UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC) will present one of the most dynamic couples of American music, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, for the 2013 Viva Health Starlight Gala.
The Viva Health Starlight Gala, Birmingham’s crown jewel of performing arts events, benefits the ASC’s programs and education initiatives. It is the center’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
Country and bluegrass star Gill and contemporary Christian and mainstream pop vocalist Grant will perform together. Married since 2000, the pair has two of the purest, loveliest voices in music today.
The concert will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 6, 2013, in the Jemison Concert Hall at the Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Premium seating tickets for the performance and an elegant pre-show reception are $125 each. Regular seating tickets and an elegant pre-show reception are $85 each. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.alysstephens.org. A VIP dinner package is available; for details call the ASC Development Office at 205-934-6196.
Grant started her career as a teen Christian music artist in the mid-1980s, completing a successful crossover to mainstream pop in the early ’90s but never forsaking her gospel roots. She has sold more than 30 million albums and won 25 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and six Grammy Awards. She was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003. On May 14, Grant is set to release her first full album of original songs in more than 10 years, “How Mercy Looks from Here,” with an appearance by Gill. The first single, “Don’t Try So Hard,” is available online.
Celebrated for his guitar skills and legendary tenor, Gill has sold more than 26 million albums and won 20 Grammy Awards, the most of any male Country artist. He has also won 18 Country Music Association Awards, including two for Entertainer of the Year. His father encouraged him to learn to play guitar and banjo, which he did, along with bass, mandolin, Dobro (resonator guitar) and fiddle. He is a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. Most recently, Gill collaborated with pop star Kelly Clarkson on her track “Don’t Rush,” which was nominated for “Vocal Event of the Year” at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards. Gill performed two nights at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, held April 12-13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Honorary chairs for the 2012 Viva Health Starlight Gala benefiting UAB’s Alys Stephens Center are Alison and Jim Gorrie. The evening’s marquee sponsors are VIVA Health and UAB.