m. April 15 as a prelude to the performance of the Pops Orchestra featuring Josie Award-winning tribute artist Mark Sanders while following the musical theme of “Oh, What a Night.”

Night-themed songs will include such favorites as Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night,” and the evening’s signature song, “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons.

Cassandra Holmes, executive director of the SCF-Foundation, said she is thrilled the foundation is able to once again bring this beautiful evening event to the community.

“My first day on the job at SCF was the Evening Under the Stars,” she said. “This is the longest running fundraiser of the college that generates dollars for those in the greatest need, and that helps us react to the workforce needs of the community.

“For over 30 years, SCF Foundation has held the ‘Evening Under the Stars’ fundraising event on SCF’s beautiful Venice Campus to directly benefit State College of Florida (Manatee-Sarasota) students and program enhancements. This includes philanthropic community partnerships and support for capital building projects, technology, scholarships and other academic programs.”

Bell said “This is a ‘must attend’ event that State College of Florida is proud to produce in-and-for our Venice community.”

She credits much of the success of the event to the Evening Under the Stars committee and to the SCF-Foundation Board of Directors.

Bell, conductor of the SCF Presidential Jazz Combo, has also served as conductor and artistic director of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota. Her thematic programming is well-known, as are her informative and witty audience talks.

Music has always been a career driver for Bell. In the seventh grade she signed up to play in the band, wanting to play the drums. Alas, after being told girls could not be drummers there, the band director put her on the trumpet.

“I played the trumpet perfectly on the first try,” she said.

The same thing occurred when she first picked up the baton to direct a class.

“I grabbed the baton and knew exactly what to do with it. That was in 1999 at the University of Tennessee.”

She said she currently leads the Pops Orchestra in performing anything from the Beatles to a John Williams film score with a “strong musical presence and a precise baton technique.”

Bell’s proudest achievements include establishing the Music Excellence Sponsorship Fund to benefit music students in the SCF Presidential String Quartet and SCF Presidential Jazz Combo; the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra, and the Suncoast Culture Club Podcast.

In summer 2022, Bell shifted focus from SCF faculty member to become fund- and friend-raiser as the SCF Foundation’s Manager of Community Outreach.