4 days of world music, culture during Bloomington's Lotus Blossoms events
Artists from Ireland, Uganda, Sweden, Panama, Mexico and the United States will share music, art and stories with Bloomington students and audiences during the 2024 Lotus Blossoms events scheduled for four weeks, from March 18 through April 12.
Begun in 1996, Lotus Blossoms is a program that highlights world music and art with performances and appearances for area schoolchildren and the general public, as well as workshops for schools and community groups. Fall's Lotus World and Music Arts Festival is the larger event, spanning four days in many venues in downtown Bloomington, but Lotus Blossoms is a way to bring in more musicians and artists to share, usually in smaller groups and with a more educational component.
"The focus is bringing these artists into the school systems," Katarina Koch, executive director of Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, said recently.
Even so, public performances by each of the musicians participating in the four weeks of Lotus Blossoms will give the general public a chance to enjoy the music and learn more about their cultures. The World Bazaar Community Day is another way for Lotus to allow people to sample music and art from around the globe.
Lotus Blossom's World Bazaar Community Day
An integral part of Lotus Blossoms is the free Lotus Blossoms World Bazaar Community Day, which is a multicultural arts and education event for all ages with a goal of connecting people of different cultures through music and art.
The two-day event in the gym at Fairview Elementary School, 500 W. Seventh St., begins with a Friday bazaar on March 22 open to area fourth-grade students. All Monroe County Community School Corp. fourth-graders will participate. Other schools that are interested can email engagement@lotusfest.org for information.
The Saturday bazaar will be open to the public 11 a.m.-3 p.m. March 23 free of charge. Every 20 minutes there will be a live performance from music and dance groups. More than 30 hands-on activity stations will give people a chance to learn to play an instrument, write their name in a different language, do crafts from various cultures around the globe and learn multi-cultural dances.
The MCCSC STEAM team will be present at both days' events to help integrate science and technology into the musical parts of the program. It's a new aspect to what Lotus Blossoms is offering this year, Koch explained.
Four weeks of music, art begin March 18
This year's Lotus Blossom artists each will come to Bloomington for one week of sharing with both students and the general public. Tickets for the public performances can be purchased online at lotusfest.org/events.
First up is the Aoife Scott Band, which will perform March 18-21. Scott is a folk singer and songwriter from Dublin, Ireland, who joins bandmates Andy Meaney, guitar, and Joanna Hyde, fiddle. The band will perform 7:30-9:30 p.m. March 21 at the FAR Center for Contemporary Arts, at 202 S. Rogers St., for the public. The performance is in partnership with Bloomington Roots. Tickets are $25 per person.
Chinobay, a Ugandan musician and educator, is this year's artist in residency and will be performing and sharing his culture March 26-29. Chinobay has toured in more than 75 countries, showcasing Africa in his original compositions. He will work with third-graders at Grandview and Highland Park elementary schools for three kalimba (finger piano) workshop sessions. He will perform at each of the schools after the sessions, with students joining him on stage to perform songs.
Chinobay also will engage with community members at a lecture and demonstration at the Lincoln Street Boys and Girls Club and at Bloomington's Hearthstone Health Campus retirement community.
The band Making Movies will share its music — with Afro-Latin rhythms mixed with classic rock — for the third week's events, April 2-4. The band's public performance will be April 4 at Blockhouse Bar, 205 S. College Ave., with doors opening at 7:30 for the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door for the 21-plus performance. The Kansas City-based group includes two brothers from Panama, as well as members from Mexico and the U.S.
The fourth week will have Northern Resonance, a Swedish string trio, in Bloomington from April 10 to 14. The Scandinavian musicians have all studied under Vasen members Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. They will perform for the general public 7-8 p.m. April 11 at the FAR Center for Contemporary Arts. Tickets are $17 advance and $20 day of the show.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Lotus Blossoms brings world music to Bloomington March 18-April 12
