Jump in... for a musical experience
unlike any other!
Ken Lonnquist & Dave Adler
navigate an improvised music-making adventure for folks of all levels of
musical proficiency...
Songs are living things.
Lovely performances of a song may be captured on a recording, but the song itself, like any living thing, continues beyond the still-image "photograph" represented by a recording. It adapts to the conditions of new places, singers and players in any given moment. This is the essence of live musical expression.
Living River Music explores how songs change --- in tempo, dynamic, mood, and even meaning --- with time and circumstance. We will experience songs together, in the moment, as a group of music-makers --- every week.
Participation in Living River Music requires no musical expertise --- only a love of communication and connection, and the desire to participate! All skill-levels are welcome. Participants can sing, clap, play percussion or an instrument. Expect joy, comeraderie, personal growth and even therapeutic benefits as a result of group music-making. Watch poise and confident self-expression take hold as your feet get wet in the pools of improvisation, song-arranging and even songwriting. The Living River is the place for you to dive in!
What songs will we play?
We'll usually decide "in the moment", and a likely emphasis will fall on songs familiar, accessible, and easy to learn. Ken and Dave have deep repertoires from which to draw as they lead the ongoing "group-swims" through folk, rock, standards, originals, or anything that bubbles up (including group-improvised songs) and suggestions from participants --- which will always be welcome and expected!
In the end, particular songs will matter less than the experience of playing and singing together, and the lessons learned from our group interactions over time.
The primary goal of Living River Music is that every participant experience the thrill of "letting go" musically, swimming in song-currents together as improvisationalists --- listening, feeling the tempo and dynamic, adjusting to group direction and flow, and developing and refining arrangements as new possibilities within songs are discovered. In this process, the therapeutic power of music-making will emerge as a "bonus" --- along with self-confidence, poise, performance skills and new friendships gained from navigating uncharted waters together!
Like traditional music students, Living River Music participants will showcase their development in quarterly recitals. Favorite songs will be chosen that may feature individuals, small ensembles or the group as a whole. We'll explore ways of creating powerful programs of song for each recital, combining accapella arrangements, small ensembles that accompany themselves instrumentally or the whole group working together as one.
Join us in the Living River Music !
Ken Lonnquist
Another artist once described Ken as "a walking free-association"... he's made a long musical career out of living in-the-moment with audiences and students.
He's widely known for his children's music, which became his "bread-and-butter" gig in the early 1990's... but he's always been a prolific writer of adult folk songs, musicals, topical humor, and an interpreter of other songs (including inventive arrangements of Bob Dylan songs for The Whateverlys). Learn more about Ken at www.kenland.com .
Dave Adler
Dave's been the "go-to-guy" for musicians and theater groups needing a keyboard player for decades.
He knows a million songs, and if he doesn't, he'll pick up on whatever is being played so effortlessly you'll think he knew the song all along! A founding member of The Gomers, he's worked with Second City in Chicago, toured with Willy Porter, and done a million other cool things. He and Ken have performed together since... well, since time began.
$15 per single session, or
$10 per session for quarterly sign-up (12 weeks, $120).
All ages and levels of musical experience welcome!
Sessions conducted on Mondays, 7-8 PM at Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St., Madison (Bolz Room B).
Start the new year with Living River Music on January 16, 2012!
Call us today at (608) 249-7714 or email ken_kenland.com .
Reserve your spot by sending a check to: Living River Music, PO Box 3411, Madison, WI 53704
My Name copyright 2023 no animals were harmed in the making
my business copyright 2000 no animals were harmed in the making
