It might be difficult to imagine a band that utilizes banjos, bass guitars, violins, clarinets and mandolins on stage, but The Red Sea Pedestrians don’t pride themselves on being conventional. The band performed from 8-10:30 p.m. Friday in the Erickson Hall Kiva and was invited to play by Ten Pound Fiddle, a 37-year-old folk music organization in East Lansing.
When MSU alumnus Chad Rehmann set off for Los Angeles in August 2003 to chase his dream of becoming a music composer, he and his wife left their hometown of St. Johns, Mich., with $1,000, a few suitcases and no home to greet them in their new state.
After releasing her first full-length pop/R&B album “Trouble” this year, recent MSU graduate Crystal Williams, who goes by the stage name Jenna Milan, said she is ready to continue pursuing her music career now that she is done with school.
In the middle of Joe Hertler’s freshman year at Central Michigan University, he bought his first guitar and started what would become a lifelong relationship. Although not from the area, Hertler said the East Lansing music scene is one that makes the trip to town worth his while because it’s supportive of blossoming musicians like himself.
The MSU Community Music School is turning students into triple threat performers with its new Musical Theatre Camp this week, teaching young performers the ropes of the stage in a little more than a week’s time. From Monday through Friday, more than 60 students from grades 2-12 will fill their days with singing, choreography, acting, costume design and other activities that will prepare them for the basics of a stage production.
This year, MSU Carillonneur Ray McLellan will be performing with a special purpose in mind. McLellan’s performance will feature a dedication to Milton Muelder, an MSU faculty member and carillonneur who died recently, as well as compositions by two of his other musical influences. The summer series kicked off Wednesday evening at the Beaumont Tower with a performance from Steven Ball, a carillonneur from the University of Michigan.
Local band Gunnar and the Grizzly Boys sat down with The State News to discuss their music in anticipation of “Home Grown,” the CD the band is releasing this month. The group has opened up for big country names including Gretchen Wilson and Justin Moore and plan to continue with their band in to the future.
The annual Eric ‘RicStar’ Winter Music Therapy Summer Camp is a three-day long program that features several age groups, from young children to adults. It began Thursday at the MSU Community Music School. The program caters to special needs children and adults, but it is not a requirement to be part of the camp.
The Verdehr Trio performed Wednesday evening for a crowd of professors, students and members of the community. After becoming the first violinist ever to receive a doctorate from Juilliard School in New York, Walter Verdehr pursued a career with the MSU College of Music in 1968 and has been with the university ever since. A few years later, in 1972, Verdehr and his wife, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, created The Verdehr Trio. Adding a third musician who was changed periodically, then trio traveled all over the world to Europe, Asia and Australia and have performed in every state in the United States. 38 years later, the trio perform annually in Great Cobb Hall at Wharton Center for the MSU and the greater Lansing community.
Chen-Yun Liu took the stage, bowed and took a seat at the piano in the noiseless auditorium. Liu, a music performance doctoral student, was one of three MSU College of Music students to play in a master class Wednesday in the Music Building Auditorium with composer and guest artist Alexander Korsantia as part of the college’s Chopin Bicentennial Celebration.
Detroit reggae group Souldub is hosting the Dark Reggae Revolution at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Mac’s Bar, 2700 E.Michigan Ave., in Lansing.
Up-and-coming Canadian rapper Drake is scheduled to perform at MSU in April, although details about the rapper’s performance remain uncertain. Tour dates for Drake’s The Away from Home Tour indicate the rapper is scheduled to perform at MSU on April 14. His Web site does not specify a venue.
Caroline Hartig, associate professor of clarinet, and Deborah Moriarty, professor of piano and chair of the piano area at MSU’s College of Music, will perform together at 7:30 p.m. today in the Music Building.
Struggling with a difficult speech impediment, Amir Pakray learned to use poetry as a way to express himself smoothly. During high school, he and a group of friends put this poetry to music, freestyling together in their spare time.
The spring session of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities’ Community Music School folk music program will begin from 6:30-9:30 p.m. tonight in Snyder-Phillips Hall.
New arrangements of popular hits, powerful solos, complex harmonies, vocal percussion and choreography will arrive at MSU this weekend as a cappella groups from across the Midwest compete in a vocal showdown.
More than 15 years ago The Verve Pipe could be found practicing in a small storage unit just north of East Lansing. This weekend, the platinum-selling band returned home for a concert with a larger stage and a few hundred more fans at The Small Planet, 16800 Chandler Road.
If you frequent concerts in East Lansing, chances are you have been to a Fusion Show.
Tickets for the 11th annual Common Ground Music Festival are now on sale for the seven-day event. As of Monday, tickets for the July 12-18 event are on sale for $93. Ticket prices will increase to $99 on July 1.
Three faculty members from the MSU Community Music School will put on a free concert at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Turner-Dodge House, 100 E. North St., in Lansing.