The U-M Health System’s Gifts of Art program continues its presentation of free musical performances at 12:10 p.m. Thursdays through May, at the University Hospital Main Lobby.
The vocal group Etcetera presents “Vintage American Pop” May 6, with swinging tunes from the great American songbook and a few surprises. The singers are Anne Bauman, Dick Bauman, Jan Carpman, Bob Collins, Pam Gibb, Steve Mandell, Mary Ellen Weakley and Bill Weakley. They are an offshoot of The Choral Connection, a song-and-dance troupe that has been entertaining audiences in and around Ann Arbor since 1994. Joyce Reese is the piano accompanist.
On May 13, the Father Gabriel Richard High School audition-only choir Madrigals, directed by Anne Kolaczkowski-Magee, presents “Choir Music.” In March the choir earned a No. 1 rating at the Michigan High School Vocal Arts district competition and was scheduled this month to compete at the state competition. Madrigals has performed for the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital beam signing and the 2009 School of Education commencement, as they will this year. Singing both a cappella and with accompaniment, the Madrigals display a wide range of musical styles from baroque to contemporary.
On May 20, Daniel Goree & Donald “Bopper” Clark present “Motown & Rock Classics.” Goree, from the Pacific Northwest, and Clark, from Michigan, take listeners on a journey through American music. Both of these musicians, Goree on lead guitar and Clark on bass, have been around the world, bringing sounds and perspectives to their interpretation of American rock’n’roll, R&B, Motown and country. Their music ranges from country standards of Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams to the pop hits of Michael Jackson.
On May 27, Suzanne Smith, the creator of the cellochan program for cellists that has thrived and evolved for over 15 years, presents “Cello Music.” She has a Bachelor of Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a master’s degree in music from the State University of New York. Smith has appeared with the Jackson and McComb Symphony Orchestras as principal cellist, and she has performed at the Tanglewood-Berkshire Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Rome Festival, the Scotia Festival and Sarasota Festival, among others.
