A delightful collage of Kansas stories and folksongs
Sunday, January 23
3:00–4:00 pm
Marvin Auditorium
Talented library staff will bring Kansas to life as they entertain you with classic stories of our state’s earlier times. Lively songs about life on the Plains will be performed by native Kansas folk musicians Kelly & Diana Werts.
William Jennings Bryan Oleanders Guide to Kansas
Enjoy a rendition of Mabel Beamer – William Jennings Bryan Oleander’s Guide to Kansas.
Laugh at selections from Skimming the Cream by Peggy of the Flint Hills
Go back in time and listen to stories from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Baxter Black
You may even think your seeing Blaxter Black the famous cowboy poet as you hear “The Dog and the Rabbit” Throughout these stories be entertained by Lively songs about life on the Plains by native Kansas folk musicians Kelly and Diana Werts.
Kelly & Diana Werts have been singing about their Native Kansas for 25 years. They will treat us to beautiful and fanciful renditions of folk songs and periennial favorites such as “Home on the Range”.
Kelly Werts has been in the music field most of his life, having played just about every kind of music at one time or another. He played in rock and jazz bands in his youth, took up classical music as a college student, had an avant garde bluegrass band, a couple chamber folk ensembles, a couple Celtic groups and even a dance band. He has played the part of the fiddler on the roof, the guitarist behind the fern, the producer behind the mixing board and the composer at the piano. Kelly wrote the theme song for KCPT’s popular program “Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations”. Diana Werts, Kelly’s wife, is a gifted musician and singer who often teams up with Kelly.
Diana has considerable expertise in another artistic discipline as well. She received a Masters Degree in Painting at Emporia State University in 1987, where she studied with Richard Slimon. Diana continued her studies under such varied artists as Roberto Juarez, Lisa Grossman and Larry Schwarm, and taught classes at the Wichita Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and in her private studio. She conducted artist residencies in Kansas and Missouri since 1988, and exhibited in juried shows throughout the region. She currently teaches art in Shawnee Mission, Kansas at Bishop Miege High School.
For more information about Kelly & Diana see their website www.wertsmusic.com