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Of those featured, California Guitar Trio’s Paul Richards will be phoning in for an interview about the collaboration between his group and the Montreal Guitar Trio.

We’ll delve with guitarist Paul Richards into the backgrounds of the California and Montreal Guitar Trios and their amazing four-year guitar-concert collaborations. Paul also fills us in on their April 18th appearance to be held at Stephens Auditorium at Iowa State Center in Ames.

Iowa Arts Showcase at Iowa Public Radio

Paul will share the stage with his band mates, Bert Lams and Hideyo Moriya, as well as the Montreal Guitar Trio on Thursday, Apr. 18 at 7:30pm at Stephens Auditorium. Tickets may be purchased through our Ticket Office or online at Ticketmaster.com.

This segment of “Iowa Arts Showcase” aired on Iowa Public Radio Classic on
Saturday, Apr. 6 at 11am.

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The California Guitar Trio and Montreal Guitar Trio feature six astonishing guitar virtuosos representing four different countries (Japan, Canada, Belgium, and the United States). Together, they fuse more than 40 years of combined performing experience into one unique six-by-six-string ensemble. They will explore compelling new arrangements of classical, jazz, progressive rock and world music as well as intricate original compositions.

In a pleasantly surprising way, California Guitar Trio’s steel-stringed guitars blend naturally with Montreal Guitar Trio′s nylon-stringed guitars in a night that promises eclectic, energetic music.

Paul Richards of Salt Lake City, Bert Lams of Belgium and Hideyo Moriya of Tokyo founded the California Guitar Trio in 1991. Their music has been featured during past Olympic Games, on CBS and ESPN programs and as part of the Grammy-nominated track “Apollo” on Tony Levin’s CD, Pieces of the Sun.

The Montreal Guitar Trio, comprised of Sébastien Dufour, Marc Morin and Glenn Lévesque, has been described as “the hottest guitar ensemble in Canada.” They won the 2011 Opus Prize for concert of the year in the Jazz / World Music category and have given hundreds of concerts in prestigious venues around the globe.

Inspired in 2010 by an impromptu combined studio session in Montreal, the California Guitar Trio and Montreal Guitar Trio released a live recording in 2011. They have played at arts conferences and frequently co-bill at top music spots like the Iridium in New York City, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Napa Valley Opera House.

Celebrity Café Preview

Join David Crabbs, owner of the Ankeny Guitar Studio and Adjunct Music Instructor at Drake University, at 7 p.m. in the Celebrity Café on the ground floor, north entrance to Stephens for a short presentation of insights about the trios’ music. The preview is free and open to all ticket holders.

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ABBA, Sweden’s biggest music export ever, sold over 370 million records and the musical based on its songs became a worldwide sensation (Mamma Mia.) Playing from 1971 to 1982, ABBA achieved success comparable to that of Elvis and The Beatles.

Since 1995, Arrival from Sweden has toured and appeared on television shows the world over and often gets audiences dancing along to some of pop music’s biggest-selling tunes.

Arrival from Sweden boasts a look and sound nearly identical to that of the original ABBA members, winning audience praise for perfect renditions of ABBA’s trademark harmonies. Hits like “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia,” “Take a Chance,” and more are delivered with such musical precision that it is hard to believe it is not the real ABBA on stage. Backed by live musicians, this production is the closest you will ever get to the original ABBA live.

Celebrity Café Preview

Join John Busbee at 7 p.m. in the Celebrity Café on the ground floor, north entrance to Stephens for a short presentation of insights about ABBA’s music. Busbee is the founder, host and producer of The Culture Buzz, a weekly arts and culture program broadcast on KFMG-LP, 99.1 FM. The preview is free and open to all ticket holders.

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The theatrical tour features brand new content highlighted by classic Blue Man favorites.

The new sound, set, and video design centering around a proscenium-sized LED curtain and high-resolution screen create an entirely new, high-impact visual experience for Broadway houses across the nation.

The critically acclaimed Blue Man Group creates experiences that defy categorization. Blue Man Group is best known for multi-media performances that feature three bald and blue characters who take the audience on a journey that is funny, intelligent and visually stunning. A live band, whose haunting tribal rhythms help drive the show to its climax, accompanies the Blue Men.

“In order to create a touring version of our theatrical production, we knew we had a creative challenge to tackle,” says Blue Man Group Co-Founder Philip Stanton. “We needed to find a way to transform theatres of all shapes and sizes into spaces in which the Blue Man can intimately connect with the audience, where the audience can become engaged with the spirit of the show and the Blue Man himself. We think we have finally figured it out, and hopefully we will accomplish our goal, which is always to help audience members reconnect with their own sense of wonder and discovery, with their own sense of what is possible in their lives.”

About NETWORKS Presentations

Since 1995, NETworks has produced and managed over 45 touring productions in the U.S., U.K. and internationally. Current productions include Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Billy Elliot The Musical, Blue Man Group National Tour, Elf The Musical, Flashdance the Musical, The New 25th Anniversary Production of Les Misérables, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, Shrek The Musical and National Theatre of Great Britain’s production of War Horse touring the U.S.

About Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group (www.blueman.com) is a multinational media and entertainment company with theatrical and digital media operations across four continents, permanent live performance installations in seven cities, an ongoing theatrical tour of the U.S. and Canada, as well as a highly acclaimed show on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Epic.

Audiences have multiple opportunities to discover Blue Man Group through the scope and variety of its creative projects, including:
• Blue Man Group’s headlining performance on the new Norwegian Epic by Norwegian Cruise Line—the Official Cruise Line of Blue Man Group
• Blue Man Group family-focused educational projects, including a touring children’s museum exhibit, “Making Waves”
• Blue Man Group’s original music, including the Grammy®-nominated “Audio,” as well as four additional albums, and numerous scoring projects for film, TV and commercials
• Blue Man Group’s multiple performances on popular television shows such as “The Tonight Show,” “Ellen,” and “Regis & Kelly;” and unique storylines in “Scrubs” and “Arrested Development”

As the company grows, it remains true to its vision of providing exciting experiences in a variety of media, appealing to a broad range of age groups and cultural backgrounds. Learn more at www.blueman.com

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Check out some of the photos from the Shrek photo booth!

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