Iowa Lakes Community College Music Department

With that in mind, I'm focusing this entry of my blog on the Music Department of Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC), a.k.a. "Iowa Lakes," www.iowalakes.edu/music.

During alternating years, every other spring, the Iowa Lakes Music Department joins with Estherville area community members to produce a musical. I had the good fortune of being involved with the two previous Iowa Lakes musical theatre productions, starring as Applegate (the devil) in "Damn Yankees," March 30 - April 1, 2006, and appearing as the Wizard in "Once Upon a Mattress," April 3-5, 2008.

Yesterday evening, I enjoyed a performance of Iowa Lake's latest production. "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is based on the Comic Strip "Peanuts" by Charles M. Schultz, with Book, Music and Lyrics by Clark Gesner; Additional Dialogue by Michael Mayer; Additional Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa. There are three performances of this Iowa Lakes Music Department production, March 25-27, 2010, in the Estherville Campus Gymnasium, 300 S. 18th St, Estherville, IA 51334.

Tickets for this "musical comedy for all ages" are $12 for adults and $6 for students (12th grade and under) and will be available at the door for the closing performance this evening.

Attending yesterday's musical performance reminded me of how much the Iowa Lakes Music Department has to offer, and not just for Iowa Lakes students, but for all music lovers in and beyond Emmet and Dickinson counties.

Based at the Estherville campus, the Music Department is led by Carol Ayres, Professor of Instrumental Music, and Brett Fuelberth, Associate Professor of Vocal Music. Carol teaches courses in Music Appreciation and Jazz History and Appreciation, and she leads the Jazz Band, Handbell Choir, Brass Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble. Brett teaches courses in Music Theatre, and he leads the Chamber Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz Choir, Men's Ensemble and Women's Ensemble.

That's quite a few instrumental and vocal groups for one small community college, and they perform far beyond Iowa Lakes. In addition to their numerous concerts, recitals and other performances in the music classrooms of George H. Shadle Hall, "The Max" Student Center, and the Gymnasium on the Iowa Lakes Estherville Campus, some of the groups also perform at other venues, including the relatively new MT Vault in downtown Estherville and the Pearson Lakes Art Center (PLAC) in Okoboji, www.lakesart.org.

Some of the Iowa Lakes Music Department groups, specifically the Chamber Choir, Jazz Band, Vocal Jazz, Men's Ensemble and Women's Ensemble, will be touring Iowa schools in April 2010. If you're interested in having them perform at your school, contact Carol Ayres, cayres@iowalakes.edu, or Brett Fuelberth, bfuelberth@iowalakes.edu.

In addition to the aforementioned biannual (every-other-year) musical theatre production, the Iowa Lakes Music Department has several other annual events enjoyed by the general public.

The Iowa Lakes Music Department sponsors four or five Coffee House Nights during each academic year, usually two during Fall Semester and two or three during Spring Semester. The Coffee House is usually in the Max O. Pelzer Student Center, a.k.a. "The Max," from 7:00 to around 8:30 p.m., give or take, depending on the number of performers. It's an opportunity for all students and community members to perform solo voice, piano, other instruments, spoken poetry, performance art, or just about anything else. Performers don't need to be affiliated with Iowa Lakes, but interested persons are requested to contact the coordinator, Brett Fuelberth, before performing.

Remaining Coffee House Nights during the 2009-2010 academic year are on Thursday, April 8 and a Cinco de Mayo Coffee House on Wednesday, May 5.

Each November, Iowa Lakes hosts an annual Church Choir Festival, traditionally the Sunday before Thanksgiving at 4:00 p.m. at a different church each year. Each participating church choir has the option of performing one selection individually as well as joining in one mass "Festival Choir," around 100 singers strong, which includes church choir members and other area residents, for several festival pieces. The festival is an opportunity for the public to hear some of the Estherville area's best church choirs. A free will donation is taken and the money is given to a local charity.

Each December, usually on the first Saturday and Sunday of the month, the Iowa Lakes Music Department hosts an annual Elizabethan Madrigal Feaste. Carol, Brett and their music students dress in 16th Century costume and entertain while the guests enjoy a Renaissance English five-course meal and Olde English customs such as strolling carolers, a jester, wassail, flaming pudding, and more.

Perhaps the most ambitious annual event sponsored by the Iowa Lakes Music Department is the University of Okoboji Reggie Schive Summer Jazz Camp coordinated by Carol Ayres, Camp Director, www.iowalakes.edu/faculty/ayres/Jazz_Cam.... The 30th Annual Iowa Lakes University of Okoboji Reggie Schive Summer Jazz Camp is June 13-17, 2010.

The Jazz Camp is open to anyone entering 7th grade and older, limited to the first 150 registrants. The students spend five days with a group of Iowa Lakes staff and other music instructors and professional musicians known as the Headliners, some of the finest jazz educators in the country. The curriculum includes private lessons, combo and big band rehearsal, theory, improvisation and software classes as well as opportunities to listen to the jazz artistry of the instructors during master classes and performances. It all culminates in two public performances on Thursday afternoon and evening.

The general public also benefits from the Jazz Camp because, during camp week, the Headliners perform a series of evening concerts at several venues in and near the Iowa Great Lakes. In recent years, the Headliners have performed at the Inn at Okoboji Resort and Conference Center, www.bojifun.com, the PLAC in Okoboji, Yesterdays in Olde Town Arnolds Park, and the MT Vault in downtown Estherville.

For the Iowa Lakes Music Department schedule, which includes all of the aforementioned events and much more, visit: www.iowalakes.edu/music/schedule.htm

A final recommendation: In addition to the web site, the Iowa Lakes Music Department offers a free quarterly newsletter, the "Soundwave," which subscribers can receive via postal mail, via email or both. To subscribe, contact Carol Ayres, Professor, or Judy Klunder, Office Associate, jklunder@iowalakes.edu, or sign up online via the web site, www.iowalakes.edu/music.

In closing, and coming full circle, it was via the latest edition, March 2010, of the Iowa Lakes Music Department "Soundwave" that I learned March is observed as MIOSM. "Music! Just Imagine..."

Thank you for your time! Please support the arts!