The location for these events is the NYM Cultural Center at 24 North Main Ave. unless otherwise noted. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 advance sale, and $10 for members at the door unless otherwise noted.

Call 218-385-3339 for information about events. Office hours: 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday-Friday and !0:00am to 3:00pm Saturday. We're closed on Sundays and Mondays throughout the year.

Check out our new Facebook page. Befriend us, and comment on our concerts and shows. You'll find a gallery of the artists who have visited the Cultural Center, and lots more.

Cultural Center Video Fans of the Cultural Center talk about their experience, still photographs of some of the artists who have performed at the Center, and a soundtrack by Eliza Gilkyson featuring her song "Highway" from her album Hard Times in Babylon (used with permission). Eliza performed at the Center in 2008 and will return on Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Great American Think-Off, 2009 Edition

Saturday, June 13th Great American Think-Off was held with civil rights attorney John Pollock prevailing. Check out the Think-Off web page for all the details.

Friday, June 26 Zeitgeist at 7:30pm. Wadena Memorial Auditorium.
Lauded for providing “a once-in-a-lifetime experience for adventurous concertgoers,” Zeitgeist is a new music chamber ensemble comprised of two percussion, piano and woodwinds. One of the longest established new music groups in the country, Zeitgeist commissions and presents a wide variety of new music for audiences in the Twin Cities and on tour. Always eager to explore new artistic frontiers, Zeitgeist collaborates with poets, choreographers, directors, visual artists and sound artists of all types to create imaginative new work that challenges the boundaries of traditional chamber music. The members of Zeitgeist are: Heather Barringer, percussion; Patti Cudd, percussion; Pat O’Keefe, woodwinds; Shannon Wettstein, piano.

Zeitgeist has maintained a fierce dedication to the creation of new music for the past three decades, commissioning more than 150 works and collaborating with emerging composers and some of the finest established composers, including Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Paul Dresher, Mark Applebaum, Scott Lindroth, Pamela Madsen, Edie Hill, Libby Larsen, Arthur Kreiger and Jin Hi Kim. Zeitgeist’s upcoming commissioning projects include For the Birds, a chamber suite by Victor Zupanc based on a series of poems by humorist Kevin Kling, and The Risk of Flight by Mary Ellen Childs, an opera for Nautiilus Music Theater and Zeitgeist that employs instrumental music, video imagery and staging to explore the nature of flight and the infinite.

Zeitgeist has released recordings including She is a Phantom (music of Harold Budd), A Decade (music of Frederic Rzewski), Intuitive Leaps (music of Terry Riley), Eric Stokes (music of Eric Stokes), If Tigers Were Clouds (featuring the music of experimental women composers), and Shape Shifting (music by Scott Miller, (poetry by Philippe Costaglioli). Zeitgeist is currently working on its seventh CD, Night Singing, featuring works by Andrew Rindfleisch, Anthony Gatto, Katherine Jackanich, and Jerome Kitzke.

Friday, July 10th Ben Ranson and Travis and Johnny at 7:30pm. $5 admission includes Ben Ranson's new CD for this CD release concert.

Ben Ranson
Composing and recording Eighteen Wheels of Pain took Ben two and a half years of trial and error. His perfectionism and incompletely developed production skills cost him time as he rewrote and rerecorded part after part. At his recording sessions, his Berklee friends honked, banged and scraped through his poorly notated, wrinkled and smudged charts, until, in the summer of 2007, Ben ran out of money and was forced to move back to Minnesota.

Undaunted by the need to make a living, Ben played in wedding bands, worked the till in a thrift shop, and taught lessons until he had enough money to buy home studio equipment so he could record the last tracks. After another year and a half of mixing and remixing, Ben completed the album and distributed the first copy on April 7th, 2009.

He is now writing material for another album.

About Travis and Jonny
The words "folky" and "catchy" aren't often spoken in the same sentence (ones I use, at least), but it's true of Travis and Jonny—and it's not the only potentially confusing thing about them. Though there is a Travis and a Jonny, they are actually a five-piece and, while it's a folk band, their lyrics are (gasp!) about modern-day issues and not whiskey stills, tambourine men, and the like. It's folk music that does some soul-searching and exploration and doesn't just tell story after story of people who are hopelessly down on their luck or overcoming adversity with a perseverance of the spirit. It plays like folk music should in 2008: It's smart, addresses problems that have been around since the dawn of time with a keen, modern eye, and looks back in history for inspiration without giving anyone the sense that the band would rather be hopping a train with Arlo Guthrie somewhere in the Midwest with only their wits and a guitar.

