From her first election in 2002, to her years in the state House and Senate, to her unsuccessful bids for Jacksonville mayor and City Council, Audrey Gibson has acquired more campaign experience over three decades than almost anyone in state politics. We ask her what she hopes to bring to the District 13 House seat and what distinguishes her from her fellow Democratic opponent in the Aug. 18 primary, attorney Leslie Jean-Bart. First Coast Connect is covering a range of local races and election-related topics between now and Nov. 3. Jean-Bart will appear on the program Aug. 12. You can find all of our election coverage here, and you can find detailed information about upcoming elections, including information about candidates and ballot initiatives in your district, at the nonpartisan League of Women Voters website Vote411.org. Additional candidate coverage is featured in Jacksonville Today’s political section.
Guest: Audrey Gibson, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 13
Active voice
A 40-year-old chorus gets a new leader — one who literally wrote the book on how to succeed as a choral singer: The Choral Singer's Survival Guide. Ahead of both a new season and regional auditions for vocalists, we sit down with incoming director of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus to discuss what it means to start anew after his predecessor’s decade and a half tenure and how his own musical experience, from Europe to Carnegie Hall, brought him to the First Coast.
Guest: Tony Thornton, director, Jacksonville Symphony Chorus
Solo show
For nearly four decades, the names Charlotte Mabry and Robert Arliegh White were as synched as their eclectic performances — a duo known for pushing the bounds of performance art, verbal percussion and sheer absurdity. Mabry’s death last year put an end to that collaboration, but White is continuing his work on stage. An upcoming show at Babs’Lab is his first as a solo performer without Mabry (principal percussionist for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and music instructor at UNF). We preview his upcoming RAWtalk as he reflects on his 40 years of Jacksonville performance and 70 years circling the sun.
Guest: Robert Arleigh White, actor, storyteller and arts advocate
Topics and guests subject to change.