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President: Rob Schimmelpfennig Executive Vice President: Judy Robson Vice President: Mike Fedler Vice President: Bill Kline Treasurer: Rich Vanek Secretary: Debbi Waring BOARD MEMBERS: Baerbel Baginski, WSL Steve Candella Neroy Carter Arnie Esterer Adele Herzog Mary Ellen Higley Ken Johnson Mark Jones Randy Jones Gloria Kaull Kim Laurello Ed Looman Chris McClure Tom Picken Scot Sinkler Linda VanBuren Joseph Varckette Ellen Winer Phyllis Duffy-Zala | ||||
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Executive Director Cindy Rimpela Business Manager Pamela Hammond Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator Shelagh Dubsky Dance Coordinator Lyn Savarise Music Coordinator Meeghan Humphrey Visual Arts Coordinator Phil Mullet Technical Liason Joe Ford Maintenance Coordinator Marquitta Mollick Evening Desk Coordinator | ||||
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 2928 West 13th St. Ashtabula, Ohio 44004 phone: 440-964-3396 |
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Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Brown Bag Concerts Return for Summer Grab your lunch and head outdoors this summer, as the Ashtabula Arts Center teams up with the Star Beacon and Gazette Publications to bring the Brown Bag Theatre concerts back to the Northcoast. Brown Bag Concerts are held every Wednesday at the North Park Gazebo in downtown Ashtabula, and every Thursday at Village Park on East Jefferson Street in Jefferson. All concerts begin at noon and last about one hour, and are free to the public. This summer’s lineup promises new faces as well as returning performers from last year and years past. Kicking off the series in Ashtabula will be singer/songwriter Alex Bevan of Madison. Best known for his 1970s hit "Skinny Little Boy (from Cleveland Ohio)," Bevan has been in the music business for almost 30 years, during which time he has recorded 12 albums. In the 1970’s, Bevan began traveling the "coffeehouse circuit," and also was seen as the opening act for such headliners as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Livingston Taylor, Billy Joel, Jerry Jeff Walker and Jimmy Buffett. Many of these influences combined to help Bevan develop the lyrical "folk/rock" style for which he has become best known. In recent years he has shied away from more "electrical" songs, and more turned towards the art of storytelling within his music. A native of Northeastern Ohio, Bevan has always kept this area a part of his music. He has performed solo shows at several clubs in the Cleveland area, and, in 1997, he recorded a live solo acoustic album at the Grand River Winery. He has also written over 100 radio and television commercials, and won an Emmy for his postscore of NBC’s "American Promise" documentary segment "The Rustbelt Blues." He has also produced children’s albums for Lake Metroparks and the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center. Bevan will perform on the Ashtabula stage July 10, and again for the final concert of the season, in Jefferson on August 15. Among the returning favorites from last year’s concerts are keyboard player Gloria DiFabio, gospel singer Monique Dudley and "Polka in the Park" King Bill Orquist.  Gloria DiFabio, a piano player since age four, has been entertaining hundreds of audiences since her musical debut on the Wilkens Amateur Hour in Pittsburgh in 1954. From 1955 to 1959, the "Gloria Jean Trio" entertained in the Silver Lounge of the Twin Coaches Supper Club in Pittsburgh, and it was in this nightclub that she got the opportunity to meet several musical greats, such as Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, the Four Lads, Tony Martin, Bill Haley and the Comets, and the McGuire Sisters. She has since recorded several albums, the most recent of which was completed and released in April, 2001. In 1998, an album entitled "Let the Sunshine In," which she recorded with the Del Sinchak Band of Youngstown, was nominated for a Grammy award. She has also performed piano-keyboard backup for the Eddie Vallus Band II on two of their albums. She lives in Geneva-on-the-Lake with her husband.
DiFabio will appear on the Jefferson stage on July 18. She will also perform on the Ashtabula stage on July 31. When most people think of polka, they probably think of Lawrence Welk or Frankie Yankovic. But polka lovers in northeastern Ohio may also think of their own Bill Orquist. An Ashtabula native, Orquist has been playing the accordion since he was six years old. He heard his first "Yankovic Polka" on the radio when he was only 11 years old, and decided that he wanted to play that type of music. Although he has played other styles of music, the polka is his "true love," and he has performed professionally in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. According to Orquist, he "has performed in 99 percent of the nightclubs in Ashtabula at one time or another, and for over 500 wedding receptions." The highlight of Orquist’s career came in the 1970’s, when "America’s Polka King," Frankie Yankovic, asked him to fill in for him at the Yankovic Nightclub on Euclid Avenue while Frankie toured the country. Orquist will perform in Ashtabula on July 24, and again on the Jefferson stage on August 1. Ashtabula County resident Monique Dudley has been singing in Ashtabula County as well as throughout Ohio and many other states for over 18 years. She has also been a soloist at many weddings over the years. In addition, Monique writes her own music, and is always willing to share her talents with others. By day, she works as a computer operator at the Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School, where she has been employed for over 13 years. But her first love has always been music, and her desire is to travel and share the gift the Lord has given her with as many people as He allows her to touch. Dudley is active in the music ministry at Rock Creek United Methodist Church. She lives in Rock Creek with her husband and three daughters. Dudley will open the Jefferson series with a concert on July 11, and will close the Ashtabula series on August 14.  Once again traveling from their home in the Adirondacks to perform for Brown Bag audiences are the husband and wife musical team of Tim and Peggy Behrendt. The pair performed in the area in 2000, and will return this summer for two shows, August 7 and 8. Their program, entitled "Harp and Harmony," will include Celtic and American folk songs, which feature Peggy on the Celtic harp, keyboard and recorder, and Tim on harmonica and percussion. Some of their pieces are also accompanied by discrete woodland sounds recorded at their home in the Shawangunk Nature Preserve.
Tim, an Ashtabula native, holds degrees from Ohio University, Garrett Theological Seminary, Indiana University, and Colgate University. He is presently the part-time minister at the Salisbury Center Universalist Society in New York, and a guest speaker at UU churches around the state. Peggy, a native of Utica, NY, holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education degree from SUNY Fredonia School of Music. She has taught music in schools and privately since 1971. The Behrendts have recorded four albums, and music from these recordings have been aired on NPR affiliates in Syracuse and Binghamton, NY. "Harp and Harmony" can be heard on the Ashtabula stage August 7, and in Jefferson on August 8. All Brown Bag shows are free and open to the public. You may want to bring along a chair or blanket to sit on, and you are welcome to bring a lunch to enjoy during the show. Bring a friend and enjoy the beautiful summer weather together! | ||||