Annoucements

Entertainment Lined up for Second Festival Stage

May 19, 2011

The Frederick Arts Council has confirmed the various musical acts that will be performing at the La Paz/Greene Turtle Stage during this year’s Frederick Festival of the Arts, scheduled June 4-5th along Carroll Creek Linear Park. 

 

The festival hosts two stages of music throughout the two days of the festival including a Main Stage and the La Paz/Greene Turtle Stage.  At any given time during the festival, patrons will be able to enjoy live music free of charge.  Music genres featured throughout the weekend include rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, and four different military bands.

 

Kicking things off Saturday at noon is the Darryl Brenzel Trio.  Saxophonist, Composer & Arranger Darryl Brenzel’s current musical pursuits include teaching jazz saxophone at Towson University, leading his own jazz trio and quartet, performing as a free-lance woodwind player and arranging music for numerous professional and college bands throughout the country.

Brenzel’s career as a performer runs the gamut from working with small groups to big bands to symphony orchestras. He currently leads his own jazz trio and quartet which has performed in venues in DC, Baltimore and New York City to include The Kennedy Center, Blues Alley and The East Coast Jazz Festival. He has also performed in pops concert with The National Symphony Orchestra, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops, The Pittsburgh Pops, The Cincinnati Pops and others. From 1988-2008 Brenzel was a member of The US Army Jazz Ambassadors where he served as saxophone soloist, chief arranger and eventually associate director. In 2008 Brenzel was recognized by The Maryland State Arts Council with an Individual Artist Award in solo instrumental performance. Brenzel’s career as a performer has taken him around the world with performances throughout North America, India, Japan and Europe. He has appeared at major jazz festivals to include Montreaux, The North Sea Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Nice Jazz Festival and The Jacksonville Jazz Festival.  Brenzel has performed with such artists as The Beach Boys, Chris Isaak, Little Anthony, The Drifters, Jerry Butler, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra and many others.

Brenzel had his first formal studies in this field while attending the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Further self directed studies continued through numerous texts on the subject, which that hard work paid off with a place in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in NYC from 2003-2005. Here Brenzel further honed his skills by working side by side with such world renowned and Grammy winning composers as Maria Schneider, Michael Abene and Jim McNeely. In 2007 he won an Individual Artist Award from The MD State Arts Council for music composition. During his time with The Jazz Ambassadors Brenzel put more than 70 works into their book and had pieces recorded on five of their CDs. Brenzel’s largest body of work is for big band but he has also done work for concert band, sax quartet, clarinet quartet, 11 piece jazz band, jazz choir, jazz quintet and sextet, and voice with violins. His most recent project, arranging and re-orchestrating Stravinsky’s “Rite Of Spring” for jazz orchestra, has received with much critical praise.

 

Following them, at 2:00 p.m., is the Frederick Rock School.  This organization provides their students a chance to learn an instrument of their choice and put together a rocking set list of classic, current and original songs for their upcoming performance at a real rock and roll venue. The Frederick Rock School provides a safe place for the students to socialize with their peers, do their homework, jam in the lounge, and play ping-pong or air hockey and grab a bite to eat at the Rock Bar. The student will also have the opportunity to take part in the many different workshops and guest celebrity speakers the school will have throughout the year.

 

At 4:00 p.m. is the band Safety Meeting.  Safety Meeting play original music along with a groovy mix of covers that include rare b-sides and overlooked gems from decades of Rock-n-Roll, Folk, Pop, New Wave, Punk, Country etc.. Some of the artists covered include: Lucinda Williams, The Kinks, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, The Pixies, Peter Gabriel, Beatles, Stones, David Bowie & XTC.  On Drums and Hula Hoop is Schuyler Free, bass and vox is Ben Hirsch, and Jeffrey Poehler on guitar & vox.

 

Closing out Saturday’s lineup is The Yardslippers from 6:30-7:30 p.m.  The Yardslippers have been together in various forms since about 1999. They’ve been as few as three band members, as many as eight, and these days they’re holding steady at six performers.  The group, with their mixture of acoustic Americana and Bluegrass music, has been influenced by Seldom Scene, Robin & Linda Williams, Ralph Stanley, Steve Earle, John Prine, the Stray Cats, Hazel Dickens, Stephen Foster, the Beatles, Dan Hicks, Willie Nelson, Doc Watson, Loretta Lynn, Alison Krauss, and others.

 

On Sunday, the band King Street once again kicks things off at noon.  King Street, led by Chip Burkey, features two great vocalists along with a rhythm section.  Burkey played in honed his acoustic guitar skills in the college bar-scene of Frostburg State University before taking the music to Ocean City.  Now residing in Baltimore, he has spent the last fifteen years playing in both the Baltimore/Annapolis area, Deep Creek Lake, and other locations.  He has had the pleasure of performing at numerous venues, including the Little Yough Music Festival, Canalfest, and the Freedom Blues Festival and has shared the festival stage with national acts Los Lobos, Allison Krauss and Sally Taylor (daughter of music legends James Taylor and Carly Simon).

 

At 2:30 p.m., Fish, Floyd & Iona, a Celtic trio featuring an unusual blend of high energy pub style songs, Irish dance, and dark ancient balladry, will take the stage. London born poet, singer and guitarist Pete [Floyd] Whitby has worked with members of the Pogues.  Band veteran Brian Fisher plays powerhouse mandolin. At just thirteen years old, award-winning Irish dancer Iona Fisher-Johnson is already a veteran on the Celtic festival circuit.  She sings and dances with the trio.                 

 

Rounding out Sunday’s performance is the group Frum the Hills at 4:30 p.m.  
  http://www.myspace.com/frumthehills  
Bluegrass, Blues, Jam                   

 

Additional details about the festival will be announced soon, including information about the 107 visual artists that will be showcasing their work as well as other performances and activities planned at the event.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

The Frederick Festival of the Arts is organized by the Frederick Arts Council, whose mission is to be the primary catalyst for the arts and arts opportunities in Frederick County.  Support for the Festival is provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.  Festival sponsors include Bechtel Group Foundation, Comcast, Potomac Edison, The Delaplaine Foundation, The City of Frederick, Renewal By Andersen, Text Design, La Paz, Frederick Memorial Healthcare System: CorpOHS, Tourism Council of Frederick County, and Hood College.  For more information, visit the Festival’s website at www.frederickarts.org or call at 301-662-4190.