TIFTON — This year’s South Georgia Arts Alliance’s Arts and Entertainment Series, “Celebrate the Magic,” will offer six major entertainment events plus five additional concerts with a wide variety of performances at value prices right here in South Georgia.

Series subscriptions are $65 for adults and $15 for students. ABAC and Tifton Campus UGA students are admitted free. Flex 4 passes, good for any four of the events, are $55 per adult. New this year is the family pass for parents and children living at home at a cost of $150 for the entire family. Single tickets are available at varying prices for all events. For tickets, call the ABAC Arts Connection at 391-4820 or to the Web site at www.southgaarts.com.

The season kicks off Oct. 8 with Missy Raines and the New Hip performance in the just-completed Irwin County auditorium in Ocilla. Raines and her band will be playing “newgrass” music, a blend between bluegrass and progressive jazz. She is the seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s bass player of the year. Her hand-picked band is comprised of young, yet accomplished musicians ranging in age from 17 to 27, each rooted in bluegrass music. These guys provide a musical backdrop for Missy Raines to showcase her bass playing and her warm, inviting voice.

“We are excited about this year’s series, especially about opening the year with this dynamic group in the new Irwin County auditorium,” said Wayne Jones, executive director of the ABAC Arts Connection. “The place is beautiful and a perfect location for this musical entertainment.”

Next in the line-up is Robert Belinic, a rising star from the classical music world. Belinic will take the stage on Oct. 13 at ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Belinic is an award-winning guitarist. He was the sole winner of the 2001 Young Concert Artists European Auditions in Leipzig, Germany, and in 2002 was the first guitarist ever to win a place on the Young Concert Artists roster in New York. His playing has been described as “passionate and exciting.” He has played at New York City’s 92nd Street Y and in Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, as well as with the U. S. and European symphonies.

Corbian: A Glow in the Dark Adventure is a must-see event for this season slated for Nov. 17 at the Tift County Performing Arts Center in Tifton. It is fantasy and technology colliding with ballet. Through the use of lights, characters, including a 14-foot dinosaur, glow in the dark to tell a story of good and bad, love and hate, and friends and enemies. It is entertainment and education on a huge scale.

“Corbian is innovative and spectacular. It is great for all ages. We are so pleased to offer this progressive entertainment to South Georgia,” Jones said.

An Evening with Lucille Ball will be on stage Feb. 16 at the Tift County Performing Arts Center.

Laughs erupt and insights are gained as actress Suzanne LaRusch portrays Lucille Ball in an amazing one-woman show, “An Evening with Lucille Ball.” Co-written and produced by Lucille Ball’s own daughter, Lucie Arnaz, this show is a mixture of some of the zany sketches from the “I Love Lucy” television show and stories of the personal life of this beloved comedienne told by Lucy herself. You will hear stories about her roles as a wife, mother, actress and woman.

The Sea Chanters, official chorus on the U.S. Navy, will sing at the Turner County Civic Center in Ashburn on March 1. The Tifton Gazette will be a sponsor for this show.

This co-ed vocal group will perform songs of every description -- Broadway, pop, classical, sea chanteys and patriotic. One of their most notable performances was singing “Amazing Grace” at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. after the events of 9/11. They have sung at important national events including the presidential inaugurations of Barack Obama in 2009 and George Bush in 2005.

Known for his incredible trumpet and trombone playing, his composing and arranging, and his involvement with music education, jazz great Michael Phillip Mossman will give the season finale on April 22 at ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. He has played and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Tito Puente and the Count Basie Orchestra, just to name a few. He is involvement with Latin jazz began during his time as lead trumpet with Machito Orchestra. Currently, he is lead trumpeter with Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and serves as Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York City.

The Arts and Entertainment Series is presented by the ABAC Arts Connection and arts councils in Tift and Turner counties through the South Georgia Arts Alliance. This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts.