Cara Lieurance

The centenary of the birth of the great American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was in 2018. On Oct 20, 2018, the Kalamazoo Concert Band took the stage to honor his legacy, with the help of guest artists the Western Brass Quintet. In this flashback, Dr. Tom Evans, director of the KCB, joins Cara Lieurance to share highlights from a concert in which everything came together for an unforgettable experience.

Today at 5 pm, Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Kalamazoo will present the 5th annual National Day of Racial Healing Celebration. It will be livestreamed on Facebook, Youtube, and the Public Media Network pages from the stage of the Kalamazoo State Theatre. Emily Olivares, coordinator for TRHT in Kalamazoo, and Ed Genesis, a TRHT Leadership Team member, activist and performer, spoke with Cara Lieurance about the group's goals and gave a preview of the online celebration. It will feature prominent performer/activists Gabriel Giron, Yolanda Lavender, and the Rootead Youth Dance Company.  

At 7 pm on Thursday, Jan 21, the Kalamazoo Film Society will host an online Virtual Lobby Discussion about the new film One Night In Miami, directed by Regina King. The first film by a Black American female director to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, it is a fictionalized version of a true event: the night in 1964 when Muhammed Ali (then Cassius Clay) celebrated his new boxing title with three close friends: football star Jim Brown, singer Sam Cook, and activist Malcolm X. Kalamazoo Film Society president Dhera Strauss and member Madeline Cimini joined Cara Lieurance for a preview.

The Kellogg Community College Vocal Arts program, headed by Dr. Gerald Case-Blanchard, recently released an online performance celebrating the 65th anniversary of the program. The featured piece, a rarely-heard work by Florence Price, was chosen by Case-Blanchard for its musical qualities and historic importance. He talked to Cara Lieurance about how it came together. 

Every month, editor Marie Lee joins Cara Lieurance to talk about how the Southwest Michigan stories in the newest issue of Encore Magazine came together.