Bluegrass Pickin' Parlor

The Friends of the Winfield Public Library welcome long-time Walnut Valley Festival favorite Brian Henke and friends to their annual Pickin’ Parlor.  This free concert, held annually on the Monday before the Walnut Valley Festival, invites everyone to enjoy great music and get in the spirit of the festival.  This year’s event will be held outside at Baden Square on Monday, September 12 at 6:30pm.  Bring a chair or blanket for seating, and come ready to settle in for an evening of wonderful music provided by bluegrass musicians in town for WVF.

USD465’s Parents as Teachers group will also be onsite at this year’s event, with a tableful of activities.  Parent educators will be set up to help children create a music related craft, relay some developmental information, and provide books to take home on a first come, first served basis.

The Pickin’ Parlor concert will again feature Brian Henke of Bay Village, OH.  He’s a multi-award winning virtuoso guitarist who plays his music with the passion and grace that comes from his deeply held belief that music is indeed magic.  His sound, which he describes as “a big stewpot of everything, stirred up and simmered to taste,” includes every style you can think of on acoustic guitar. 

Joining Henke will be The Red Door Duo and Mark Sganga.

The Red Door Duo, of Madison, WI, consists of Helen Avakian and Dave Irwin.  Avakian is the 2014 International Fingerstyle Champion. She has won numerous songwriting awards, including seven first prizes and four honorable mentions from the New Songs Contest at the Walnut Valley Festival. Her music has been favorably compare to Tori Amos, Jewel, and Natalie Merchant.  Irwin is an acclaimed jazz, bluegrass, and Brazilian fingerstyle guitarist who has been performing for more than two decades.

Sganga, of New York, is the 2009 International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion. With a performance that is said to weave a rich tapestry of beautiful melodies and imaginative improvisation, his musical style epitomizes “World Music.” Sganga has performed in the United States and Europe and has played command performances in India with violin virtuoso L. Subramaniam. WOR Radio acclaimed him as “one of the top guitarists in the New York area.”

This event is free, open to all, and sponsored by the Friends of the Winfield Public Library. The Friends of the Winfield Public Library supports activities such as the Summer Reading Program and the Discovery exhibits. For those who believe in literacy programs, love the library and wish to support strong community, membership in The Friends is a great way to show support.

Parents as First Teachers (PAT) is a program facilitated through USD465. PAT believes that parents are a child’s first and most important teachers and aims to support parents by giving them strategies to observe and strengthen their child’s development. Parents as Teachers offers home visits, developmental and health screenings, connections to community resources, playgroups and other group events to the families they serve through their program. The mission of Parents as Teachers is to promote the optimal early development, learning and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers. Since being founded in the early 1980s in Missouri, Parents as Teachers has expanded to all 50 states and six other countries.