Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith and The Blue Moon Orchestra to open Goshen College’s Performing Arts Series

 

GOSHEN, Ind. – “The Queen of Folkabilly,” as “Rolling Stone” once described her, Nanci Griffith has been honored with five nominations and two Grammy awards for solo and album performances, as well as writing a number of classic songs. The singer-songwriter and her longtime backup band, The Blue Moon Orchestra, will open Goshen College’s 2005-06 Performing Arts Series (PAS) on Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Individual tickets for Griffith and all other PAS performances go on sale on Monday, Aug. 29, at the Goshen College Welcome Center.

 

Griffith, a well-known performer, has been credited with bearing the torch for a new genre of music that draws on country and folk influences for a unique and engaging style. She has performed in venues from the Newport Folk Festival to New York’s Carnegie Hall, Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry to London’s Royal Albert Hall. She is also well known for advocating the abolition of landmines in Vietnam, Cambodia and Kosovo, where she has performed.

 

Growing up in Austin, Texas, Griffith learned how to play guitar when she was eight years old from watching a Saturday morning series on public television hosted by Laura Weber. Griffith soon began writing her own songs that were easier to play than songs she could have tried to learn. Despite this early gift for music, she went on to graduate from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in education, and taught kindergarten and first grade in Austin during the 1970s.

 

Griffith released a debut album in 1978 titled, “There’s a Light Beyond These Woods,” and went on to record more than 20 albums with various production companies. In 1986, she formed The Blue Moon Orchestra, which has served as her accompaniment ever since, and currently includes James Hooker, Pat McInerney, Clive Gregson and Le Ann Etheridge.

 

Future concerts in the Performing Arts Series:

 

·    Oct. 23, 4 p.m. – International Sejong Soloists with Eugenia Zukerman

·    Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m. – Colm Wilkinson

·    Jan. 22, 3 p.m. – Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus with GC Chamber Choir

·    Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m. – The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet (add-on)

·    March 10, 7:30 p.m. – The Blind Boys of Alabama

·    March 31, 7:30 p.m. – Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and pianist Peter Stoltzman

 

Performing Arts Series musical concerts are held in Sauder Concert Hall of the Music Center on the campus of Goshen College. The hall is becoming widely known as one of the finest acoustical venues in the Midwest.

 

Tickets are $40 for A section, $35 for B section or $16 for C section seats. For information about ticket availability, prices, reservations or more information, contact the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566 or e-mail welcomecenter@goshen.edu.

 

- Jennifer Rupp

 

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

 

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu/.