One of Quincy’s most attended events is back for another year. Blues in the District, a free series of blues concerts, will be held in Quincy’s Washington Park on seven Friday nights this summer. Pack up your lawn chairs, blankets and coolers and head downtown for wonderful music, great food and time with family and friends. New hours for all concerts this year are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The series opens Friday, June 10, with Grady Champion. Champion is a young blues singer and harmonica player, who has been compared to Sonny Boy Williamson and people can hear why on his album “Payin’ for My Sins.” The album includes a version of “Don’t Start Me to Talkin,’” that really shows his high-energy singing and hamonica playing. His revved up, soulful vocalizing and the charm and insight he brings to his songwriting can be heard in numbers like “My Rooster is King” and the classic-sounding tale of infidelity entitled “You Got Some Explaining to Do.”

The corporate sponsors for this concert are TNT, GREDF and the Mid Summer Arts Faire. Additional sponsors are Bank of Quincy, Awerkamp Machinery Company, Celia’s Gifts & More, Circle Sewer Service, Joe & Janet Conover, Karen Peters, Klingner & Associates, Quincy Landlord Association, SGL Motors, Titan Wheel, Western Catholic Union, Charles Rollins, Riddell Noble and Bower & Associates.

The food vendor is TNT and friends serving up barbecued pork, chicken, brat, cheeseburgers and big hot dog baskets with a choice of two sides (baked beans, potato salad or chips) or sandwiches, sides and cookies sold separately. Beverages will be available at the Pepsi wagon.

Each year The Quincy Herald-Whig sponsors this patriotic program honoring the service and sacrifice that so many Americans have made for our country. A highlight of the program is always a musical tribute to the Armed Forces entitled Armed Forces Salute. During the playing of this song, in which each of the five service themes are played, veterans and active service members or family members representing them are invited to stand and be recognized as their service song is played.

The program will also include Aaron Copland’s well-known “Fanfare for the Common Man,” “Amazing Grace,” one of the world’s most loved hymn tunes arranged by William Himes, conductor of the internationally celebrated Chicago Staff Band, and many other patriotic melodies. Gayle Tenhouse, assistant director, will conduct “Americans We” and selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.”

The Quincy Senior High School Show Choir will join the band in a patriotic sing-a-long. The band will conclude with the playing of the national march of the United States of America, John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever, followed by a QHS Show Choir performance.

Bring your lawn chairs and be prepared to enjoy this great afternoon of music. For more information call 223-7703. The Quincy Park Band will play 14 concerts this summer and a Christmas concert in December. Summer dates are June 5, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26 and 29 and July 4, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20 and 24. All concerts will take place in Madison Park at 6:30 p.m. except for the July 4 concert which will be held at the Illinois Veterans Home beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Arts in the Park will feature many delicious food items sure to please all ages. Food, such as hot dogs, brats, hamburgers, BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken, steak sandwiches, spinach/feta chicken burgers and various side dishes will be provided by the Butcher Block. Gengenbacher Shaved Ice, cotton candy, nachos, pretzels with cheese and popcorn will also be available.

There will be tons of activities for all ages. The student-sponsored art booths will feature hands-on art activities created and prepared by students in grades three through eight. There will various “Artist in Action” stations with artists demonstrating and discussing a variety of art forms. Guests can also view almost 500 amazing pieces of art submitted by St. Peter students in the gym foyer.

The Main Stage will have various entertainers including Mike Anderson, mountain dulcimer/storyteller from Jacksonville, Illinois, and Fonziba Koster, African drumming. The audience will experience the fun and exhilaration of playing genuine West African rhythms on authentic jembe hand drums and bass drums.

Arts in the Park Under the Stars is an adult gathering. Mystic Voyage Motown Band out of St. Louis will perform and they are always a crowd-pleaser. The Butcher Block will provide food as mentioned above. Beer and wine will be sold and as the evening rolls on, snacks such as popcorn and nachos will keep you going. A sweet station will be set up by Underbrink’s Bakery for everyone to enjoy.

