The Knox College Choir and Cherry Street Combo are hitting the road in separate tours during the College’s 2019 spring break.

The Cherry Street Combo will perform in St. Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday, March 13; record at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee; and attend jam sessions and workshops featuring various jazz musicians. The Knox College Choir’s Midwest Tour will take place from March 13 through March 18 as the choir performs free, public concerts in Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. Detailed schedules are below.

The Cherry Street Combo is the premier jazz combo at Knox, and the group has hosted jazz every Thursday night for more than 25 years in different Galesburg venues. The Cherry Street Combo is by audition only, and it performs professionally at various community and college events. In 2014, the Cherry Street Combo released a professionally recorded CD, A Dedication.

Combo members include Zachary Barnes '19, of Milpitas, California; Gus Martini '19, of Marion, Illinois; Lindsay Smith '19, of New Athens, Illinois; and Liam Wholihan '20, of Annapolis, Maryland. The students will be accompanied on the spring break tour by Andy Crawford '00, jazz combo director; and Nikki Malley '98, associate professor of music.

The Knox College Choir, led by Professor of Music Laura Lane, traditionally tours during the College’s spring break. This year’s program features a wide variety of songs, from Vytautas Miškinis’ complex and powerful "Lucis Creator Optime" to Tarik O’Regan’s intense and ethereal "Turn."

The choir’s program also includes pieces arranged by South African composer and choral director Dr. Michael Barrett, director of choral activities at the University of Pretoria and conductor of the internationally recognized Tuks Camerata. Barrett completed a two-day residency at Knox in January. During that time, he led a workshop on South African music and dance, and he rehearsed four of his pieces with the choir.

After completing its spring tour, the Knox College Choir will perform its Home Tour Concert on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus. Check out additional information about the choir’s members and concert program.

Performance Schedules

Cherry Street Combo

• Wednesday, March 13, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in Twisted Roots Brewing Co., 3690 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri. Further details are available through the Office of Alumni Relations. 

Knox College Choir

• Wednesday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m.—First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, Iowa
• Thursday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m.—St. Anne’s Catholic Church, LeSueur, Minnesota
• Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m.—St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Saturday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m.—Divine Word International, Techny, Illinois
• Friday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m.—Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, for the Home Tour Concert