Skidmore to welcome Mountain Quickstep in concert Oct. 13

The Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College will present Mountain Quickstep in concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13.

This special kick-off concert celebrates Mountain Quickstep's selection for the "Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad" program, sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. Department of State. Ten ensembles from a group of 100 were selected and finalists were chosen based on artistic integrity, musical ability, and education skills. The tour will take them to Eastern Europe during November 2011.

Mountain Quickstep, including Sara Milonovich, Greg Anderson, and Skidmore Music Department faculty members John Kirk and Trish Miller, combines elements from the old-time, blue-grass, and early country music of the Appalachian, Adirondack, and Smoky Mountain regions. Toe-tapping music played on twin fiddles, banjos, mandolins, and guitars, along with percussive Appalachian clog dancing; combine with four-part vocal harmonies to showcase the diversity of rural American music.

Admission for the Oct. 13 performance of Mountain Quickstep is free and open to the public. For advance reservations click here or call the Zankel box office (518) 580-8381 for more information. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For more information, please click here.

Background on performing artists

John Kirk (vocals and strings) is an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and versatile instrumentalist on fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo.Since 1988 he and Trish Miller have toured internationally as a duo, playing music and singing in concerts, festivals, and schools; and calling contra and square dances. In addition, Kirk performs with numerous other bands and an international dance troupe, and is on the music faculty at Bennington College in Vermont and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The Dixie Chicks recorded his song, Long Roads, and he can be heard contributing on dozens of folk artists' recordings.

Trish Miller(banjo and guitar)hasbeen performing and teaching Appalachian clog dancing since 1981. She is a popular caller for square and contra dances, in addition to playing old-time clawhammer banjo and guitar. She has danced with the Back Creek Cloggers from Richmond, Vir., and the Green Grass Cloggers from Asheville, N.C., among others. Miller also choreographs and arranges traditional American music and dance programs for schools, concerts, and workshop settings, and teaches banjo at Skidmore.

Sara Milonovich (vocals and fiddle)isa singer, fiddler, composer, and bandleader in her own right, and a sought-after accompanist for a number of other artists in many musical genres. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, playing Americana roots, folk-rock, bluegrass, Celtic, and Appalachian music, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with artists such as Richard Shindell, the McKrells, and Antje Duvekot. Her first CD with Greg Anderson Forward In All Directions! made the Top 10 World Music list in the Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" Critic's Poll of 2004.

Greg Anderson(guitar) has been a mainstay in many folk, ethnic, and world-music scenes throughout the years. He currently tours with celebrated Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers and has worked with many other singer/songwriters, including Richard Shindell, Tommy Sands, Cathi Ryan, and Dave More. He played with Grammy-winners the Klezmatics, accompanying them on tours with violinist Itzhak Perlman, and is also a sought-after producer and arranger recognized for blending traditional and world musics with contemporary sounds and production values.