Pat O'brien - City Pages

Saturday, July 11th Kent DuChaine with his famous Leadbessie guitar back at the Culturla Center at 7:30pm.

The following is from a review of Kent's January, 2009 show at the Norwich Arts Center in Great Britain. It pretty much tells it all. It has been more than three years since Kent was last at the Cultural Center, so don't miss this show.

“Since going solo in 1982 and hitting the roads, riding the rails, flying the skies and sailing the seas, Kent and Leadbessie have probably by now clocked up over two million miles together including over 71 overseas tours”

I knew this would be a show not to miss.

The entire evening through, in a wonderfully typical blues musician style, Kent told stories of his youth, his adventures, his family and friends, to the old greats and their comedic exploits while travelling the train lines and dusty roads following the summer to their next stopping point, wherever that might be. His uplifting persona and crowd pleasing demeanour (and, of course, his incredible musical proficiency) is the reason this man is loved the world over, with songs such as Little Red Rooster demanding complete crowd participation resulting in full belly laughs in one instance, to tear jerking covers like St James Infirmary in the next, the whole evening flowed like a journey through the southern states, its ups and downs, wisdom gained and naivety found, on the path for an endless summer.

With six albums to his name and fans screaming out for more I think I will not be the only one in expressing how I wish him to be around for many more years to come. If you get the opportunity to see Kent play live, go and experience it for yourself. You will leave with a smile on your face, and thoughts of realisation that your blues aren’t as blue as another man’s may be.

- Lewis Gibbs, 2009

Sunday, July 26 2:30pm Judith Siirila. Judi is well known in New York Mills and she
will be performin a repertoire of songs from classical opera and contemporary show
tunes. A few comments by critics about Judi's lovely soprano follow.

“Another bright star in the concert was soprano Judith Siirila. Besides a fresh and zesty presence, she sang two lesser-known works—“Ain’t It a Pretty Night?” from Susannah by Carlisle Floyd, and the lighthearted “Art is Calling for Me” from Victor Herbert’s The Enchantress—with flawless diction and style. One feels that if she ever chooses to play Carmen, the men in the audience would drop like flies.” The Daily Breeze

As soprano solist in Orff’s Carmina Burana
“Of the three soloists, soprano Judith Siirila was the most memorable. Her solo, interspersed with orchestral interludes and the sweet voices of the children’s choir, brought out the romantic longings of the text.” The Orange County Register

As Fiiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte
“Pert and diminutive Judith Siirila’s dark and surprisingly opulent voice gave Fiordiligi the requisite dignity.” Pacific Palasades Outlook

Sunday, July 27 Elisa Korenne in concert at 7:30pm.

Did you know that the first female presidential candidate was a former fake psychic who bedded Cornelius Vanderbilt? How about that Dr. Bronner (the verbose natural soap king) began his career in an insane asylum? Did you ever meet the Root Beer Lady, a wilderness woman who served rootbeer to tourists from her cabin in the Boundary Waters? Featuring biographical songs penned by nationally-acclaimed songwriter Elisa Korenne, the Tenth Muse explores the question: “How fringe can a person get?”

Korenne is a songwriter’s songwriter and a crowd-pleasing performer who specializes in songs about oddballs. With her acoustic guitar, hand-drum, or using only her mesmerizing voice, Korenne sings stories about people too fascinating for the history books. The Tenth Muse is Korenne’s theatrical story and song concert about some of the most unlikely subjects she’s encountered. On the trail of the ordinarily unsung, Korenne also tells her own story: how she found her way from an elitist education to an unlikely musical path and then from New York City to rural west central Minnesota.

Korenne and her parade of real life members of the American fringe—including a lightbulb-eating sideshow performer, a suicidal madam, a cheerleading nun, and a Russian immigrant with Munchausen's syndrome—will help you get the most fringe out of the fringe festival. Get more fringe. Join the musical romp through fringe folk history with award-winning singer-songwriter Elisa Korenne.

Saturday, August 15 7:30pm Ellie Schoenfeld, poet, will read from her new book of verse The Dark Honey: New and Used Poems. Check outThe Daily Planet for a recent interview with Ellie.

