Stepping is a percussive dance and music style that originated in fraternities and sororities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “Drumfolk” is an original commission by Hancher Auditorium that uses this form to tell the story of Africans in America and the triumph of human spirit during enslavement. StepAfrika! founder C. Brian Williams talks about …
Fred Easker has been paining full time since 1994, and his landscapes are currently being featured at Gilded Pear Gallery. Fred talks about the very first landscapes he painted, and what locations other than his native Eastern Iowa environs that have inspired him. “Meditations on Moments in the Landscape” will be up through Oct. 2 …
KCCK’s Jazz Under The Stars 2021 wraps up on August 26 with the Iowa Women’s Jazz Orchestra. This all-female big band is the only one in the state. Directors Toni Lefebvre and Kelli Swehla say the band was formed to give women opportunities to perform and arrange, and also to spotlight female jazz composers, who …
Vocalist Lynne Rothrock hosts the first public event since March 2020 in the Opus Concert Cafe, when she debuts a brand new show, “American Songbook” Aug. 20 and 21. The program will run the gamut, with standards from Gershwin and Cole Porter, but also more recent classics from Carole King, Jimmy Webb, and Iowa native …
Dennis McPartland has played at Jazz Under the Stars more than just about any musician, in addition to his education work as a part of KCCK’s Schoolhouse Jazz. He reminisces about some of his favorite Noelridge Park memories and also gives a preview of what his latest band, Soul Sacrifice, inspired by Carlos Santana, will …
Ernie Schiller’s Rebuild Nepal Education Foundation raises money for schools in that mountainous country, which has never fully recovered from devastating 2017 earthquake. One of his Nepalese friends is art teacher and watercolor artist Sujan Tamang, who has sent dozens of new works to Ernie for a new exhibit at The Artisan Way, also known …
Steve Shanley says you don’t have to think about school starting until after the Muni Band season is over, so we’re taking his advice! The final Muni Band concerts will feature band members Greg Morton, Andy Harris, and Lisa Wissenberg in solo spotlights, and music from the movies “The Terminal,” “Frozen,” and the recent Star …
We begin our special series of shows featuring the artists performing at KCCK’s Jazz Under The Stars with the versatile performer and teacher Eric Thompson. Whether it’s teaching high school drumlins, working with students in the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, or performing on jazz drums, Eric brings his musical and activist heart to …
