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I simply love the Acorn Theater. The spirit there, the setting, the graciousness yet unpretentiousness, harkens back to the time when music (particularly folk music) was shared so intimately that by the time an evening of song ended you not only had hope for the future, but you felt that all the people who were there to experience the music with you were folks you could trust, and could call your friends. The kind of magic provided much of the spirit that evolved during the decades of the so called “greening of America”, the era of expanded consciousness in the 60’s and 70’s. How fortunate we are to have a performance space, the Acorn Theatre, that brings us together as if we are family can quite naturally find a place of commonality; a place that fairly vibrates with the sincerity, exquisite taste and generosity of it’s creators. Hats off to the Acorn, my newest favorite place to play and sing.
Peter Yarrow.
Pacifica Quartet - July 8th
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH: 8PM EDT: GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING PACIFICA QUARTET (NAMED 2009 MUSICAL ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR) TICKETS: $25
The Pacifica Quartet won the 2009 Grammy Award for "Best Chamber Music Performance" for its recording of Elliott Carter's String Quartets Nos. 1&5 on the Naxos label, the first of a two-CD set of Carter's complete quartets released in celebration of the composer's 100th birthday. The recording's producer, Judith Sherman, was honored with a Grammy nomination for her work on the CD. The set's second CD, Carter's String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, & 4, was released shortly before the 51st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 8, 2009.
On November 17, 2008, the Pacifica Quartet was named 2009 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, its highest honor for excellence and achievement in the arts. The Pacifica joins an esteemed group of 2009 recipients, including Yo-Yo Ma as Musician of the Year; Marin Alsop as Conductor of the Year; Stephanie Blythe as Vocalist of the Year; and Christopher Rouse as Composer of the Year. "Our awardees represent all that is fresh, dynamic, insightful, and adventurous in the arts today, in addition to an being enormously talented and generous group of musicians."" said Ms. Stephanie Challener, publisher of Musical America. The awards coincide with publication of the 2009 Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, the indispensable resource of the performing arts industry containing detailed information for over 14,000 international arts organizations, artists, and artist managers.
Frank D'Rone - July 10th
FRIDAY, JULY 10TH: 8PM EDT: THE LEGENDARY FRANK D'RONE IS BACK AT THE ACORN IN THIRD ANNUAL BENEFIT PERFORMANCE FOR LA LUMIERE SCHOOL TICKETS: $35
"A national treasure..." Randy Freeman, Chicago Jazz Magazine
"A Poet on the jazz guitar who operates exclusively at the virtuoso level" Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Legendary jazz musician Frank D’Rone will perform live at the Acorn Theater for the third annual benefit for La Lumiere School. D’Rone has a unique sound and style. He’s a singer who understands a lyric, has impeccable phrasing, and his sincerity and elegance on stage dazzles an audience with songs from the great songwriters – Porter, Gershwin, Mercer, and Rogers & Hart.
Opening for D’Rone will be the House of Funk. House of Funk is made up of five students from La Lumiere School: Ari Augustaitis, Carter Wagner, Asher Igra, Vytenis Karaitis and Jeff McComas.
“Some singers attempt to change their styles to remain relevant, but D’Rone’s artistry remains dignified and timeless, inviting the next generation of jazz performers to meet his own high personal standard,” said Randy Freeman of Chicago Jazz Magazine. ”Tony Bennett called him "one of the jazz masters – a brother in music for many years.”
A favorite from coast to coast, Frank has played such legendary clubs as the Jazz Showcase, Copacabana, Caesar's Palace, The Sands, Sahara, and Dante’s Inferno. Most recently he played the 2008 Chicago Jazz Festival and has been packing them in at the legendary jazz club, the Green Mill.
Frank has appeared 18 times on the Tonight Show, and headlined at the Copacabana, in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago. And he just gets better and better.
About La Lumiere School
La Lumiere is a coeducational Catholic boarding and day school with an enrollment of 181 students that provides a comprehensive college preparatory education for qualified young men and women from a rich diversity of backgrounds. It seeks to develop character, scholarship, and faith, while remaining both independently accredited and faithful to its Catholic heritage. It is situated on a beautiful rural estate, 25 miles west of South Bend, 60 miles east of Chicago, and 8 miles from both La Porte and New Buffalo.
Purchase your tickets today by calling La Lumiere School at 219.326.7450.
Robert Swan - July 11th
SATURDAY, JULY 11TH, 8PM EDT: OPERA AT THE ACORN PRESENTS THE SOLO PERFORMANCE OF ROBERT SWAN TICKETS: $20
The Acorn is thrilled to present Opera at the Acorn founder, bass Robert Swan in a solo recital featuring two of the greatest song writers ever, in a concert inspired by Leonard Bernstein, who said: "My favorite song composers are Schubert and Lennon-McCartney.
Be prepared to be surprised at the beauty and charm of Schubert's Schwannengesang (Schubert's last work) mixing with the best of the Beatles. The evening will include Hey Jude, Imagine, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Anatoliy Torchinskiy will accompany on the piano, with Marco Villareal, guitar.
Robert Auler & Nicholas Orbovich - July 15th
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15TH, 8PM EDT: RECITAL BY PIANIST ROBERT AULER AND VIOLINIST NICHOLAS-ORBOVICH IN A CONCERT OF MOZART AND BEETHOVEN. TICKETS: $20
Auler and Orbovich plan a program that will include Mozart’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano in e minor,” and Beethoven’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major.”
The two musicians are best20known for their years of collaboration at the Michigan City Chamber Music Festival, where they will perform in August when the festival presents its 8th season with a salute to the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn’s birth.
Robert Auler is Assistant Professor of Piano at the State University of New York at Oswego, and maintains an active national and international performing career. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in June of202005, and has been featured on the Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago.
Robert Swan has recently been seen as the Speaker in San Antonio's production of the Magic Flute, as Osmin in the Skylight (Milwaukee) Opera's production of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and as the Commendatore in Wichita Opera's Don Giovanni. At Chicago's Lyric Opera, he portrayed the City Marshal in Kurt Weill's Street Scenes. His other roles with opera houses around the country include Rocco in Fidelio, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Basilio in The Barber of Seville, the title role of The Mikado, Zuniga in Carmen, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. He is also in demand for bass solos in the oratorio repertoire, including the Verdi Requiem with the Elgin Symphony. Prior to devoting himself to opera full-time, Bob Swan was an actor in film, stage and televi sion. Film goers have seen his work in The Untouchables, Hoosiers, Betrayed, Natural Born Killers, Who's That Girl (with Madonna), Mo' Money, The Babe and Going all the Way. Starring appearances on television include The Dollmaker with Jane Fonda, The Equalizer, Spenser for Hire, as a regular on All My Children, the B.B.C. production of Miss Marple, a Caribbean Mystery, and the Twilight Zone.
Nicolas Orbovich hosts a weekly program on 106.7-FM WRHC Radio Harbor Country called “Classical Gas,” and has been a finalist in the Fischoff National in 1995. His performances of chamber music have been featured on NPR’s "Performance Today." Together with his wife, Sunny, Orbovich is the founder of the Michigan City Music Festival.