Tune into a community treasure
Enjoy the reboot of a library program that’s been running for more than 40 years, Music for a Sunday Afternoon, on Oct 15 from 3-5pm in Marvin Auditorium. The concert will feature the bluegrass band Donkey Show, classical ensemble The Osten String Trio, jazz artist Dr. Craig Treinen and vocalist Ashley Young.
Music has been a part of the library since the first library building was built on the capitol grounds in 1883. This first building included a performance hall used for plays, readings and “musical entertainments.” The performance hall included a stage, dressing rooms, parlors and a grand piano. Many of these early performances had an admission fee, which helped pay the building debt and buy books.
In the 1950s the library built a “modern library” at our current location and continued the tradition of musical entertainment. In 1973 the Friends of the Library’s purchase of a Steinway piano inspired former art and music librarian Bob Daw to start Music for a Sunday Afternoon. The program was strictly classical for about a dozen years until Mark Rustman took over adding folk and jazz performers.
Keeping the notes flowing for Music for a Sunday Afternoon are three musicians and library professionals: Kyle Moreland, Dr. Jim Mosher and Perry Hartmann. Kyle is a former violinist, current acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. Jim plays oboe and English horn in the Topeka Symphony Orchestra and the Topeka Woodwind Quintet. He also plays harp for hospice and palliative care patients during the Red Carpet visits. Perry’s musical history includes 10 years as a professional trumpet player on cruise ships and road bands.
Music aficionados can look forward to four to five Music for a Sunday Afternoon events annually. Initially the committee will select artists who have a connection to Topeka.
At the Oct 15 event, the musicians will perform in four different musical genres. Donkey Show plays a mix of traditional bluegrass music, as well as classics re-imagined in bluegrass style with Adam Angelini on upright bass, Nathan Evans on mandolin, Daniel Kettle on guitar and Stuart Yoho on banjo. Based out of Wakarusa, Kansas, the band has been active in eastern Kansas since 2012.
The Osten String Trio was founded in 2015 by three Topeka Symphony members to explore the string trio repertoire. The members are concertmaster Zsolt Eder, cellist Eman Chalshotori and violist Gloria Britez Scolari.
Dr. Craig Treinen is an Andreas Eastman jazz and saxophone artist and an inductee in the 2015 Kansas Music Hall of Fame. He is currently the assistant professor and director of Jazz Studies/Applied Saxophone at Washburn University.
Ashley Young is a local singer/actress and a member of Topeka Festival Singers. She performs a cabaret style event, Ashley Young & Friends, that she organizes, produces and performs with other local talent. Young will perform a mini, acoustic version of her cabaret show.