Entrance tickets for the evening event will be available for $10 in the school office, after St. Peter Masses the weekend of May 7, from committee members or at the door the night of the event. You must be 21 to enter. Food and beverages will be sold separately; no outside food or beverages will be allowed. Bring your own lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy delicious food, listen to great music and socialize with friends.

New this year, “The Art of Family Cooking” cookbooks will be sold. The cookbooks are compiled with family favorite recipes from parishioners and parents. You can purchase the cookbooks for $15 at both events, in the school office or by contacting Elizabeth Brown at 228-0403 or by e-mail at elizabethbrown12@gmail.com.

A silent auction will be available for bidding at both events and closes at 10 p.m. The auction includes classroom made art and descriptions are available for viewing on the school’s  website at www.stpeterschool.com.

The money made from this event is the primary funding source for St. Peter fine arts programming. The students have received monthly art instruction from an artist-in-residence, instruments and Smart Board for the music department, Zumba instruction, Quincy Museum presentations, QCT performances and classroom experiences and art supplies.

Thanks to the community for its generous support of the St. Peter fine arts program. Thanks also goes to the many local businesses that sponsor this event as well as the Quincy Society of Fine Arts for an Art$ Dollar$ grant.

Committee chairs for this event are Brown and Jamie Connell. Committee members include Jeanne Anderson, Valerie Greving, Christie Jones, Tracy Keck, Krisha Ley, Theresa Quintero, Tricia Schlipman and Susie Stammerjohn.

For more information, call 223-1120 or go to www.stpeterschool.com.

Maxwell Street Klezmer Band

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, with horns, violins and percussion, will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, in the Mary Ellen Orr Auditorium at John Wood Community College, 48th and Harrison. The Quincy Civic Music Association is bringing back this fantastic and beloved band for a return engagement after their much appreciated concert here some years ago.

Klezmer is the soulful folk music of the Jews of Eastern Europe mixed with the jazz and swing of America. This music opens the door to a world rich with energy and emotion that draws on the lyrical, haunting melodies of cantors (singers at synagogues) and the boisterous dances of the Russians, Rumanians and Poles to create a unique and beautiful style of its own. The melodies of the Chassidim, whose prayers incorporated song and ecstatic dance, form the basis of the klezmer instrumental repertoire. The dances come from the thrilling performances of wandering musicians who played in the old days for weddings and other happy occasions.

When forced from central Europe by tyranny and poverty, Jewish immigrants poured into America where they brought their own musical culture and found jazz and swing. The result has been an organic fusion of everything from drinking songs and gypsy bravado blended with Dixieland jazz and swing, with a Yiddish rumba thrown in. A Maxwell Street Klezmer Band concert is a true variety show with impeccable dancing, high musicianship and world-class performance.

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band has been the Midwest’s premiere klezmer band since its founding in 1983. They have performed throughout the United States on stages including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and played nine tours in Germany, Austria, England, the Netherlands, Norway, and most recently, Lithuania. The band has recorded five CDs in the United States and one in Europe, as well as appearing on movie and TV soundtracks in the U.S. and Italy. They have also been featured on public television.

Clarinet, saxophone, violin, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass and percussion make up the sound, rounded out by a duet of female singers. With its big band instrumentation, Maxwell Street moves easily among various styles: Russian and gypsy music, folk songs, theatre songs and Yiddish pop songs from the 1920s through the ‘50s. Their performances create a multi-dimensional picture of the lost Jewish culture of Eastern Europe, spiced with vignettes of America seen through immigrant eyes. This band retains the sound of the Old World in its interpretation of klezmer while adding its own creative spirit and humor to create a show that is expressive, entertaining and uplifting.

The QCMA presentation of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band is sponsored in part by Carla Gordon, Dr. and Mrs. Mike Bukstein and Dr. and Mrs. Irving Schwartz. Children and students through high school are admitted free. Advance tickets are $15 and available in Quincy at Hy-Vee on Broadway and Harrison, Brown Drug, The Mustard Seed, Quincy Steamboat and Great Debate Books and at Java Jive in Hannibal, Missouri. Tickets at the door will be $17.

