On April 3 and 4, Hancher Auditorium held its inaugural Stop/Time Festival, a multi-disciplinary, multi-venue fest spread throughout the University of Iowa campus and downtown Iowa City. “There’s a lot of stuff we know that’s cool that just doesn’t get on as many stages,” festival organizer Andre Perry said in an interview with Little Village […]
Kent Williams
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Andre Perry hopes Stop/Time celebrates the ‘spirit of innovation’ Iowa City artists and festival-goers embrace
I first met Perry standing in front of the bar at The Mill (R.I.P.). He was memorable for his manner: he pays attention, asks probing questions, looks you in the eye and seems to actually care about what you say. At the time he had a band, The LonelyHearts, and was working on an MFA in […]
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After four decades, the Minnesota Orchestra makes a triumphant return to Hancher Auditorium
The Minnesota Orchestra, under new Music Director Thomas Søndergård, performed at Hancher Auditorium earlier this month, on Nov. 15. The performance saw the return of the ensemble to the University of Iowa, as their last visit came in 1982. Before that, the Orchestra made regular visits through the decades prior, with a a partnership that […]
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Review: Alto and bass flutes converse at a masterful recital by Rose Bishop and Heather Neuenschwander
Rose Bishop and Heather Neuenschwander, two classical flutists who recently released the duo album Unseen/Unheard, performed a release recital on Sept. 26 at the James Theater. The album, released on the same day by Strange Moon Records, collects several pieces commissioned by the duo from contemporary composers. It boasts the distinction of being the first-ever […]
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Review: ‘Cello goblin’ Rushadicus and Iowa City’s Weapon X brought an electric circus to the Close House
The music that is popular, the artists that are famous and the commercial music industry that promotes them, exists in a completely different world from the music Public Space One presents.
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Review: Orchestra Iowa conjures an anti-fascist classic in masterful Coralville concert
Orchestra Iowa (previously the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra) presented their next-to-last concert of the season on Sunday, May 18 at the Coralville Center For the Performing Arts. I don’t think it was designed as a symphonic venue; the stage looks a little snug for a full orchestra. But as a venue, it has a lot going […]
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Review: The Sam Ross Quartet and Michael Sarian channel Miles Davis and early electric jazz at the PS1 Close House
This is the first in hopefully many reviews I will write in the near future covering local, live musical performances. I hope that sharing my experience at these shows will give people some idea of what music in our own town sounds like and feels like. I am a lifelong musician in addition to being […]
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Review: Iowa musicians were weird, angry and confident as ever on Day 3 of Mission Creek Festival
Saturday, April 5 was a packed final day of Mission Creek. As the dust settles on the 2025 fest, let’s take a look back at some of the local music acts who made Day 3 memorable. Sam Locke Ward Early afternoon isn’t the usual time for watching Sam Locke Ward. I’ve seen him in the […]
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Review: From rapt silence to cathartic screams, Mission Creek’s Day 2 performers crowd-surfed the line between rage and joy
Night two of Mission Creek, in contrast with the first night’s containment at Hancher, encompassed many venues around the downtown area, a return to previous years’ mad dash of “Creekers” around Iowa City looking for the show that will change their lives, whether that be a new-to-you music act or a local literary hero at the […]
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Review: Mission Creek 2025 kicks off with the glorious Kim Gordon, Rachel Kushner and LA LOM
Opening night of Mission Creek! At Hancher! My last Mission Creek was 2019, officially the Before Times of Iowa City public culture. Venues have closed, or been torn down. Hancher was buzzing with people with their lanyards and wristbands, anticipating a deep dive into live music and culture. There is a Mission Creek feeling, shared […]
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Album Review: Ion Alexakis — ‘Broken Glass’ EP
It’s crazy to think that hip hop is 50 years old. It’s global, ubiquitous. Including in Iowa. Ion Alexakis — though much younger than hip hop — has been active musically in Iowa City for years, working as a producer, singer and emcee. His day job as production supervisor at the Englert is a perfect […]
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James Tutson is a fool for soul music
For James Tutson, music is a lifelong thing. He told me in a telephone interview that growing up, “We had a 10-person congregation, and I had five siblings and my mom, and we were the whole church choir. From the minute you could talk, you were singing in our family and singing in church, you know, […]
