ArtPrize Musicians’ Showcase at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center saw small but mindful audiences; nearly 50 acts to play indoors and out over the weekend.
Roger MacNaughton, Tom Lockwood and John Gist performed as a trio on opening night of the ArtPrize Musicians’ Showcase.
The crowds weren’t imposing, but music certainly made its mark on opening night of the ArtPrize Musicians’ Showcase at St. Cecilia Music Center on Thursday.
And in a perfect world, Grand Rapids jazz pianist Steve Talaga would love to see music and live performances play an even bigger role in the international arts competition in future years.
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“It’s all important, I think,” the pianist said after his compelling performance in St. Cecilia’s Royce Auditorium. “I love visual arts, of course, but music is something I’ve given my heart and soul to.”
Plenty of heart and soul of the musical variety will be on display through early Sunday evening, as more than 50 solo artists and bands representing a broad range of genres – rock, folk, classical, blues, jazz, pop, Celtic, country, bluegrass – play the musicians’ showcase inside and outside St. Cecilia, 24 Ransom Ave. NE, in a festival-styled event for 2012.
The artists are among 79 who’ve entered musical pieces in this year’s ArtPrize competition. It’s the second year for ArtPrize music entries, but the first year that St. Cecilia will award separate $2,000 prizes slated to the top vote-getters in five musical categories. Listening stations in St. Cecilia’s basement also give visitors an opportunity to hear all of the entries.
The opening night of the four-day music showcase featured a subdued vibe and small-but-attentive audiences who listened to short sets by Talaga, Alan Carriero, Lucas Wilson, Jim Cooper, Theodore Ndawillie II, Emily Brown and pianist Roger MacNaughton, who closed out the evening with dynamic-yet-soothing jazz accompanied by saxophonist John Gist and bassist Tom Lockwood.
Indeed, I sensed that crowds overall were down on the first Thursday of this year’s ArtPrize competition: Although downtown clearly was bustling with pedestrian traffic, there seemed to be more elbow room, whether on sidewalks along Fulton Street or the parking lot at The B.O.B., which boasts a host of ArtPrize entries and outdoor cocktails.
St. Cecilia’s musicians’ showcase, co-sponsored by Mackinaw Harvest Music, ramps up considerably starting at 3:30 p.m. today (Friday), when more than a dozen acts perform outdoors on the parking lot stage, with 39 more performing indoors and out on Saturday and Sunday. Check out the full schedule and more details here.
Food, coffee and alcoholic beverages will be available for sale at booths sponsored by One Trick Pony, Westside Beer and Schuil Coffee.
“It’s just great. It’s such a wonderful thing,” Talaga said of ArtPrize and the weekend’s musical performances. “It’s such a celebration of art.”
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