St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) in Grand Rapids will kick off their dynamic 2019/2020 concert season with the award-winning country music artist Lee Ann Womack on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. Womack has earned six Country Music Association Awards (including Single and Album of the Year), five Academy of Country Music Awards, a Grammy, and much more. She has been praised by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journaland the New Yorker. Lee Ann Womack has sung for multiple presidents and performed award-winning duets with everyone from Willie Nelson, John Prine to John Legend.
St. Cecilia Music Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook says, “We are so excited to kick off our new season with Lee Ann Womack, one of the best-known female country singers. From her popular earlier hits like, ‘I Hope You Dance’ to the powerful new rootsy selections from her latest album ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone,’ those who come to this concert will see how Lee Ann masterfully captures her audience with her beautiful voice, presence and skillful execution”.
Her latest album ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone’has transformed her sound back to her roots - a breathtaking hybrid of country, soul, gospel and blues. Womack, an East Texas native says, “I could never shake my center of who I was. I’m drawn to rootsy music. It’s what moves me.”
According to a recent interview on NPR, “Womack has long been known for her singing voice, a pedigree that extends back to her mainstream country roots in the late 1990s and has been a primary focus of her career ever since. The Texas-based artist can belt with the best of them, but outshines many of her contemporaries with an unrivaled vocal agility. Her startling precision is matched only by her passion, a combination that lends even the slightest quaver in her voice an emotional resonance that would be lost on lesser talents.”
For more about the artist, videos and audio releases see leeannwomack.com.
Tickets to see the multi-award winning Lee Ann Womack in concert are available by calling 616-459-2224 or visiting St. Cecilia Music Center at 24 Ransom NE, Grand Rapids, 49503 or online at www.scmc-online.org. The October 3rd concert with Lee Ann Womack begin at 7:30pm and includes a post-concert party with wine and beerfor all concert ticket holders.
Updated St. Cecilia Music Center Acoustic Café Folk Series 2019/2020
Acoustic Café Folk Series 2019/2020
SCMC’s first concert of the season will feature Lee Ann Womack on the Acoustic Café Folk Series on October 3, 2019. Lee Ann Womack’s latest album The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gonehas “some of the most immediate and deeply felt vocal performances” of her career, and captures “the emotional core of country” (NPR). She has been praised by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journaland New Yorker. Lee Ann has sung for multiple Presidents, performed award-winning duets with everyone from Willie Nelson, John Prine to John Legend. Lee Ann has earned six Country Music Association Awards (including Single and Album of the Year), five Academy of Country Music Awards,and a Grammy award.
The legendary Judy Collins takes the stage on October 20, 2019 on the Acoustic Café Folk Series. This will be Judy Collins’second appearance at SCMC. She last performed at SCMC in Winter 2018 when she packed the house. Judy Collins has inspired audiences with her sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism since the 1960s. She evokes both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 50-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.
Grammy-award winning bluegrass artists, The Infamous Stringdusters, will debut in West Michigan at St. Cecilia Music Center on February 6, 2020. Their uniquely powerful blend of bluegrass, rock and more has pivoted them to the top echelons of the blue-grass/rock scene. The New York Timeshas reported, “With a nod to the past and a firm foot down on the gas toward the future, the 'Dusters... don't leave bluegrass behind; they're stretching it from within."
Multiple Grammy-award winner Rosanne Cash will appear on the Royce Auditorium stage on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 with guest artist musician/composer John Leventhal. Cash’s tour entitled She Remembers Everything, from her most recent album of the same name,is a poetic, lush and soulful collection of songs of personal songwriting and reflection. She Remembers Everythingwas produced by collaborator John Leventhal and Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Mavis Staples, Neko Case). One of the country’s pre-eminent singer/songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four Grammy Awards and 11 nominations, as well as 21 top-40 hits, including 11 No. 1 singles.
Multi-Grammy-Award Winner and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile will hit the stage at SCMC on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. A member of Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek, and now the host of the radio program, Live from Here, Chris Thile is a mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist. With his broad outlook, Thile transcends the borders of conventionally circumscribed genres, creating a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.A child prodigy, Thile first rose to fame as a member of Grammy award-winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom he released four albums and sold over two million records. As a soloist, Thile has released several albums including his most recent, Thanks for Listening, a collection of recordings, produced by Thomas Bartlett, originally written as Songs of the Weekfor Live from Here. In February 2013, Thile won a Grammy for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan. In September 2014, Thile and Meyer released their latest album collaboration, Bass + Mandolin, which won the Grammyaward for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Punch Brothers released their latest album, the Grammy-winningAll Ashore, in July 2018 with Pop Mattersdescribing the album as 'a call to savor, to pay attention, to step back from the hustle and bustle and remember the importance of being calm."
Guitarist / Singer Raul Midón will appear at SCMC on February 27, 2020. The New York Times said Raul Midón is “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.” Along with releasing 10 studio albums as a solo artist, the Grammy-nominated Raul Midón – dubbed “an eclectic adventurist” by Peoplemagazine – has collaborated with such heroes as Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, along with contributing to recordings by Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg and the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s She Hate Me. A native of New Mexico who was educated in the jazz program of the University of Miami – and who now lives in Maryland after years in New York City – Midón has earned acclaim the world over, with a fan base that stretches from San Francisco to India, Amsterdam to Tokyo. A critic for the U.K.’s Guardiannewspaper wrote: “Midón has a lovely voice, a beautifully controlled tenor that can express anything from tenderness to passion… And the guy can play. His strumming has a flamenco flourish, but after a while, you realize he can do every kind of accompaniment he needs on acoustic guitar.”
St. Cecilia Music Center’s mission is to promote the study, appreciation and performance of music in order to enrich the lives of West Michigan residents. The Center fulfills this mission by: presenting visiting world-class artists in concert, providing music education for all ages through our School of Music and, preserving a historic building for musical activities and community events
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