MUSIC

Contemporary music group Musiqa presents artists Everette Harp, (pictured), Bobby Lyle, and Jade Simmons for the concert, Everette Harp Unplugged, an evening of jazz and contemporary classical music that will showcase the best of modern music. Proceeds will go to support Musiqa's Education Programming. The event will be chaired by Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist Jerome Gray, from KPRC Local 2 News. Everette Harp Unplugged will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall.

The Artists:
"Weaned on gospel and soul music", the Houston-born saxman Everette Harp combines dynamic funk edges and urban textures to push smooth jazz into a new century. His popular 1997 tribute to Marvin Gaye's 1971 watershed album What's Going On...etc.

Bobby Lyle is a jazz pianist who has entertained audiences for decades. He has released a variety of solo albums and has toured with groups ranging from Sly and the Family Stone to Anita Baker and Better Midler. He currently lives in Houston.

Jade Simmons returns to the stage for Musiqa for a rare Houston performance. Jade wears many hats - classical pianist, motivational speaker, a former Miss Illinois who was a Miss America runner-up, and Founder and Executive Director of the Impulse Artist Series - and she exemplifies a version of the merging of modern music with other artistic disciplines that represents the core of Musiqa's mission.

Musiqa's Educational Mission:
As many schools have been forced to cut back on arts programming, non-profit organizations such as Musiqa have stepped in to ensure that those schools and schoolchildren still have access to a high quality musical experience. Musiqa's Education Programming includes full-fledged concerts for schoolchildren held at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, extensive in-school programming - which includes curriculum, teacher workshops, and CDs of the music from the concert - and a semester-long music class led by Musiqa artists, offered to schools that do not have music classes of their own. The concerts expose children to the vast benefits of music within an entertaining and interactive environment. The entire program builds their appreciation of music and shows them how it is connected to other areas of study. Musiqa impacts more than 4,000 students each year with this programming.

Founded in 2002, Musiqa (www.musiqahouston.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Led by five composers, Musiqa aims to enrich and inspire the community through programs that integrate contemporary music with other modern art-forms. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through inter-disciplinary concerts that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art, and more.

With its innovative collaborations and educational programming, Musiqa strives to make modern repertoire accessible and vital to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. Musiqa is funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.