For advance tickets, go to www.sozotickets.com. For more information, go to www.quincycivicmusic.org, or call 224-5900.

Leonora-Supppan-Gehrich

The Sunday Music Series concert at 4 p.m. on May 1 is entitled “A Program of Dances” and will be presented in the First Union Congregational Church, 105 N. 12th.

Non-dueling pianists Larry Finley and Leonora Suppan-Gehrich are going to play a variety of dances from different European countries. The program will include two movements of “Peer Gynt Suite” by Edward Grieg (Norway), three “Slavonic Dances” by Antonin Dvorak (Bohemia), three “Hungarian Dances” and several Gypsy songs by Johannes Brahms. The concert will conclude with a group of Viennese dances: “Die Schonbrunner,” a waltz by Josef Lannner, “Steirische Tanze,” and three polkas by Johann Strauss.

Finley is a well known performing pianist and accompanist. He also works with the Quincy Community Theatre and has his own teaching studio. Suppan-Gehrich is artist-in-residence at Quincy University.

Both of these concerts are free and open to the public. For more information, call 228-2866.

John Wood Community College singers.

The John Wood Community College Concert Choir, Vocal Show Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble will present a varied program of instrumental and choral literature at the annual Spring Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 in the Mary Ellen Orr Auditorium in the Paul Heath Community Education and Fine Arts Center, 48th and Harrison in Quincy.

The Concert Choir will feature selections ranging from Palestrina’s “Adoramus te,” to “Bailando,” a traditional Spanish dance song. Jazz Band charts will include Dean Sorenson’s “Aardvark Alley” and “Sambeando,” arranged by Victor Lopez. The Vocal Show Ensemble will be showcased in several numbers ranging from “Teach Your Children” by Crosby, Stills and Nash, to “You Belong To Me” by Taylor Swift.

All ensembles are under the direction of Gary L. DeClue, fine arts department chair, and accompanied by Rhonda Basinger, assistant professor of music.

The event is open to the public. Admission is $3 for adults, payable at the door. All students will be admitted free of charge. Proceeds from the tour will go to JWCC’s spring music tour fund.

For more information, call 641-4109.

Teresa Walters

The Quincy Civic Music Association presents the internationally acclaimed pianist Teresa Walters Friday, April 1. The concert will be held at St. John’s Church, 701 Hampshire, at 7:30 p.m. A true virtuoso, Walters in known to hold her audiences spellbound both with her playing and her visionary stage presence.

Known nationwide as “The International First Lady of Piano,” Walters is described by Austrian National Television as “that rare musical phenomenon” and as “one of the world’s most significant pianists; she creates magic with the music.” In recent seasons Walters has performed on six continents and most of the United States, earning the highest praise from the world’s critics and audiences.

Walters is noted for her commitment to music as the ultimate universal language and for her vision of music as ministry. In addition to maintaining an extensive international touring schedule, she is currently continuing to record a series of CDs featuring the sacred piano works of Liszt. She is the first American pianist invited by Hungary to perform three prestigious European recitals honoring the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt’s birthday.
In this bicentennial year of Liszt’s birth, Walters will present her passion – an all-Liszt concert entitled Franz Liszt: Music of Life and Love here in Quincy. As the New York Concert Review wrote of a similar program, “Her transcendental performance magically transforms the keyboard. She has a huge, rolling sound and makes music like an eagle surveying the landscape.”

From the early composition, Harmonies poetic and religious, to selections from Years of Pilgrimages, Liszt’s masterpiece describing his impression of Italy, to the beautiful Fountains at the Villa d’Este which early on influenced French impressionist composers with its striking evocation of rippling water, Liszt’s music will flow throughout St. John’s Church.

Don’t stay home on April Fools’ Day! Come enjoy this powerful piano concert. Children and students through high school are admitted free to all QCMA concerts. Advance tickets are $15 and are available in Quincy at Hy-Vee on Broadway and Harrison, Brown Drug, The Mustard Seed, Quincy Steamboat and Great Debate Books plus at Java Jive in Hannibal, Missouri. Advance tickets are also available at www.sozotickets.com. Tickets at the door will be $17.

