Alla Boara, February 27 through March 3

Main Concert: Friday, March 3, 7:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church, 1702 Iowa Street, Davenport IA

Abbreviated Concerts: Monday, February 27, through Wednesday, March 1

Various Area Locales

Lauded by Cleveland magazine for their "historical preservation and top-notch musicianship" and by New Frontiers as a group that "bridges the divide between native and first-generation ancestors to the current descendants," the Italian-folk musicians of Alla Boara serve as the latest guests in the Quad City Arts Visiting Artists series, their February 27 through March 3 concerts demonstrating why The Jambor called their sound "a journey that takes you in and makes you forget where you are."

The six gifted artists of Alla Boara seek to bring recognition and new life to Italy's diverse history of regional folk music, and their modern arrangements of folk lullabies, laments, hymns, and festival songs are surprising, playful, mournful, tender, and bewitching. The sextet's music and storytelling aims to inspire audiences of all ethnic heritages to treasure their musical roots and consider historical songs’ contemporary cultural relevance, the ensemble a collective vision of drummer and composer Anthony Taddeo, vocalist Amanda Powell, guitarist Dan Bruce, trumpeter Tommy Lehman, bassist Ian Kinnaman, and accordionist and keyboardist Clay Colley. Having released their first record Le Tre Sorelle this past fall, an album that was awarded four-and-a-half stars by All About Jazz,, Alla Boara has received critical acclaim for its originality and accessibility and was recently predicted to have a bright future by Cleveland magazine. As touring educator/entertainers, Alla Boara also boasts a robust outreach curriculum that is suitable for adults and children alike and also offers a set of more traditional music that can bring the right atmosphere to any Italian-themed dinner or wine tasting.

Among the unit's musicians, Anthony Taddeo has studied with world-renowned percussionist Jamey Haddad and at The New School’s School for Jazz, and holds an MFA in composition from Youngstown State University. Featured on over 30 albums, he has also toured North America and Europe at festivals such as Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Ciclo 1906 Jazz Fest in Spain, and Cleveland’s Tri-C Jazz Festival. Amanda Powell has studied with jazz legends Sheila Jordan, Billy Taylor, and Yusef Lateef, and served as Artist-in-Residence and frequent soloist with Cleveland’s Grammy-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire. Dan Bruce is a performer, recording artist, composer, and educator who has contributed to more than two dozen albums, including his own recordings A Single Thread and Earthshine.

Tommy Lehman has played along artists such as Nathan-Paul & the Admirables, Chris Coles’ Nine Lives Project, and Bobby Selvaggio, and studied at Cleveland’s Tri-C renowned jazz studies program and the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut. Ian Kinnaman had the opportunity to study with Theron Brown and bassist and composer Dave Morgan, and also regularly performs with the big bBand Pantropix and his own project IKQ. And Clay Colley holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and a master’s degree in jazz studies from the Dana School of Music, with his numerous rock and jazz collaborations including those with JD Eicher, the Vindys, and his own project, Black Wolf & the Thief.

Alla Boara's concert concluding the ensemble's tenure as Quad City Arts Visiting Artists will be held at Davenport's First Presbyterian Church (1702 Iowa Street) on March 3, with admission to the 7:30 p.m. engagement $15 for adults and $10 for students. The group will also perform three abbreviated concert events earlier in the week that are free and open to the public: at Moline's Butterworth Center (1105 Eighth Street) on February 27 at 3 p.m.; at the Moline Public Library (3210 41st Street) on February 28 at noon; and at Clinton Community College (1000 Lincoln Boulevard) on March 1 at 6 p.m..

For more information on Alla Boara's area appearances and the Visiting Artists series, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com.