Tuesday’s “Family Night” kickoff to feature interactive performances of music and dance by An Dro, Michigan Hiryu Daiko, Leah Ivory & the Rhym Life Collective, Igor Houwat, more. See the full series schedule.
Eclectic Family-Friendly Showcase: Tuesday Evening Music Club starts this week at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Tori Thomas)
The “Family Night” kickoff of the Tuesday Evening Music Club concert series at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will boast “a smorgasbord of world drum and dance culture,” says Lansing-area percussionist Carolyn Koebel, who organized the festivities.
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Carolyn Koebel of An Dro (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
As a member of the Celtic/world music group An Dro, Koebel will also perform Tuesday along with other world music acts — Michigan Hiryu Daiko, Leah Ivory & the Rhythm Life Collective and Igor Houwat. The concert will also feature Boheme Tribal dancers, Irish step dancers and Villa-lobos, along with community Dabke and Samba dance as a way of expanding the world culture experience into art forms beyond music.
“Each act does about eight-and-a-half minutes, then passes off to the next to create a continuous flow. There is lots of built-in room for interaction, and plenty of young folks dancing and sharing their spirits,” Koebel says. “The Gardens wanted to kick off a program with the theme ‘Welcoming the World,’ so I sat down with (Meijer Gardens’) Ted Bufkin and outlined this concept, borrowed from the Michigan Global Roots music fest that I co-produce.”
‘PROUD PARENT’ OF A POPULAR WEEKLY SERIES
This is the second year that the series, originated by Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Ralston Bowles more than a decade ago to showcase Michigan’s local and regional diversified musical talent, has launched with a “Family Night,” although the entire series is family-oriented.
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The series founder says he’s “pleased with how the event has grown up. I feel like a proud parent of how it has come along. I look forward to it every year.”
Tuesday Evening Music Club’s second show, on July 14, will feature students from The Piano Cottage — which opened last year’s series along with Afro Zuma — delivering a two-hour, two-set set performance. Students at the Grand Rapids instructional studio will open with a percussion ensemble of the “Mission: Impossible” theme, featuring a 50-member chorus with about 25 soloists performing a variety of recognizable tunes ranging from classic rock to contemporary hits, according to co-director Jody Deems-McCargar.
“The kids are very geeked about it,” she says. “Coming to Meijer Gardens is always the highlight of the year.”
The Piano Cottage Returns: Next week, students will sing and play on the Meijer Gardens stage. (Photo/Tori Thomas)
The rest of the 2015 series follows the traditional format of past years, with two local or regional acts playing each night — an impressive lineup that ranges from the folk of Bennett to the soul of Vox Vidorra to the bluegrass of Billy Strings & Don Julin. (Check out the schedule above, which you can save on your smartphone.)
Tuesday Evening Music Club concerts are free for Meijer Gardens members. Non-members pay just the regular admission to Meijer Gardens: $12 for ages 14-64; $9 for those 65 and older and students with an ID; $6 for ages 5-13; and $4 for ages 2 and 3. Children younger than 2 are free.
Read more about the series in this Local Spins feature: https://localspins.com/meijer-gardens-tuesday-evening-music-club-series-to-feature-vox-vidorra-billy-strings-don-julin-bennett/.
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
