Vick receives state's top award in arts
Music professor Bingham L. Vick, Jr., has been honored as the recipient of a 2004 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award, the official South Carolina Governor's Award for the Arts. Vick received the award in the “Individual” category, which recognizes outstanding achievement and contributions to the arts in South Carolina.
It is also the highest honor the state gives in the arts. Verner Awards were also given in the categories of Organization, Government, Arts in Education, Individual Artist and Lifetime Achievement.
The awards will be presented at a special ceremony Thursday, May 6, at 5:30 p.m. in the House Chambers of the State House. The ceremony is free and open to the public, and is followed by a reception on the mall at the Governor's Mansion complex. The recipients are also honored that day with a benefit luncheon and art sale presented by the S.C. Arts Foundation.
Vick is in his 34th year as director of the Furman Singers, one of the nation's finest collegiate choirs. A member of the Furman music faculty since 1970, he teaches voice, conducting and choral methods. He is also artistic director and conductor of the Greenville Chorale, and recently retired after 28 years of service as the musical director at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenville.
Vick received the Alester G. Furman, Jr., and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching in 1984. In 2000, the state of South Carolina awarded him the Order of the Palmetto in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contributions to the arts in the state.
Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
