Warwick to perform for arts center benefit

Next month, Grammy award winner and pop diva Dionne Warwick will come to Hilton Head Island to headline the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's largest fundraising event of the year.

Warwick's soulful blend of pop, gospel and R&B transcended cultural and musical boundaries to make her one of the most popular recording artists of all time. Winning her first Grammy in 1968 for the Burt Bacharach-Hal

David classic, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?," she went on to score some 30 more hits with the legendary song writing duo. In 1985, shereunited with Bacharach to record "That's What Friends Are For," raising millions of dollars for AIDS research.

The fundraiser's main event -- theWarwick concert andgala -- takes place March 29 at the arts center. The gala will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception. At 8 p.m., guests will be invited to the Elizabeth Wallace Theatre for a live auction featuring 12 lot items, including a one-week vacation in Mexico.

At 8:30 p.m., Warwick will take the stage, performing some of her best-known songs, among them "Walk on By," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Make It Easy on Yourself" and "This Girl's in Love with You."

As a kickoff to the benefit event, the arts center will host a champagne reception at 6:30 p.m. March 26 at Morris & Whiteside Galleries. The program will include a silent auction and the presentation of the Reflection Society Award, the arts center's highest honor bestowed annually to recognize extraordinary service or philanthropy to the nonprofit arts organization. This year's recipient is the Heritage Classic Foundation.

Tickets to the gala and concert are $225. A VIP package is available for $300, which includes tickets for both events -- the opening Reflection Society Award champagne reception and the Warwick gala and concert -- as well as a private pre-show reception with Warwick. Tickets for the Refection Society champagne reception are $50. Reservations may be made by calling 843-686-3945 ext. 239.

Proceeds from the fundraiser support the arts center's Education and Outreach activities, including student field trip performances of plays and concerts and community festivals, including next month's Youth ArtsFest and ArtsReach, an artist-in-residency program that sends professional artists into area schools to work with students and teachers.