St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) will bring folk icon and singer/songwriter Judy Collins to Grand Rapids on October 20, 2019. Judy Collins has inspired audiences with her sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 50-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century. On November 8, 2019, Collins will release her new album called “Winter Stories”. She made the album with Norwegian folk artist and collaborator Jonas Fjeld and bluegrass band Chatham Country Line. Collins says, “The language of music overarches everything, including geography. When we came together in the studio, we found we could speak to each other in a way that was compatible and nuanced.”The album includes covers of Joni Mitchell’s “The River,” Jimmy Webb’s “The Highwayman” and Stan Rogers’ “Northwest Passage,” plus new songs and more.
St. Cecilia Music Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook says, “We had an excited audience when we brought Judy Collins to St. Cecilia Music Center in February 2018 and it was a sellout evening. She was the most gracious and amazing performer and we are thrilled to have her back in Grand Rapids on October 20th to hear her amazing voice and heartfelt words ”.
Judy Collins, now 80, is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. She is a modern-day Renaissance woman who is also an accomplished painter, filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.
Tickets are $50 and $55 to see award-winning singer songwriter Judy Collinsin concert. Tickets can be purchased by calling 616-459-2224 or visiting St. Cecilia Music Center at 24 Ransom NE, Grand Rapids, 49503 or online at www.scmc-online.org. The October 20th concert with Judy Collins will begin at 7:30pm and includes a post-concert party with wine and beerfor all concert ticket holders.
More information about Judy Collins at www.judycollins.com
Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 50-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.
The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Judy’s dreamy and sweetly intimate version of “Send in the Clowns,” a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, won "Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards. She’s garnered several top-ten hits gold- and platinum-selling albums. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honored her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.
Judy began her impressive music career at 13 as a piano prodigy, dazzling audiences performing Mozart's “Concerto for Two Pianos,” but the hard luck tales and rugged sensitivity of folk revival music by artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger seduced her away from a life as a concert pianist. Her path pointed to a lifelong love affair with the guitar and pursuit of emotional truth in lyrics. The focus and regimented practice of classical music, however, would be a source of strength to her inner core as she navigated the highs and lows of the music business.
In 1961, she released her masterful debut, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, which featured interpretative works of social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. This began a wonderfully fertile thirty-five-year creative relationship with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records. Around this time Judy became a tastemaker within the thriving Greenwich Village folk community, and brought other singer-songwriters to a wider audience, including poet/musician Leonard Cohen – and musicians Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to the present, she has remained a vital artist, enriching her catalog with critically acclaimed albums while balancing a robust touring schedule.
Prolific as ever, Judy recorded a DVD special Judy Collins: A Love Letter To Stephen Sondheim, in her hometown of Denver, CO. Along with the Greely Philharmonic Orchestra, Judy dazzled the audience with Sondheim’s beautiful songs and her lovely, radiant voice. DVD and CD companion will be released in early 2017. Judy also released a collaborative album in June 2016, Silver Skies Blue, with writing partner, Ari Hest. Silver Skies Blue has been GRAMMY nominated for BEST FOLK ALBUM in 2017, this is the first GRAMMY nomination for Collins in over 40 years.
On September 18, 2015, Judy released Strangers Again. She invited a cast of icons and young talents to sing with her on this fresh collection, from Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne and Jeff Bridges to Glen Hansard, Ari Hest and Bhi Bhiman. Judy delicately soars over a revitalized “Send in The Clowns” and breathes new life into “Hallelujah.” She puts her indelible touch on songs by Leonard Bernstein, Randy Newman, James Taylor and more.
In 2012, she released the CD/DVD Judy Collins Live at The Metropolitan Museum of Art which aired on PBS. This special television program was nominated for a New York Emmy and won a Bronze Medal at the 2013 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards. Based on its success, in 2014 she filmed another spectacular show in Ireland at Dromoland Castle. Live In Ireland was released in 2014. This program also won a Bronze Medal at the 2014 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards and the program will broadcast on PBS in 2014 and 2015.
Judy has also authored several books, including the powerful and inspiring, Sanity & Grace and her extraordinary memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music. For her most recent title to be released in 2017, Cravings, she provides a no-holds barred account of her harrowing struggle with compulsive overeating, and the journey that led her to a solution. Alternating between chapters on her life and those of the many diet gurus she has encountered along the way (Atkins, Jean Nidtech of Weight Watchers, Andrew Weil, to name a few), Cravings is the culmination of Judy's genuine desire to share what she's learned—so that no one has follow her heart-rending path to recovery.
