Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series
The Brown Bag Lunch Concert series is a free concert offered to the public during the lunch hour on the third Tuesday of every month. So, bring your lunch, sit down, and enjoy the show! Featuring local and regional artists as well as national and international artists.
January 21 - Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Dustin Arbuckle and Wayne Long
Dustin Arbuckle and Wayne Long have been making music together for nearly a decade. The two were originally drawn together by their shared fondness for traditional country blues music; they are heavily influenced by artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, and Charley Patton. With Long's fluid fingerpicking guitar style and Arbuckle's emotive singing and harmonica playing they capably and earnestly perform a variety of traditional blues and folk songs, in addition to the occasional original tune.
December 17 - Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance
The Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance (GPDA) will be presenting Victorian Christmas music played on a variety of string instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, guitar, and mandolin.
Founded in 1982, the Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance has been dedicated to keeping alive the art of playing Hammered and Mountain Dulcimers, acoustic instruments of all types, and the playing of Folk and Traditional music. Members of the GPDA consist of both novice and experienced musicians who enjoy playing and performing traditional American music on an assortment of acoustic instruments including the hammered and mountain dulcimer, guitar, mandolin banjo, autoharp and fiddle. The GPDA has performance groups who offer free concerts several times per month at nursing homes, churches, etc., and during the holiday season play Christmas music at Botanica and Cowtown in Wichita, and now Coutts Museum of Art!
November 19 - Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Suzanne Shields
Suzanne will be presenting a program of Popular and Celtic Harp tunes.
Suzanne Shields is an El Dorado native, who received her musical training at the University of Kansas and Wichita State University. Suzanne has performed for many different types of events as a soloist and with the Wichita Harp Ensemble, a group of folk harpists she founded in 2011. She has released 4 cds, three for solo harp and one for flute and harp.
October 15 - Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Trevor Stewart
Trevor Stewart grew up in a household with an eclectic record collection. Music from The Beatles, Trinidad, Tchaikovsky, Santana and bossa nova frequently filled the air. He began studying music at the age of eight with piano lessons. What was most appealing to him were the overtones that would rig out when the floor pedals were held down and a big chord was played. "I would come home from school and play these big, long chords at piano when no one else was around" he exclaims "the sound of one big chord brought a sense of peace, an almost other-worldly experience".
With such a profound experience at the piano, the cello seemed more magical "The thought that I could make that sound by pulling a stick over a string was beyond me. I requested one from the orchestra teacher and received a viola by mistake. After realizing the viola was much easier to carry around on the school bus I decided that maybe this really wasn't a mistake after all".
Rap music hit the mainstream on MTV when Trevor was ten. Inspired by the groups at the time, he wrote a number a few songs and sent them to several record companies. Most replied back with one sending many of their own records wanting to hear and see more of the ground. "I was too shy at the time to follow up with the company, but it gave me the confidence to be able to pursue music".
The love of rap and rock music eventually became a love for many different types of music. "At the time, I found pop music limiting. There would be a lot of guitars, drums and vocal. I soon rediscovered that music from different cultures could be so transporting. It opened my imagination to what music can be".
He studied viola and composition at Wichita State University. He soon found an instrument that would change his life. "I found the Chapman Stick online by accident. I immediately knew I had to pursue it, so I ordered it having never played one before". Trevor is one of the very few "Stickists" residing in Kansas.
Trevor's solo performances are often widely eclectic covering many genre's from classical and jazz to rock with original compositions. His concerts often consist of viola and hammered dulcimer on top of live loop recording with the Stick which has the feeling of a full ensemble. In 2016 Trevor toured with Tony Orlando's Great American Christmas.
Primarily performing solo, he has also contributed to various groups and projects such as the Native-American music group Passing Through which was nominated for a Native American Music Award in 2006 and an Indian Summer Music award in 2005. Trevor's playing also appears on the album 'Flood' by Telarc label blues recording artists Moreland and Arbuckle.
The Chapman Stick (R) is a unique musical instrument invented by Emmett Chapman in 1969. It consists of a long fret board with twelve strings spanning a bass and guitar range. Sound is produced when the strings are "tapped" against the frets by the fingers. An electronic pickup is used to amplify the sounds. This new technique allows the musician to use both hands in order to play multiple parts like a piano while having the direct fingers-to-strings control and feel similar to a guitar.