During the annual event, audiences move in a motorcade from one house to another to enjoy musical performances.
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT
Published December 5, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - The Brooksville Music Club will keep tradition alive Sunday with its 46th annual Christmas Musicade.
Club member Gwen Upton is helping to organize the event, during which audiences move in a motorcade from one house to another, taking in musical performances at each stop.
"It all works really very well," said Upton, who headed this year's event committee. "It's an old-fashioned thing that I would hate to lose. We don't want to give it up."
The event is so different - and popular - that the 150 tickets available each year are often sold before the day of the event.
Two of the performances this year will be given by violinist Kay Seale and vocalist Elliot Valentine, who will both perform in homes in Dogwood Estates, east of Brooksville.
At a third home, in Brooksville, three of the club's scholarship recipients - pianist Kimberly Downes, trumpet player Brian Fisher and vocalist Giovanni Giarratana - will perform.
"You know," said Upton, "these young performers are the very point of this musicade."
The musicade is the club's largest fundraiser of the year and benefits the group's scholarship fund. Promising musicians at area high schools are assisted through the program.
Use of the homes, Upton said, is a courtesy extended by some of Brooksville's most generous music patrons. After the tour, a fourth home will offer refreshments.
"I think the people who do graciously open their homes are special people," she said. "It's hard work, but it's all coming together."
Three separate motorcades, each with 50 people, will leave from Hernando Plaza, 651 S Broad St., Brooksville, at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $15, available at Papa Joe's Italian Restaurant on Spring Lake Highway, east of Brooksville, and at Patricia's Boutique, 15 S Broad St., Brooksville. Call 799-7615 for availability.
- Joy Davis-Platt can be reached at 352 848-1435. Send e-mail to joy@sptimes.com
