Australian-based singer /bass guitar player Anni Piper and her band will be touring the United States and making a stop at Martini's on the Rock, 4619 34th Street, Rock Island, IL on Wednesday, February 19. Anni and her band will start the show at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $7 if you are a Mississippi Valley Blues Society member, or $10 if you are not a member (membership application will be available at the door).

From the time that Anni Piper heard Paul Butterfield Blues Band playing "Born in Chicago," she knew that blues was the musical direction she wanted to head towards. That was at the age of 14, and by the time she was 19 years old, Anni had completed a Bachelor of Arts (Contemporary Music) at Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, and was on her way to an award-winning career in music.

Anni recorded her first CD in 2004 and the album was an immediate success, winning the category of "Best New Talent" at the Australian Blues Music Awards. Her vocals were recorded on numerous CDs after that, but it wasn't long into her continuing musical path that she developed an affinity with the bass guitar, preferring to lay down a groove rather than belt out a solo.

Anni's musical ability and strong focus has since won her many achievements, including a nomination as a top five finalist in the 2010 Musicoz Awards in the Blues / Roots category, and finalist in the 2009 APRA Professional Development Awards. Anni was also a finalist for "Best Female Vocal" at the 2008 Australian Blues Music Awards and received a nomination for the "Rudy Brandsma" award at the 2007 Australian National Songwriting Contest.

This Valentine's Day the Quad City Symphony Orchestra presents an ode to love beginning with music inspired by the tragic romance of Pelleas and Melisande. The tone then brightens as Roberto Diaz, violist of international reputation, returns to the Quad Cities' stage, this time with his wife, the celebrated violinist Elissa Lee Koljonen. Sparks will fly as this couple performs Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. Then, when you come back from intermission, the QCSO will immerse you in all the romantic color and atmosphere of Italy through Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, a work he called the "jolliest piece I have ever done."

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Dear Band Director or Private Instructor:

The Quad City Wind Ensemble is pleased to announce the Twenty-Sixth Annual Charles B. DCamp Young Performer's Solo Competition. Auditions will be held on Sunday, March 23, 2014 from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Madsen Hall at the Galvin Fine Arts Center, St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803. The winner will appear as the guest soloist with the Quad City Wind Ensemble at our Saturday, May 10, 2014 concert at the Galvin Fine Arts Center. Please submit completed forms to: Chuck Collins, 3604 Cedarwood Court, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722. Entry forms must be received or postmarked no later than Saturday, March 15, 2014.

In addition to performing with the Quad City Wind Ensemble, the first place winner will receive a $250 scholarship from the Quad City Wind Ensemble for private study. The second place winner will receive a $150 scholarship and the third place winner will receive a $100 scholarship for private study.

All entrants must be students currently involved in a high school instrumental music program. The soloist must perform a wind or percussion solo for which a band/wind ensemble accompaniment is readily available. There is no entry fee for this competition. The guest soloist must perform the same piece in the concert as performed during the audition. Previous first place winners must audition on a different piece. All applicants must audition using piano accompaniment and furnish two copies of the solo part for the adjudicators. One of the copies may be a photo-copied reproduction of the original.

The Quad City Wind Ensemble, founded by Charles B. DCamp in 1987, is comprised of some of the Quad City area's top wind and percussion players who audition for membership in this select group. It is recognized as one of the finest adult wind ensembles in the nation.

The QCWE is dedicated to music education in public schools. The Charles B. DCamp Young Performer's Solo Competition is one way it supports music education of the QC area's youth. In addition, all participants in school band programs are admitted free to all QCWE performances.

Please feel free to make photocopies of this letter and the application (available on our website at http://www.qcwindensemble.org/solo-competition/) as needed. If you have any questions about the solo competition, please contact Chuck Collins, the competition coordinator, at 563-332-6607; 3604 Cedarwood Court, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722 or by email at cscollins@q.com

I am writing to you today to share with you an opportunity that may interest you or be of interest to some of your audience.  Justin Timberlake will be performing at the United Center February 16th and 17th for The 20/20 Experience World Tour. The 20/20 Experience has been hailed one of the best albums of the year and has gained much buzz in the US as well as internationally.

The United Center is promoting a Valentines Day Give Away, which includes dinner for two and two Justin Timberlake Tickets.  There are 9 different ways to enter, you can view them here.  Contest ends February 13th. 

We are asking your help to spread word of this fun contest to your audience by promoting it on all social media. You can use the  www.unitedcenter.com/JT link and use the hashtag #UCJT.

