This annual event honors the late Tom McGuire's passion for music and his dedication to children's welfare. Tom was committed to building a better world through his philanthropy.
Ira David Wood III is an award-winning actor, a passionate advocate for the performing arts, and the Founder and Executive Director of Raleigh’s Theatre in the Park.
David was raised in Enfield, NC, where he became his hometown’s first Eagle Scout, before graduating from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He spent summers during his college years as a leading actor in The Lost Colony, the oldest outdoor drama in the country, and has since returned to direct the show for several years. Upon graduation, he became the first Theatre Arts Consultant for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and was charged with creating and promoting drama programs in North Carolina public schools.
A year later, he founded Theatre In The Park. In only a few years, Theatre In The Park became North Carolina’s largest community theatre, with an international reputation. The theatre’s facility has been named The Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre in his honor.
A partial list of David’s awards include: The North Carolina Award in the Fine Arts (State of NC,) The Order of the Long Leaf Pine (State of NC,) The Halifax Resolves Award (Halifax County Historical Association), The Morrison Award (Roanoke Island Historical Association), Distinguished Alumni Award (UNCSA), Wake County Public School System Hall of Fame, Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (BSA), the Builder of Bridges Award (Babcock Center Foundation), three keys to The City of Raleigh, and honorary citizenship awards from Columbia, SC and Compiegne, France. David is the author of A Lover’s Guide to the Outer Banks and Confessions of an Elf. He is also a contributing author to Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now That We Didn’t Know Then.
Though his list of acclaimed theatre roles is unrivaled in our area, David is probably best known and loved for annually portraying the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in his own musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which celebrated its 50th year in 2023. With three international tours to its credit, and having played to over one million people, the production is now cited as “… one of the most successful shows in North Carolina theater history.”
The proud father of three—Evan Rachel Wood, Ira David Wood IV, & Thomas Miller Wood—David and his wife Ashley are proud to call North Carolina “home.”
John Brown, accomplished musician, educator and Vice Provost for the Arts and Director of the Jazz Program at Duke University, began performing as a bassist at a young age. He will perform as well as share how his work aligns with CMS’s mission.
John Brown - Performer, Educator
Bassist, composer, educator and actor John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and currently resides in Durham, NC. He is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as Vice Provost for the Arts, Director of the Jazz Program and Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, and has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Guilford College (NC).
When he was very young, John took piano lessons from Frances Hunter (a close family friend), and began studying the bass when he was just 9 years old with his beloved teacher, the late Susan Ellington. He has been performing ever since. John began performing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (NC) at age 13, and he was playing Principal Bass with that orchestra and performing with the Florence Symphony (SC) while still in high school. As a student in Fayetteville, John had several mentors (including Paul Scott, Walter McPherson, Hennigan “Buddy” Kearns, Betsy Heath, Felix Sawyer, Jay Bolder, Janice James, Craig Brown, John Cubbage, Bill Pierce, and the late Malachi Sharpe, Tom Gavin, Richard H. L. Jones, Harlan Duenow, Joy Cogswell, Alan Porter and Ernest Plummer), who helped guide his interests and keep him focused on studying music.
As a student at UNC-Greensboro, John studied bass with Jack Budrow, performed with the Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Roanoke (VA) Symphony Orchestras, and while still an undergraduate, he began performing regularly with the North Carolina Symphony. In college, John also developed a great love for jazz, and began pursuing performance opportunities in both jazz and classical music. In college, he teamed with fellow student Thomas Taylor to form the jazz quartet, “In the Black,” and the group enjoyed a successful career performing in the region as a quartet and along with the late Melva Houston.
John has since performed in the United States and abroad with artists like Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Elvin Jones, Nnenna Freelon, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney, Nell Carter, Lou Donaldson, Slide Hampton, Nicholas Payton, Frank Foster, Larry Coryell, Cedar Walton, Fred Wesley and Mark Whitfield to name a few. John also has a Grammy nomination for his performance and co-writing on Nnenna Freelon’s 1996 Concord release, Shaking Free, and an Emmy nomination for producing the first Duke Student Arts Showcase. He has also produced recordings for Nnenna Freelon, Linda Lavin and Clare Bathe. His extensive experience includes performances at notable venues like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Blue Note, Blues Alley, and the Hollywood Bowl and at major jazz festivals like the Playboy Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Free Jazz Festival (Brazil) and Jazz e Vienne (France).
Equally gifted in other areas of performance, John has performed for major theater productions including the Japan tour of Blues in the Night with Roz Ryan, Freda Payne and musical director Rahn Coleman, shows at the National Black Theater Festival, the Broadway Series South and off-Broadway performances in New York. John made his acting debut in 1991 when he co-starred in the role of Jimmy Powers (re-written for John as a bassist) in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at the Broach Theatre and performed in the same show (as the onstage performing bassist) with Jackee Harry, also at the National Black Theater Festival. John has also appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Radioland Murders, Hellraiser III, and Our Kind of People, and he earned his credentials for membership in the prestigious Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) for his role in the feature film, Bolden. Among John’s television recording credits is the soundtrack for Moon Over Miami on ABC (performed and recorded with Delfeayo Marsalis) and music for One Tree Hill.
Community Music School's mission is to enrich and inspire youth and children through access to and delivery of high quality music instruction.
Community Music School charges only $1 per lesson and provides all the instruments. Fundraising makes that possible. Our financial model operates on donations from individuals and through grants. Give the gift of music with your donation today.
Text to Give: 980-575-0900 text MUSIC
More than two dozen original pieces donated from local artists are available for auction and will be on display in the Fletcher Theater lobby during the event, including still life, seascapes, landscapes and more. Click here to preview the art pieces. Final bids immediately following tonight's performance. All proceeds support Community Music School.
Special thanks to Bob McDevitt, Debra Singer-Harter, Lynda Chambers and Rozlyn Sorrell.
Community Music School | 322 Chapanoke Rd | Raleigh, NC 27603
www.cmsraleigh.org | 919-832-0900
