Fayette invites community to enjoy a little “big-city” culture
FAYETTE, Iowa (April 2, 2008) - Why get dressed up and travel miles to the nearest city to attend a classical chamber music concert when you can have the same experience close to home? On Saturday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fayette Opera House, Red Cedar Chamber Music will perform its Rural Outreach Concert, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum."
"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" is one o
f three annual concerts developed for the Cedar Rapids Concert Series and taken on the road. The performance will feature a flute and guitar duo of Jan Boland and John Dowdall.
The concert is inspired by folk songs, musical style and social issues that are a part of the American folk tradition. "I began playing guitar in 1964 because I loved the music of Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, the Chad Mitchell Trio and other folk artists who were the voice of America at that time," said Red Cedar's Artistic Director John Dowdall. "I realize now that I was attracted not only to the melodies and the messages the songs conveyed, but also to the intimacy and interactive quality of the performances."
The centerpiece of the concert is Andrew Earle Simpson's new composition Fireflies: A Folk Set for Flute & Guitar, which will have debuted only three days prior to Fayette's event. "Classical chamber music shares the same intimacy and communicative power as folk music and it seemed natural to ask Andrew to create a composition inspired by the American folk tradition," said Dowdall.
Executive Director Jan Boland adds, "Each of the six movements of Fireflies is inspired by a different facet of American folk music, ranging from the haunting austerity of Appalachian mountain music to the exuberant folk-pop sounds of John Denver and the wistful musings of the hobo song, Hallelujah, I'm a Bum. This delightful new commission will join other music Andrew has written for Red Cedar Chamber Music on our upcoming all-Simpson compact disc."
Andrew Earle Simpson is the current composer-in-residence for Red Cedar Chamber Music. The Hallelujah, I'm a Bum! performance also includes Simpson's six-movement Winter-Night Canticles, the music of America's most famous 19th-century popular composer Stephen Foster and folk music from Bolivia, Ireland and Hungary.
This free concert is hosted by Dr. Roland Vazquez, a Fayette resident and professor at Upper Iowa University (UIU). It is sponsored by UIU, the National Endowment for the Arts, the James & Norma Jean Rosborough Foundation, and Alliant Energy Foundation.
More information about the concert is available at www.redcedar.org. For more information about Upper Iowa University and its degree programs, go to www.uiu.edu.
Contact:
Sheila Miller
Director of Public Relations
Work - 563-425-5326
Cell - 319-610-7108
Fax - 563-425-5701
millers@uiu.edu
www.uiu.edu