Keweenaw Heritage Center to present Baroque music concert Aug. 20

CALUMET -- The Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne’s in Calumet will host a concert of Baroque music at 7 p.m. TONIGHT, Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Local musicians, Susan Byykkonen and Kathleen Alatalo-Arten will be performing Baroque pieces on the harpsichord, flute and pipe organ. Come and enjoy a beautiful evening of music, followed by a reception. Tickets will be available at the door for $5.

Benefit dance at Keweenaw Heritage Center Sept. 6 to help repair steeple struck by lightning

Damage to the Keweenaw Heritage Center (St. Anne's) steeple from a recent lightning strike. A benefit dance will be held here Sept. 6 to raise funds for repairs. (Photo courtesy Anita Campbell)

CALUMET -- Jim and Teri Enrietti, along with Don Masnado, will be providing music for a benefit dance from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, in the lower level of the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's, at 5th and Scott streets in Calumet. Admission will be $5, and additional donations will be very welcome. 

Proceeds will go toward meeting any deductible for repairs to the steeple following the recent near-catastrophic lightning strike and to putting measures into place that will help prevent future strikes.

Click here to read about the lightning strike and see photos of the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's.

Keweenaw Heritage Center to host Pipe Organ and Harp Concert Aug. 29 in Calumet

CALUMET -- A Pipe Organ and Harp Concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's in Calumet.

Christina Harmon, of Dallas, Texas, has been smitten by the Copper Country and its historic organs so is returning again to share her talents. Twice she was the featured artist for Pine Mountain Music Festival organ recitals and has made subsequent trips here to produce a CD on eight of the historic pipe organs of the Keweenaw.

Harmon will be partnering with local harpist, Sidney Butler, principal harpist for the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. To add a little extra fun to the concert, a 15-minute silent comedy film will be shown: Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean with Christina Harmon providing the organ accompaniment.

The two musicians will perform Aria in Classic Style by Marcel Grandjany (1891-1975), who was a French-American harpist and a master of the instrument.

"I'm thrilled to be playing a piece that was composed especially for harp, not a transcription," Butler says. "Grandjany was known for his giant 'spatula' hands making large chords effortless. There is a left-hand chord in the piece that spans a 12th!"

Tickets are $10 -- benefit concert for maintenance of the historic organ.

"Organ Crawl" to be Aug. 30

From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the following day, Thursday, Aug. 30, an "Organ Crawl" will take place at 4 venues:  1 p.m., St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Houghton; 2 p.m.,  Trinity Episcopal Church in Houghton; 3 p.m., First United Methodist Church in Hancock; and 4 p.m. at the home of David and Carol Waisanen in Hancock. Christina Harmon will play and speak about all four historic pipe organs, along with local organists.

Audience members may also try the organs and take a closer look at how they operate.  Admission is $5 to include all 4 venues. However, an RSVP (370-0380) is requested for limited seating at the Waisanen home.

Keweenaw Heritage Center to host ethnic music July 30

Maple Sugar Folk perform French-Canadian tunes in the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's, Calumet, during a July 2009 ethnic music concert. They will be among several groups and solo vocalists to perform ethnic music this Monday, July 30, at the Keweenaw Heritage Center. (Keweenaw Now file photo)*

CALUMET -- The Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's in Calumet will host a summer evening of ethnic music at 7 p.m. Monday, July 30. Dave Bezotte has again invited several local musicians who will be sharing their music from around the world.

Here are the performers and their songs:

FINNISH: "Maailman Matti," Dan Maki

CZECH: "Stodola Pumpa" (Arr. Mark Weston)
CORNISH: "Song of the Jolly Roger (C. F. Chudleigh Candish)
Male Chorus -- Dave Bezotte, Bill Francis, Dick Hazzard, Don Kuiper, Pasi Lautala, Ardys Maki (Accompanist), Dan Maki, Pete Manderfield, Jeremiah Mason, Bryan Milde,
Barry Pegg, Brandon Veale, Carol Waisanen (Conductor), David Waisanen

SWEDISH -- "Calle Schewens vals," Barbara Lide

FINNISH, FRENCH, UKRAINIAN -- Selections to be announced
Trio Tumpelot -- Pasi Lautala, Anna Gawboy, and Meghan Pachmayer

FRENCH -- "Plaisir d’amour," Ruth Robertson

FRENCH-CANADIAN -- "Belle Rose du Printemps," "Alouette," "Vive l’amour"
Maple Sugar Folk -- Dave Bezotte, Amanda Binoniemi, Marcia Goodrich, Barbara Lide, Barry Pegg, Ruth Robertson, Karin Schlenker, Janet Wieber *

GERMAN -- "Der treue Husar," Barbara Lide

NORWEGIAN -- Selections to be announced, Jo Storaker, Accordion

AMERICAN -- "What a Wonderful World" (Douglas and Weiss), Karin Schlenker

There is no admission charge, but a free-will offering will be taken partway through the concert to benefit the Heritage Center.

*Editor's Note: For a preview, click here to see our video clip of Maple Sugar Folk singing "Alouette" at the 2009 ethnic music concert.

Keweenaw Heritage Center Musical Monday series to host Finn Fest 2013 preview TONIGHT

CALUMET -- The Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's will host a preview of Finn Fest 2013 at 7 p.m. TONIGHT, July 9, as part of their Musical Mondays series.
The evening will include the following:

• A Finnish dance performance by the children's "Kivajat Dancers" group
• Musical selections by Kantele Ensemble "Ilon Kaiku."
• Finnish comedy with the Nyt Naura sisters
• More Finnish tunes with Bill White on accordion and Randy Seppala on bones/spoons.
• Finnish bakery for sale, as well as Finn Fest 2013 merchandise

Hilary Virtanen will share information update on Finn Fest 2013 and all the exciting events being planned.