Museum of Arts & Sciences Announces 3rd Annual Septembers with the Smithsonian

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Aug. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- Beginning September 1^st, MOAS will be featuring an exhibition as well as special speakers from the Smithsonian Institution and other Smithsonian Affiliates. A fellow Smithsonian Affiliate museum, the Orange County Regional History Center, has generously loaned the artworks in “Highwaymen: African-American Folk Artists of Florida” which will be on exhibition through fall at MOAS. In addition, speakers will present topics such as archaeology, biology and paleobiology, some of which will be highlighted in the Museum’s Natural History Festival on September 21^st. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.moas.org

On September 28^th  from 7-9pm, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO) will perform “Swingin’ with the Smithsonian,” featuring vocalist Lena Seikaly. The SJMO will perform selections from the Ella Fitzgerald song book. Tickets to the evening event are $15 for MOAS members and $30 for non-members. A special matinee concert for children, “Swingin’ with the Smithsonian Junior” has been added to the concert schedule this year, and will take place Saturday, September 28^th from 2-3pm at MOAS. Admission to “Swingin’ with the Smithsonian Junior” is free for MOAS members and their children or $7 for non-members. Advance reservations for both concerts are recommended – call 386.255.0285 for reservations or for more information.

“Septembers with the Smithsonian was created to share the benefits of our Smithsonian Affiliation with our community. We are looking forward to each of this year’s exciting events at MOAS,” stated MOAS Executive Director, Andrew Sandall. More information about the Smithsonian Affiliations program and Affiliate activity is available at http://www.affiliations.si.edu

This project received financial assistance from VISIT FLORIDA.

Exhibits and dates subject to change.

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For more information, images, or an updated schedule please visit www.moas.org or contact Rene Bell Adams – 386.255.0285/rbadams@moas.org. High resolution images available upon request.

About the Museum of Arts & Sciences – The Museum of Arts & Sciences is the primary art, science and history museum in Central Florida. The area's largest museum, MOAS is nationally accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is a Smithsonian Institute Affiliate. Situated in beautiful Tuscawilla Preserve, the Museum features the Klancke Environmental Education Complex; The Root Family Museum with popular Americana including vintage automobiles, railroad cars and the largest collection of Coca-Cola® memorabilia in Florida. MOAS also houses The Cuban Foundation Museum; The Charles and Linda Williams Children’s Museum; Helene B. Roberson Visible Storage Building; Florida’s prehistoric Giant Ground Sloth skeleton; African artifacts; the finest collection of American art in the Southeast; a Chinese art collection and a planetarium presenting daily star shows. Scheduled to open in 2015, MOAS will be the home of the new Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art featuring the most extensive collection of Florida art anywhere in the world.

Museum Hours are 9am-5pm (Tuesday‐Saturday) and 11am-5pm (Sunday). Closed Mondays. Museum admission is $12.95 adults; $6.95 children 6‐17; $10.95 seniors and students; members and children 5 and under are free. Planetarium and laser shows daily. Admission includes planetarium. Parking is free. Admission is FREE for Volusia County residents the first Tuesday of each month. MOAS is fully accessible to the handicapped. MOAS is located at 352 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. For more information call 386.255.0285 or visit the website www.moas.org

MOAS is a not‐for‐profit educational institution founded in 1955 and chartered by the State of Florida in 1962. The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. Programs sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the County of Volusia.

Exhibits and dates subject to change.

About The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra ‐ The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO) was founded in 1990 with an appropriation from the U.S. Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American culture and its status as a national treasure.  The seventeen-member big band, led by Artistic and Conductor Charlie Young, serves as the orchestra-in-residence at the National Museum of American History.  Its concerts include transcribed works as well as new arrangements, commissioned works, and programs that illuminate the contributions of small ensembles and jazz masters who contributed to the development of American jazz and defined the music’s character. For more information about the SJMO visit www.smithsonianjazz.org

About Lena Seikaly - Lena Seikaly began her classical training at age 4 with piano, continued with classical voice in her teens, and went on to complete a B.M. in classical vocal performance at the University of Maryland School of Music. It was in college where Lena discovered a strong passion for jazz, and embarked on a fervent education of jazz history, styles, theory and composition before pursuing a jazz career in the Washington, D.C. area. She was a participant at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass program directed by Christian McBride, performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival (The Netherlands), the Jazz Ascona Festival (Switzerland), the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee (CA), and other national and international venues. In 2009, she was a participant at the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. There, she studied closely with greats Curtis Fuller, George Cables, Nathan Davis and Carmen Lundy. She was also a Strathmore Artist-in-Residence for the 2009-10 performance season at Bethesda, Maryland’s renowned Strathmore Music Center. Lena has sold out performances at Blues Alley, the Strathmore Mansion, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Twins Jazz, and various Smithsonian venues. In February 2009, Lena released her first album, “Written in the Stars.”

About Smithsonian Affiliations - Established in 1996, Smithsonian Affiliations is a national outreach program which develops long-term collaborative partnerships with museums, educational, and cultural organizations to enrich communities with Smithsonian artifacts, scholars, educational programs, and professional development opportunities. The long-term goal of Smithsonian Affiliations is to facilitate a two-way relationship among Smithsonian Affiliates and Smithsonian museums, research, education, and outreach organizations to increase discovery, inspiration, and lifelong learning in communities across America. More information about the Smithsonian Affiliations program and Affiliate activity is available at http://www.affiliations.si.edu