MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representative Brown

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING MS. LESTER SENTER ON BEING NAMED THE 2001 ARTIST'S ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER OF THE GOVERNOR'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS.

WHEREAS, Ms. Lester Senter will be honored on February 9, 2001, for being named the 2001 Artist's Achievement Award Winner of the Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter began her international performance career as a mezzo-soprano in 1975 as Marthe in Gounod's Faust with Orlando Opera opposite Placido Domingo, Beverly Sills and Norman Triegle; and

WHEREAS, other notable performances during her distinguished career include Leanor of Aquitaine in American composer Carlisle Floyd's Flower and Hawk on Mississippi ETV, Hermia in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer's Night Dream for Iowa ETV and Mrs. Noah in Britten's Noah's Flood with Opera Grand Rapids; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter is a devoted patron of the arts often serving as a catalyst for the creation of new works and the discovery and promotion of new talent; and

WHEREAS, her community involvement includes serving on the boards of performing arts organizations in Mississippi and Louisiana and to performing for thousands of school children in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter served many years as a trustee and is currently serving as executive director of the prestigious Wideman Piano Competition, in her native Shreveport, Louisiana, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter has commissioned and performed the World Premiers of six works including Beginnings, a song cycle of singer and orchestra composed by Luigi Zaninelli of The University of Southern Mississippi and based on Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings; Renascence by Michael Cave, a musical setting of the poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay; and most recently, Robinson: The Cat by Colman Pearce, a setting of Robinson: The Pleasant History of an unusual Cat by Walter Anderson with which she has toured Ireland and the South; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter's many accomplishments includes four recordings including The Memory is a Living Thing, songs based upon texts by Eudora Welty; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Senter received a doctorate in Music Arts from the University of Texas in Austin with a double major in voice and piano and holds a certificate from Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria; and

WHEREAS, in addition, Ms. Senter has been recognized by the Junior League of Jackson as one of the Outstanding Women of Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize and commend outstanding Mississippians such as Ms. Senter, whose many years of music and entertainment has touched the lives of so many:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend Ms. Lester Senter for being named the 2001 Artist's Achievement Award Winner of the Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts and express our best wishes of success in all her future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Ms. Lester Senter and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.