PEACH WEEKENDER | MUSIC

Music at the Market features vocalist Kim Buehler

8/14/2014

Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev, Russian dancers and now stars of the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, will be in residence at Ballet Theatre of Toledo.

Jazz vocalist Kim Buehler and three of her musical friends will be onstage at 7 p.m. today at Perrysburg's Music at the Market concert series, Louisiana and Indiana avenues in the downtown.

Buehler, a regional favorite who has sung all over the United States and in France, is on the University of Toledo jazz faculty.

Gathering for backup will be drummer Pete Siers (last heard locally in July with piano man Larry Fuller) plus bassist Jeff Halsey, and keyboardist Josh Silver.

On the program will be selections from Buehler’s latest CD, Pieces of Me. In case of rain, the program will move inside the Commodore Building just behind the park, 140 E. Indiana Ave.

Admission is free; patrons should tote their own seating. For more information, contact sponsor Main Artery at 419-324-4758.

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The Maumee River Jazz Series continues at Forrester’s on the River, at the Docks, where music starts at 6 p.m. Wednesdays. Local stars and visitors make for a varied offering.

Next week’s performer will be Detroit flutist Alexander Zonjic. Cover charge is $5.

Promoter John Patterson, of Monroe, who runs the River Raisin Jazz Festival, says he plans a jazz festival in the Docks area on Sept. 6. Stay tuned.

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At the Toledo Museum of Art, the highly esteemed Great Music in the Great Gallery series will resume with a concert by trombonist Garth Simmons and pianist Michael Boyd at 3 p.m. Aug. 24, in the museum’s grandest of galleries centering the West Wing.

Simmons, an acclaimed musician, recording artist, and principal trombone of the Toledo Symphony, as well as associated professor of trombone at Bowling Green State University, with Boyd, UT’s multifaceted piano professor and wide-ranging keyboard artist, will bring a creative and diverse program to life. Some of the works are recorded on American Visions, the CD released last year by Simmons and Boyd.

The concert will start with the Sonata for Trombone by the late American composer Richard A. Monaco, who led the music department at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 1970s.

Highlights will include a sampler of character works by Czech composers — Vaclav Smita, Jaroslav Ridky, and Jiri Pauer — who span a century of compositional styles.

StereoGram No. 12 (Spain), by David William Brubeck, composer son of the groundbreaking jazzman Dave Brubeck, is on the program, plus a concerto for alto trombone by Venetian Baroque composer Alessandro Marcello, transcribed by Simmons.

The finale, Morceau Symphonique (symphonic pieces) by French Impressionist composer Philippe Gaubert, will close this free public program.

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The North Coast Big Band will return for the 16th year to Rhythm on the River, the outdoor concert series of the Grand Rapids Historical Society. Music will start at 4 p.m. Aug. 24 in the Wright Pavilion along the towpath behind the Erie Canal and Maumee River, near downtown.

Gary Keller conducts this 16-piece group, which was formed in 1988. Big band arrangements of standards will be on the program.

Admission is free and concert-goers should take their own seating. If rain falls, the program will move to First Presbyterian Church, nearby on Beaver Street.

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Feel like singing? The Lourdes University Chorus wants YOU!

An established choir drawn from the student and faculty population as well as townies, it has performed locally as well as in Canada, England, and Hungary. The chorus will begin rehearsals at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 in the Franciscan Center on the Lourdes campus, Sylvania.

Director Karen T. Biscay promises “no scary auditions, just a brief voice assessment for section placement.” Then it’s on to two hours of engaging with music.

This year’s choral schedule includes performances in October, December, February, and May at the center and off-campus venues. Sometimes the chorus performs on its own; other times it collaborates with local music groups for greater effect.

There is no membership fee. For more information, contact Biscay at kbiscay@lourdes.edu or 419-824-3772.

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Want a larger group to join? Consider the University Choral Society at Bowling Green State University, another town-gown singing group which is based at BGSU’s Moore Musical Arts Center on campus.

Mark Munson, director of choral activities at BGSU, directs the choral society as well as other groups. This season will be busy: highlights will include performances of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.

Also on the calendar will be the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Toledo Symphony. The Stravinsky work will be accompanied by the BGSU Wind Ensemble.

Rehearsals start Sept. 2 and will be 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the Moore center. Participation is free.

For more information and/​or to schedule an audition, call 419-372-2186.

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Even if you aren’t out of high school, there are two singing groups waiting for you — the Children’s Choir of Northwest Ohio, based at Community of Christ Lutheran Church, 6517 Finzel Rd., Whitehouse, and Young Voices of Greater Toledo, at Monroe Street United Methodist Church, 3313 Monroe St.

The first and older group is led by founder Lisa Alleman, and welcomes singers grades 3 through 10, who are divided into two choirs by age. The choir performs at the Whitehouse church as well as in other venues around the area.

“No experience is necessary, but a love of music is a must,” writes Alleman. Fees are required to join, plus auditions. Tryouts are Sept. 4, 8, 10, 15, and 17 at the church.

For more information call 419-377-7710 or visit www.ccofnwo.org.

The second and newer group is run by founder Denise Mathias, music director at Monroe Street United Methodist Church, and works with singers grades 3 through 8. Parent meetings are scheduled at the church for 10 a.m. Sept. 6 or 6 p.m. Sept. 9.

For more information, email Mathias at youngvoicestoledo@yahoo.com or call 419-473-1167, ext. 230.

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Dancers seeking extra special training from Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev, Russian dancers and now stars of the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, need only contact Ballet Theatre of Toledo to set up a private lesson or master class.

The dancing duo will be in residence at the local studio, 1182 Corporate Dr., Holland. For more information and reservations, call 419-861-0895.

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Kudos to Madyson Starner, a student at Toledo Ballet, for being cast as Clara in Radio City Music Hall’s production of The Nutcracker, to be presented in Nashville during the busy Christmas season, Nov. 21-Dec. 24. The young ballerina will perform in up to two performances a day. Phew!

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