Ellie Schoenfeld is a poet native to Duluth, Minnesota. She is the author of two previous poetry collections, Screaming Red Gladiolus! (Poetry Harbor, 1999) and Difficult Valentines (Fallow Deer Books, 2004), and her work has been published in an anthology, The Moon Rolls Out of Our Mouths (Calyx Press, 2005), with the four other women in her writing group. Schoenfeld enjoys collaborating with artists of other genres. Her work is featured along with the music of some of her favorite musicians on the CDs Personal Ad, Almost Through the Rinse Cycle, and Taking It Off. She has worked with area groups Poetry Harbor and Spirit Lake Poetry Series. Though she has thought about it extensively, she has never actually run away with the circus.

Friday, August 21, Second Annual Harvest Puppet Pageant

Approximately 6:00pm on Centennial Drive. Don't miss this year's play with figures bigger than life telling a compelling story through music, dance, and large-scale puppets. The photograph is of Mother Nature from last year's first puppet pageant.

Puppet master Annie Katsura Rollins will direct the pageant, with a good story, entertaining music, and beautiful puppets.

Wednesday, September 9 7:30pm. Anat Fort, jazz pianist/composerwith her trio. Anat has been at the Cultural Center before so you may have heard her. If not, don't miss this lively concert. Critical comment follows:

From The Village Voice:

"Gentility is part of the pianist's vernacular, but she has some novel strategies for dodging the benign. Conflating Bach and Bill Evans is one tack; using a soft touch while getting rambunctious in the upper register is another."

"Pianist Fort has a charming way of dispensing pastoralism and an insightful way of lining that pastoralism with depth. Her trio has the kind of poise that lets her move from terra firma to the stratosphere."
---Macnie

From All About Jazz NY:

"Anat Fort trio ... one of the best jazz shows in 2003"
---Andrey Henkin

"Anat Fort played a stirring trio set, backed by her regular cohorts Gary Wang on bass and Roland Schneider on drums. The Israeli pianist has a terrific unreleased recording of this group, and she played several of the tunes found there: the brisk, eighth-notey 'Free,' the evocative 'Something 'bout Camels,' the epic 'Not the Perfect Storm.' A couple of promising new originals rounded out the set. The trio is remarkably compatible and tight, highlighting Fort's advanced harmonic sense, which stems from her in-depth study of modern classical composition."
---David Adler, in his column NY By Night

"Anat Fort's music is very expressive...sometimes she conveys emotion with idiosyncrasies, other times with an uncomfortable note slipped into the middle of a ballad. Her occasional moments of solo playing are always flights of fancy."
---Matt Rand

Whiskey Creek Film Festival September 11-17, at the Cozy Theatre in Wadena

The 5th annual Whiskey Creek Film Festival.Schedule and details will be available in early summer, 2009.

Sunday, October 4 Krauka. The music of the vikings. 7:30pm. Tickets $12 evening of concert or $10 advance sale. Students $5.

The Krauka group takes you on a musical journey back in time to an era when the Norse culture blossomed over the North Atlantic region, the time when the Vikings were setting out on perilous sea voyages from Scandinavia across the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland to Vinland (New Foundland).

Krauka was formed in 1999 around the idea of combining storytelling and music from the Viking Age. First they did research on what kind of instruments existed in the north of Europe during the Viking Age. From this information they built their own instruments, but using modern strings that made the music more powerful.

From the beginning Krauka was a band inspired by the Viking-age instruments and sagas, playing acoustically for about 100 persons. Later they have taken part in big festivals, for instance: in 2000 at a festival in Greenland, celebrating the 1000th year of Leif the Lucky's finding Vinland; and in 2001 at a Viking festival on the Faroe Islands. The same year they had their first school concert tour in Denmark and played in different Viking festivals in DK. In 2002 they played at a festival at Fjorukrain, outside Reykjavik in Iceland and at different locations in Iceland. This year they have also made two school-concert tours.

The musicians in Krauka are: Gudjon Rudolf: vocals, jew's harp and percussion; Jens Villy Pedersen: flutes, lyre, rebec and vocals; Aksel Striim: bowed lyre, shawm, flute and vocals.

Their CD was released in November 2001 and until now has sold in Australia, Canada, USA and Europe.

The CD contains songs and melodies from Iceland, Denmark and Sweden and some of their own compositions.

Some of the songs have their own origin in old Icelandic music where the singing was often accompanied by an old Icelandic musical instrument called "langspelet". Other songs are examples of the Icelandic duo-song, which is sung in parallel quints and has much in common with folksongs from Georgia and other countries in the far east. There are also songs of a type called "Rimur" in Icelandic, where the music and poetry merge into a story of heroes and historical events.

