News

JULY 17, 2011 — MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — Startled patrons in the lobby of the Minneapolis Hilton hotel looked around in confusion as two dozen handbell musicians ambushed them in a flash mob today.

Daniel M. Reck was among the performers, led by Rima Grier, who parodied "Mickey, You're So Fine" and "La Bamba" with new lyrics about how any kind of music can be played on handbells. The stunt was to help publicize tonight's handbell concert at the hotel.

"We know how to have fun," says Reck, "but we're also working to show that handbell musicians are like just like any other musicians."

Tonight's concert will feature Reck in one of the two National All-Star Handbell Choirs, along with an advanced group of teenage musicians which has participated in a series of special classes over the weekend. The entire event is the finale to the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers National Seminar, which combines a mult-day professional conference with marathon rehearsal sessions.

"It's been a great deal of hard work to prepare," says Reck, who successfully auditioned into the ensemble as its bass ringer. "The all-star ensembles are each performing four advanced works with about six hours of rehearsal before the performance."

MARCH 28, 2010 — MONMOUTH, ILL. — An educator at Monmouth College has been selected to represent the Boy Scouts of America at the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden this summer.  Daniel M. Reck will join the International Service Team, which includes jamboree staff members from around the world.

"Scouting is sometimes called play with a purpose," says Reck. "At the world jamboree, young men and women from nations near and far will have a chance to come together, share their cultures, develop respect, and do it all while having the time of their lives."

The World Scout Jamboree, held approximately every fourth year since 1920, plans to host about 38,000 scouts from the 160 nations which have national scouting federations participating in the World Organization of the Scouting Movement.  

This is Reck's third jamboree staff appointment.  Last summer, he was a copy editor at Jamboree Today, the daily newspaper of the 2010 National Scout Jamboree hosted at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. He volunteered as an emergency medical technician in 2001.

NOVEMBER 15, 2010 — MONMOUTH, ILL. — The Review Atlas newspaper featured an interview with Daniel M. Reck his upcoming performance with the Shadows of Bronze on the front page in their November 13-14 edition.  "Daniel Reck, Michael Surratt and Rebecca Johnson make up the musical group," says Review Atlas reporter Leanne Moore, "which brings together handbells, piano and wind instruments to create a unique sound of music."

The article highlights the Shadows of Bronze's performance at the First Lutheran Church of Monmouth, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday.

"We try to be educational in our program," says Reck, as quoted in the article. "Lots of people have seen handbell ensembles, but we try to teach about how the instrument actually works, the history of the music and literature and show off techniques used to play handbells."

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010 — CHICAGO, ILL. — New artwork and photography from Daniel M. Reck are featured on the new reissues of two Heartsfield albums.  The aouthern rock band has charmed listeners with sweet guitar licks and foot stompin' beats since the 1970s and has issued nearly a dozen issues in that time.

One of the reissued albums featuring Reck's artwork originally debuted in 1999, when band leader Perry Jordan released The Writer's Tapes, an album which featured many unheard cuts of popular Heartsfield tunes and previously unrecorded tracks.

"Heartsfield has a long history of songwriting and recording and we wanted to share with our friends and fans a look at what made us groove," said Jordan of his album.

Reck was also the graphic designer and photographer for the reissue of All Over the Place, originally released in 2002. The record features tracks recorded at live concerts and live radio broadcasts, as well as from board recordings of club appearances.

On All Over the Place, the cover art will replicate the original album art.  However, the bonus for fans will be inside the case.  "I've created all new artwork and photography for the CD face and the rest of the liner and tray card" says Reck. "I also included a classic hard-to-find photo of frontman Perry Jordan and bass player Steve Eddington."