Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m.
Modern Woodmen Park, 209 South Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Performing under the direction of Curtis Fischer-Oelschlaeger and accompanied by pianist Marcia Renaud, more than two dozen of the area's premier vocalists will celebrate beloved songs of the past in A Sunday in Tin Pan Alley – the March 1 concert event at Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park featuring iconic classics given beautiful new life by area ensemble the Quad City Singers.
Tin Pan Alley was the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated popular music in the United States in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The genre took its name from the byname of the street on which the industry was based, being on 28th Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway in the early-20th century, around Broadway and 32nd Street in the 1920s, and ultimately on Broadway between 42nd and 50th streets. “Tin pan” referred to the sound of pianos furiously pounded by musicians who demonstrated tunes to publishers, and Tin Pan Alley comprised the commercial tunes by songwriters of ballads, dance music, and vaudeville, with its name eventually becoming synonymous with American popular music in general.
Among the genre's most well-known composers were Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and the legendary duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The Quad City Singers' A Sunday in Tin Pan Alley will consequently boast some of these and other composers' most memorable contributions to American music, with the concert's repertoire featuring “Moon River,” “The Nearness of You,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “The Erie Canal,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Blue Skies,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “In the Good Old Summertime,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Climb Every Mountain,” and many more.
Since the group's beginnings in 1994, the Quad City Singers have performed a repertoire of vocal jazz, pop, and show tunes beyond their annual holiday performances, with the current vocal lineup composed of: Gregory Baiid, Nathan Bates, Colleen Callahan, Chris Castle, Kelsey Chestney, Tim Dominicus, Jessica Edblom, Nick Eli, Hillary Erb, John Erb, Anthony Greer, Holly Kennedy, J. Adam Lounsberry, Mary Mendelin, Randy Mester, Sheri Olson, Kevin Pieper, Patrick Scott, Andy Sederquist, Callan Sederquist, Jennifer Sondgeroth, Megan Warren, Joe Urbaitis, Jenny Winn, and Katherine Zerull.
A Sunday in Tin Pan Alley will be performed in Modern Woodmen Park's River Bandits Budweiser Champions Club at 3 p.m. on March 1, the $10-15 admission will include cheesecake and access to the cash bar, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)738-8489 or visiting QuadCitySingers.org.