For additional information, go to www.quincycivicmusic.org or call 224-5499.

Liz Berghofer

The concert/dance will be held in Hannibal, Mo., at the Quality Inn and Suites, Route 36, Sunday, March 13, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Cornet Chop Suey was organized in 1997 of musicians with collectively over a century of experience with name bands throughout the United States and is under the leadership of Brian Casserly and Tommy Tucker. In 2001 they began to appear on the national scene and since have become the top touring band on the jazz festival circuit. The unique combination of front line trumpet and cornet, reeds, trombone, a powerful rhythm section, their sense of humor — all of these elements combine into one very talented and entertaining group. This exciting band plays their own brand of “hot” jazz, swing, contemporary jump jive, plus some of their original material. Those attending will hear jazz at its very finest.

Musicians include Casserly: co-leader, trumpet and vocals; Tucker: co-leader, cornet and vocals; Jerry Epperson: clarinet and baritone sax; Bret Stamp: trombone; Paul Reid: piano; Al Sherman: bass; and John Gillick: drums.

The Great River Jazz Preservation Society extends an invitation to everyone who loves traditional jazz to share in the music of this concert.

Tickets are $20 at the door; students are admitted free of charge. A dance floor, cash bar and food will be available. For additional information call (573) 248-4019 or (573) 439-5991.

The program will feature area pep bands including the QND Pep Band directed by Pam Potter and the QHS Pep Band directed by Matt Gabriel.
Pop music will be played representing the music scene of the past 50 years including swing, rock ‘n’ roll, disco, jazz, movie and television themes and rock — from traditional standards to newer tunes by popular artists such as Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” the 1981 inspirational rocker from Journey made popular again by the Fox TV show “Glee” and many more.

Excitement and camaraderie engulf the “pit” as all the bands show support for one another’s performances throughout the evening. The gym will be rockin’ and you may want to get up and dance.

Proceeds from this event support QND’s Wayne Potter Memorial Music Scholarship Fund. Don’t miss this exciting event to see the students having such an enjoyable time making music. So, mark your calendar and plan to attend this really fun evening of entertainment.

For additional information, call QND at 223-2479.

Jane Hartman

Come ready for some toe-tapping and finger-snapping as the Quincy Symphony Chorus hosts the Jane Hartman Jazz Trio Saturday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. at Salem Evangelical United Church of Christ, 435 S. Ninth.

A Century of Classics will showcase the most famous songs from throughout the 20th century.

The chorus will perform selections from Greg Gilpin’s contemporary collection entitled “20th Century Celebration.” Some songs to be performed include “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Fame and Rock Around the Clock” among others.

The chorus, under the direction of Dr. Phyllis Robertson, is a regional singing group with members from many generations and walks of life coming together weekly for the fun and enjoyment of making music. The chorus performs three concerts each season. Auditions are underway for new members who would like to begin rehearsals in the fall. Call 222-2856 for more information.

The Jane Hartman Jazz Trio will share the concert with the chorus, performing a variety of jazz standards to complement the chorus selections. Hartman is a pianist, composer and vocalist. She has performed with and/or for numerous celebrities. Based in Springfield, Illinois, the Jane Hartman Trio is a multiple winner of the Illinois Times’ Best Jazz Combo category and has performed two tours of Japan as well as touring England. She is known for her tasteful and inventive weaving of classical piano compositional elements with standard jazz repertoire.

Tickets for A Century of Classics will be available at the door or may be purchased in advance from the QSOA office at 200 North Eighth, Suite 102 or from Sturhahn Jewelers, 2801 Broadway. The cost is $15 for adults and $12 for seniors. Thanks in part to support from the Tracy Family Foundation, children 18 and under are admitted free.

This performance is made possible in part by music sponsor Klingner & Associates, media sponsor STARadio WTAD, the Marion Gardner Charitable Trust and the Illinois Arts Council.