Rock Island, Ill. – Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series welcomes home jazz pianist Corey Kendrick for a week of residency activities.
Corey Kendrick is a pianist, composer, recording artist, and educator who attended North Scott High School. Praised by Downbeat Magazine’s John Ephland as a “very accomplished, highly gifted jazz pianist” with “a patient, maturing voice,” Kendrick has a skillful touch that is both immediately recognizable and deeply expressive. Kendrick released his debut album, Rootless, in June 2016.
Kendrick received his master's in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University in 2015 and holds a bachelor's in Liberal Studies from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill. Kendrick has studied with Xavier Davis, Reggie Thomas, and Willie Pickens.
As an educator, Kendrick taught Improvisation, Jazz Piano Lab, and Applied Jazz Piano lessons as a Graduate Assistant at Michigan State University from 2013-2015. He has served on faculty at the 2014 MSU Big Band Symposium and the 2013 Black Hawk College Summer Jazz Camp. Kendrick was an adjunct instructor at Black Hawk College from 2012-2013, where he taught Applied Jazz Piano, Jazz Combo, and coordinated the 21st annual BHC Jazz Festival in 2013. He also has extensive experience teaching private lessons in jazz piano, theory, and improvisation.
Kendrick will present at six Quad City area schools for elementary, junior high, and high school students. He will also give informal public performances at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, at the Moline Public Library, noon on Thursday, March 8, at Davenport Public Library’s Main Branch, and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 10, at the Family Museum, Bettendorf.
Along with his ensemble, Kendrick will give a full-length public concert at 7 p.m. Friday, March 9, in the Black Box Theatre at Pleasant Valley High School, Bettendorf. This is a free event; donations will be accepted at the door.
The 2017-2018 season of the Visiting Artist Series runs through April 2018 and features nine performing arts residencies, including a storyteller, musical ensembles, and a jazz dance company.
For more information, visit www.quadcityarts.com.
