Over the past year, Faith Lutheran has experienced a huge amount of change: a new gym, a new bell schedule, and now a new fine arts fundraiser. In years past, the fine arts fundraiser, Experience the Arts, was a successful and delightful night where guests and donors were fed a delicious dinner and were entertained by the Fine Arts students. However, this year with the up and coming Conservatory of the Fine Arts opening to students all over the Las Vegas Valley, the fundraiser has changed its title to Expanding the Arts. Not only has the title changed, there is a theme this year: Suddenly Sondheim, the show within Expanding the Arts.

Stephen Sondheim, an American composer and lyricist is famous for works on classics such as West Side Story, Sweeny Todd (which Faith Lutheran Conservatory students will be performing in 2016), and possibly the most famous currently, Into the Woods.

Students from band, dance, theater, voice, and visual arts will be performing his works.

“Expanding the arts will really focus on the talents of the students, which is why we’re doing the Suddenly Sondheim showcase, because we want parents to see how important art is in the lives of the students first hand,” said Mrs. Ball, the Dean of Fine Arts of the Conservatory.

“One we are hoping to give the attendance an offering that is unlike anything else they would see at Faith, a combination of all Fine Arts on one stage. The other part is you highlight the works of Stephen Sondheim whose contemporary American composer and lyricist and one that everybody considers to be a genius, so it will be tricky,” said Mr. Ball eagerly, the director of Suddenly Sondheim.

However, the magical night doesn’t stop there. Lance Burton, a famous magician who has performed more than five shows for 5 million people, will be coming to the fundraiser and giving a performance along with the talented fine arts students of Faith Lutheran.

“Lance Burton’s part is more of a supporter [of the arts]. He’s going to do a couple of slight of hand tricks, and explain how important the arts were in his own life, its his way of saying, hey I support the arts here in Las Vegas. The proceeds will go to the disciplines in the arts equally, so any money that’s made will be split between dance theater instrumental arts and visual arts. In a perfect world, we’d like to raise $50,000 to split evenly among all the five disciplines,” said Mrs. Ball. Expanding the Arts is only one night, March 20 of this year, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50.00 each, and can be bought at www.FaithTheaterCompany.com.