Music Under the Stars highlights Zoo’s summer events
Written by Duane Ramsey | | news@toledofreepress.comMusic Under the Stars will bring live entertainment for all ages to The Toledo Zoo again this summer.
The Toledo tradition of free Sunday evening concerts by the Toledo Symphony Orchestra returns to the zoo’s amphitheater at 7:30 p.m. on Sundays in July and August.
The themes for the Music Under the Stars concerts have not been determined, but will be posted on the Web sites of the Toledo Symphony and The Toledo Zoo when they become available. The concert dates are July 12, 19, 26 and Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30.
Rock n’ Roar also returns to The Toledo Zoo on Aug. 14, offering a summer dance party for adults. It features three bands and one disc jockey on four stages from 7 p.m. until midnight.
One ticket covers all four stages for the entire night. Tickets are $20 for zoo members and $25 for non-members and must be purchased in advance by phone at (419) 385-5721, Ext. 2091 or email at robin.guidera@toledozoo.org. Guests must be 21 years of age and identification is required at the door.
Also, this summer, the zoo’s 2009 concert series returns. Presented by Live Nation, the series will feature performances by Crosby, Stills and Nash on June 7 and John Legend with India Arie on July 20.
The music of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash is a cornerstone of rock ‘n roll with the collaboration of these three singer-songwriters since 1969, according to the zoo’s Web site. After 40 years, the trio is expanding its recorded repertoire with two new album projects, one spotlighting its enduring creative spark and the other, its legendary roots.
Crosby, Stills and Nash are recording an album with Columbia Records scheduled for release in 2010. The other project with Rhino Records is a single-disc collection of rare, unheard demos of signature songs due out this year.
The trio’s 2009 tour launch coincides with its induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in New York City in June. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Neo-soul singer and pianist John Legend was born John Stephens in Ohio where he grew up as a child prodigy, singing Gospel and playing piano. He left Ohio at age 16 to attend college in Philadelphia.
Legend was chosen to play piano on Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything” in 1998. After completing college, he moved to New York City where he played in night clubs and released CDs sold at his shows.
Legend has played and written for a wide array of artists, including Alicia Keys, Twista, Janet Jackson and Kayne West. West signed the young talent to his new label. He adopted the Legend name with his first solo session in 2004, “Live At the Knitting Factory.”
Legend reached the top five of the Billboard 200 with his album and single, “Ordinary People.” He has won three Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album, Best R&B Male Vocalist and Best New Artist.
Tickets for all shows went on sale April 24 at all Ticketmaster locations and at The Toledo Zoo main box office located in the visitor service/guest information building inside the zoo’s entrance off the Anthony Wayne Trail. Tickets for Crosby, Stills and Nash start at $43.50, while tickets for Legend start at $40.50.
While I’ve enjoyed the concert series for the past 20 years, many of the events are irritatingly repetitive and bland.
The Broadway concert especially is ‘behind with the times’. How often can one hear Rodgers & Hammerstein or dated pieces from the “Golden Age”? YAWN!! No wonder Toledo is 15 years behind the rest of the country.
Here’s to exposing Toledo to more current selections such as “American Idiot”, “Promises Promises”, “Addams Family”, “Everyday Rapture”, etc. as well as making sure the narration is current & correct (as it is usually false and misleading).
This comment was posted on June 6th, 2010 at 9:26 pmAs an aspiring musician and actor, I had written to Toledo’s “Music Under The Stars” concert series while in college, to express my frustration with the often repetitive nature of the series. While “Music Under the Stars” was a fun Summer tradition for my fellow musicians and I, we collectively agreed that the series needed a massive overhaul to incorporate newer selections.
The e-mail reply that I received was nothing short of pretentious, snide and upsetting. How DARE I have the nerve to suggest new music? WHO did I think I was? THEY were the professionals and I was a mere college amateur. Do not attend our concerts if you don’t appreciate talent. To have our heroes and even peers speak to us in such a condescending, pretentious tone was disgusting. It was heartbreaking.
As of that letter, we have not returned to a concert. Why would we support something based on
their exclusive and excluding manner?
We fully support the cultural arts in Toledo, and only hope that this year we may see a change for the better with not only new and exciting works, but new attitudes.
This comment was posted on June 6th, 2010 at 9:35 pm