Quad City Bank & Trust Presents the Riverfront Pops' “The Music of Elton John" at LeClaire Park -- August 20.
Saturday, August 20, 7:30 p.m.
LeClaire Park Bandshell, 400 West Beiderbecke Drive, Davenport IA
In celebration of the popular summertime event's 40th anniversary, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Quad City Bank & Trust treat audiences to a rockin' party on the Mississippi with the Riverfront Pops' choir-enhanced symphonic event The Music of Elton John, a salute to the Oscar-, Tony-, and Grammy-winning legend featuring such iconic hits as “Rocket Man,” “Madman Across the Water,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me."
Conducting this year's Riverfront Pops is Ernesto Estigarribia, the Assistant Conductor and Youth Ensembles Music Director of the Quad City Symphony. Hailed for his “expert direction” by Fanfare magazine, the Paraguayan Estigarribia previously served as Music Director of Buffalo Community Orchestra and Southeastern Minnesota Youth Orchestras, and having a passion for working with young musicians, he is also member of the conducting staff of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Estigarribia has conducted the Mankato Symphony, Rochester Symphony, Oskaloosa Music Festival Orchestra, Argentina's Orquesta del Centro del Conocimiento, and his home country's Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional, where he was the first Paraguayan guest conductor to appear in the International series. Estigarribia has also been a popular presence during the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's special accompaniments of popular movies, having conducted live scores for such films as Frozen, Coco, and Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire.
Performing vocals for The Music of Elton John, meanwhile, are two renowned international talents: Jean Meilleur and John Regan, the latter of whom also provides piano accompaniment. A longtime headliner for Jeans ’n Classics - a group of musicians who understand orchestra culture and are committed to help in the building of younger, loyal audiences for symphony orchestras across North America - Meilleur is a prolific singer/songwriter who has been performing professionally for more than 30 years. His passionate, provocative singing voice boasts a robust timbre that has led to employment in many national radio and television jingles and advertisements, with the artist recently chosen as the Canadian voice of Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Regen, meanwhile, began his career as a sideman to such jazz artists as Kyle Eastwood and Little Jimmy Scott before releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums including 2015's Stop Time, which featured members of Elvis Costello’s Imposters, and 2019's Higher Ground, which included guest appearances by icons Andy Summers of The Police, Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Chuck Leavell of The Rolling Stones, and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. Regen also hit number one on the Billboard charts with his instrumental album Change Your Mind, and DownBeat magazine said of the artist, "“Regen’s music shoots from – and directly into – the heart.”
With Jon Hurty serving as choir conductor for the performances Augustana Choral Artists, the August 20 Riverfront Pops event in LeClaire Park will begin with a 6:30 p.m. pre-show featuring the QCSO Youth Symphony Orchestra. The 7:30 p.m. concert itself will conclude with rousing renditions of Tchaikovsky's “1812 Overture” and Sousa's “Stars & Stripes Forever” set to a spectacular fireworks display over the Mississippi River. Advance tickets are $5-22, and more information on the Quad City Bank & Trust's The Music of Elton John is available by calling (563)322-0931 and visiting QCSO.org.
