"YNot Wednesdays?" Free Summer Concert Series begins TODAY with the Right On Band !
The tenth annual summer nights at Town Center Concert Series will take place 5-9 pm on the Sandler Center Outdoor Plaza from June through August 2018. Over the thirteen week series, visitors will enjoy music ranging from rock to blues to Motown. Title sponsor Ynot Italian will be serving up delicious pizza, sandwiches, and gelato all season long. The Virginia Beach Farmers Market will have local farmers with their fresh fruits, vegetables, and other homegrown items on the Plaza.

Returning for a fifth year, local artists will set up their handmade/handcrafted items inside the Sandler Center lobby once a month (see dates below).

Proceeds from the series benefit the Sandler Center Foundation. Click here to learn more about the Sandler Center Foundation.
2018 Concert Lineup
June 6      Right On Band
June 13     Guava Jam
June 20     BJ Griffin & the Galaxy Groove
June 27    The Janitors*
July 4        The Fuzz Band
July 11     Buckshot
July 18      Time for Change
July 25      Tidewater Drive *
August 1    10 Spot
August 8    The Deloreans*
August 15   HM Johnson
August 22   Jesse Chong Band
August 29   Party Fins

*Artisan Market Dates.  
Note: Bands subject to change.
Sandler Center Foundation Executive Director Lisa Baehre and Board Member John Owens prepare for August's
Dancing with the HR Celebrity Stars competition
Lisa Baehre, Executive Director of the Sandler Center Foundation, is preparing with her professional dance partner, Taras Denysenko, for the Saturday, August 11th Dancing with the Hampton Roads Celebrity Stars competition at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.

From yoga and volleyball to running and kickboxing, Lisa is no stranger to sports or athletic competition. However, aspirations for the dance stage have eluded her ever since a painful encounter with a harsh and demanding ballet teacher at the tender age of 6 foiled her plans for prima ballerina stardom. Boldly trading her gym trainers for dancing shoes, Lisa is ready to take to the stage to represent the Sandler Center Foundation and its mission to educate, inspire, enrich and build our community, strengthen local arts organizations, and instill an appreciation of the arts through the underwriting of world-class performances at the Sandler Center.

 Lisa is the youngest executive director of a preeminent arts organization in Hampton Roads. When she isn’t tackling fundraising, organizational growth, sponsor partnerships, member relations or marketing, you can find her enjoying the spectacular entertainment at YNot Wednesdays ? with her boyfriend Marc Bernarducci, Happy Hour at Ruth’s Chris, or enjoying the ocean breezes from her home in the Vibe Creative District of Virginia Beach.
Joining Lisa on stage at Dancing with the HR Celebrity Stars in August will be John Owens , Sandler Center Foundation Board Member and Chairman of the Board and President of Prevailance.

After a 24-year career in the military, primarily as a carrier-based fighter pilot, John became an independent consultant to the DoD, then the Chief Technology Officer for Excelsior, LTD, an international business consulting, marketing and venture capitalist firm. He became CEO of Prevailence at the company’s inception in 2007. Under his leadership, the organization has enjoyed annual growth rates exceeding an average of 20%, and has received a wide range of awards and recognitions for leadership, growth and innovation.

In addition to serving on the Sandler Foundation board, John is on the Board of Trustees of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce . He also serves on the Board of Virginia Beach Visio n, whose mission is to create a vision and advance initiatives necessary to the City of Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads region’s future development, prosperity and quality of life. A recognized business leader, John is a frequent guest lecturer at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia.

John's dance partner for the event will be Christiane Kelsey, a ballroom professional at the Arthur Murray Ballroom Dance Studio.
Sandler Center Foundation Receives $10k Grant
~Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation ArtStars Recipient~
The Sandler Center Foundation was one of only five recipients to be awarded a $10,000 ArtStars grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation.  This grant recognizes the Sandler Foundation for best demonstrating the ability to advance the synergy between arts and education in the community. These awards celebrate the contributions of arts organizations through their partnership and collaboration with schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

 “ArtStars allows us to acknowledge the important efforts of smaller, community-based arts organizations to inspire young people and enliven communities with art, song, dance, theater and more,” said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. 

“We are grateful to the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, not only for its very generous grant, but for its recognition of the Sandler Center Foundation’s efforts to enrich our community, inspire our youth and instill appreciation of the arts into future generations through the underwriting of world-class performing arts programming and performances,” said Lisa Baehre, Executive Director of the Sandler Center Foundation. “We applaud the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation for its understanding and vital support of the Arts’ role in education. Horizons are broadened, lives are enriched and communities thrive, due largely to the efforts of dedicated partners like Dominion Energy.”
Why Your Foundation Membership Is Important
Founded in 2005, the Sandler Center Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to educate, inspire, enrich and build our community, strengthen local arts organizations, and instill an appreciation of the arts through the underwriting of world-class performances at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.
 
 In addition to its Education Program, the Foundation also hosts the local military, Virginia Beach teachers, first responders and their families to a free Sandler Center resident company performance through their Local Heroes Program. 

Your Membership helps make all these programs possible .  
More can be found about membership and these programs at  SandlerCenterFoundation.org.
Sandler Center Foundation | 757.385.2402 | SandlerCenterFoundation.org