Sharpe World Music
Ensemble
Monday, September 24
7
p.m.
Audiovisual
Department
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Tom Sharpe
This program is partially supported by a grant from the
Illinois Arts
Council
 Tom
Sharpe is an internationally recognized award-winning composer,
percussionist, pianist, and recording artist currently residing in
the Chicagoland area. He is a sought-out performer and
clinician of his own works, the director and principal artist of the
Sharpe World Music Ensemble. He is a former member of the
Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Tom is
an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy, and holds the degrees
Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from DePaul University in
Chicago. He has spent years developing his unique style of
visually stimulating performance and lyrical composition. A
classically trained musician, Tom has blended his orchestral
background with world music instrumentation and cinematic imagery to
create an experience that invites the listener into the heart of the
musical moment - wildly emotional and technically precise, with a
gutsy edge of percussive frenzy and tribal ritual.
Tom's compositions have won many honors, including
the grand prize for world music in the John Lennon Songwriting
Contest. Tom premiered his award winning music at the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. He was a featured artist
at the 2004 NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, and at the Nashville New Music
Conference in Tennessee for two consecutive years. In 2005,
Tom and members of his ensemble were featured in the PBS Special
“Arts Across Illinois”. In 2006 he provided the live soundtrack for
Dance Chicago’s World Rhythms and Dance series at the Athenaeum
Theatre in Chicago, as well as performed on stage. Most
recently, Tom was honored as the 2007 winner of the Broadjam World
Music Competition. Of his latest works, “In Lumino” was commissioned
and premiered in Indianapolis at the National Percussion Festival
last March, and “World Percussion Symphony #1” was premiered with a
full ensemble and choir at Elmhurst College in April. He i s
endorsed by the Yamaha corporation of America and Vic Firth
Sticks and Mallets, and is a touring artist with the Illinois Arts
Council and Urban Gateways Center for Arts Education.
Tom's high-energy, passion and musicality leaves
audiences amazed and inspired. Musicians include
multi-instrumentalist Tom Sharpe on percussion, Amanda Lake on
electric cello, Jeff Elbel on fretless bass and vocalist Nikki
Lapwing. A "must see" experience!
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SUMMER PROGRAMS
IN TOWN
SQUARE
The Big Band Concert Series at Town
Square, sponsored by the Schaumburg Township District Library,
successfully ended on Monday, Aug. 13. We have
experienced a wonderful summer with some of Chicagoland's best
suburban bands and singers. Their energy, enthusiasm and passion for
the music made every minute on stage feel like they were
creating something magical.
Program brochures featured all the events by
performance date and included businesses in Schaumburg Township who
had agreed to co-sponsor our events. The library's
gratitude goes to these businesses for their involvment and
support, as well as their contributions to cover the cost of the
program guides.
Advanced Dentistry (847) 301-8565 Bonefish Grill
(847) 534-0679 Coldwell Banker (847) 301-3100 Dominick's Finer
Foods (847) 301-0777 FitWize 4 KIDS (847) 895-9493 General
Nutrition Center (847) 891-3837 Hair Cuttery (847)
891-2804 Larry and Dan's Marathon Station (847)
895-3467 Lester Starr Jewelers (847) 301-0101 Oberweis Ice
Cream and Dairy Store (847) 534-0544 Score! Learning Center (847)
923-0124 Sweet Tomatoes (847) 619-1271
Washington Mutual ((847) 891-6102
These
successful events will remain in our minds forever because
we hired some of the best-of-the-best entertainers in the
Chicago area. The library wishes to thank all of the
fine performers who so graciously agreed to play during one of
Chicago's most unpredictable summer seasons. Our
heartfelt thanks go to the:
Ron Mills
Orchestra
Vito Buffalo
Orchestra
Rick
Falato'sYorkville American Legion Big Band
Maxwell
Street Klezmer Band
Steve Cooper
Orchestra
Teddy Lee Orchestra
John Burnett
Orchestra
Larry
Bemben's Schaumburg Jazz Ensemble
Dick Gulbrandsen's Limited
Edition Big Band
Brotherhood of Harmony Men's Barbershop
Chorus
Spring
Valley Concert Band
Edgar
Gabriel's StringFusion
And a
special thank you to the following vocalists:
Mary
Kalfas
Leslie Buekelman
Dean
Potter
Julie Creighton
Peter
Oprisko
Frieda
Lee
Melanie
Lee
Stevens
Bob Shipner
Last but not
least, I wish to thank all the patrons who took time out
to attend our concerts. The events would have never been a
success without your support. It was truly an honor and a
privilege to present these musical events to
you.
