The Bettendorf company is the cover story on the March/April issue of Music Inc. (story continued below)

Foster Family Music Center, located in Bettendorf, Iowa, is the cover story and lengthy feature article in the March/April issue of Music Inc. magazine. The publication is a leading music industry trade magazine that is distributed to music stores throughout North America.

 

During the past 10 years, the piano industry has been in a state of decline nationally. The market is now smaller than it has been in 60 years, resulting in manufacturer consolidations and the disappearance of most piano retailers. Since 2001, seven local piano retailers in the Quad Cities have closed or stopped offering new pianos for sale.

 

A combination of technology-centered activities like video games and computers, along with an expanded emphasis on team sports and hectic schedules have resulted in fewer families engaging in piano lessons.

 

The article in Music Inc. magazine focuses on how Foster Family Music has changed their business model over the past decade to adapt, refocus and find their niche in the piano industry. The family-owned company has done this by embracing the use of technology in piano study and performance, as well as promoting awareness for brain development/piano study connections that parents otherwise might not hear about.

The German American Heritage Center will host acclaimed author Susan Goldman Rubin on Tuesday May 1st at 7pm to discuss her book Searching for Ann Frank: Letters from Amsterdam to Iowa. The book details the relationship between the Frank sisters and their penpals from Danville, Iowa.

Admission is $5 with a book signing to follow. Sponsored by the Friends of the Bettendorf Public Library, the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, Holocaust Education Committee of the Greater Quad City Area, and GAHC. The German American Heritage Center is located at 712 W. 2nd St. Davenport, IA. Call 563-322-8844 or email kelly.lao@gahc.org for more information.

Moline--April 20, 2012--Moline High School will host Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's production of The Taming of the Shrew.  The performance will be held in MHS Auditorium on May 1, 2012 at 1:15pm.  The public is encouraged to attend.  Tickets are $10/person and may be reserved through MHS bookstore at (309)743.8833 or purchased at the door.

Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew is a 75-minute abridged production of Shakespeare's lively battle of the sexes adapted and staged by Jeff Award-winning director Rachel Rockwell. Providing the opportunity for adults to give young people in their lives a high-energy introduction to Shakespeare, the cast of Rockwell's production includes CST favorite Ericka Ratcliff, who performs the role of strong-willed Katherina after appearing in Chicago Shakespeare's Jeff Award-winning Shakespeare "hip-hoptation" Funk It Up About Nothin' at CST, Scotland's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, London and a six-week Australian tour. Performing the role of Katherina's sparring partner, Petruchio, is Matt Mueller, whose credits include numerous productions at the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals. Five-time Jeff Award nominee Don Forston returns as Baptista after performing the role of Geppetto in Rockwell's acclaimed world premiere CST Family musical The Adventures of Pinocchio last summer. Local comedic actor Alex Goodrich returns to CST to perform the role of Tranio.

The wildly spirited Kate and machismo-driven Petruchio scream, fight and woo their way into one another's heart in Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew. Drawn together by their strong personalities almost against their will, the unlikely pair ultimately falls in love. Rockwell's production combines an adaptation of Shakespeare's original verse and Elizabethan dress with original rock-inspired music to connect young audiences with the characters' journeys. Immediately following thr performance, actors remain on stage for a discussion with the audience.

For more info: visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com/shortshakespeare.

This is the 5th consecutive year that Moline High School will be hosting the tour, which offers a unique opportunity for students and community members to experience professional, world-class theatre within our own community.


About Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary this season, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a leading international theater company, known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare's genius for intricate storytelling, musicality of language and depth of feeling for the human condition. Recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Chicago Shakespeare's work has been recognized internationally with three of London's prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards, and by the Chicago theater community with 62 Joseph Jefferson Awards for Artistic Excellence. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, CST is dedicated to producing extraordinary classic productions, new works and family fare; unlocking Shakespeare's work for educators and students; and serving as Chicago's cultural ambassador through its World's Stage Series.

DES MOINES, Iowa, April 20, 2012 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today toured a Midwest facility that is using plant-based materials to manufacture ingredients used in dietary supplements and in personal care products for Americans, as well as in agriculture. Kemin is working to add six new manufacturing facilities, three new research facilities and a new corporate headquarters building, creating nearly 100 new jobs. This is an example of how manufacturing products from biobased materials is creating jobs across the country and?coupled with a broader Obama administration effort to promote an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy"?is reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

"Promoting production of biofuels and embracing biobased products have helped reduce dependence on foreign oil to less than 50 percent and will continue to help reduce our reliance for years to come," said Vilsack. "Innovative companies like Kemin are part of a broader biobased economy that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs producing the energy and goods that the world needs from renewable resources grown here at home. If we are able to produce more energy here at home and build a manufacturing economy producing biobased goods, we'll generate middle-class jobs and strengthen our economy in the long run."

Creating new markets for the nation's agricultural products through biobased manufacturing is one of the many steps the Administration has taken over the past three years to strengthen the rural economy. Since August 2011, the White House Rural Council has supported a broad spectrum of rural initiatives including a Presidential Memorandum to create jobs in rural America through biobased and sustainable product procurement, a $350 million commitment in SBA funding to rural small businesses over the next 5 years, launching a series of conferences to connect investors with rural start-ups, creating capital marketing teams to pitch federal funding opportunities to private investors interested in making rural and making job search information available at 2,800 local USDA offices nationwide.

Since taking office, President Obama's Administration has taken historic steps to improve the lives of rural Americans, put people back to work and build thriving economies in rural communities. From proposing the American Jobs Act to establishing the first-ever White House Rural Council - chaired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack - the President is committed to a smarter use of existing Federal resources to foster sustainable economic prosperity and ensure the government is a strong partner for businesses, entrepreneurs and working families in rural communities.

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