Schedule of Events:

January 11, 2025: Walter Blanding Quartet

The Grove Music Festival presents the Walter Blanding Quartet on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 7:00pm, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 405 N. Saginaw Road.  Featured artists will be Walter Blanding, saxophone, Maria Marmarou, drums, Reuben Stump, bass, and Cormac Avila, piano.

The program will also feature the All Star Jazz Band, comprised of high school students from Midland Public Schools District. Directed by Walter Blanding.

Walter Blanding, Saxophone

Maria Marmarou, Drums

Reuben Stump, Bass

Cormac Avila, Piano

All Star Jazz Band

Directed by Walter Blanding Professor of Saxophone MSU

Selections: Mamacita by Joe Henderson arr. Alan Baylock

Cottontail by Duke Ellington arr. Mark Taylor

March 18, 2025: Trio Ghidorah

Trio Ghidorah (pronounced “gee-doh-rah”) redefine the modern guitar ensemble while taking their audience on a transformative journey.

Hailing from Hong Kong, Brazil, and the American Midwest, the trio is a melting pot of musical style, perspective, and culture. Their repertoire blends music from Latin America with the classical canon and contemporary works. Named after a three-headed movie monster, the group brings a playful approach to music making while relying on superb technique and their vast musical knowledge.

The trio explores combinations of plucked-string instruments to expand their sound world. They look to the classical guitar’s “extended family” and adopt instruments such as the 7-string guitar, the mandolin, and the requinto guitar. Their unique concert programs feature original arrangements in diverse musical styles, including works by Stravinsky, Egberto Gismonti, and Philip Glass.

Selections from their debut album, Dances and Fantasies, have been played on the public radio program The Intimate Guitar and on WXXI Classical in Rochester, New York. The trio performs regularly in the Rochester area and beyond, with appearances at the Eastman School of Music, Irondequoit Arts and Music Festival, the Little Theatre, Skaneateles Library Guitar Series, Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania), Oakland University (Michigan), and Kerrytown Concert House (Michigan), among others.

Dates:

January 11, 2025 and March 15, 2025

Time:

January 11, 2025: 7:00pm - 8:30pm

March 15, 2025: 7:30pm

Location:

St. John’s Episcopal Church

405 N Saginaw Rd.,

Midland, Michigan 48640.

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