UNCA's Holds 20th Annual Concerts on the Quad Series;
Lineup Kicks Off with UNCA's Community Jazz Band June 3

UNCA's Concerts on the Quad Entertainment Series June 3-July 21

UNC Asheville will kick off its 20th Annual Concerts on the Quad series at 7 p.m. Monday, June 3. This summer's concert series is dedicated to Sharyn McDonald Groh, the recently retired UNCA director of student activities, who originated the popular series. The concerts, which are open to the public, will be held on UNCA's Quad from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through July 15. All concerts are free, other than the July 20-21 Folkmoot performance.

UNCA's Concerts on the Quad brings fun to the entire family. The public is invited to bring picnics, blankets and lawn chairs. With between 500 and 2,000 people attending each concert, lawn-chair seating will be separate from blanket seating in order to preserve sight lines; please look for signage when arriving on the quad. In case of rain, the concerts will be held in Lipinsky Auditorium.

The June 3 concert will feature UNC Asheville's Community Jazz Band, led by Lloyd Weinberg, and will provide an evening of swing and big band tunes.

Other concerts in the series are:

June 10 -- Alejandro Camara and Sayubu, a five-piece Bolivian traditional band, play Andean music on authentic instruments of the region. Camara is the founder and president of the Camara School of Music in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The group has seven Bolivian gold records and four platinum records to its credit.

June 17 -- Dixie Power Trio, a four-member band, is led by tuba player Andy Kochenour and multi-instrumentalist Zack Smith. They play a wide range of tunes, reinventing classics from the Neville Brothers, Buckwheat Zydeco, Dr. John, Louis Armstrong and Chuck Berry. Their performance will feature a combination of New Orleans music, covering zydeco, cajun, rock and roll, honky-tonk, street parade and jazz styles.

June 24 -- This year's children's show features the Zulu Connection. This performing arts company, based in New Orleans, is known for stilt dancing and mystical masquerades. The group pioneered the emergence of works by both African and African American choreographers and is dedicated to preserving the rich cultures of Africa, the Caribbean and Haiti. Founders Shaka and Na'imah Zulu use their highly rhythmic music to foster cross-cultural appreciation and educate the audience on African customs, history, musical instruments, masquerades and legends.

July 1 -- "Take Note: a 40s Musical Review," a 1940s-era USO-style "radio show," features a four-piece band. Vocalists and members of UNCA's Swing Dance Club will demonstrate dances of the era. In tribute to the support that celebrities like Marlene Dietrich and Bob Hope offered to the troops abroad in that era, "Take Note" will send support from the UNCA Quad to modern-day troops. Jim Burns, an Asheville native, takes on the Bob Hope emcee role. Over the past 40 years, Burns has held the stage with names such as Sinatra, Bennett and Martin. Colleen House, who will portray a Marlene Dietrich character, has also dedicated her life to entertainment. She has been a key performer in the Asheville Midday Musicals for nine years. Local performers Susan Tracy, Elizabeth Aiello and Tim Robinson will also get in on the act.

July 8 -- The Dead Poets perform classic poems as songs, highlighting the words of Rumi, W.H. Auden, Joyce Kilmer, Cummings, Wordsworth, Dickinson and more. The three-member band consists of former Poetry Alive! founder Allan Wolf on drums, Tom Tracy on guitar and Alex Alford on bass. They call this marriage of song and verse "musico-poetica," and believe that it allows both listener and musician to transcend the words and the notes. Based in Asheville, the band first performed together in 1996 as the One Night Dog Band.

July 15 -- Under the direction of Tim Haden, the Peggy Lyn-Haden Jazz Octet and the UNCA Jazz Lab Band take center stage with special guest trumpeter Rich Willey. Willey was active on the New York scene from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, playing a wide range of Latin and jazz gigs, including backing up the legendary vocalist Mel Torme. Last fall, Willey toured with trumpet giant Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau.

July 20-21 -- Folkmoot USA, the only ticketed event of the series, features folk dance, music and culture from around the world. Patterned after classic European festivals, dancers and musicians from across the globe come to share their cultural heritage with colorful native costumes and unique musical instruments. Depending on travel and visa situations, artists from Andorra, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Israel, Malta, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Romania, Russia and Uzbekistan will perform. Events will be held in Lipinsky Auditorium. General admission tickets range from $15-$20 and are available at UNCA's Office of Student Life as well as the Folkmoot USA office. Special prices for UNCA students and youths 12 and under are also available.

For more information, call UNCA’s Student Life Office at 828/232-5000.

Media Contacts:

• Barbara Halton, Student Life Assistant Director, 828/251-6674
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526