Remembering Loonis McGlohon
When Governor Jim Martin presented the North Carolina Award to pianist-composer Loonis McGlohon, he said “Loonis’ versatility spills out in every direction”. He wrote jazz pieces, popular songs, choral works and songs for children. As a pianist, he recorded more than thirty albums. One of them, “Loonis In London”, received the Award of Merit from Stereo Review. As a producer, he twice won the prestigious Peabody Award.
Loonis performed at many of the world’s most important venues. Internationally, the Palazzo Venezia of Rome, The Mandarin in Singapore, The Swing Club in Tokyo, and The Hermitage in Monte Carlo. In the US, he frequented Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian, Town Hall, and San Francisco’s Opera House. Television appearances have included CBS Sunday, That’s Entertainment, Garrison Keillor’s American Theater of The Air, and NPR’s Piano Jazz with his friend and host, Marian McParland.
Loonis was one of the greatest accompanists of his time, working with Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Cleo Laine, Woody Herman, Eileen Farrell, George Shearing, Margaret Whiting, and the London Symphony Orchestra, all of whom recorded his music. Loonis and Eileen Farrell co-hosted American Popular Song on NPR.
Loonis’ songs appear in an anthology “150 Most Beautiful Songs Ever Written”. His music has been translated into several languages and recorded by international artists.
He wrote the theme music for “On The Road”, the CBS television show hosted by Charles Kuralt, who was mentored as a Charlotte teen by Loonis and remained fast friends. The two wrote North Carolina Is My Home, which was commissioned by the state.
Loonis also developed the first North Carolina chapter of Big Brother and Big Sisters of America. He had two city parks built in Charlotte and served on many boards, He has two honorary doctorates, and national awards. He received the World Citizen Award for both Charlotte and New York City in the same year. He also was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the North Carolina Broadcasters.
Rick Bean Trio
Rick Bean – Piano
Rick has been playing professionally since the age of 14. In the earlier years, he performed with Urbie Green (star trombonist on the Tonight Show), Les Elgart, Larry Elgart, Buddy Morrow, Frankie Avalon, Warren Covington (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra), Ray McKinley (Glen Miller Orchestra), Tony Orlando and Dawn, Vaughan Monroe, and The Four Lads. In later years, Rick backed singers such as Marlene Verplanck, Mike Campbell, and Tennessee Ernie Ford in concert. Over the years, Rick has given many concerts for colleges and municipalities. Rick also has written and published choral music. He worked closely with pianist and composer Loonis McGlohon for many years, and is currently working to perpetuate the performance of Loonis’ music as Chairman of the McGlohon Endowment. Rick and the Endowment have brought singers such as Marlene Verplanck and Mike Campbell to perform in Charlotte, and have performed “North Carolina Is My Home,” the tribute to North Carolina that Loonis co-authored and produced with fellow North Carolinian Charles Kuralt, in concert with the trio and symphony.
Bill Stowe – Drums
Bill was the drummer with the great Loonis McGlohon, and performed concerts all over the world with him. He also performed on most of Loonis’ recordings. Bill has also performed with many greats in the jazz world, and has performed many times at the nationally acclaimed jazz festival at the Grove Park Inn.
Terry Peoples – Bass
“Terry Peoples is a Charlotte, NC area bassist who is originally from the Pacific Northwest. He studied music at Clark College in Vancouver, WA with jazz pianist Jeff Lorber. Since moving to Charlotte in the early 80’s, he’s been busy playing and recording locally. He has performed, recorded and toured with pianist and composer Loonis McGlohon as a member of his jazz trio. Venues included Carnegie Hall, the US Embassy in Hamburg, the Grand Hotel in Rome, and Charlotte’s Spirit Square and Blumenthal Theater backing noted singers Diane Schur, Marlene VerPlanck, Eileen Farrell and others. He has also performed with many top tier Christian artists, including Andrae Crouch, Bebe and Cece Winans, Amy Grant, and Ron Kenoly. Terry currently resides in Ft. Mill, SC with his wife and two Yorkshire terriers.”
Dawn Anthony
Dawn Anthony has served in the Charlotte area for years as a teaching artist and even longer as a performer. She enjoys utilizing music, history and technology to build bridges to promote arts immersion in education and unity within the community. Dawn believes that learning and performing experiences are inevitably enhanced through creative arts partnerships. In 2015 and 2016 Dawn presented a musical tribute to Ella Fitzgerald for the Jazz Arts Initiative at Blumenthal’s Stage Door Theater. In the fall of 2016, she partnered with her alma mater, Queens University of Charlotte for “Creative Crossroads”– an artist in residence concert and lecture series about the Harlem Renaissance expressed through music, poetry, dance and visual art. She will reprise this event at Queens University in the spring of 2018. Dawn performs in the Charlotte area and is the primary singer for the Charlotte Jazz Orchestra. Apart from performing, her primary focus is teaching artist with STUDIO 345 (an afterschool arts immersion program), JAI and DNAMuzic (her own arts program)– all of which are organizations that bring music education workshops to schools in the Charlotte area. Dawn recently authored her first children’s book entitled, “The Gift Way Up in the Closet” to encourage children to seek and exercise their gifts and talents—it’s available on her website and soon to Amazon! Dawn earned her degree in music from Queens University of Charlotte, but still pursues her love for learning, performing and teaching through cultural exchanges and musical collaborations beyond the stage and classroom.
CARITAS A CAPPELLA ENSEMBLE was formed in 2015, under the leadership of Artistic Director Cathy Youngblood. The group has inspired and delighted its Charlotte-area audiences with its challenging musical selections, its polished performances, and its vision to make an impact in the community. In 2017 Caritas A Cappella Ensemble was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The mission of Caritas, a cappella artistry with a purpose, is lived out through our efforts to stimulate, develop, and promote the appreciation of a cappella singing through public concerts, and through our donation of a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to charitable organizations.
Cathy Youngblood, Artistic Director
Cathy Youngblood, pianist, organist and choral director, is a graduate of California Lutheran University where she obtained both a B.A. in Organ Performance (summa cum laude) and a M.A. in Music Education. She is the recipient of various awards and honors, among them, Theodore Presser Scholar, Assistant Director of the touring CLU Concert Choir, Director of the Madrigal Singers, Departmental Assistant in Music, and Woman of the Week in Guatemala’s magazine Revista Crónica. While living in Guatemala for 17 years, she became the founding director of the Choral Society of Guatemala, a 100-voice choral organization singing short form and major works accompanied by the Guatemalan Symphony Orchestra. She was also the first director of the acclaimed a cappella ensemble Capella Cantorum.
Cathy taught music theory and piano at Central Piedmont Community College and sustained a private piano studio for over 25 years. She is active in area chamber music ensembles and has developed a number of church music ministries. Cathy has composed choral works for sacred and concert use. In 2015 she became Artistic Director of Caritas A Cappella Ensemble, which focuses on a cappella artistry for the greater Charlotte area, and partners with local nonprofits in their individual efforts in the community. In addition, Cathy currently serves as Music Associate and Organist a St. Andrews UMC. She and her husband Quay make their home in Charlotte.
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
Good Shepherd is a group of “ordinary people following an extraordinary God.” Begun in 1980, it has been served by two back to back long-term pastors with a vision for being a good neighbor in the name of Jesus Christ. The church is known for its friendliness, a rich music ministry, and a distinct understanding of itself as a “neighborhood church.” The church is pleased to host JazzFest and would be pleased to welcome you to worship or any other church activities. And in our best excited whisper voice: (Rick Bean plays here every Sunday!!)