Happenings
Events, Notable Mentions, and Awards for Daniel M. Reck

Listen to the February 14 edition of Live and Local on Tumblr.

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 — URBANA, ILL. — Musician and educator Daniel M. Reck will be heard on today's Live and Local on WILL-FM radio. Reck will be playing handbells on the program as part of a preview of this Sunday's concert at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana, where he is director of handbell music.

"This isn't a handbell concert, though. We have guitarists, vocalists, pianists, and an organist who represent the entire Champaign-Urbana community," Reck says. "The program is very eclectic, ranging from jazz standards to classical arias."

Pianist Jeremy House is joining Reck on Live and Local, where they will play a special arrangement of "Amazing Grace."

In performance, Reck will suspend about two dozen handbells from a stand, creating a "handbell tree," and strike the bells with mallets as though they were a vibraphone set on end.

"You've never heard anything like it," Reck says. "Arranger Kevin McChesney has taken the tune we know and wrapped a whole new melody around it."

House, who is also the church's organist, will solo on that instrument during the concert, playing the "Adagio" from Symphony No. 8 by Charles-Marie Widor.

Tenor Kevin Swartz will also be heard on Live and Local, performing "Goin' Home," the popular movement inspired by Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony. House will accompany on piano.

In addition to these performers, the concert will include clarinetist and flutist Karen DeBauche; vocalists Millie Palmer, Ana Vieira, and Tanya Haenny; handbell musician Nathan Burrows; guitarists Derick Cordoba and Will Beasley; and bass guitarist Emma Lacefield. (Regular Live and Local listeners will remember DeBauche and House were heard on last Friday's broadcast, which included a recording of them performing with Reck at the close of the show.)

This Sunday's concert will also feature pianist Sam Ginger.

"Sam is truly a highlight of this Sunday's concert," says Reck. "He is pursuing his piano doctoral studies here at the University of Illinois and just recently won the Krannert Debut Artist Competition." Gingher will perform a movement from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major.

Reck has been playing handbells for nearly two decades and began directing handbell ensembles during his time at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., where he studied music and computer science. He has performed for audiences throughout the United States and on tour in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and France. Reck is also Director of Digital Media and Photography for the Northwestern University Bands in Evanston, Ill.

Listeners in the Champaign-Urbana region can tune into Live and Local at 4 p.m. CT today at 90.3 FM to hear Reck, Swartz, and House. The program also streams online at will.illinois.edu.

Sunday's concert begins at 4 p.m. at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 2200 South Philo Road, Urbana. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served at the conclusion.

Listen now to the February 14 edition of Live and Local on Tumblr.
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