The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music is again working with the Urbana Business Association to lead the music and children’s programming on the One Community Together (OCT) stage for this weekend’s Sweet Corn Festival. As in years past we will highlight many of the community’s wonderful local musicians, dance artists, special collections, museums and our three high school marching bands as well as the William M. Staerkel Planetarium, Anita Purves Nature Center, and Champaign’s Prosperity Gardens. In addition we will have Japanese calligrapher, Seiran Chiba, who is a special guest of the University’s Japan House conduct special demonstrations of the art of Japanese black ink calligraphy. A complete listing of OCT performances and children’s activities is below. For further information about the rest of the festival’s other exciting music programs please visit the Sweet Corn Festival Facebook page.
Music Programming for August 28
(6-6:45) Tradition Jazz Orchestra
The Traditional Jazz Orchestra plays hot swinging music from the early 20th century when jazz was young, and the great band leaders were King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and Fats Waller. Their music is always a great way to start your weekend at the Sweet Corn Festival, and this year special guest performer, Dena Vermette, will be joining the boys for a couple of selections.
(7-7:45) Diva and the Dude
Join Kathy Harden and Andy Baylor for an evening of songs by sassy women & misbehaving men that will bring a smile to your heart. The duo play everything from Judy Garland to Janis Joplin, rock to country, and blues to jazz to entice anyone with a desire to dance the night away.
(8-8:45) New Souls
Mike Ingram, Brandon T. Washington, and CiCi Stewart (aka Cii La’Cole) will mix it up with a wide-ranging selection of neo soul, hip-hop and R&B that knocks up against classic Motown and soul with a little rock thrown in for good measure. It’s local harmony at its best.
(9-10:30) Bruiser and the Virtues
Bruiser and the Virtues’ driving performance will return today’s audience to a time of jump blues, hot swing, and other dance-oriented genres from what was the beginnings of American Rock & Roll. The band will perform a mix of original compositions and classic tunes from Americans icons such as Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker, and are guaranteed to get the crowd off their butts and onto the dance floor.
Music Programming for August 29
(11:30-12:30) Bow-Dacious String Band and BBL Fine Arts Jazz Ensemble
The Community Center for the Arts’ Bow-Dacious String Band consists of children ages 6 through 18 who perform popular music from around the world on violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo and other stringed instruments. The Banks Bridgewater Lewis Fine Arts Academy Jazz Ensemble offers local middle school and high school students opportunities to perform America’s great jazz for in both big band and small combo ensembles. Both music groups emphasize improvisation, developing strong ensemble skills, and learning applied music theory, and they come together to highlight the tremendous artistic talent and diversity of our communities’ youth.
(12:30-12:45) Champaign Park District Dance Arts School
The students of the Champaign Park District Dance Arts School, under the direction of Kimberly Reynolds-Burson, will perform a selection of colorful traditional dances from Eastern Europe.
(12:45-1) Classy Combinations
Classy Combinations will charm audiences both young and old with their elegant and spirited performances of Middle Eastern dance which will include a traditional Veil dance and Taxsim with drum solo, and an Ali, which is an integration of Indian Bollywood, West African, Tribal fusion, and dramatic Spanish skirt dance styles.
(1:15-2) Bali Lantari
Bali Lantari, under the leadership of I Ketut Gede Asnawa, will perform traditional music selections for the gamelan ensemble and Balinese dance under the direction of Putu Oka Mardiani Asnawa, to highlight the beautiful music and culture of Bali.
(2:15-2:45) CUperStars
Meet the winners of this summer’s CUperStar adventure, an American Idol-style competition that has been produced for the past nine years by the Champaign-Urbana Area Project, that this year invited young performers, ages 10 to 19, from our local community to compete in a variety of musical genres.
(3-3:45) Prairie Dogs
The Prairie Dogs, whose diverse and rollicking musical repertoire covers a large portion of the American songbook, will be returning to the One Community Together stage for another entertaining performance that will have their audience dancing in their seats and singing that mournful howl whenever Coyote’s eye lights up.
(4:15-5:30) Urbana/Central/Centennial High School Marching Bands
Our communities’ three outstanding high school marching bands return to this year’s Sweet Corn Festival to perform exciting music selections from their three new field shows that they have been working on over the summer. Their performance is guaranteed to highlight the tremendous artistic talent these young musicians and their directors bring to the community, and we’ll use this opportunity to introduce the community to the University of Illinois newest director of University Bands, Stephen Peterson, and his wife, Beth Peterson, the School of Music’s clinical professor of music. Stephen Peterson will then lead the high school bands in their finale performance of “American Celebration.”
Children’s Activities for August 28
(6-10:30pm) Gazing the Rings of Saturn and the Man on the Moon [Staerkel Planetarium]
(6:30-8:30pm) Japanese Black Ink Calligraphy with Seiran Chiba [University of Illinois’ Japan House]
Children’s Activities for August 29
(11-12:15) Meet Mr. Box Turtle [Anita Purves Nature Center]
(11-5:30) Veggie Stamps, Seed Balls, and Much MORE! [Champaign’s Prosperity Gardens]
(11-1:00) Old Fashioned Toys and Games from the American Prairie [Museum of the Grand Prairie]
(11:30-3:30) Music Instrument Petting Zoo [Sousa Archives and Center for American Music and Community Center for the Arts]
(11-5:30) Early American Popcorn Making [Champaign County Historical Museum]
(12:45-2:00) Constructing Decorated World Music Shakers [Spurlock Museum]
(1-3:00) Black Ink Calligraphy with Seiran Chiba [University of Illinois’ Japan House]
(1-3:00) Building Didjeridos [Sousa Archives and Center for American Music]
(4-5:30) Science of Corn [Orpheum Children’s Science Museum]