Exhibit: Cylinder & Disc Music Boxes

Exhibit dates:  January 22 through March 22, 2015

Program: Cylinder & Disc Music Boxes by Brian Walter on Thursday, February 12 at 5:15 p.m.

The Laura Musser Mansion Small Gallery now features the second in its series of music box exhibits from the private collection of Brian Walter and the Art Center's permanent collection. This second series highlights the history and chronology of "Cylinder" & "Disc" music boxes from the 1870-1900 era.

A "Cylinder & Disc Music Box" program will be presented by Brian Walter, at 5:15 on Thursday, February 12, 2015.

The period of 1870 to 1890 was the height of production for cylinder music boxes. The cylinder music box provided live music without performers and the sound it produced was very much like a group of harpists or a hand bell choir. Extensively inlaid cases and multiple cylinders (which included 'shifting' and 'removable' cylinders) mark this era as the most technically challenging period for cylinder type manufacturing.

The development of the first interchangeable disc music boxes in 1886, made it even easier and less expensive to add tunes. These "Symphonion" boxes were originally made in Leipzig, Germany and were destined to become some of the greatest music boxes ever known. Even this innovative design which accepted individual tune discs (allowing one music box to play multiple tunes), could not save the cylinder music box companies, as many were forced out of business due to increased sales and aggressive marketing of the new disc music boxes.

Other music box makers caught on to the new disc technology and began building their own masterpieces: most notably "Polyphon" in Germany and "Regina" in the United States. By 1900, the "Gramophone" (or record player) had replaced disc music boxes, due to lower price and greater variety of music available.

EVENT DETAILS:

What: "Cylinder & Disc Music Boxes" Program

Who: Brian Walter

When: Thursday, February 12, 2014

Time: 5:15 PM

Where: The Muscatine Art Center's Music Room

Admission to this program is FREE.

Please contact Melanie Alexander, Director, with any questions or concerns at 563-263-8282 or by email at malexander@muscatineiowa.gov.

The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine, Iowa. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are appreciated. Visit www.muscatineartcenter.org for more information about programs and events and to download a class brochure.

Concordia, Wis. (January 29, 2015) - Concordia University Wisconsin officials have released the Fall Honors List for the 2014-2015 academic year. To be eligible for the honor, students must achieve a minimum 3.50 GPA.

Among the area students named to the  list were:

Ian Wallace, Junior, Accounting, from Davenport, Iowa

Founded in 1881, Concordia University Wisconsin, 12800 North Lake Shore Drive, Mequon, offers over 70 undergraduate majors and is affiliated with The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The school is located on 200 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline, only 15 minutes north of downtown Milwaukee.

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Hills Bank and Trust First to Include Mandarin Chinese on ATMs

(Iowa City) - Building upon its designation as an "International Welcoming City" last March, Iowa City officials and businesses continue to improve their offerings for immigrants and international students who now call Iowa City "home."

Kate Moreland, director of collaboration and community relations at the Iowa City Area Development Group, says an ICAD Group led task force has been working on projects aimed at improving communication with the international community.  "Translation is always an area of focus and we continue to work with local entities on how to better reach out to our international community and be more welcoming," said Moreland.  "This includes translating the Convention and Visitor Bureau's welcome guide into multiple languages and working with area banks to add Chinese to their ATMs."

Most recently, Hills Bank and Trust Company became the first area bank to offer Mandarin Chinese as an ATM language option.

"We have been long time supporters of the International Community and we were pleased to have been able to work with the Shazam network to incorporate multiple languages into our ATM network," said Marty Maiers, Senior Vice President and Director of Retail Banking for Hills Bank. "We updated the ATM in the lobby of our Old Capitol Town Center location in mid-December and will install Mandarin Chinese on other ATMs campus wide as part of software upgrades."

Suyun Ma, Global External Relations Coordinator for International Programs at the University of Iowa, sits on the International Relations task force at ICAD Group and says these accommodations help new, international students adapt to a new life during their not-so-easy transitional period.  "I have been in their shoes.  Immersed in a totally different culture and language, most new international students feel overwhelmed and even scared at some point," said Ma.  "I appreciate the importance of having this kind of convenience and assistance in local ATMs."

Ties will continue to strengthen between the public and private sector, the university, and the international community as more projects come online.

Tom Markus, City Manager for Iowa City, says the task force is looking next at improving housing and international relations.  "We've started communications with the university about how to improve temporary and permanent housing options for new international students who arrive on campus," said Markus.  "Also, there is initial discussion on developing an ambassador program to help students, visitors and new residents navigate our community and share in our culture."

"These basic resources serve as a gateway to our welcoming and diverse community, which is one of reasons that some international students choose to study at University of Iowa and fall in love with the city," added Ma.

Vocalist/music educator/composer Semenya McCord will perform her show "Classic Blues Connection" in Quad-City schools February 18-20 as part of the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's Blues in the Schools Artist-in-Residence program for Black History Month.

She will also perform two open-to-the-public shows:

• Wed. Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m.?CASI (Center for Active Seniors), 1035 West Kimberly Road, Davenport IA
• Wed. Feb. 18 at 7:00 p.m.?River Music Experience, 2^nd & Main Streets, Davenport IA

Semenya's "Classic Blues Connection," with pianist Frank Wilkins, highlights important roots of American popular music from 1900 to 1935, featuring Classic Blues women Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday.  This is perfectly paired with Wilkins demonstrating early piano styles from boogie woogie to Scott Joplin's ragtime and Duke Ellington's jazz.?

Semenya McCord earned her degree in Music Education from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.  Her popular musician father, the late Ken Henderson, was an early and significant influence on her desire to sing and touch people through music. At the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, she was turned on to the powerful traditions of gospel music with Horace C. Boyer and of jazz with master drummer Max Roach and reedman Archie Shepp.?

Semenya performed throughout New England for over 25 years, presenting programs and residencies featuring spirituals, blues, traditional and contemporary jazz for audiences of all ages through Young Audiences of Massachusetts, Inc., the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.?

Since 1982, she directed annual tributes to the life and "dream" of Martin Luther King, Jr., the music of Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington, and community events that celebrate cultural diversity through the arts.? In 1988, she was awarded "Outstanding Jazz Vocalist" by the Boston Music Awards, and she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Musical Excellence in 1990 from the city of Boston.

Semenya returned home to Galesburg, Illinois in 2003 to assist her mother;  she earned her Master's degree in Music at Northern Illinois University in 2006.  Semenya currently teaches Jazz Voice at Knox College and teaches General Music and directs student choirs at Lombard Middle School. ? She is an active member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity and the Music Educators National Conference.?

Pianist Frank Wilkins, a native of Milwaukee, moved to Boston in the early 1970s.  Wilkins has become known as a "jazzmatician"?a consummate music director and pianist among national and international venues and with vocalists, a multimedia producer/director, music composer, arranger and experienced private instructor?with  awards from The Artists' Foundation (Boston), Composition Fellowship (Berklee College of Music) and The Hank Jones Jazz Masters Award.  ?

Playing virtually every major jazz and blues venue throughout New England, Wilkins has shared a stage with Angela Bofill,  Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kevin Eubanks, Tiger Okoshi, and Archie Shepp, to name a few.  His career has included performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, and North Sea Jazz Festival;  and in West Africa , Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and Mexico.?

Semenya McCord's residency is made possible by a major grant from the Riverboat Development Authority.  Thanks also to sponsors the River Music Experience, KALA Radio, and The Lodge.