Community Calendar

Faculty recital featuring Dr. Angela Miller-Niles, piano.
Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

Student recital featuring WSC students Daniel Oldenkamp, bass-baritone and Libby Aschoff, soprano.

Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

On Sunday, April 2 at 2:00 PM, Joan Wells and Kris Simon will bring to the Betty Strong Encounter Center an entertaining living history performance about the cattle drives and the origin of western music through their "Cattle Trails and Songs of The West.” Admission is free, with reception to follow.
The duo begins by singing the songs of the early day cowboys. Joan talks about life on the trail and how the songs were later published in cowboy song books. Wells talks about the evolution of western music and how the silver screen cowboys popularized many western songs. Different styles of music, influenced by cowboy music, began to develop.
The Center comprises a private, non-profit cultural complex built and sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD).

Student recital featuring Lexie Jackson, mezzo-soprano; Colson Watchorn-Newbrey, tenor I; and Rebecca Kment, mezzo-soprano.

Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

Faculty recital featuring Dr. Josh Calkin, tuba and Shelly Armstrong, piano.

Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

High School Honor Choir Concert

Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

Event is also livestreamed at https://www.wsc.edu/watch-live.

The trio Luehrman, Shaffer & Check is from Warrensburg, Missouri, by way of Kansas City. They are known for the large collection of musical instruments they use to play a dizzyingly diverse variety of musical styles and genres, running the gamut of American musical archetypes: old time country, folk, New Orleans jazz, swing, Broadway, and delta blues. The best single descriptor for their music would likely be Americana. Their repertoire features primarily original compositions that dovetail well with covers from bygone eras of American music. They have released multiple CD's and have been featured on Kansas City area radio station 90.9 The Bridge.

Mick Luehrman can be heard on vocals, guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, and occasionally cornet. A dedicated songwriter and musical archivist, he is also a visual artist and professor of art education in the Department of Art & Design at the University of Central Missouri (UCM).

Multi-instrumentalist Tony Shaffer, long time member of country legend Leroy Van Dyke’s band, provides stellar musicianship and entertaining wit. Tony is featured on a boatload of different guitars, dobro, banjo and harp. He has toured with an amazing array of country music stars including Roy Clark, Narvel Felts, Rex Allen Jr., Jimmy Fortune, Moe Bandy, TG Shepard, and Bobby Bare, to name a few.

John Check can be found on the upright string bass, sousaphone, clarinet, trombone, and occasional vocals. Check is a professor of music theory at UCM and is a member of various faculty instrumental ensembles. He is at home with a diverse group of musical genres, from classical to jazz and even polka, a musical form that he learned at an early age playing in his father’s band in Wisconsin.

On Saturday, April 22 at 2:00 PM, the Betty Strong Encounter Center will welcome Audrey Johnson, a classically trained opera singer and founder of the performance platform “Of Thee I Sing.” She will perform Songs and Stories of Heroism from the Women’s Suffrage Movement. She will be accompanied by Lor Jessen, a local piano collaborative pianist. This special Saturday event is free to the public, with reception to follow.
This program will feature songs that are from the historical music from the Women’s Suffragette movement. Johnson said, “They are very authentic and really bring the audience back in time…into the lives of these brave Americans who were fighting together for American women’s right to vote.”
The Center comprises a private, non-profit cultural complex built and sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD).