WINTER GARDEN — The Garden Theatre in downtown Winter Garden hosts a variety of live events throughout the year and on Saturday, Jan.13 it hosted Valencia College president Dr. Sanford “Sandy” Shugart for “Sandy Shugart In Concert.”

For Shugart the show is a rare break away from his busy day job as president of Valencia College.

“It shows a well rounded person,” said Patti Scheidt of how Shugart balances his work and music career. “And it’s a good example to the students to reach out in different areas, and enjoy life.”

Shugart and his band played a two hour set in which they played original tracks from the group’s first two albums, “Didn’t You Know” and “Distances We Keep,” while also playing covers of some of Dr. Shugart’s favorite folk songs. He wrote most of the songs on the album himself, including “Mourning Blue” and “The Way Back Home.”

“You have time to do the things you love,” said Shugart on  when he finds the time to practice his music. “While my day job keeps me pretty busy, you watch less TV and pour yourself into the things that really matter.”

While Shugart played acoustic guitar and sang himself, his band consisted of Jason Thomas playing the fiddle, Dave Sutton playing bass guitar and Stu Kinniburgh playing mandolin guitar and singing backup vocals. The band played a folk style of music which Shugart calls “urban folk.”

“When I sit down to write, the voice that I feel I have fits best in an, I’ll call it ‘urban folk,’ acoustic music,” said Shugart of why he plays folk music.

When the show ended Shugart and his band were treated to a standing ovation from the crowd. Once the lights turned on Shugart got off stage and went directly to the lobby of the Garden Theatre to interact with both friends and fans. While in the lobby he signed autographs of his CD’s while also taking pictures with concert goers.

“My wife calls him the epitome of the renaissance man,” said David Hosman of Shugart after the show. “He’s a great father, he’s a good educational leader, he’s obviously talented, but he gives back to the community in many different ways. He’s an authentic person.”

The Garden Theatre, which has a maximum capacity of 299, sold 205 tickets to “Sandy Shugart In Concert.” All proceeds from the show were donated back to the Garden Theatre by Dr. Shugart.