In a performance captured in 1966, Judy Collins stands on an unadorned stage, guitar in hand. Her hair, cut simply, is dark; her dress is white. She’s twenty-seven, one year older than John Lennon, whose “In My Life” she begins to play.
It’s a beautiful rendition, clear and still. Fifty-nine years later, Lennon has passed, and Collins’ hair long ago turned white, but she’s still singing. She returns to St. Cecilia Music Center on March 13th, one of five concerts the venue will host that month.
Preceding that show will be the Lone Bellow, on March 8th. The band was born out of tragedy. Zach Williams, a newlywed, had been stunned by the paralysis his wife endured after suffering a horse-riding accident. To cope, he wrote in a journal; later, urged by friends, he would learn to play guitar. After his wife recovered, he moved with her to New York City and began to make his name as a musician.
The Lone Bellow is a trio, composed of Williams, Kanene Pipkin, and Brian Elmquist. Each member plays and sings, working together to create a sound drawing from country, bluegrass, folk, and even gospel. “They have such amazing harmonies,” said Cathy Holbrook, Executive & Artistic Director of St. Cecilia Music Center. And you can meet them afterward; as with all St. Cecilia’s concerts, there will be a free reception immediately following the show.
Grammy Award-winning Collins follows on March 13th. Nearly seven decades into her career, her voice has changed, but not failed. “It’s matured,” Holbrook said. “It’s still fresh and still beautiful.” And she’s a part of musical history (Rolling Stone deemed “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes,” the Crosby, Stills & Nash about her, one of the greatest songs of all time). She brings those stories to life in stories as enjoyable as the music itself.
Five-time Grammy nominee Julian Lage takes the stage on March 18th. Lage, a guitarist, was a child prodigy, learning guitar because he wanted to be like his dad. At twelve, he appeared in a Grammys telecast devoted to learning jazz. “He is music,” Holbrook said. In October 2019, he played St. Cecilia with legendary jazz pianist Fred Hersch. This time around, he’ll be part of a trio–a sort of jazz chamber music, as Holbrook described it (onstage will be a drummer, a pianist, and Lage).
Lage’s playing often has a dreamy, unhurried quality that can belie its technical rigor, as effective for the spaces it leaves between the notes as for the notes themselves. His playing has been described by reviewers as effortless, which is understandable but incorrect; only through lots of effort can you begin even to consider playing like that.
On March 20th and in partnership with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the venue will host an evening of classical music anchored by Schubert’s “Trout Quintet,” one of the most beloved pieces in chamber music history. Of it, musician Sophie Scholl has said that “you can positively feel and smell the breeze and hear the birds and the whole of creation shouting for joy.”
Among the musicians on-stage will be Wu Han, pianist and co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She began learning music at the age of nine, and has since played all over the world. Particularly dear to her heart is St. Cecilia, which she’s called “a little Carnegie Hall”; she has played the venue many times.
The final concert of the month takes place on March 28th, when The War and Treaty take the stage. A husband-and-wife duo whose energetic, positive music draws from country, folk, gospel, and more, they’ve earned multiple Grammy nominations, and are the first Black duo to be nominated for the Country Music Association’s Duo of the Year award. “Love Like Whiskey,” a driving, joyful song with a roll-down-your-windows-and-sing-along chorus, is representative.
If it seems like a particularly packed month for St. Cecilia, it is; while the venue’s known for drawing critically-acclaimed and much-loved artists, it doesn’t typically showcase five in one month. But it is typical that the music will be drawn from three primary genres: folk, jazz, and chamber music. Less popular these days than, say, hip-hop or pop, they nevertheless have their passionate admirers, all of whom are well-served by St. Cecilia. For the jazz shows, the devoted fans buy tickets to everything St. Cecilia stages, whereas sales of the folk shows tend to be more artist-driven. But regardless, they come.
“I tell people, there’s truly something for everyone,” Holbrook said. The March lineup more than demonstrates the truth of that statement, providing community members–and those outside the community, but within driving or even flying distance–the opportunity to sit in a gorgeous jewel box of a performance hall with perfect acoustics and let the music wash over you, one note at a time
St. Cecilia Music Center
24 Ransom NE, Grand Rapids
scmcgr.org
The Lone Bellow, Mar. 8
Judy Collins, Mar. 13
Julian Lage, Mar. 18
Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Mar. 20
The War & Treaty, Mar. 28