Their own compositions have stemmed from the possibilities offered by the musical instruments. Many of them have their origins in ideas that later have been worked out in jam sessions.

Friday, October 23 7:30pm Ross Sutter. Ross's performance on Friday evening will be coupled with a school workshop. Details of the workshop will be forthcoming.

Ross Sutter has built his reputation with fresh interpretations of Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian and Northern European songs, and with his unique repertoire of children's music. Ross has toured Europe several times, most recently in the fall of 2006. He has performed on radio, television and at festivals all over the Midwest and works regularly in schools teaching the songs and folk dances that he has collected over the years. He plays an impressive array of instruments--guitar, bodhran, button accordion, dulcimer, bones--but is best known for his singular baritone voice.

Ross's own heritage is Swedish, and he has a wide repertoire of songs, dances and tunes collected from relatives and musicians both in the United States and Sweden. He has become a popular specialist at leading the songs and games for a traditional Swedish midsommar festival, and he also loves to sing old American traditional and popular songs.

Much of Ross's work in schools involves teaching children to dance and play song games. In recent years, Ross has also developed a one-string dulcimer building workshop, which has proven very successful. He first learned to play the dulcimer while working at Here, Inc., a musical instrument shop located at the time in Minneapolis. Ross is now building the dulcimer with students in the classroom and using it as a tool for teaching math and science. The limberjack, or dancing doll, is a percussion instrument which Ross also builds in workshops at festivals and schools.

Saturday, November 7th 7:30pm Still on the Hill

Since 2001, the Ozarkian duo of Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna have toured steadily and produced six CDs. Both Kelly and Donna are accomplished songwriters and play a plethora of acoustic instruments including acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and harmonica. The group's repertoire is primarily their own original, roots-based compositions (a genre hybrid they term "folkgrass") interspersed with new arrangements of traditional songs. The twosome has also created several very popular children's shows and educational workshops which they perform under the name Toucan Jam.

Kelly and Donna will give a musical workshop on Monday, November 9th. Details to be announced.

Thursday, November 12th 7:30pm Paddy Keenan, premier player of the Irish uilleann pipes. Accompanist to be announced.

"Paddy Keenan!" exclaimed an Irish musician friend, upon discovering just who I was interviewing for The Celtic Café this month. "He’s amazing, that’s real musicianship." He paused to consider a moment and continued, "I hear he’s a real moody one."

Articles and gossip about the man call him dark, enigmatic, a "massive presence," the long rider, moody, quiet, deep—Paddy Keenan once told Colin Harper for Folk Roots that "I do have a bit of a reputation, I know." Something of an understatement, there. Dónal Lunny, a Bothy Band-mate, described him as "the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes" while others compare him to John Coltrane due to his genius for improvisation and counter melody, his musicianship in Irish and other styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, his sheer driving power. Stories abound of a hard-drinking, rock-and-roll lifestyle and mindset.

Nothing prepared me, then, for Paddy Keenan as he is today: a soft and well spoken man with an infectious laugh, who has found peace with himself and his past, who still fiercely believes in ideals that wouldn’t be out of place in a younger man, and who has carved out a deeper place for himself in the pantheon of Irish traditional music with a critically acclaimed "comeback" following the old Bothy Band days and the darker days that marked his absence from the Irish traditional music scene.

Shaskeen uilleann piper Pat Broderick, owner (with his wife Anne Marie) of Cregg Castle, Co. Galway, is a close friend of Keenan's. "I believe that Paddy is the best piper in the world, " says Broderick, nephew of the great piper Vincent Broderick of Kilreekle (and many say his successor). "He's very knowledgeable about the music. If you watch him play, you'll see the pipes go from his body—an extension of himself."

Though they've called Keenan the King of the Pipers for years, the appellation embarrasses him, and he wishes they wouldn't. But it's too late—a head crowned unwilling is still a head crowned. Paddy Keenan is the piper's piper, the best of the best. The interview that follows is what might possibly be the most candid and frank interview Paddy Keenan has ever given in a life full of sorrows and joys, triumph and anguish. Please join us as we follow the life and times of Paddy Keenan as remembered by the King of the Pipers himself.

Friday, December 4th 7:30pm Daithi Sproul and Laura MacKenzie concert. Tickets to this concert are $15.

