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SALISBURY, MD---The Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts pays tribute to its founder, the late Charles “Chuck” Fulton, during a special presentation at the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra’s annual Mid-Winter Concert 8 p.m. Saturday, February 11, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

“You really aren’t making a contribution unless you work at it,” Fulton once said. He and his wife, Martha, endowed the Fulton School in 1989, but his contributions didn’t stop there. A quiet man who eschewed the limelight, Fulton worked diligently, usually behind the scenes, for the University he enriched, as a champion and member of the SU Foundation Board of Directors. When he died this past fall, the whole campus mourned.

A pioneer in the poultry industry, in 1965 he merged his businesses with Holly Farms Poultry Inc., which became the largest poultry supplier in the nation at that time.  Holly Farms was eventually sold to Tyson Foods. 

The Fultons’ multimillion dollar bequest touched the life of virtually every student on campus.  Since it was endowed, the School of Liberal Arts has grown by more than 40 percent and its faculty enjoys a growing national reputation.  It is the largest of the University’s four schools.

Tenor John Wesley Wright joins the SSO during the concert, performing selections ranging from Handel arias to African-American spirituals.

Currently, Wright is artist-in-residence, vocal instructor and co-director of the opera workshop at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including prizes from the International MacAllister Awards and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, and the National Federation of Music Clubs. In March 2000 legendary singer William Warfield presented him with the gold medal first prize at the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, GA, which includes a $10,000 gift. He enjoys recital and oratorio work and has performed abroad including a televised concert for the Belgian Royal Family at the Royal Palace of Belgium.

Wright is in his third year as vocal consultant and instructor for the Music Arts Center in Cincinnati. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Maryville College.

In addition to Wright’s collaborations, which also include “Onaway” from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, the orchestra performs three movements of Grieg's Symphonic Dances, as well as the complete Bizet L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1.

Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for children 12 and under and SU ID holders. A family ticket package, admitting two adults and two children, is available for $45. For advance tickets visit the SU Bookstore Web site at www.salisbury.collegestoreonline.com (click “SU Box Office”).

For more information call 410-548-5587 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.