In addition, she remains a social activist, representing UNICEF and numerous other causes. She is the director (along with Jill Godmillow) of an Academy Award-nominated film about Antonia Brico – PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world–and Judy's classical piano teacher when she was young.
Updated St. Cecilia Music Center Acoustic Café Folk Series 2019/2020
Acoustic Café Folk Series 2019/2020
- SCMC’s first concert of the season will feature Lee Ann Womack on the Acoustic Café Folk Series on October 3, 2019. Lee Ann Womack’s latest album The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gonehas “some of the most immediate and deeply felt vocal performances” of her career, and captures “the emotional core of country” (NPR). She has been praised by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journaland New Yorker. Lee Ann has sung for multiple Presidents, performed award-winning duets with everyone from Willie Nelson, John Prine to John Legend. Lee Ann has earned six Country Music Association Awards (including Single and Album of the Year), five Academy of Country Music Awards, and a Grammy award.
- The legendary Judy Collins takes the stage on October 20, 2019 on the Acoustic Café Folk Series. This will be Judy Collins’ second appearance at SCMC. She last performed at SCMC in Winter 2018 when she packed the house. The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell's “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Judy’s dreamy and sweetly intimate version of “Send in the Clowns,” a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music, won "Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards. She’s garnered several top-ten hits gold- and platinum-selling albums. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honored her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.
- Grammy-award winning bluegrass artists, The Infamous Stringdusters, will debut in West Michigan at St. Cecilia Music Center on February 6, 2020. Their uniquely powerful blend of bluegrass, rock and more has pivoted them to the top echelons of the blue-grass/rock scene. The New York Timeshas reported, “With a nod to the past and a firm foot down on the gas toward the future, the 'Dusters... don't leave bluegrass behind; they're stretching it from within."
- Multiple Grammy-award winner Rosanne Cash will appear on the Royce Auditorium stage on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 with guest artist musician/composer John Leventhal. Cash’s tour entitled She Remembers Everything, from her most recent album of the same name,is a poetic, lush and soulful collection of songs of personal songwriting and reflection. She Remembers Everythingwas produced by collaborator John Leventhal and Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Mavis Staples, Neko Case). One of the country’s pre-eminent singer/songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four Grammy Awards and 11 nominations, as well as 21 top-40 hits, including 11 No. 1 singles.
- Multi-Grammy-Award Winner and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile will hit the stage at SCMC on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. A member of Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek, and now the host of the radio program, Live from Here, Chris Thile is a mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist. With his broad outlook, Thile transcends the borders of conventionally circumscribed genres, creating a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.A child prodigy, Thile first rose to fame as a member of Grammy award-winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom he released four albums and sold over two million records. As a soloist, Thile has released several albums including his most recent, Thanks for Listening, a collection of recordings, produced by Thomas Bartlett, originally written as Songs of the Weekfor Live from Here. In February 2013, Thile won a Grammy for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan. In September 2014, Thile and Meyer released their latest album collaboration, Bass + Mandolin, which won the Grammyaward for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Punch Brothers released their latest album, the Grammy-winningAll Ashore, in July 2018 with Pop Mattersdescribing the album as 'a call to savor, to pay attention, to step back from the hustle and bustle and remember the importance of being calm."
- Guitarist / Singer Raul Midón will appear at SCMC on February 27, 2020. The New York Times said Raul Midón is “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.” Along with releasing 10 studio albums as a solo artist, the Grammy-nominated Raul Midón – dubbed “an eclectic adventurist” by Peoplemagazine – has collaborated with such heroes as Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, along with contributing to recordings by Queen Latifah, Snoop Dogg and the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s She Hate Me. A native of New Mexico who was educated in the jazz program of the University of Miami – and who now lives in Maryland after years in New York City – Midón has earned acclaim the world over, with a fan base that stretches from San Francisco to India, Amsterdam to Tokyo. A critic for the U.K.’s Guardiannewspaper wrote: “Midón has a lovely voice, a beautifully controlled tenor that can express anything from tenderness to passion… And the guy can play. His strumming has a flamenco flourish, but after a while, you realize he can do every kind of accompaniment he needs on acoustic guitar.”
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