MUSIC | Big beautiful bells The Carillon Festival fills the late spring air with the sounds of 67 cast
bronze bells in a mixture combining the ambiance of church, heaven and nature.
Each night the warm air welcomes in a different musician, visiting from
somewhere in the world, who sits atop the tower and plays what looks like a
large organ that has a keyboard consisting of wooden pedals that are played
with the hands and the feet. The instrument moves the huge bells hanging above.
Springfield houses one of the greatest carillons in the world. Don’t miss it. Fireworks on Friday, June 5, at 9 p.m. provide an explosive finale.
Carillon Festival
May 31-Jun 6
7-8:30pm nightly
except Wednesday
Rees Memorial Carillon
Washington Park
753-6219
Free
FAIR | Mother nature matters Environmental games, free baby trees, recycling drop-off and free document
shredding. These are just a few of the activities planned for the Earth
Awareness Fair this Saturday at the convention center. In the children’s area, Sandy Lucas and her band jam on recycled instruments, and the Henson
Robinson Zoo and the Illinois Raptor Center feature live animals. Speaker
topics throughout the day include rain gardens and native plants, defining your
carbon footprint and geothermal heating. Springfield musicians provide live,
local music all day, and you can rock out after the fair during a fundraiser,
Party for the Park, from 6 p.m. to midnight.
GreenFest Earth Awareness Fair
Saturday, May 30
10am-4pm
Prairie Capital
Convention Center
788-8800
Free
BAND SPOTLIGHT | Thornhill From boisterous rockers to introspective ballads, Tina Thornhill writes terrific
songs and her bandmates flesh out the tunes with adept musicianship and tight
harmonies. Together the combo of Patty Kriss (drums), Joel Zulauf (lead
guitar), Lynna Thornhill (bass) and Terri Patterson (harmony vocals) along with
Tina (lead vocals, rhythm acoustic) deliver some of the highest quality
original music you’ll hear anywhere. For a recognizable cover song, the band may toss in a Sheryl
Crow or Melissa Etheridge number or perhaps a U2 or even a Johnny Cash tune to
satisfy the un-original listeners. Whatever the band tackles, whether as an
acoustic quartet or in full rocking form, Thornhill brings a class act to the
stage. Plans include a return to the studio in the fall for a follow-up to 2007’s Springfield classic, Center of Town, plus summer shows at Cheddar’s patio and a return to the downtown Art Walk in the fall.
Thornhill
Sat. May 30 8:30 p.m.
Greenfest Party for the Park
17th annual Earth Awareness Fair at the Prairie Capital Convention Center
www.thornhillband.com
www.myspace.com/thornhill
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.
