Arts & Culture at ABAC
2024-2025 Season
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Carter Arts & Lecture Series
The Carter Arts & Lecture Series is committed to enhancing the educational experience by bringing compelling speakers, distinguished authors, and performing arts to the ABAC Bainbridge campus. These events are designed to bring the campus and wider public together to educate, inspire and spark imagination.
All events will be held at the Charles H. Kirbo Center on the Bainbridge campus, or on the Bainbridge Town Square, and are FREE and open to the public with no ticket required.
Upcoming Events
The Breakfast Club
Thursday, October 10, 2024 | 7:00 P.M.
Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center, Bainbridge Campus
The Breakfast Club is the longest running, most recognized 80's tribute band in the United States. Formed in 1993, the group was first of its kind. Their mission was simple: create an entertainment group that embodied the enigmatic, creative, and buoyant spirit of music and live performances of the original MTV generation of the 1980s. That mission remains today. The group has had the privilege of performing for rockstars, movie stars, many of America's top corporations, NASCAR legends, and shared the stage with musical superstars including Whitesnake, Poison, Hootie and The Blowfish, and more!
Cody Smith, poet
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 7:00 P.M.
Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center, Bainbridge Campus
Cody Smith is the author of Gulf: Poems. His second book of poems, River Hymnal, is forthcoming in early 2025. He is the former Mississippi Review Prize and River Styx International Poetry Prize winner. His poems can be found in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere. Born and raised in Louisiana, he has gone on to live and write in many places, including Spokane, Washington, and Tallahassee, Florida. Currently, he lives in Central Florida where he works as an educator and poet.
Past Events
Charlie Ward
Thursday, November 7, 2024 | 7:00 P.M.
Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center, Bainbridge Campus
Charlie Ward Jr. is a husband, father, mentor and coach who embodies the principles of integrity; hard work and faith in God. He inspires adults and youth alike with his character and how he shows up in the world. Describes as once-in-a-lifetime athlete and human being, he is a decorated two-sport athlete that shined during a football career at Florida State University and again as a two-time first-round draft pick in Major League Baseball. Charlie mentors and coaches basketball at Florida State University High School in Tallahassee, Florida where he has been named coach of the year and led his team to multiple victories.
John B. Edwards, author
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | 7:00 P.M.
Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center, Bainbridge Campus
John B. Edwards has over 45 years of law enforcement experience that covers general law enforcement functions at the local and state level. He is the author of four books and many national and international publications regarding criminal investigation, police operations, leadership, and management. John currently travels throughout the United States lecturing for many federal, state, and local agencies, colleges and universities, and law enforcement associations regarding police and public safety operations, leadership, and management, and seminars based on his books.
The Atlanta Shakespeare Company presents Romeo and Juliet
Thursday, March 13, 2025 | 7:00 P.M.
Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center, Bainbridge Campus
The Atlanta Shakespeare Company comes to the stage in an incredible abridged version of Shakespeare's immortal romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. This timeless tale of star-crossed lovers was one of Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and remains so with today's audiences as one of the most frequently performed of all immortal bard's works. It is a tragic story of sublime, but thwarted romance between two Italian youths from feuding families and remains one of the world's most beloved works of the theater.
Robert Edwards, trombone and Vanessa Perea, jazz vocalist with the ABAC Jazz Ensemble
Friday, April 18, 2025 | 7:00 P.M.
Bainbridge Town Square
Jazz trombonist Robert Edwards and jazz vocalist Vanessa Parea combine with the ABAC Jazz Ensemble for a memorable evening of great music. This pair has developed a style of their own from their formal education, mentorship from the industry giants, and personal experiences. Edwards has produced five records with Parea joining as a collaborator on three of those. The two will come together to perform a masterful style of their own with the ABAC Jazz Ensemble for a performance you will not regret.