As the lights dimmed, a 29-piece chamber orchestra filled the stage, joined by a six-member blues band flown in from Mississippi. Above them, a massive screen displayed aged photographs and videos from Mississippi and other places shaped by Delta Blues from the early 1900s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Guiding it all was Morgan Freeman\u2019s distinct voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lehigh welcomed Hollywood legend Freeman to Zoellner Arts Center on Friday for a sold-out blues concert that blended live music, narration and multimedia storytelling.<\/p>\n
Each time Freeman introduced a new song, the audience was captivated by his story brought to life through multiple art forms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the performance began,\u00a0 the co-owner of Ground Zero Blues Club,\u00a0 \u00a0conducted a short interview with Freeman while wearing a Lehigh baseball cap. Meier asked questions about Freeman\u2019s career and his connection to blues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zoellner Arts Executive Director Mark Wilson said months of planning, coordination and promotion went into making the performance one of the most memorable events of the semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson said they began planning for the event in February, and he said it was complex to merge two ensembles who had never performed together before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson said the concert manager recruited top musicians from the Lehigh faculty and professionals from the Lehigh Valley to be part of the orchestra.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they hear they have an opportunity to be on stage performing something that\u2019s connected with Morgan Freeman, a lot of people want to be a part of that,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also said\u00a0 Lynn Farley, the director of marketing and communications for Zoellner, conducted outreach campaigns that helped sell out and build a waitlist for the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a lot of different parts of our team to make it work,\u201d Wilson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Farley said she works to connect with the community, making sure the arts are infused on campus and the surrounding Lehigh Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Farley said she worked with Freeman\u2019s management team, specifically his agents, managers and publicists.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the last decade, Farley said she has watched event marketing shift from print-based promotions to digital-first strategies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said promoting an event with a celebrity of Freeman\u2019s stature was thrilling.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cFreeman\u2019s team has been wonderful to work with, and frankly, there weren\u2019t any challenges with regards to promoting,\u201d Farley said. \u201cThis particular event went really smoothly and it sold out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson laughed as he recalled a student recognizing him around campus as \u201cthe guy who brought Morgan Freeman to Lehigh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cole Wenis, \u201828, attended the Symphonic Blues experience and said he felt lucky to get a ticket from the waitlist. He said he recently became a fan of symphonic blues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCoincidentally, I started listening to symphonic blues last semester, so when I saw it was happening here I thought it was perfect,\u201d Wenis said.<\/p>\n
Students can attend events like Freemans for free, and Farley said Zoellner always reached out to let students know about upcoming events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson said its important to invite students to learn about the behind-the-scenes aspects of project management and event production.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a part of a University and learning environment, so we would want and love to have students who want to know more about what we do and see how we do it,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
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