The River Raisin Ragtime Revue (R4) will present a concert at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ann Arbor on Sunday April 11 at 3pm. The church is located at 1400 W. Stadium Boulevard. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for senior citizens, and $10 for youth ages 18 and under. Tickets are available in advance by calling Trinity Lutheran at 734.662.4419 and are also available at the door.
The concert will feature baritone Dorian Hall singing an aria from Scott Joplin’s opera “Treemonisha,” as well as popular songs from the ragtime era. Mr. Hall will perform the 1899 hit “Hello Ma Baby,” which was given new life by the famous Warner Brothers cartoon episode, “One Froggy Evening.” In addition he will present an aria by William Grant Still, considered the “Dean of African American Composers.”
Mr. Hall is a native of New Orleans and has appeared with the New Orleans Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Brevard Music Center. He holds degrees in vocal performance from Loyola University and the University of Michigan. Mr. Hall currently resides in Ann Arbor and frequently performs throughout southeastern Michigan.
Also on the program are two works with University of Michigan connections. The orchestra will perform “At A Georgia Campmeeting,” written by Kerry Mills in 1897. This piece remains a traditional jazz standard. Mills taught violin to university students in Ann Arbor in the 1890s while maintaining an office in Detroit. Later he moved to New York City and started the F.A. Mills publishing company. His many hits include “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” and “Redwing.” Isham Jones, a native of Saginaw, led one of the nation’s most popular jazz bands and wrote hits like “It Had to Be You” and “Spain.” R4 will present “Back to Georgia Bay,” an early song Jones wrote while living in Saginaw. This song was written specifically for the University of Michigan’s Junior Hop of 1916.
The program is rounded out by exciting works of ragtime composers including Joplin, Eubie Blake, Luckey Roberts, James P. Johnson and Spencer Williams.
R4’s mission is to educate and entertain through the performance of outstanding American music. The ensemble brings together thirteen of Michigan’s finest professional musicians to recreate period orchestrations. R4 focuses on vintage ragtime, but also includes early jazz, blues and classical music in its programs. Concerts are tied together by a meticulously researched narrative that engages the audience and makes them aware of the significant role African Americans played in shaping our nation’s popular music. Prejudices and obstacles that were overcome by these early pioneering musicians are presented. R4 has performed at quality venues throughout the state, and headlines a major ragtime festival at Greenfield Village each July in Dearborn that draws 20,000 visitors over two days. The orchestra has released two CDs that have received outstanding reviews from local, national and international publications.
Make plans to attend and see why Fanfare Magazine describes R4’s music as “education, entertainment, and a sonic blast rolled into one.” |
