HUNTINGTON – The 3rd Annual Shipman Memorial Concert, in memory of retired teacher and Tech Crew Director Rob Shipman, will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 15, in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. Students, faculty, alumni and staff will perform a variety of music, including folk, jazz and classic rock.
Special guests will be Mikey Sweet (’04) and Kenny Lynch (former Gateway student). The two are part of the Mikey Sweet band, which is known throughout the eastern United States, repeatedly playing music venues in New York City, Philadelphia, Hartford, Portland, ME, and Burlington, VT along with Western Mass music halls and hideaways. Sweet recalled being a student of Shipman’s and was quick to commit to the May 15 event.
Admission is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and senior citizens; tickets will be sold at the door.
At press time, performers will include: Dawson Atkin (’18) who will perform an original composition on piano; a saxophone quartet comprised of Alex Auclair (’18), Dayna Britland (’17), Brennan Foley (’16) and Anna Pless (’17) will also perform. Music teachers Beth Guertin and Renee Mosher (The Direct“hers”) will debut that night. Returning performers include “The 3 G’s”, featuring retired middle school principal Peter Curro with retired math teacher Tim Crane (’71) with his son John (’96); Jeff Penn (’80); Gateway teachers and husband-wife duo Keith (’03) and Renee (’04) Boylan; and Grantwriter Wendy Long and her partner Patrick Murray.
The audience continues to grow each year, as word of this fun and relaxing evening has spread. We hope to see everyone return—and bring their friends!
Funds raised will go into the Shipman Memorial Fund, which is held by the Gateway Education Foundation. To date, the Shipman Fund has paid for improvements for the Gateway Performing Arts Center (GPAC), including a movable spotlight, a portable sound board, and sets of lapel microphones. Rob Shipman not only directed the GPAC, but helped design the facility. He was also an annual performer at the Crane Memorial Scholarship “Night of Music” fundraiser. The Crane Family ran that fundraiser for ten years and then turned it over to the foundation for the Shipman Concert.
