Special Guests
Saturday, January 22, 2000

Greg Brown

GREG BROWN's mother played electric guitar, his grandfather played banjo, and his father was a Holy Roller preacher in the Hacklebarney section of Iowa, where the Gospel and music are a way of life. Brown’s first professional singing job came at age 18 in New York City, running hootenannies (folksinger get-togethers) at the legendary Gerdes Folk City. After a year, Brown moved west to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where he was a ghostwriter for Buck Ram, founder of the Platters. Tired of the fast-paced life, Brown traveled with a band for a few years, and even quit playing for a while before he moved back to Iowa and began writing songs and playing in midwestern clubs and coffeehouses. Brown’s songwriting has been lauded by many, and his songs have been performed by Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Michael Johnson, Shawn Colvin, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. He has also recorded more than a dozen albums, including his 1986 release, "Songs of Innocence and of Experience," when he put aside his own songwriting to set poems of William Blake to music. "One Big Town," recorded in 1989, earned Brown three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, chart-topping status in AAA and The Gavin Report’s Americana rankings and Brown’s first Indie Award from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors). "The Poet Game," his 1994 CD, received another Indie award from NAIRD. His critically acclaimed 1996 release, "Further In," was a finalist for the same award. Rolling Stone’s four-star review of "Further In" called Brown “a wickedly sharp observer of the human condition.” 1997’s "Slant 6 Mind" (Red House Records) earned Brown his second Grammy nomination. His latest CD, "One Night" (Red House), is a re-release of a 1983 live performance originally on Minneapolis’ Coffeehouse Extemporé Records

Ensemble Singers of the Plymouth Music Series

The ENSEMBLE SINGERS OF THE PLYMOUTH MUSIC SERIES first sang together in 1991. They are the professional core of the larger Plymouth Music Series, which, for 30 years under the direction of founder and artistic director Philip Brunelle, has grown to become one of the premier music organizations in Minnesota. Commissions and world premiere performances include works of Dominick Argento, Randall Davidson, Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus and Conrad Susa. The Ensemble Singers are heard on the Angel, Collins Classics, and RCA labels. Last year, they represented the US in Stockholm’s “Midwinter Festival,” were featured at the American Choral Directors National Convention in Chicago, presented the opening concert for the Chorus America conference, and appeared in Rotterdam at the World Choral Symposium. Performing tonight are: Soprano: Kathleen Hanson, Margaret Lanning, Barbara Nelson, Andrea Schussler, Ruth Spiegel, Linda Zelig; Alto: Anna M. Dick, Kathleen Grammer, Nina Heebink, Cybil M. Jones, Barbara Kastens, Karen Lovgren Kennedy; Tenor: Brian Arreola, Robert Griffin, Albert Jordan, Thomas Larson, Jordan Sramek, Lawrence Wiliford; Bass: Steve Burger, Adam Gedde, Jerry Johnson, Michael Jorgensen, Michael P. Schmidt, Robert C. Smith. The Ensemble Singers next perform with the Plymouth Music Series in "Witness," a celebration of the words and music of African Americans. The performance is at 8 pm on Saturday, February 19 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.