With the musicians' 2020-21 season a celebration of composer Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra returns to live performance (with a virtual option) in the first Masterworks concert Beethoven Symphony No. 1, a tribute to that classic composition – and some additional works, as well – taking place at Davenport's Adler Theatre October 3 and 4.

Rock Island’s resident drone/ambient scientist Terry Skaggs seems to drop a new release under his dead lizard grin moniker at the crazy clip of one per month, further populating his bottomless Bandcamp page which now sits at 77 releases (!!!) with exercises in drifting electronic sculpture, neo-classical orchestral textures, and the occasional hushed electronic beat pattern.

Hosted by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's music director and conductor Mark Russell Smith, the organization's annual Signature Soirée will take place online this year on September 19, the virtual Moonlight Sonata event boasting performances by the symphony's resident concertmaster Naha Greenholtz and principal cellist Hannah Holman, a live auction, and a three-course dinner, chocolates, and a floral arrangement delivered to ticket-holders' homes.

Riley Gale, the lead vocalist of Dallas-based crossover thrash-metal juggernauts Power Trip, passed away on August 24 at the age of 34. If you’ve ever listened to even one minute of Power Trip’s music, or were lucky enough to see them play a live set, you know that they were an unstoppable force that brought a galvanizing energy and unbridled sense of forward motion to the world of extreme music.