West Shore Community College takes pride in bringing a variety of top notch cultural, musical, and theatrical events to our stage for your enjoyment. Each year, we assemble a vibrant performing arts series that nourishes and expands the minds of our students and community. This series is no different and we couldn't do it without the generous support of our donors and sponsors! Thank you!
2020-2021 WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series
Boston Brass - Arts Across America: Community, Together (An All Ages Show)
October 18th, 8:00pm
LIVE in your living room from the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts
Tune in for a Unique Live Virtual Experience!
This real-time, live-streamed performance and educational initiative was created by Boston Brass in recognition that presenting organizations and music programs across the country are also experiencing the COVID-related difficulties of keeping their doors open, maintaining the interest of their patrons and helping school music programs in their communities to keep students engaged. With over 35 years of international touring behind them, Boston Brass offers a terrific, artistically entertaining “something-for-everyone” program featuring familiar classical works to popular jazz standards, all delivered with the ensemble’s signature audience interaction and charming rapport.
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo
October 29, 7:30pm
With over 1000 engagements in the last five years alone, Frank Vignola has become one of the most popular and sought after guitarists on the international music scene. His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 14 countries on three continents – and still growing – performing in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy
Click Here To View The Performance!
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
Michigan’s own, Jim Alfredson & Organissimo
November 6, 7:30pm
You might notice something different at an Organissimo performance. The audience isn’t the typical homogenous “jazz” audience. You’ll see a healthy mix of people from all walks of life; young and old, black and white, from hippies to corporate professionals and everything in between. Organissimo’s music skirts over fences and satisfies a diverse range of tastes. You’re as likely to see people dancing as a group of folks intently listening.As American cultural critic Elvis Mitchell wrote after witnessing a show at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, “The group’s toned, muscular playing keeps the crowd rapt, a condition noticeable by the fact that almost no one is talking.“
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
Sierra Hull
November 13, 7:30pm
In her first 25 years alone, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sierra Hull hit more milestones than many musicians accomplish in a lifetime. After making her Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 10, the Tennessee-bred virtuoso mandolinist played Carnegie Hall at age 12, then landed a deal with Rounder Records just a year later. Now 28-years-old, Hull is set to deliver her fourth full- length for Rounder: an elegantly inventive and endlessly captivating album called 25 Trips.
Revealing her profound warmth as a storyteller, 25 Trips finds Hull shedding light on the beauty and chaos and sometimes sorrow of growing up and getting older. To that end, the album’s title nods to a particularly momentous year of her life, including her marriage to fellow bluegrass musician Justin Moses and the release of her widely acclaimed album Weighted Mind—a Béla Fleck- produced effort nominated for Best Folk Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
“There’s a lot of push-and-pull on this record, where in some moments I feel like everything’s happening so fast and I wish I could slow it all down so I can really enjoy it,” Hull points out. “But then there are also times where I’m looking forward to the day when the craziness has died down a bit, and life’s a little calmer.”
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series featuring
A Musical Evening with WSCC’s Alumnus, Singer/Songwriter Chloe Kimes
December 5, 7:30pm
Americana singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chloe Kimes defines the next generation of folk-singing troubadours with relentless honesty across her poignant tunes. The Michigan native was bred on bluegrass festivals and family harmony but relocated to Nashville in 2016. With over a decade of writing and performing and a degree in Recording Industry/Songwriting under her belt, Kimes pulls influence from the flourishing Bluegrass/Americana community in her Nashville home, as well as from her backwoods, Michigan roots. An inspired storyteller, her organic sincerity is sure to capture listeners at first listen.
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
Fred Knapp & the Fred Knapp Quartet
December 12, 7:30pm
Fred Knapp is a drummer, vocalist, pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for having a special touch on the drum set with the ability to adapt to any playing situation. Fred has studied with Quincy Davis, Keith Hall, Tim Froncek, and Rupert Kettle. He also studied jazz piano with Dr. Steve Zegree and drum set with legendary jazz drummer Billy Hart, while getting a music degree from Western Michigan University.
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
WSCC Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensemble, & Concert Choir Virtual Holiday Concert With Special Guests!
December 18th, 7:30pm
Enjoy a special virtual performance by the WSCC music ensembles directed by Ted Malt and Becky Sopha.
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
WSCC Wind Symphony, Jazz Ensemble, & Concert Choir Virtual Holiday Concert With Special Guests!
A Musical Evening with WSCC’s Alumni, Evan Taylor & The Ministry
January 28th, 7:30pm
A Collaboration with “Excellence in the Community” Concert Series, Salt Lake City Utah
Evan Taylor is a trumpet player from the small town of Ludington, Michigan. Early on, Taylor gained musical skills from playing weekly at his church. In 2014, he began studying at Michigan State University under Guggenheim-Fellow & Award Winning trumpeter Etienne Charles. In fall of 2018, Taylor began his Masters at the University of Utah under Grammy nominated trumpeter & arranger, Kris Johnson.
Taylor is currently based in Salt Lake City, UT. He is endorsed by Victory Musical Instruments out of Miami, FL.
Taylor records for Warner/Chappell Music. He has been hired by named artists such as Delfeayo Marsalis, Corey Christiansen & David Halliday. His ability extends to: Jazz, R&B, Salsa, Gospel, Hip-Hop and Popular Music. He has been counted on with several corporate entertainment groups including the International Musician’s League, Greenlight Booking, JMV Entertainment, and others.
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
April 17, 7:30pm
LIVE at Ludington Area Center for the Arts
The world tends to look at accomplishments in the form of accolades and although only in his mid-30’s, 2020 GRAMMY Winner Michael Cleveland, has plenty to his credit. After picking up the fiddle at age 4, Michael’s musical momentum began to propel him forward towards early success. “When I started taking lessons at age 4,” he remembers, “I told the teacher right up front that I wanted to learn how to play bluegrass and I wanted to play ‘Orange Blossom Special.'” Reluctant as they were, his teachers quickly found reason to his rhyme, helping him progress to the point when, at age 9, Michael was invited to sit in with the legendary Bill Monroe at the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival. Soon after, he brought his virtuosic style to the Grand Ole Opry as a guest of Alison Kraus, and was hand picked for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Bluegrass Youth Allstars before he was 14. His blistering prowess and technical fluency have since marked him as a sought-after musician, leading to performances with Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Tim O’Brien, J.D. Crowe and the New South, Andy Statman, and The Kruger Brothers in recent years. However, it wasn’t until 2006, when Michael formed his own band Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, that he found the right vehicle for his musical vision, and he hasn’t rested since, constantly looking for new ways to push himself and his music forward.
*This is one of two events offered face to face for the 2020-2021 season. Tickets for this event will go on sale after January 1st, 2021. The official release date is to be determined.*
WSCC Performing Arts Living Room Series Featuring
The Accidentals
April 23, 7:30pm
LIVE at the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts
The Accidentals are an American band, formed in Traverse City, Michigan in 2012 by Sav Buist and Katie Larson. The group features an eclectic blend of indie folk, pop, bluegrass, rock, classical, and other genres. They have released three full-length albums, one EP, and two live albums. You may recognize Michigan and Again from their 2016 album called Parking Lot.
*This event is intended to be offered face to face for the 2020-2021 season. Tickets for this event will go on sale March 22nd, 2021.*