Dáithí Sproule of Derry, whose first group was the legendary Skara Brae, has lived for many years in Minnesota. He is one of Irish music's most respected guitar accompanists, and one of the first guitarists to develop DADGAD tuning for Irish music. He is also a fine singer in English and Irish. Dáithí has performed and recorded with two highly influential traditional music trios: Bowhand (with James Kelly and Paddy O’Brien) and Trian (with Liz Carroll and Billy McComiskey), as well as providing accompaniment for recordings by Tommy Peoples, Seamus and Manus McGuire, Liz Carroll, Paddy O’Brien and others. He has performed around the world with the Irish supergroup Altan, and continues to tour and record with Altan, Randal Bays and James Keane (under the name Fingal), and several Minnesota-based musicians including Laura MacKenzie and Jode and Kate Dowling. Dáithí’s original compositions have been recorded by Skara Brae, the Bothy Band, Altan, Trian, Liz Carroll, Aoife Clancy and others. He is known for his innovative arrangements of traditional songs, and in 1995 he released his first solo album, A Heart Made of Glass, with songs in English and Irish. In 2008 he released an instrumental guitar album, The Crow In the Sun, featuring thirteen original compositions. In addition to performing and recording, Dáithí is a sought-after teacher and lecturer in subjects ranging from guitar styles and song accompaniment to Irish traditional music, language and literature.

Laura MacKenzie performs music from Ireland, Scotland, England, Central France, Northern Spain and Minnesota on a dazzling array of flutes, whistles, pipes, concertina and voice.  She has been lauded as a “Celtic music wizard” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a “High priestess of Celtic music” by Minnesota Public Radio. Laura has learned from many noted tradition bearers on both sides of the Atlantic, and has herself been recognized as a Master Folk Artist (Minnesota State Arts Board).

From production work (and appearance) on A Prairie Home Companion to academic work in ethnomusicology, from rockin’ out in Boiled in Lead to touring with Lorie Line and her Pop Chamber Orchestra, MacKenzie has enjoyed vast and varied experience in the worlds of music while developing as a performing artist. Laura has received an abundance of honors and awards over the years, including being selected for the original Cherish the Ladies concert series, featuring noted women in Irish music in America, and the award of a McKnight Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship.

Amongst other notables, Laura has been privileged to perform on stage with Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes), T.R. Knight (Guthrie Theater; of Grey’s Anatomy) and Katie McMahon (of Riverdance). As a player and producer, MacKenzie is often engaged for live shows and studio projects, and can be heard on numerous recordings and several documentaries.  One of her projects sold over 575,000 copies.  Laura both produced and performed in the popular and festive “Charladies Christmas” and “Gaelfest!” shows. In performance, Laura currently appears as a solo artist, in duos with Ross Sutter, Daithi Sproule (of Altan), in Willow Brae with harpist Andrea Stern, and in the ensembles Laura and The Lads, Piper’s Crow, The Doon Ceili Band and Northern Gael.

December 19 - Longest Night Music Festival. Details available in September, 2009.

Check out the pre-concert dinners at the Mills Creamery in New York Mills (218-385-5282).

Cultivating the Arts in Rural America

NYMRCC Mission Statement:
"The NYMRCC is dedicated to expanding the cultural and creative opportunities of rural Americans by offering innovative, quality arts programming, and demonstrating how the arts can be used as an economic development tool in rural communities across the nation."

The Cultural Center's signature event is the annual philosophy contest, the Great American Think-Off. This year's Think-Off was held on June 13th and featured a debate on the question "Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?" Click here to visit the Great American Think-Off web site with photographs of the four finalists, links to the audio files of the debate, and the texts of the final four essays.

In the Gallery

hours
Tuesday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm
Saturday 10:00am to 3:00pm

Main gallery
Historical photographs of New York Mills opens July 1 and continues through the month. This show is part of the special celebration of the 125th anniversary of New York Mills.

Upstairs Gallery

Classes and other events

Artists Forum
Artists Forum every 2nd Wednesday at 7:00pm. Next meeting is July 8th at the Cultural Center.

Dance for Kids
Classes are offered on Tuesday and Thursday each week in Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern and Tap. Classes resume in the fall.

Light & Easy Yoga
Resumes in the fall of 2009.

Knitting for Everyone
Every Monday with Pam Robinson and others. 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Open Mic
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm. All musicians and poets are invited. PA set up and ready to go.