ROCK ISLAND, IL (02/10/2014)(readMedia)-- The Augustana Symphonic Band will tour Japan for the first time from February 21-March 4. The band will perform four concerts while in Japan, and will perform a home concert on Saturday, March 15 at 8 p.m. in Augustana's Centennial Hall (3703 7th Ave., Rock Island).

The Augustana Symphonic Band is the college's oldest music ensemble, dating back to 1874. The band held its first formal concert in Clark's Hall in Paxton, Illinois, prior to the college's move to its Rock Island campus in 1875. Dr. James Lambrecht, professor of music and director of bands at Augustana, has directed the band since 1988.

Lambrecht is no stranger to Japan. He performed there as a graduate student under the direction of Ray Cramer, who directed the Indiana University Wind Ensemble and is a regular guest conductor at the Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo. Lambrecht has followed in Cramer's footsteps, having served as guest conductor at Musashino twice, with another appointment scheduled for this coming summer.

Mitchell Carter '14, a music education major from Mundelein, Ill., said, "It's a really exciting opportunity to be able to continue this tradition of sharing our music. Our program for this tour is a unique blend of works with ties to both the United States and Japan, including Julie Giroux's Symphony IV, which is based on famous Japanese woodprints, as well as classic Western band literature, such as a handful of Sousa marches and Holst's First Suite in E-flat."

While in Japan, the band will perform concerts and participate in exchanges with other bands in Osaka and Tokyo.

The following students from your area will tour with the Augustana Symphonic Band:

Ingrid Schneider of Davenport (52806)

Andrew Bainter of Coal Valley (61240)

Lizandra Gomez-Ramirez of Rock Island (61201)

Bobby Holmquist of East Moline (61244)

Benjamin McKay of Rock Island (61201)

About Augustana College: Founded in 1860, Augustana College is a selective four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences. The college is recognized for the innovative program Augie Choice, which provides each student up to $2,000 to pursue a high-impact learning experience such as study abroad, an internship or research with a professor. Current students and alumni include 149 Academic All-Americans, a Nobel laureate, 13 college presidents and other distinguished leaders. The college enrolls 2,500 students and is located along one of the world's most important waterways, the Mississippi River, in a community that reflects the diversity of the United States.

There are three Masterworks concerts remaining this year with the next just one week away. That means you have only seven days left to save more than 15% off regular ticket prices by purchasing all three concerts as a subscription package.

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TODAY

 

Keep in mind that Yo-Yo Ma is performing with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra at the end of next season on May 14, 2015. This season's subscribers will get the first opportunity to purchase tickets for this landmark occasion. So, if you haven't subscribed yet to the 2013-14 season, be sure to subscribe today!

Davenport, IA-This exciting new collaboration between the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, the Davenport Library, and the Davenport Public Schools demonstrates the illustrative power of music, with a little help from the musicians of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. A string trio made of QCSO musicians will perform pieces from the classical repertoire to mirror the emotional impact of memorable moments in the classic book Bud, Not Buddy, similar to the way a movie score or cartoon might use classical music. Fourth Grade students from Jefferson-Edison Elementary in Davenport have been studying the book as part of their curriculum, but all are welcome to attend this fun and engaging presentation.

The programs are at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on February 8 at the Davenport Public Library in downtown Davenport, 321 N. Main Street. The event is free to the public and students of all ages are invited to attend. Press is also invited to cover the event.

 

Bud, Not Buddy

Saturday, February 8

11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Davenport Public Library

321 N. Main Street, Davenport

 

###

ROCK ISLAND, IL (02/05/2014)(readMedia)-- The Augustana Choir, from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, will tour the Midwest from February 21-March 1. The nine-day, nine-concert tour will take nearly 60 students from as far north as the Twin Cities to as far east as Cincinnati, Ohio. Admission to all concerts is free, and a freewill offering will be accepted.

The Augustana Choir was founded in 1931 and performed its first concert at Chicago's Orchestra Hall. Since then, the ensemble has been one of the most highly regarded collegiate choirs in the nation. Dr. Jon Hurty, Gassman Family Professor of Music, director of choral activities and co-chair of the Department of Music at Augustana, has been director of the ensemble since 1996. Since then he has led the choir on tours throughout the United States, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, China, Japan and Mexico. Last year the choir had the honor of performing at the Lincoln Academy of Illinois' Convocation and Investiture of Laureates Ceremony, held at Augustana, where the state's highest award for personal achievement was presented.

This year's tour program is a diverse mix of musical genres, ranging from traditional choral music by Brahms and Rachmaninoff, to a piece composed for the soundtrack of an Indian film, to a praise song written in Swahili.

