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.

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!

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.

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.??