Lori Smith Memorial Scholarship for the Performing Arts awarded for 2012

  • Actress and singer Lori Smith worked hard to keep music programs in local schools. She lost her battle with lupus, but an annual scholarship in her honor has been established to benefit talented local youths.

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    Actress and singer Lori Smith worked hard to keep music programs in local schools. She lost her battle with lupus, but an annual scholarship in her honor has been established to benefit talented local youths.

  • Kat Fair and Lonon Smith with dancer Lucy DeYoung. Smith established the scholarship as a living memorial to Lori Smith. Kat Fair, a Mountain Community producer and director helped select the winners with Patric Hedlund of The Mountain Enterprise. Lucy DeYoung was one of the winners this year.

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    Kat Fair and Lonon Smith with dancer Lucy DeYoung. Smith established the scholarship as a living memorial to Lori Smith. Kat Fair, a Mountain Community producer and director helped select the winners with Patric Hedlund of The Mountain Enterprise. Lucy DeYoung was one of the winners this year.

  • Actress and singer Kira Alvarez was the other winner. She was in New York City auditioning for Broadway musical theater parts in July.

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    Actress and singer Kira Alvarez was the other winner. She was in New York City auditioning for Broadway musical theater parts in July.

  • Lucy DeYoung in performance

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    Lucy DeYoung in performance

Actress and singer Lori Smith lived, taught and performed in the Mountain Communities during her last years, before losing her battle with the disease of lupus. An accomplished professional in musical theater, she was devoted to keeping music programs alive in the local schools.

As a living memorial to Lori’s talent and generosity, the second annual Lori Smith Memorial Scholarship for the Performing Arts was given to two aspiring young performers last week.

Just before the Mountain Shakespeare Festival’s last performance of The Tempest on Friday, July 20, producer Kat Fair and director/playwright Lonon Smith took to the Pine Mountain Village gazebo stage to announce this year’s recipients.

Dancer Lucy DeYoung and singer Kira Alvarez shared the award. DeYoung was onstage to receive her scholarship. Alvarez was in New York City for Broadway musical theater auditions.

The Lori Smith Memorial Scholarship award was created to encourage talented young performers from the Mountain Communities to obtain training and mentoring toward developing their gifts and pursuing their goals as performers. It is given annually.

Application forms may be picked up at The Mountain Enterprise office or by email to Kat Fair (wpfair@prodigy.net). Applicants are asked to tell about their goals and the kind of training they are pursuing. They are also asked to write an essay about their personal understanding of the role that the performing arts play in the life of individuals and communities.

—P. Hedlund

This is part of the July 27, 2012 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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