The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will present the Rev. Robert Jones and Matt Watroba on Friday, February 19, 2016 at 8 PM in Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $25 advance, $28 at the door and $22 for museum members plus ticket fees. Tickets may be purchased on line at www.dennosmuseum.org or by calling the box office at 231-995-1553 or My North Tickets at 800-836-0717.
The Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. from Detroit, Michigan is known for his authenticity with talent of a truly exceptional nature: a pastor, a songwriter, a storyteller, a multi-instrumentalist, an award winning educator with an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of African American folk music, including blues, spiritual, and slave songs…its players and styles. Robert says, “As much as I love what this music for the way that it sounds, I love, even more, what this music can do. At its best, Roots music tells the truth, and it gives a voice to those who struggle to be heard otherwise. I am an activist and I try to use my stories and music, not just for entertainment, but in service to my calling and my community and to connect the generations that I am blessed to live between.”
Jones will team up with veteran performer, teacher, radio host, and song writer Matt Watroba for this concert.
Ever since their first meeting, over twenty years ago, Robert Jones and Matt Watroba have been musical partners. Their relationship started when they hosted, back to back, radio shows on WDET-FM, Detroit. Later on they started performing together and, in doing so, they discovered a friendship based in mutual respect and a love for traditional American music. Now, Matt and Robert literally travel the nation extolling the virtues of “Music That Matters”.
For Matt and Robert, American Roots Music (Folk, Blues, Spirituals, Work Songs, Chants, etc.) is music that matters. This is the music that America and the world have in common. It is music that reflects history, social change, migration, hopes and dreams. It is music that is rich and diverse, direct and powerful.
As talented as they are individually, Matt and Robert together form a synergy that hard to describe. In addition to the concert on Friday evening the duo will offer a program for schools at the Milliken Auditorium. Teachers interested in bringing students to this performance should contact Jason Dake, Curator of Education at the Dennos Museum Center at 231-995-1029.
Tickets to this concert includes free admission to the museum’s galleries one hour before the concert and a post-concert reception with the performers.
The Dennos concert season is made possible with support from the Robert T and Ruth Haidt Trust and Osterlin Performance Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, the Michigan Council for the
Arts and Cultural Affairs with media support from WNMC 90.7and TV 29&8. Housing for our performers is provided by the Cambria Suites.
The Dennos Museum Center is open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursdays until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. Admission is $6.00 adults, $4.00 for children and free to museum members. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at1410 College Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College