The Music of Whitney Houston June 19

Featured Program

Sunday June 19 7:30 p.m. Hobby Center

Brent Havens, conductor Rashidra Scott, vocalist George Cintron, guitar and vocalist Daniel Clemens, bass and vocalist Justin Avery, keyboards and vocalist Powell Randolph, drums Eddie Williams, saxophone Ann Marie Nacchio, vocalist

Program to be announced

SUMMER SERIES

• Whitney hails from a music-infused household. Her mother is famous

Gospel singer Cissy Houston; her second cousin is Dionne Warwick; and her godmother is the late, great Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin, whom

Whitney affectionately called “Auntie Ree.” • Her debut, self-titled album is listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone and is also in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s

Definitive 200 rankings. • Whitney also transitioned her singing career onto the Silver Screen, having three leading roles in films The Bodyguard, Waiting to Exhale, and

The Preacher’s Wife. • She charted seven number one Billboard 100 hits consecutively for songs: “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love of All,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,”

“So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” • As of 2022, Whitney’s hit cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love

You” is the number eight best-selling song of all time, having sold more than 24 million copies.

Please see p. 15 for bio

Rashidra Scott is ecstatic her musical voyage has led to this opportunity. As a 4-year-old singing, "The Greatest Love of All," she was known as "the little girl with the big voice." From community musical theatre to church music ministry, she was constantly in demand for civic and social performances at local and national events. After earning a bachelor's degree in music with a concentration in music business/management from Boston's Berklee College of Music, Rashidra spent four years as a featured vocalist on Disney Cruise Line and Tarzan Rocks! at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The highlight was being a proud member of the opening team of Hong Kong Disneyland as Nala in "The Festival of The Lion King.” After Hong Kong, Rashidra moved to New York, the best "nudge" she could have followed. In 10 years of being in New York, her most recent project was Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. She has performed on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (and was featured on the Grammy award-winning cast album), Sister Act, Hair, Finian's Rainbow, and Avenue Q. Rashidra co-wrote and created Ambassador of Love, honoring the legacy of Pearl Bailey, which was conceived with the support of Goodspeed Opera House. She sang background vocalist for renowned singer Patti Austin's BeboperElla! tour in conjunction with the release of Austin's Ella Fitzgerald tribute album, For Ella. Her current Broadway project is the revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s beloved musical Company. Rashidra's television appearances include Violet (the singing nurse) on Sony/ FOX's Rescue Me, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Dancing With The Stars, the 2011 and 2014 Tony Awards, The View, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Wendy Williams, the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade, and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She is committed to Oprah Winfrey’s advice, “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”