[review]CLASSICALLY TRAINED PIANIST TO PERFORM ROCK CONCERT AT CMUMEDIA CONTACT: Mike Silverthorn, (989) 774-3197
PROGRAM CONTACT: Patti Pangborn, (989) 774-3174
Multiplatinum musician Vanessa Carlton uses her classical music training to breathe new life into popular music.
She will perform at Central Michigan University with the folk-rock band Raining Jane, which also includes classically trained musicians who have become rock ‘n’ roll artists, at 8 p.m. March 31 in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.
Program Board, CMU’s student entertainment group, decided to bring Carlton to CMU after seeing her perform at a national conference.
“Her performance blew me away,” said Patti Pangborn, public relations spokesperson for Program Board. “After seeing so many performers, I tend to be picky about the ones I like, but Carlton really impressed me.”
Floor seat tickets cost $9 for students, $12 for faculty and staff, and $18 for the general public. Balcony seat tickets cost $6 for students, $9 for faculty and staff, and $12 for the general public. Tickets are available at the Central Box Office on the lower level of the Bovee University Center or by calling (989) 774-3000 or (888) CMU-0111 (toll free).
Carlton’s mother, who was her first piano instructor, began classically training Carlton when she was 2 years old. When she was 8, she composed her first piece of music.
Her new album, “Harmonium,” follows up her multiplatinum debut “Be Not Nobody,” which spawned the number-one single “A Thousand Miles.”
“The songs off her new album seem to tell a very personal story,” Pangborn said. “They really display her skills as a pianist and vocalist.”
Los Angeles-based Raining Jane released its second studio album “Diamond Lane” in January. In November 2003, Music Connection Magazine named the group one of the “Hot 100 Unsigned Artists.”
http://www.news.cmich.edu/news/index.asp?id=567