MOLINE ? MARCH 12, 2010 ?West Music is proud to host a FREE screening of Note By Note on Friday, March 26 beginning at 6:00 PM. Please join us in store at 4305 44th Avenue, located off John Deere Road and 41st Street. For more information, call 309-764-9300.

The most thoroughly handcrafted instruments in the world, Steinway pianos are as unique and full of personality as the world-class musicians who play them. However, their makers are a dying breed: skilled cabinetmakers, gifted tuners, thorough hand-crafters. Note By Note is a feature-length independent documentary that follows the creation of a Steinway concert grand, #L1037 - from forest floor to concert hall.

Produced and directed by Ben Niles, Note By Note covers the process's highlights and touches on the benefits of a hand-crafted instrument. It reconciles the extremes of the piano's personality spectrum-craftsman to musicians. Ultimately, it pushes the story into new territory, infusing personal stories with the instruments, treating them as one in the same. For more information on this documentary film and to view trailer clips, visit www.notebynotethemovie.com and www.argotpictures.com.

Ben Niles is a documentary filmmaker and award-winning graphic designer. During his fifteen years as a graphic designer, Ben has directed and produced photo shoots, commercials, videos and print campaigns for commercial and entertainment clients including Atlantic Records, The Nantucket Film Festival, and the Jacob Burns Film Center. Ben is a graduate of the University of Georgia at Athens and attended Urge's prestigious Crotona program, an intensive fine arts study-abroad program located in Crotona, Italy.

West Music was founded in Iowa City, IA in 1941. With five locations in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, West Music is a full-line music retailer, houses a full-time instrument repair staff, and conducts over 4,000 lesson students and 400 school music programs each week.

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February 24, 2010

Charlie King and Karen Brandow, noted folk singers from the Boston area, will perform in the Quad Cities Friday, March 12, to raise money for the Centro Maya Project, to help children and families participating in a school for children with disabilities in San Juan La  Laguna, Guatemala.

The concert will be at 7 pm at Broadway Presbyterian Church, 710 23rd St., Rock Island.  Weavings and jewelry made by the mothers of the children will be sold before the concert.

Until the last few years, children with disabilities were not able to attend school in the Mayan villages in Guatemala.  Because there are few jobs and a shortage of affordable food, 70% of children in Mayan villages like San Juan are malnourished.  The children with disabilities were not expected to live to adulthood.

In 2002, Jeanne Nakamaru, a speech therapist for the Black Hawk Area Special Education District in the Illinois Quad Cities, went to Guatemala and volunteered at Centro Maya, which was a center run by parents.  After she came back she made a presentation about the project at her church, and since that time,  the Unitarian Church in Davenport has raised funds for the Centro Maya program as a social justice project.  Some of the money that has been raised has paid for a physical therapist, hearing aid molds and audiology services, water filtration for village families, and supplemental corn and beans for families of the children attending the Centro Maya school.  Donations have also included children's books in Spanish, hearing aids, eyeglasses, wheelchair, even a van to pick up children from nearby villages.  A number of church members have visited Centro Maya.

Jeanne and her husband Bob Nakamaru have purchased land in San Juan La Laguna and created garden space with water supply for some of the families to grow their own vegetables.  They are aided by local people, including a well-known artist of the area, Benedicto Ixtamer.

Charlie King has been performing in the Quad Cities every year for many years.  Pete Seeger has called him, "One of the finest singers and songwriters of our time." His songs are topical, sometimes moving, and often humorous.  His wife, Karen Brandow, studied vocal performance and guitar during her eight years living in Guatemala in the 1980's.  She performed while there, and has performed with Charlie King sine 1998.  More information about their music is available at www.charlieking.org.

ROCK ISLAND, IL (02/11/2010)(readMedia)-- The 2010 Augustana Symphonic Band will perform throughout the Midwest from February 19-28. From your area, this includes:

Grace Drenth, a first year from Davenport, IA majoring in elementary education.

Gaetano Iaccarino, a sophomore from Davenport, IL majoring in music.

Katie Lambrecht, a first year from Moline, IL majoring in psychology.

Paul Lambrecht, a senior from Moline, IL majoring in political science, history, and secondary education.

Audrey Taylor, a junior from Moline, IL majoring in biology education.

Jennifer Youngs, a sophomore from Taylor Ridge, IL majoring in psychology.

The band's tour will include performances in Valparaiso, Indiana; Michigan City, Indiana; Wabash, Indiana; Aurora, Illinois; Brookfield, Wisconsin; Cary, Illinois; and Rockford, Illinois. For specific performance times and locations, please visit www.augustana.edu/bandtour.

The Augustana Symphonic Band was established in 1874, making it the oldest musical organization at Augustana. The band took its first concert tour to central Iowa in the spring of 1883 and became one of the first American collegiate bands to tour in Europe in 1928.

The band is under the direction of Dr. James Lambrecht, professor of trumpet and director of bands at Augustana. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. of music from Indiana University and now serves as a guest conductor, clinician, and soloist throughout the country and abroad.

Lambrecht sees the tour as an important part of the band program. "Our students talk about the tour as the hallmark of their experience," he said. "As a private college, it is also an important part of our tradition. Large universities are not able to do this, so the tour distinguishes us as a college and lets us reach out to people through our music."

Dana Gustafson, a junior majoring in communication sciences and disorders, agrees with Lambrecht. "At a larger school there is no way I could play in the top touring ensemble without majoring in music and having that be my whole life. At Augustana I can tour with the band every year, which gives me the opportunity to pursue my passion for music, meet so many incredible people, and play amazing literature along the way."

In April, the band will perform at Orchestra Hall in Chicago's Symphony Center, along with the Augustana Choir and Augustana Symphony Orchestra. The grand multiple-ensemble performance will be one of several celebrations held throughout the year in honor of the college's 150th anniversary.

For more information, contact Kamy Beattie at kamybeattie@augustana.edu or 309-794-7721.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 60 majors and areas of study. Augustana employs 226 faculty and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it always has done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.