Conference Keynote Speaker and Guest Artist

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Keynote Speaker & Banquet Guest Artist

Avery Sommers

 South Florida treasure with a “powerhouse” voice (The New York Times) and a charismatic stage presence, Avery Sommers appeared on Broadway in Ain’t Misbehavin’ replacing Nell Carter, Chicago, Showboat, and Broadway, and was in the first national tours of both The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (starring Ann-Margret) and Chicago (with Chita Rivera and Joel Grey), for which she won a Los Angles Ovation Award for Best Supporting Actress. On TV, she appeared on Miami Vice, many episodes of B.L. Stryker starring Burt Reynolds, and the CBS soap As The World Turns. Film credits include Lost Everything, Mysterious, Letters to God, and Hiding Victoria. A frequent headliner at The Colony Hotel’s Royal Room, Kravis Center, Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts, Café Centro, Arts Garage, and more, Sommers is both a Carbonell Award winner and a seven-time nominee. In addition, she is the recipient of a Silver Palm Award for Outstanding Contributions to South Florida Theater, and the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 2010 Monaco International Film Festival. Avery Sommers is not only an extraordinary entertainer, she also has mentored many budding young talents in Palm Beach County over the years and has performed pro bono for numerous nonprofit organizations including the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, the League of Women Voters for Palm Beach County, the Kretzer Piano Music Foundation, the Pride Lights at Centennial Fountain, and more. In addition, she currently serves on the boards of directors for both the Carbonell Awards and the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and on the Honorary Board of Advisors for The Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook.