The Dryden Central Guest Artist Series began in March 2005 when the Youngblood Brass Band from Madison, Wisconsin performed an assembly for the entire Middle School student body and High School band students. The group also conducted an after-school workshop for interested Middle School and High School instrumental music students. Mr. McMahon, with support from the Dryden Music Boosters and Middle School Principal at the time, Roger Fedele, carried out a fundraising blitz to bring the Youngblood Brass Band to Dryden. Thanks to overwhelming support and generous financial assistance provided by our local community, we were allowed to offer a new and unique educational experience for our young students. The event was very well received and students were enthused and challenged about their own music performance. It was a successful pilot to launch the Dryden Central Guest Artist Series. Since March of 2005, the series has produced evening events achieving its original goal to cultivate a network of local musicians who are more than willing to provide an educational musical experience outside of what can be offered during the normal school day. While helping to demonstrate to our students the lifelong enjoyment that music brings to our lives, many Guest Artists have continued to communicate with our students throughout the school year. Dryden students have not only performed on stage with our guests but also have collaborated with past guest, Ethan Lipton, by recording tracks for his CD release, “Honker." http://www.allmusic.com/album/honker-mw0002080307/credits We revitalize the series with a massive 2014 main event, Turkuaz. This 9 piece band from Brooklyn, NY embodies all the values for which the Dryden Central Guest Artist Series has become famous. From the highly trained Berkley graduates to the production engineer running lights and sound, Turkuaz is exactly the first rate type of artist we love to expose to our students. We always look forward to offering a free, high-class interactive musical experience with professional level musicians for our music students and provide a high quality evening concert free of charge to the local Dryden Community. Both the audience and the artists have benefited from our past music collaborations and we look forward to expanding the Guest Artist family in the future. Since March 2005, the Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund, the Dryden Music Boosters, the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, BOCES Arts in Education Grants, Seneca Tompkins Music Educators Association, SERTOMA, Hilton Garden Inn – Ithaca, Tompkins Weekly, Sound on Sound Productions, and many private local donors have assisted the Dryden Central Guest Artist Series in presenting the following list of performers:
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Dryden Central Guest Artist Series
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