Beth Chorneau

UNC Asheville continues its 24th annual Concerts on the Quad summer music series at 7 p.m. Monday, June 12, with two North Carolina jazz ensembles featuring female vocalists. Asheville’s own Sharon LaMotte and the Bill Gerhardt Quartet will play from 7-7:40 p.m. This classic jazz ensemble will explore tunes from the 1920s to today, alternating their style from traditional to fresh and modern. The Charlotte-based Beth Chorneau Band will play from 7:50 to 9 p.m. An accomplished singer with six solo recordings, Chorneau performs on the heels of her most recent full-length release, “Sliver of Time.” The concerts, which are free and open to the public, will be held on UNC Asheville’s Quad Mondays through July 10.

Concerts on the Quad are fun for the entire family. The public is invited to bring picnics, blankets and lawn chairs. Sorry, no pets allowed. With nearly 3,000 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. Café a la Quad will sell sandwiches, wraps, fruit, snacks, beverages, desserts and ice cream from 6-8 p.m.

In case of rain, the concerts will be held in Lipinsky Auditorium. A limited menu will be served at the rain location. Location decisions will be made at 3 p.m. the day of the show. Patrons may call 828/251-6227 after 5 p.m. each Monday to hear a recorded announcement about the location of that evening’s performance.

Other concerts in the series include:

June 19 – Storyteller and humorist Andy Offutt Irwin will begin the night’s performance with hilarious family stories and songs. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praises Irwin’s “…amazing interactive folk from an eccentric who punctuates his tunes with humorous anecdotes.” A world fusion trio, featuring Chris Rosser, Eliot Wadopian and Byron Hedgepeth will continue the evening with original music exploring global cultures. The Asheville Citizen-Times calls their music “beautiful, complex, diverse and played by masters of their instruments.”

June 26 – The popular Asheville Jazz Orchestra will showcase big band sounds with some of the best swing players in western North Carolina. Featuring a full horn section and powerful drumming, the 17-piece ensemble is the only professional big band active in Asheville.

July 3 – Four-piece Americana group The Blue Mountain Band will cover the sounds of vintage country with tributes to Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, as well as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and other legends.

July 10 – Concerts on the Quad will wrap up with a performance by “new-timey” bluegrass favorites The Shady Grove Band. The Raleigh News and Observer heralds The Shady Grove Band as “one of our state’s musical treasures.”

Concerts on the Quad are sponsored, in part, by Asheville Daily Planet, Greenlife Grocery, and News Radio 570 WWNC and the Revolution 880 AM.

For more information about the series, call UNC Asheville Cultural Events Program Office at 828/251-6227 or visit the Concerts on the Quad Web site at www.unca.edu/summerquad/.