The following students from the area will tour with the ensemble:

Rebecca Knapper of Davenport (52806)

Christine Harb of Davenport (52807)

Benjamin Knapper of Davenport (52806)

Jacob McManus of Reynolds (61279)

Anthony TouVelle of Bettendorf (52722)

Jens Hurty of Moline (61265)

Alex Haifa of Moline (61265)

Elyzia Powers of Silvis (61282)

2014 Tour of the Midwest

February 21, 7 p.m., Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, Prior Lake, Minnesota

February 22, 7:30 p.m., St. John's Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa

February 23, 7:30 p.m., Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, Fairfield, Iowa

February 24, 7:30 p.m., First Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois

February 25, 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois

February 26, 7:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Manchester, Missouri

February 27, 7 p.m., Christ Lutheran Church, Jeffersontown, Kentucky

February 28, 1:30 p.m., American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio

March 1, 7:30 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Illinois

March 14, 8 p.m., St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa

Founded in 1860, Augustana College is a selective four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences. Augustana College is recognized for the innovative program Augie Choice, which provides each student up to $2,000 to pursue a high-impact learning experience such as study abroad, an internship or research with a professor. Current students and alumni include 149 Academic All-Americans, a Nobel laureate, 13 college presidents and other distinguished leaders. The college enrolls 2,500 students and is located along one of the world's most important waterways, the Mississippi River, in a community that reflects the diversity of the United States.

Fathom Events, Focus on the Family™ and Pine Creek Entertainment invite you to explore the origins and history of the family structure through an array of lenses and cultures as the documentary "Irreplaceable" arrives in 700 select cinemas nationwide for a theatrical one-night event on Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30 pm (local time).
Join host and Executive Director of Focus on the Family™, Tim Sisarich as he meets with experts from around the globe to define the concept of family and determine if family is still meaningful in modern society. On the journey he hopes to discover why all humans have a yearning to be part of a family and looks at the forces that can contribute to its breakdown. Additionally, this compelling documentary will include a panel discussion who will investigate the implications family has for all of humanity.
"Irreplaceable" will be shown at the following cinemas in your area on Tues. May 6 at 7:30 pm (local time):
Cinemark Davenport 18 with IMAX 3601 E 53Rd St Davenport IA 52807
Tickets are available now at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. Click here for a full list of participating theaters (subject to change).
Please feel free to contact us for review tickets, more information on "Irreplaceable," or any of Fathom's upcoming events. For artwork/photos related to "Irreplaceable," click here.

Nova Singers, under the direction of Dr. Laura Lane, presents two performances of Music of the Deep North Saturday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. at First Lutheran Church in Galesburg, and Sunday, February 23 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport.

Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics are famous for their wealth of choral and folk music. This unique program features a wide variety of music from this extraordinary part of the world.  Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's masterpiece, which tells the story of a 1994 maritime disaster, is one of the most powerful and challenging pieces written for choir.  Brahms wrote his Nachtwache I and II at the end of his life and loved them so much that he wanted them sung at his funeral! Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's Nunc dimittis is quietly beautiful.  Northern Lights, written by young Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds, combines a folk song with English poetry, chimes and water-tuned glasses to evoke the experience of viewing the northern lights.  A set of Swedish folk songs, in Swedish and English, rounds out this Scandinavian program.

Artistic Director Laura Lane says, "This is the coolest program we've done since Drum Song!  Every piece is completely different from every other piece, each one offering its own unique beauty and soundscape. I think audience members will love hearing the traditional sounds of Brahms and the simple beauty of the Swedish folk songs. But folks will also hear special vocal techniques including whispering, chanting, humming, sliding and traditional Lithuanian tongue-clicking. This program also features some instruments that I've never heard live before, such as an ocarina and water-tuned glasses. I'm really excited to be doing Esenvalds' Northern Lights:  the chimes and the water-tuned glasses give it a uniquely haunting atmosphere."

Nova Singers, a professional vocal ensemble under the direction of Dr. Laura Lane, hopes to share our musical soul with you.  Nova Singers is known for bringing a wide variety of choral music to its audiences, and for the beauty and charm the singers impart to their music.

Tickets will be available at the door. Admission is $18 for adults and $15 for seniors. Students are admitted free of charge. Nova Singers season tickets will still be available through this performance.  For information about tickets, recordings, or other Nova Singers events, call 309-341-7038, or e-mail nova@knox.edu or like our Facebook page.

 

Music of the Deep North is sponsored by Blick Art Materials.  Nova Singers' 2013-2014 season is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.??

Pages