A & E -> A&E FRI, AUG 31 12:26PM by The Independent Staff
Calling all do-gooders: Let’s get Roldon to Germany!
Roldon Brown
You’re probably acquainted with Roldon Brown’s story by now: A 2008 honor grad of the UL Lafayette School of Music, Roldon was raised in a single-parent household. His family went without a water heater for nearly a year so his mom could continue to afford his flute lessons. He has a pretty serious stuttering problem, but speaks eloquently through his flute. Roldon beat out scores of international competitors in July to win a multi-year scholarship studying with renowned flutist Thaddeus Watson at the Frankfurt School of Music & Performing Arts in Germany. Although his academic bill is covered by the scholarship, his living expenses — boarding, food and transportation — are not. Have any of you been to Europe lately? The exchange rate sucks!
That’s where we come in, Ind readers. A PayPal account has been established to help Roldon pursue his classical music dreams. Give a little or give a lot, but just give. We’ve met Roldon. He’s a great, humble kid who, despite adversity, has big dreams of performing, teaching and helping economically disadvantaged children pursue their own dreams in classical music.
Contact Dao Gifts & Fine Art at (337) 326-4691 to find our more about this painting being auctioned on Roldon's behalf.
An instructor at the Acadiana Symphony Conservatory who also performs with the Acadiana and Rapides symphonies, Roldon leaves for Germany in less than two weeks.
To also aid in this community effort, former Acadiana Symphony conductor Xiao-Lu Li and his family, proprietors of Dao Gifts & Fine Art, have donated a painting, “Beauty with Bamboo Flute,” a 36”x24” oil on linen by emerging Chinese artist Yong Liu that is expected to fetch between $5,000 and $10,000. Proceeds will help underwrite Roldon's adventure in Germany. The young flutist is also supported by the National Stuttering Foundation.
You can use this link to donate to Roldon’s PayPal account. You can also search Facebook for “Roldon Brown, Flutist” to learn more about Roldon and offer words of encouragement.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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