BYUH festivities to mark 50th year
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Multiple Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight will take to the stage Oct. 15 at the Cannon Activities Center on the Brigham Young University-Hawai'i campus in her first-ever Hawai'i show to help celebrate the university's 50th anniversary.
The concert will kick off a weeklong jubilee celebration that will include picnics, alumni conferences, a Jubilee Ball, luau, community parade and firework show for students, faculty, friends and alumni of BYUH.
Knight will perform her Motown classics as part of what has been labeled "the No. 1 show in Las Vegas" by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Along with her great music, she brings a passion for building multicultural understanding that has been a hallmark of our campus mission for the past 50 years," said BYUH president Eric B. Shumway.
Knight, who became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997, is bringing with her 100 members of her Saints Unified Voices gospel choir, several of whom are graduates of BYUH, said Justin Smith, a university spokesman.
Knight found out about the university and its anniversary through the alumni in her choir, said Smith.
"Once she learned that the campus is one of the most internationally diverse campuses, she wanted to be a part of this," said Smith.
Nearly 3,000 tickets have already been sold for the public concert and about 740 tickets were left as of yesterday, according to Smith.
"She's bringing her whole crew for an all-out show," he said.
Knight's brother Bubba, the only surviving member of The Pips, will also participate in Knight's concert.
Following the Oct. 15 show, Knight will participating in a Latter-day Saints fireside program on Oct. 16.
Ticket sales will support scholarships and other programs on the BYUH campus.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