The programs were presented in
cooperation with the Village of Schaumburg and the Schaumburg
Park District.
"As food is to the
body, it is the arts that nourish the
soul." -- Joan Kleppe, Spring Valley Concert
Band
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Wii Love
Grandparents
Sunday, Sept.
9
5:30 - 7:30
p.m.
Rasmussen
Room
Celebrate Grandparents Day with an intergenerational Wii
tournament. Enjoy active virtual gameing with Wii, which is a
user-friendly video game for all ages. Pizza and prizes for mini
tournaments will be provided. Other games will be available while waiting
during Wii tournaments. This is a family event open to children ages 8 -14
with participating adults. Registration is required. Please sign up by
calling (847) 923-3191 or send an email to aalessio@stdl.org.
HARPER
TELECOURSES
Students interested in enrolling in a telecourse at Harper
College have access to telecourses at STDL. The library has
always carried Harper telecourses on VHS tapes. Effective early September,
we are expecting telecourses in DVD format. Additional courses will
be available in addition to the nine courses presently held here at the
library. Harper students may check out three tapes/DVDs for
a 3-week period of time.
Not all local libraries participate in this program. It is
highly recommended that students check with their local public library to
see if it currently provides this service. Tapes are available on a first-come first-service basis. We do not
reserve courses at STDL.
This is the
list of the local participating libraries and their phone numbers for
course title, description and checkout peiod.
Harper Library
847 925-6584
Mt Prospect Public Library
847
253-5675
Northeast Center (NEC)
847 925-6001
Rolling Meadows Public Library
Schaumburg Township Library
847 985-4000
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Patchouli
Monday, October
29
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Audiovisual Department
 Patchouli
Bruce Hecksel and Julie
Patchouli recorded their first jam session together on Jan. 6, 1993
in a church in Chicago. With Bruce playing an acoustic guitar and
Julie on a 5-gallon pail, they discovered their desire to create
music together out of anything and everything around them. That
desire fueled their relationship as it grew out of this musical love
they shared and keeps them grounded in the music they create still
to this day.
Bruce Hecksel’s primary instrument is
acoustic guitar. In addition to intense study in many styles from
fingerstlye, flamenco, classical, jazz, flat picking, and folk, he
studied concert piano, choral compositions and plays bass guitar and
percussion on stage. But Bruce started his guitar adventure in a
punk rock band named Be Safe Be Seen. At a Canadian music festival
in 1991, his electric guitar and amp were stolen and he was left
with only his acoustic guitar, which he took as a sign and never
played an electric guitar again.
As lyricist and lead vocalist of
Patchouli, Julie’s background is in
words. She began reciting poetry when she was seven. She walked
around with her steno notepad and recorded all her observations of
her young life. Dabbling in violin, drums, and trombone throughout
school she worked many of her poems into acapella pieces that she
and friends would perform.
When she and Bruce met they put the
poetry to music and Patchouli began.
Julie now plays multiple instruments on and off stage, including
6 and 12 string guitars, upright bass marimbas, flutes
and hand drums.
Bruce attended college and grad
school for music and theology. Julie studied ethnobotany (the study
of cultures and plants) and environmental science. Together they
blend the ide of cultures, music, environment and theology into the
positive vibrations of Patchouli
music.
The song Patchouli was the first instrumental piece they
wrote together. It’s one part ethnobotany, one part
theology, two-part harmony, two-part guitar and a pinch of gypsy
caravan. Patchouli’s deeply
rooted musical base combined with advanced studies in yoga,
meditation and other healing disciplines work together to make music
with a remarkable capacity to inspire and uplift the human
spirit.
Being a duo has its advantages.
Two home bases for instance. Julie’s originally from the Chicago
area. Bruce is from Minneapolis. Patchouli maintains a loyal following and plays in
both cities regularly in addition to their heavy touring around the
rest of North America.
Duets were formed from both
perspectives on their long road adventures and stories that become
songs. The duality reaches even further as they are not only the
musicians but also the owners of their independent label Earthsign
Records. They divide the office of booking/managing, recording,
graphics department, accounting, and technical support and
merchandise sales into their 24/7 labor of love.
If you are interested in
engaging Patchouli for one of your functions, please contact
Julie Patchouli and Bruce Hecksel by e-mail at: earthsignrecords@aol.com or
go to their website at: http://www.patchouli.net/ | |
