Area residents can have A Rockin’ Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 7, hearing holiday favorites and hits by pop/rock group Chicago.
Brass Transit, a group of eight award-winning musicians, came together 11 years ago to pay tribute to one of the world’s most successful pop/rock groups.
Since then, Brass Transit has toured North America, saying its musicians dazzle audiences as they pay attention to every detail of the Chicago songbook.
They will blend a concert of Chicago hits and songs of the season played in a Chicago style at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Civic Hall Performing Arts Center at Richmond High School, 380 Hub Etchison Parkway.
The group says its performance of Chicago tunes such as “Saturday In the Park,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “If you Leave Me Now” and “You’re The Inspiration” have helped audience members relive the most memorable times of their lives.
One indication of the band’s authenticity and high-level musicianship is that CHICAGO’s current ranks already include one longtime veteran of Brass Transit, the group says.
Tickets are $35 for adults or $27 for students, with group rates available. Call the Civic Hall Box Office for tickets at (765) 973-3350 or visit www.civichall.com. Box office hours are 8:30 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m. weekdays. Tickets will be sold at the door if still available.
Civic Hall also is offering a new mini-season ticket for $85 that includes the three remaining shows in the Proudly Presenting series, as well as individual tickets for those shows, as a gift idea.
Those performances include a combined concert by Purdue Varsity Glee Club & IU Singing Hoosiers on Feb. 22 ($20 adults, $18 students); Derik Nelson & Family (featuring the lead guitarist on “Glee”) on March 14 ($35/$27); and The 5 Browns (five Juilliard-trained siblings playing on as many as five pianos at one time) on May 9 ($38/$30).
Derik Nelson & Family has garnered nearly 3 million views on YouTube, and has toured more than 40 locations across the West Coast to raise money for music education.
The siblings’ concert includes three-part harmonies as well as a state-of-the-art light show, and an integrated 20-foot video display.
Derik’s interactive “clones” are featured throughout the show on the five-screen video “wall.” The multiple “Derik clones” paint an expansive wall of sound of limitless sonic possibilities by each playing many different instruments. This innovative technical marvel uses the latest in audio/video technology to take audiences on an aural and visual journey through time, space, an impressive array of landscapes, weather conditions, and musical “settings.”
Meanwhile, The 5 Browns have performed on a PBS TV special, “The 5 Browns In Concert,” which aired on PBS stations throughout the country. They also have been featured in a variety of publications and show, including Oprah, 60 Minutes, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The View, Fox and Friends, CNN, Public Radio’s Performance Today, as well as People Magazine, The New York Times, Parade, the Los Angeles Times, the Sunday London Telegraph and Entertainment Weekly. They have released three CDs that each went to No. 1 on Billboard Magazine’s classical album chart.
Civic Hall’s box office will close Dec. 18 in following with Richmond Community Schools’ holiday schedule.
Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards are accepted, with a $5 fee for credit card processing to
recover costs.
Presentations are supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by The National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Indiana Arts Commission, and the Crane Group.
Further funding helping reduce ticket costs has been provided by sponsors including Richmond Community Schools, KICKS 96 (WQLK-FM and WHON-AM), Wayne County Foundation, Indiana Public Radio, Whitewater Broadcasting (1490 WKBV and G101.3 radio), First Bank Richmond, U.S. Bank, Earlham College, Wayne Bank and Trust Co., The Stamm Koechlein Family Foundation, Reid Health, Dr. William H. Toedebusch, and Gerald and Gail Dorna.