Music in the Park
Thank you to all of our musicians, sponsors, and guests at the 2022 Music in the Park concerts. It was a fantastic summer and we're looking forward to 2023!
If you would like to help organize the Music in the Park lineup, please email us at volunteer@lewisburgartscouncil.com.
Here's a recap of our 2022 summer concert series...
Penn Central Wind Band
The Penn Central Wind Band is an all-volunteer organization Bucknell University sponsors as a service to the region. Many of the band’s musicians hold music degrees and are also music teachers and professional performers. All are great players! The PCWB, founded in 1994, is one of a few select ensembles to have received the "Sudler Silver Scroll," awarded by the John Philip Sousa Foundation “recognizing community and adult concert bands of outstanding musical excellence.” Other honors include invitations to perform for the conference of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and the national convention of the Association of Concert Bands. William Kenny, the band’s founder and conductor, is professor of music at Bucknell where he has taught for the past 32 years.
Blue River Soul featuring Karen Meeks
Blue River Soul featuring Karen Meeks is a diverse combination of musicians with an entertaining sound and a dynamic stage presence. The band is on a mission to have fun while promoting the Love of Music, Life and Humanity!
These Central Pa musicians have decades of experience and bring a delightful blend that includes a wide variety of tunes from the American Songbook, 1920’s through today. They cover artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Guy, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, Henry Mancini, Jerry Rafferty, Billy Joel, Sam & Dave, Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and quite a selection more. Performance genres include: Blues, Swing, Pop, Light Jazz, R & B and Funk.
Van Wagner and the Chillisquaque Brass Band
Van Wagner is an educator and musical artist. In the classroom, he teaches Environmental Science at Lewisburg High School. He has been selected as Conservation Educator of the Year in 2005 from Schuylkill County and in 2007 and 2009 in Union County. In 2012 he was awarded the Sandy Cochran award for natural resource education from the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. In 2015 the Red Cross presented Van with the Robert N. Pursel Distinguished Service Award. Outside of the classroom he educates audiences with his music and programs on Pennsylvania History. He received an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2018 from the Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest. In 2021 he was recognized with an outstanding alumni award by the Danville High School alumni association. His music has been featured on the History Channel, WVIA tv, Country Music Television (CMT), and in several film productions. He has released 31 original albums and published a book entitle "Coal Dust Rust and Saw Dust." His music and programs not only entertain but inspire audiences to become involved in learning more.
Special thanks to concert co-sponsors Sierra Club Group Otzinachson/North Central PA and Merrill Linn Conservancy
Jerusalem
Kathleen Radspinner and Lester Hirsh have been performing together since 1976. They toured the Midwest in the National School Assembly Program in 8 states, have performed in numerous Pennsylvania festivals and pubs, appeared on stage at the All Souls Church in Washington DC alongside Hazel Dickens. They opened for Steve Goodman at the Lion's Share, Hollywood, Florida.
Both are soloists, writers and recording artists. Kathleen has a versatile 3-octave range and plays keyboard. She has sung with country bands, opening for Hank Williams Jr and Conway Twitty, and R&B bands, The Spiral Staircase and Prince Charles and the Royaltones, and others.
Lester has performed in festivals, pubs, and educational settings from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania and the East Coast. He was a 1997 Napa Valley California Emerging Songwriter finalist and a 2005 Grammy nominee for Best Spoken Word Recording, producing a number of CD's and poetry books. Les sings and plays 6- and 12-string guitar.
As the duo Jerusalem, they perform original compositions as well as a wide range from Gershwin to The Beatles and Dylan and points in between. Using keyboards, guitar, harmonica, and vocals they have performed to audiences of all ages.
Lawson and Disorder
When Larry Lawson, Joe DeCristopher, and Carl Kirby first began playing music together 20+ years ago, one of the names that they considered but rejected was “Shades of Grey.” That name may now be more physically descriptive of the trio, but Lawson and Disorder continues to forge ahead on their original mission: exploring a broad range of musical styles in search of the songs that will set toes to tapping, smiles to widening, and hearts to lifting.
Whether chosen from folk, swing, and country classics, or from the rich and varied catalog of Larry’s original tunes, their songs offer a bounty of musical delights. Every song is anchored by Carl’s rock-solid upright bass and colored beautifully by Joe’s exquisite and masterful guitar work. Larry fills out the instrumental sound with his crisp rhythm guitar, and his smooth, velvety voice provides the musical center, where he is often joined by Joe and Carl to create delicious three-part harmonies.
They are all delighted to be performing again after a too-long hiatus, eager to be finding and creating those moments of musical beauty, brightness, and poignancy that encourage every listener to enjoy and cherish the gifts of this life.
Taylor Fleming Trio
R. Taylor Fleming is a pianist from Lewisburg, PA. He studied Piano Performance, and Contemporary Writing & Production at Berklee College of Music (21') with the likes of Joanne Brackeen, Pat Bianchi, Alain Mallet, Lee Abe, and Dave Santoro. During his time at Berklee, he began studying composition and arranging and aims to fuse his love of traditional music with a contemporary flavor. Primarily a jazz pianist, his musical curiosity led him to study and enjoy many types of music from jazz/rock/pop to Spanish Flamenco to Brazilian styles such as Baiao, Samba, and Bossa.
With their roots and education in jazz, this group grew up listening to the likes of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Prince. After ten years together, their love for the traditional and the contemporary fuel creative arrangements of familiar tunes from Miles Davis to James Taylor to Pink Floyd. Their original compositions are comprised of yin and yang verve, cinematic, rocking and swinging.