FREE! Frederick Hodges plays April 29 in Grass Valley
San Francisco pianist Frederick Hodges performs “A Fred Astaire Ragtime Revue” at 4pm Sunday, April 29, at PEACE Lutheran Church.
Master pianist Frederick Hodges comes from San Francisco to present “A Fred Astaire Musical Revue” at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at PEACE Lutheran Church. We are is at 828 W. Main St., near downtown Grass Valley.
This free piano concert will pay tribute to ragtime – the fun and infectious music that swept the globe and underscored the early career of the brilliant 20th-century dancer, Fred Astaire. Works will include songs composed for Astaire by friends and fledgling composers Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
A free wine-and-cheese reception follows, where you can meet the artist!
During his performance, Hodges will share fascinating memorabilia from the ragtime period, including Astaire publicity posters, rare photographs and intricately illustrated sheet music covers from the pieces he performs.
The first part of the show will feature musical selections that Astaire and his sister, Adele, sang and danced to during their vaudeville career as a team of child actors from 1905-1917. The second half will offer an extravaganza of music from the period.
Hodges is a masterful pianist with a broad range of classical accomplishments and a busy performance schedule. But his musical love is ragtime – the revolutionary, syncopated music that swept the world from the 1890s into the first decades of the 20th century. He performs at ragtime festivals across the country.
This event is a production of Arts @ PEACE and is a fundraiser for the PEACE Organ Fund – the church’s effort to raise $240,000 to replace the aging organ in its sanctuary and, eventually, install real pipes connected to the new digital instrument The result will be a musical experience unlike anything in western Nevada County: Air passing through real pipes reverberates throughout the space and fills listeners in a way that purely electronic sound cannot.
Any donations to the Organ Fund will be gratefully accepted. More information about PEACE, our many mission activities and our Organ Fund, including a secure online donation portal, is right here.
WANT MORE?
Read more about Frederick Hodges, Fred Astaire & ragtime HERE.