Rob Jiggetts Music Studio Fundraiser at Walltown Childre's Theatre

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Rob Jiggetts

Musical celebration with a dance performance, dinner, concert and open jam session. The full evening begins at 5:30 with music and dance student-performances featuring Walltown Senior Company dancers followed by a BBQ dinner catered by award-winning Mike D’s BBQ. After dinner, local musical standouts will perform — including funk band NuEpiphany founded by Rob Jiggetts, musician/songwriter Rissi Palmer and guitarist James Gilmore A post-concert jam session — for joining or enjoying from the audience — will close out the evening. Tickets, including performances, dinner and one raffle entry, are just $25. The event marks the kickoff of WCT’s fundraising campaign to renovate 1221 Berkeley Street, the freestanding music studio that WCT owns next-door to its dance studio and Black Box theater.

Cynthia Penn-Halal, WCT’s executive director and co-founder, says that a fully-equipped music studio will allow Walltown Children’s Theatre to expand and strengthen its performing arts offerings and help take WCT into its third decade of serving Durham’s youth. “The Walltown neighborhood — like the rest of Durham — is changing, but we're going to keep doing what we’ve been doing since we opened our doors in 2000. We're going to keep making high quality performing arts instruction available to all of Durham’s youth, regardless of ability to pay. The renovated music studio will help us do even more and to do it even better,” says Penn-Halal.

Ultimately, WCT hopes to raise $50,000 to renovate its music studio, already named in honor of beloved musician and Walltown teacher, Rob Jiggetts, who passed away in 2017. Cara Williams, WCT’s Music Associate Director and Chair of WCT’s Board of Directors explains: “We will transform the ‘yellow house’ on Berkeley Street into a music studio worthy of Rob Jiggetts's legacy. We want to honor those who came before and who are still so much a part of what Walltown Children’s Theatre is today." In keeping with that commitment, a multipurpose room in the music studio (‘Sam’s Place’) will honor former WCT student, musician and volunteer Sam Sporn.