Announcing Fall Performances!

Percussionist Rocky Maffit

 

 

September begins a new season for Prairie Breezes Mini Concerts for Kids.  This is a children's music series designed to introduce children to live, quality musical performances, most often occuring on the second Friday of the month from 4:15-5:00 p.m. in the Lewis Auditorium.  Percussionist Rocky Maffit will kick-off the season on Friday, September 14 with "The Rhythm is YOU!" featuring percussion instruments from around with world that can be shaken, struck, slapped or scraped.  Rocky interweaves playing and demonstration with song and audience participation.  In October, The Derek Cordoba Jazz Trio - Derick Cordoba (guitar), Olivia Flanigan (vocals) and Michael Meadows (acoustic bass) - brings swinging rhythms and irresistible melodies together for jazz favorites from the great American songbook.  As the weather turns colder, come inside to enjoy the warming tunes of the Big Bluestem String Band on Friday, November 9.  Bringing toe-tapping traditional American music to this concert will be Kathleen Everingham (fiddle), Rebecca Grosser (guitar), Jose Agusti (guitar), Drew Phillips (mandolin), Randy Cordle (banjo), and Todd Kinney (bass).  Then just in time for the winter holidays, join us on Friday, December 14 for a performance of harp music and Irish dance by the Caengal Harp Ensemble, an energetic group of youth harpists from the Next Generation School, and founded by Leila Ramagopal.  We hope you are excited as we are to hear these great performers.  We look forward to seeing you!  -Elaine B.

Friday Afternoon Think Books & Music!

Starting today at 5 p.m. is the Friends of the Library Fall Booksale.  Thousands of books are available, including children's titles.  Most everything is priced 50 cents to a dollar.  It continues tomorrow (Friday - 9-5:30), Saturday (9-5:30) and Sunday (1-4:30), with a free giveaway Monday morning at 9 a.m. 

After you stop at the booksale, come on down to the Children's Department for a family concert by Grassroots Revival - an Americana/Bluegrass Duo from 4:15 - 5:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.  Jones and JamieLou will share songs featuring vocals, banjo, guitar, autoharp, and more.  You might even want to take some home with you like the cd I Like Bluegrass Songs.  -Elaine B.

Music and the Arts

We are blessed to live in a community that supports the arts.  Perhaps some of you were even at the recent ACE Awards, given by the local arts and entertainment council, 40 North.  Picture book writers Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan have joined talents again to celebrate the arts by sharing the creative process behind the ballet Appalachian Spring in the book Ballet for Martha.  The authors profile each artist, as individual strands in a braid, to share the interwoven process between dancer/choreographer Martha Graham,  musician Aaron Copland, and set designer Isamu Noguchi.  Brian Floca's watercolor and ink illustrations perfectly pace the unfolding story, as correspondence is sent through the mail, dancers grapple with unusual scenery, and the ballet finally opens to a live audience.  This is a perfect book for sharing together with children and adults, whether with a dance enthusiast, or a fellow creative spirit.  -Elaine B.  P.S.   Don't miss our display of other musically-inspired children's books.  Visit them on the wall next to our easy-to-read section through December.

Klezmer Mania!

So what is Klezmer music, anyway? We're featuring it tonight during Prairie Breezes Mini Concert for Kids. Beginning at 6:30 in the Lewis Auditorium, "Little Oy on the Prairie" will warm us with the infectious rhythms and singing melodies of traditional Klezmer music. To find out more, try Mendel's Accordion by Heidi Smith Hyde (illustrations by Johanna Van Der Sterre). Hyde's book tells the story of how Klezmer music made its way across the ocean from Eastern Europe to the United States. The simple text and clear pictures would make for a good lapsit story or classroom reading. Enjoy Klezmer music at home from our compact disc collection featuring the versatile Ishtak Perlman with the Klezmer Conservatory Band (In the Fiddler's House), Naftule Brandwein (King of the Klezmer Clarinet ) or Alicia Svigals (Fidl). -Elaine B.