A special year marks a change to a very special event for the University of Lethbridge as the Calgary Alumni & Friends Concert will feature a night of inspiring songs and stories from three remarkable southern Alberta-based songwriters.
“This is our 50th anniversary year, and we have been putting a unique spin on each of our annual events to mark the occasion,” says U of L President and Vice-chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon. “Our annual dinner has always been very well received and we thought we’d enhance it this year by bringing our 50th anniversary festivities to Calgary in the form of a concert.”
The Calgary Alumni & Friends Concert will feature the Highway 3 Trio, a collection of extraordinary musicians that includes John Wort Hannam (BA/BEd ’96), Leeroy Stagger and Dave McCann. Tickets, priced at $75 each, are now on sale for the Thursday, March 16, 2017 event at Theatre Junction Grand in Calgary.
Juno nominated John Wort Hannam combines a narrative story-telling style with a great voice and a wry wit, while Leeroy Stagger performs alt-country inspired rock with a voice of ferocious intensity, and Dave McCann’s music is Americana-edged rock and roll tangled with the continuous trail of broken strings, headlights and a hell of a lot of laughter.
“We’re very proud to call John Wort Hannam an alumnus and are thrilled with the 50th anniversary song he created for the University,” says Mahon of the original composition, Let It Shine On. “With both Leeroy Stagger and Dave McCann by his side, it promises to be a really fun evening and a great opportunity to celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary while reconnecting with fellow alumni and friends.”
Wort Hannam said the song, which he will perform at the event, speaks to his own experience at the U of L as well as the broader themes of education, dreams and finding identity.
“They were definitely years that defined who I am today,” Wort Hannam says of his time at the U of L. “This whole song I brought in some of my personal experiences at the University but I also tried to think of the concept of university as a whole.”
The Calgary alumni and friends event began as a dinner in 2010 with the goal of bringing alumni together in fellowship and offering attendees an engaging speaker who reflects the values and goals of the University of Lethbridge. Past speakers have included Mike Babcock, Marc-André Bernier, Margaret Atwood, Chris Hadfield and Rick Mercer.
Tickets for this year’s special anniversary Calgary Alumni & Friends Concert are available at: http://blogs.ulethbridge.ca/50-years/event/calgary-alumni-and-friends-concert/.
