Sons of Serendip: Samford’s Scholarship Celebration Brings in Classical/Modern Group From AGT

Members of the 2023 Scholarship Celebration Committee are, front, from left: Paula Gossett, Kristen Comer, Wendy Cook, Rhonda Cantelow; middle, Claire Gwaltney, Rhonda Orr (chair), Karen Carlisle, Shea Williams; back, Marilyn Henry, Amy Duffey, Sherri Foyt, Sharon Smith; not pictured, Julie Cundiff, Rohaun Green, Robin Greer, Julie Taylor and Julia Vasquez.

Sons of Serendip – a classical crossover group, Billboard-charting quartet and America’s Got Talent finalist – will perform during the Samford Legacy League’s 14th annual Scholarship Celebration on April 20. 

A harpist, a cellist, a pianist and a lead vocalist make up the group, whose sound was described by The New York Times as “alive with detail but silky beyond reason.” 

The musicians got together after a series of serendipitous events when they were graduate students at Boston University. They gained their fame almost by accident, auditioning for AGT on a whim. Now they have produced four albums that meld the depth and richness of classical and modern musical styles.

Fan favorites include their hit “Somewhere Only We Know,” a passionate ballad, and “A Thousand Years,” a modern song reinvented as a classical cohesion of vocals and instrumentation. 

The annual Scholarship Celebration will include a sponsor reception, a celebratory dinner and an intimate concert. 

Proceeds from the event will support the new Legacy League Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing Centennial Scholarship to benefit students who have faced challenges including homelessness, inner-city violence, abandonment and the death or disability of a parent. 

The sponsor reception and dinner are presented by Samford Dining by Aramark, and the Sons of Serendip concert is presented by Vulcan Materials Company. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m., the dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the concert at 8 p.m.

Companies also sponsoring the event are: Gold Sponsors, Baptist Health System, Hoar Construction and Ronnie Watkins Ford; Silver Sponsors, Altec, John 3:16, Marathon Electrical Contractors, Medical Properties Trust, Regions Bank and RJ Mechanical Inc.; Bronze Sponsors, Brasfield & Gorrie, Carpet Specialties Inc., Craftsman Printing and Standard Commercial Roofing & Envelope Solutions.

The event, which is open to the public, will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Reservations are required and cost $125 per person, of which $55 is tax deductible. Find more information and make online reservations at samford.edu/legacyleague.