2009 Year in Review

CCC announces upcoming Visiting Artist Performances

Clinton Community College is pleased to be part of the 2008-09 Visiting Artist season. This is the 35th year that CCC has offered these performances for the community as part of the Quad Cities Arts, a program that strives to make the program accessible to people of all walks of life, including students, seniors, and working people. Performances will be held in both Clinton and in Maquoketa throughout the year.

Columbian harpist, band leader and composer Edmar Castaneda will entertain Visiting Artist patrons on Monday, February 9 at the CCC Technology Center. Combining Latin jazz with traditional Colombian music, Edmar has carved a firm place in the international jazz scene. A jazz harpist of imposing talent, he transforms the harp into a lead instrument to phenomenal effect. His style is fascinatingly percussive, and he plucks dynamic bass lines almost invisibly while picking out melodies with his right hand.

Audiences will enjoy the Georgia Guitar Quartet on Monday, April 20 in Clinton and Thursday, April 30 in Maquoketa at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center, 1215 East Platt St. The Georgia Guitar Quartet has emerged as an exciting new voice in today’s chamber music scene. These four men from the American South deliver a high-energy blend of breathtaking virtuosity and imaginative programming while taking an adventurous approach to classical music. Borrowing from both the past and the present, the GGQ consistently draw inspiration from the ever-evolving palette of music that has influenced them; classical masters such as Bach and Brahms, experimentalists in the vein of Cage, Bartok and Stockhausen, and contemporary rock icons like Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. The incredible range and interactive spontaneity of a performance by the GGQ continually leaves audiences with something to remember, resulting in a thrilling new way to experience chamber music in the 21st century.

Since the Visiting Artist Series began as an arts outreach program in 1973, the program has become one of the most ambitious of its kind in the country. The program presents the performances at no cost to the public. The performance begins at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Clinton Community College Technology Center (formerly Graphic Arts Technology Center), 1951 Manufacturing Drive, Clinton or in Maquoketa at the specified location. For more information, contact Anne Schmidt at 563-244-7050.

The CCC Drama Fine Arts Committee will host bus trips to see Broadway shows in the spring. There will be a bus trip to Davenport’s Adler Theater on March 15 to see Mamma Mia, and April 26 the bus trip will be to Chicago to see Mary Poppins. Contact Marcia Larson, 563-244-7004, for more information.

Clinton Community College is pleased to announce the student artwork display at Wagner Pharmacy, 200 5th Avenue South, in Downtown Clinton. Robyn Smith, Clinton Community ColIege art instructor commented, “I am so pleased to be part of a community college and college district that support the arts as an essential part of the curriculum. We all need the arts, especially in these challenging times, and we all possess creative abilities which need expression. A special thanks to Wagner Pharmacy for sharing their space with us.” Many mediums of art are available in credit classes and Continuing Education offerings for students of all ages and interests in the community. For more information, contact Robyn Smith at 563-244-7176.

by Dawn Zuidema, theCity1.com
January 26, 2009