**These
concerts are supported by Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting
by the National Endowment for the Arts, the NE Arts Council, and foundations,
corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and Texas.
Bravo Broadway's husband and wife team of Gary Mauer, and Elizabeth Southard are a Broadway
mainstay.
They have starred
in The Phantom of the Opera both on Broadway and the Hal Prince touring company,
Les Miserables, Show Boat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Pirates of Penzance,
Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, March of the Falsettos and Baby.
Gary was also a featured soloist in the world tour of “The Music of Andrew
Lloyd Webber,” with Michael Crawford, bringing him to Japan, Australia,
England, Scotland and culminating back in the US.
Beth has also preformed Off-Broadway in Jack Eric William’s Swamp Gas
and Shallow Feelings and on tours that include Christine in the Yeston/Kopit
Phantom and The Sound of Music with Marie Osmond. Regional highlights include
Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Claudia in Nine.
These four Russian born
and trained musicians met in Germany in 2002 and decided to dedicate themselves
to playing four cellos and not focusing on music written for cellos.Rastrellihave
met with international acclaim and sold out around the world.
" Riveting...Very entertaining...wild cheers...These four musicians
could sound like a classical symphony one moment and play ragtime, jazz, klezmer
or even
a polka the next."The Barrie Examiner, Ontario, Canada
" To say this performance was breathtaking is an understatement...
This is a fabulous quartet of charismatic performers!" Thea S. Engelson, Clinton
IA, presentere
This foursome is extremely musical and wonderfully well-balanced. It
is a great thrill to hear a cello quartet this excellent. I defy
any other instrument
to sound this good, by itself, in quartet set-up, and each of the four
cello voices is at once perfectly distinct yet wonderfully blended. They
are technically
accomplished enough to remind me of the twelve cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic.
The
Five Brownscurrently have 10 grand pianos packed into their house.
Five of them are each in their own rooms for individual practicing and
one room
has a total of five pianos for group practices. With the goal of bringing
classical music to young people, this fun energetic family makes piano
enjoyable and interesting.
After their debut with their
self-titled first album that reached #2, The 5 Browns followed with No Boundaries,
their recording that
has spent 20 consecutive
weeks at number one on Billboards Traditional Classic Chart. No Boundaries
features the five piano virtuosos in a wide-ranging selection of music showcaseing
the five playing together and in various combinations. There are spellbinding
transcriptions of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Stravinsky’s The
Firebird as well as the new work Simple Gifts/Going Home – variations
on Copland’s Shaker hymn Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring and Dvorak’s
Going Home theme from his Ninth Symphony.
The Five Browns have appeared on "Oprah," "The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno," "ABC's Good Morning America," "NBC's Today
Show," "CBS's 60 Minutes" and "National Public Radio's
Performance Today." They have also been featured in The New York Times,
Gramophone, People, Parade, USA Weekend, Entertainment Weekly, Time Magazine
for Kids, Chicago Tribune, Billboard, New York Post, Los Angeles Times
and the Sunday London Telegraph. Imagine the impact of 5 Steinway Grand
Pianos
with the accoustics of the Merryman Performing Arts Center!
Take
five talented musicians, add over twenty five acoustic instruments and music
from six continents, sprinkle on a bit of dance and a few corny jokes, and
you have the recipe for Tin Roof Tango's Big Acoustic World Show. Featuring
selections from South America, Africa, Australia, and the Orient, this ensemble
entertains with music ranging from an Irish jig played on the banjo to a
Bolivian melody that wafts from the kena. With a generous helping of American
and Celtic music, Tin Roof Tango pours on Old Time fiddling, Cajun dance
tunes, intense bluegrass, and Jazz ...all with that trademark Tin Roof Tango
high energy, acoustic fusion sound. "It's a pretty quirky concept," remarks
leader Mark Shelton. Indeed, quirky and unique might come to mind as the
five musicians strum, strike, blow, scrape, bow, pluck, and shake an assortment
of more than two dozen instruments. The variety extends to the vocals as
the audience is treated to songs in English, Spanish, Yoruba (W. Africa),
Japanese, and Cajun French.
Tin Roof Tango's self-titled CD blends Celtic, jazz, bluegrass, Andean
and salsa styles into an exciting whole. This is one of the most fun
albums I've
heard in a long time! —Rambles Magazine
"
The show was … the talent was outstanding and the raw energy was far
beyond what I envisioned. I would highly suggest that anyone...anyone...who
is looking for a fast paced, talent laden show, to consider TIN ROOF TANGO." —D.
Deno Black River Falls, WI
Whit Smith’s
Hot Jazz Caravan continues
the tradition of mixing swing jazz with western music to the delight and
discriminating tastes of music fans and dancers alike. Original compositions
and familiar melodies compliment fresh arrangements but it is still a western
swing band and still playing songs such as Pennies from Heaven to Little
Liza Jane, Hot Jazz Caravan’s roots are steeped in the influences and
the experiences gained from seven years of constant touring with the Hot
Club of Cowtown. Taking full advantage of its larger size of two guitars,
fiddle, clarinet and steel, the band creates a smooth lush sound with a big
steady rhythm and harmonized melodies spiked with hot jazz solos from all.
The bold ambition of this band is to continue writing original songs and
reinterpret the standards while creating a new sound that music lovers will
respect and yearn for more.
**These
concerts are supported by Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting
by the National Endowment for the Arts, the NE Arts Council, and foundations,
corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and Texas.