MONROE - The Monroe Arts Center's Wisconsin Music Arts Festival is this week, Oct. 4-8.
Concerts, music workshops, gallery exhibits, book presentations and signings, an art fair and plenty of free events for families and children are some of the scheduled activities. Wisconsin Public Radio host Stephanie Elkins is the festival emcee.
Madison's all-gal pop-rock trio Gin, Chocolate and Bottle Rockets take the MAC stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Two-time Grammy-nominated musician Robbie Fulks, along with his band, perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at MAC. This alternative country singer-songwriter plays honky-tonk, country, bluegrass, power pop and other music genres. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, Austin City Limits and on the "Today" show and was named one of 2016's best by Rolling Stone magazine.
Numerous free events and activities for families and children of all ages begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at MAC. Singer/songwriter Ken Lonnquist performs children's music. The entertainment continues with Truly Remarkable Loon at 11 a.m. An art fair starts at 10 a.m. on the MAC lawn, and free face-painting and pony rides start at noon.
Two music-writing workshops will be conducted by Gin, Chocolate and Bottle Rockets members Beth Kille and Shawndell Marks on Saturday. Workshop space is limited. Registrations are accepted through Thursday.
"Family Tradition" takes center stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center. Marty Haggard (son of Merle Haggard), Tommy Cash (brother of Johnny Cash) and Georgette Jones (daughter of George Jones and Tammy Wynette) join forces to present an unforgettable evening of great music and family stories. These three artists are forever a part of country music royalty, proudly carrying on the "family tradition."
For the final concert, Madison's Lucia String Quartet will perform a program at 2 p.m. Sunday at MAC. They have been performing throughout the Midwest for over 15 years.
Event kickoff
The WMAF kickoff is Wednesday with two free back-to-back events.
This is the third installment of the Festival and the second year MAC has turned its attention to the Wisconsin environment.
An opening reception for the exhibit titled "Firelines" by Wisconsin photographer Jill Metcoff, along with a book signing, is 5 to 7 p.m. in MAC's Muranyi Gallery. The photographs show the ephemeral forms that fire takes as it sweeps through the landscape of southwest Wisconsin, renewing patchworks of prairie, forest and savanna. The photographs on display have their origin in a newly published book, "Along the Wisconsin Riverway." Metcoff, author and photographer, will speak at 5:30 p.m.
At 7 p.m. in the Gunderson Stiles Concert Hall at MAC, Curt Meine and Keefe Keeley will present from the book of essays and art they edited, "The Driftless Reader," with a book-signing immediately following. This collection includes work by Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Aldo Leopold and David Rhodes.
Meine is a conservation biologist and writer affiliated with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Center for Humans and Nature, International Crane Foundation and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is considered the principal biographer of Aldo Leopold. Keely is executive director of the Savanna Institute, working with farmers on sustainable agro-ecosystems in the Upper Midwest.
Both events are free and open to the public.
For all headlining concert reserved-seat tickets or information, contact the Monroe Arts Center at 608-325-5700 or online at monroeartscenter.com.
Concerts, music workshops, gallery exhibits, book presentations and signings, an art fair and plenty of free events for families and children are some of the scheduled activities. Wisconsin Public Radio host Stephanie Elkins is the festival emcee.
Madison's all-gal pop-rock trio Gin, Chocolate and Bottle Rockets take the MAC stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Two-time Grammy-nominated musician Robbie Fulks, along with his band, perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at MAC. This alternative country singer-songwriter plays honky-tonk, country, bluegrass, power pop and other music genres. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, Austin City Limits and on the "Today" show and was named one of 2016's best by Rolling Stone magazine.
Numerous free events and activities for families and children of all ages begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at MAC. Singer/songwriter Ken Lonnquist performs children's music. The entertainment continues with Truly Remarkable Loon at 11 a.m. An art fair starts at 10 a.m. on the MAC lawn, and free face-painting and pony rides start at noon.
Two music-writing workshops will be conducted by Gin, Chocolate and Bottle Rockets members Beth Kille and Shawndell Marks on Saturday. Workshop space is limited. Registrations are accepted through Thursday.
"Family Tradition" takes center stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center. Marty Haggard (son of Merle Haggard), Tommy Cash (brother of Johnny Cash) and Georgette Jones (daughter of George Jones and Tammy Wynette) join forces to present an unforgettable evening of great music and family stories. These three artists are forever a part of country music royalty, proudly carrying on the "family tradition."
For the final concert, Madison's Lucia String Quartet will perform a program at 2 p.m. Sunday at MAC. They have been performing throughout the Midwest for over 15 years.
Event kickoff
The WMAF kickoff is Wednesday with two free back-to-back events.
This is the third installment of the Festival and the second year MAC has turned its attention to the Wisconsin environment.
An opening reception for the exhibit titled "Firelines" by Wisconsin photographer Jill Metcoff, along with a book signing, is 5 to 7 p.m. in MAC's Muranyi Gallery. The photographs show the ephemeral forms that fire takes as it sweeps through the landscape of southwest Wisconsin, renewing patchworks of prairie, forest and savanna. The photographs on display have their origin in a newly published book, "Along the Wisconsin Riverway." Metcoff, author and photographer, will speak at 5:30 p.m.
At 7 p.m. in the Gunderson Stiles Concert Hall at MAC, Curt Meine and Keefe Keeley will present from the book of essays and art they edited, "The Driftless Reader," with a book-signing immediately following. This collection includes work by Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Aldo Leopold and David Rhodes.
Meine is a conservation biologist and writer affiliated with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Center for Humans and Nature, International Crane Foundation and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is considered the principal biographer of Aldo Leopold. Keely is executive director of the Savanna Institute, working with farmers on sustainable agro-ecosystems in the Upper Midwest.
Both events are free and open to the public.
For all headlining concert reserved-seat tickets or information, contact the Monroe Arts Center at 608-325-5700 or online at monroeartscenter.com.