UALR will honor Eileen and Dr. Ricardo Sotomora at the seventh annual Finale gala at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building. Each year, the gala marks the end-of-the-arts season to celebrate the arts in central Arkansas and is the premiere fundraising event for the university’s fine arts program.

Tickets are $150 ($110 is tax deductible) to the black-tie optional event which will include a reception.

Call Rivka Kuperman at 501-765-9636 for more information.

Finale 2012’s performance will feature UALR music students performing scenes from the Broadway musical, “Into the Woods,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.

Craig O’Neill of Today’s THV will serve as master of ceremonies for the fifth consecutive year. The event will include a live auction featuring a designer jewelry piece created by Sissy’s Log Cabin.

“Eileen and Ricardo are amazing leaders in the central Arkansas community,” said Deborah Baldwin, dean of the UALR College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “We are honored that they would assist us in raising awareness about how arts programs enrich the communities in which we live.”

The Sotomoras were instrumental in founding the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Ball Sweetheart Program in Arkansas, a debutante ball that raises proceeds for the organization and strives to teach girls about volunteerism and health. In 2006, Dr. Sotomora received the Worthen Cornett Award, the highest honor given to a person for work on behalf of the American Heart Association in Central Arkansas.

In 2008, they chaired the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Opus XXIV. Currently, Dr. Sotomora is a trustee of the Arkansas Arts Center Board and a member of the development committee. The Sotomoras are members of the Director’s Circle and are supporters of the Venezuelan “El Sistemia,” a government-funded program that currently assists nearly one million Venezuelan children in learning classical music.

Sotomora is the only pediatric cardiologist in private practice in Arkansas, and his wife, Eileen, manages the practice. He is the exclusive provider of cardiology services for children at Baptist Health Medical Center and St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock and Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock.

Presenting sponsors of the 2012 event are Glazer’s Distributors of Arkansas and Sissy’s Log Cabin. Premier sponsors include Pediatrix, Terri and Chuck Erwin, and Chip and Cindy Murphy.

Sustaining sponsors are Simmons First National Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield, East-Harding, Inc., Entergy, US Bank, and HBO/Time Warner.

Arts organizations from around the region lend their support to Finale each year. This year’s participating arts partners are Accademia dell’Arte, Arkansas Arts Center, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.