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The Arts

Australian Vocalists in Concert, Feb. 15

By February 5, 2008November 16th, 2018No Comments

“The Idea of North” quartet to perform with Kirkwood vocal groups in Ballantyne Auditorium

A famed group of singers will leave their native Australian summer to heat up a cold Iowa night with vocal pyrotechnics. Kirkwood Community College hosts The Idea of North in a vocal jazz concert Friday night, Feb. 15. The 8 p.m. program in Ballantyne Auditorium will also feature award-winning Kirkwood vocal groups RSVP and Jazz Transit.

The Sydney-based quartet has been performing since the 1990s and has produced five best-selling albums in Australia, with some achieving Top Ten status in their home country. The group has won numerous awards, including the U.S.-based Harmony Sweepstakes competition and Contemporary A Capella Recording Awards for Best Jazz Recording and Best Jazz Song.

In 2007, The Idea of North group member Trish Delaney-Brown won three Australian Gospel Music Society Awards: Best Gospel Hymn, Best Jazz Fusion/Gospel Song and Best Gospel Lyric.

The group has earned legions of fans in their native land for more than 15 years. The Sydney Morning Herald hailed their music as “measured and absorbing, like ABBA dipped in velvet.” The Courier-Mail called them a “pitch-perfect ensemble negotiating complex modulations with ease, constant seamless transition between lead and accompaniment parts, and the whole thing strung together by low-key, humorous conversation….”

The Idea of North will spend two days in workshops and teaching sessions at Kirkwood prior to the Feb. 15 concert. They will then share the stage with Kirkwood’s award-winning R.S.V.P. and Jazz Transit groups. The Kirkwood-based student ensembles have earned numerous awards over the past two decades and have been invited to perform in Europe several times, most recently the Czech Republic in 2006.

Kirkwood Vocal Music Director Ray Salucka called the group’s visit and performance “a rare treat and great opportunity” for the students and area music fans.

“The level of professionalism and talent in this foursome is just astounding. We know listeners in the audience and our students alike will come away from the experience richer and energized by their talent and spirit,” Salucka added.

Tickets for the Feb. 15 Kirkwood Vocal Jazz Fest with The Idea of North are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with current ID. Kirkwood faculty, staff and students will be admitted free of charge. Tickets are available from the Kirkwood Student Life office, (319) 398-5578.