ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (October 23, 2019) — Born to a Chinese father and Jewish mother, and raised in the multicultural metropolis of Toronto, saxophonist Allison Au found music as a young child. Her work is a concoction steeped in the tradition of jazz but skillfully laced with elements of classical, pop, R&B/hip hop, Latin, and world music.
From October 28 through November 2, Au will bring her quartet into schools and community sites to provide musical outreach through a residency with Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series.
The Allison Au Quartet won a JUNO Award (a Canadian GRAMMY) in 2016 for "Best Jazz Album of The Year: Group" for their album "Forest Grove."
The quartet will visit 12 schools and community sites during their week of outreach work. Highlights of their residency include lecture/demonstration for students in Rock Island Academy, performances for the Pleasant Valley band students, workshops with music students at Black Hawk College and St Ambrose, and an informal public performance at Mississippi River Distilling Company, LeClaire, Iowa, at 6PM, Tuesday, October 29.
Formed in 2009, the Allison Au Quartet has toured extensively in Canada and the U.S. The group was awarded the TD Jazz Fellowship Scholarship in 2011 and The Margareta and Benno Nigg Scholarship in 2013 for three consecutive artist residencies at the Banff Centre. In 2017, the Allison Au Quartet was named a finalist for Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award.
Their full-length public concert will be 7PM, Saturday, November 2, at Quad City Arts, 1715 2nd Ave, Rock Island. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and children, and will be available at the door. To purchase tickets online, visit www.quadcityarts.com/vas<http://www.quadcityarts.com/vas>.
The 2019-2020 Visiting Artist Series brings 14 artists and ensembles, including a hip-hop dance ensemble, an electronic-music producer, a Mexican folk-rock group, and string quartets, to visit the Quad Cities region from September 2019 through April 2020. For more information on these artists and details of their performances, visit www.quadcityarts.com/vas.
About the Visiting Artist Series
Quad City Arts is a nonprofit local arts agency dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts.
Quad City Arts receives significant support for the Visiting Artist Series from Regional Development Authority, Iowa Arts Council, Scott County Regional Authority, National Endowment of the Arts, Arts Midwest Touring Fund, Rock Island Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, Doris and Victor Day Foundation, US Bank Foundation, Melvin McKay Trust, Mary Iva Gittens Knouse Trust, Moline Rotary, Rauch Family Foundation I, Quad City Arts PASS and Festival of Trees.
Performance space is provided by Bucktown Revue show at Nighswander Junior Theatre in Davenport, the Bettendorf Performing Arts Center, Trinity Anglican Church in Rock Island, the Central DeWitt Performing Arts Center, First Presbyterian Church of Davenport, St. Ambrose University, River Music Experience, Augustana College, the Butterworth Center, and the Putnam Museum.
Additional support comes from service fees paid by school districts, Parent Teacher Associations, service clubs, and businesses.
