Saturday, July 5th
After the parade at Thomas Worthington High School:
Saturday Entertainment Line-up
*all times are approximate
Between scheduled performances, the audience will enjoy vignettes
looking back at Worthington’s 200 year history.
Thomas Worthington High School Front Lawn:
1:00 – Worthington Chorus:
The Worthington Chorus, a 50 member, mixed-voice, non-audition chorus, has been entertaining central Ohio audiences since 1976. It is one of the few choruses in the nation which sings all styles of music – classical, traditional, contemporary popular, Broadway, old standards and liturgical.
2:00 – Worthington Songsters:
The Worthington Songsters have been making music in the City of Worthington for over 30 years. This stellar singing group, founded in 1972, is a chorus of women and men of all ages and walks of life performing regularly at community events and other venues.
3:00 – Worthington Bicentennial Singers:
Sharing the love of community and music, the Worthington Bicentennial Singers is a choral group that has been on a musical journey for the past year. The chorus was founded by a Leadership Worthington team, with the goals of exploring and preparing in song the music of the 200 years of Worthington’s history. The members of the chorus, comprised of 35 people, dress in period costume for the performances and have been volunteering their time to foster the spirit of celebration in the arts and history during Worthington’s Bicentennial celebration.
Thomas Worthington High School Stadium:
5:00 - Amaranth
5:15 - Harmony (see July 4th entertainment for details)
5:45 – Colonial Hills Cloggers & Colonial Hills Folk Group:
The Colonial Hills Cloggers is a troop of dancers made up of 3rd through 6th graders from Colonial Hills Elementary School in Worthington. They perform traditional clog dance steps to traditional folk music and are often accompanied by the Colonial Hills Folk Group. This traditional folk music group is made up of 4th through 6th graders from Colonial Hills Elementary School in Worthington. They perform music using traditional folk instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, dulcimer, guitar, string bass, mandolin, violin, viola, autoharp, spoons and limberjacks.
6:30 – Powerhouse:
For almost 25 years, Dave Powers has been a vital part of the Columbus, Ohio music scene as a pianist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Considered one of the most successful musicians in the local spectrum, Dave manages to win over the hearts of all who hear him perform. From clubs and restaurants to corporate events and private parties, his vast repertoire is as diverse as the audience that he entertains. Dave can be seen and heard playing around Columbus and throughout the Midwest on solo gigs, as well as with three different bands - Powerhouse Trio, the Dave Powers Trio, and the Jim Masters Quartet. Dave also has a six-piece group called "Powerhouse" that provides entertainment for corporate events and conventions.
Dave Powers and his Powerhouse band will be performing rock & roll classics that will have you clapping, dancing and singing along. Appearing with Powers is Kay Harris, female lead vocalist on the Bells of Worthington CD and co-lead singer with the band Sirens; Worthington native musician and singer Pete Carey; and Drummer Louis Tsamous.
7:00 – Columbus Jazz Orchestra:
The Columbus Jazz Orchestra began in 1973 as a vehicle to create performance opportunities for jazz musicians in a big band setting. Thirty years later, the CJO is considered one of the finest groups of its kind, presenting America's indigenous art form in a concert setting to thousands of patrons each year.
The Columbus Jazz Orchestra is known for its big, brassy sound and for the recreation of music by jazz masters such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and Gil Evans. Through special commissions, the CJO helps to create new masterworks for jazz orchestra and reconstructs American jazz manuscripts. The Orchestra will be lead by founding artistic director Ray Eubanks, who is coming out of semi-retirement for these performances. The CJO has a wonderful standing relationship with the Homecoming Celebration’s featured attraction, Maureen McGovern. In addition to its own performance, the CJO will accompany Ms. McGovern on stage.
7:45 – Eric Gnezda, accompanied by Arkadiy Gips.
Renouned singer/songwriter, inspirational speaker and Worthington native Eric Gnezda and violin virtuoso Arkadiy Gips will perform a short set of musical selections, prior to the encore Homecoming performance of the Bicentennial theme songs: The Bells of Worthington/On the Village Green.
8:10 - Sponsor Recognition
8:30 – Maureen McGovern, accompanied by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra:
The Worthington Bicentennial Committee is pleased to welcome Grammy nominated, Broadway and recording artist Maureen McGovern to the Homecoming Celebration, where she will be accompanied on stage by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
Maureen McGovern's 30 year career spans recordings, concerts, the Broadway stage, films, television and radio, with a voice that defies categorization: from a jazzy, warm pop register she glides easily into a crystalline coloratura. It is no wonder she has been called "The Stradivarius Voice." Her appearances with America's most prestigious symphony orchestras are highlighted by duets with orchestra members in which her voice matches the tonal quality and dexterity of various instruments. She has earned a reputation for being one of America's most popular artists.
Ms. McGovern's recording career began with the #1 chart-topping, Academy Award winning Gold Record, "The Morning After," from "The Poseidon Adventure," a Grammy nomination for "Best New Artist," followed by another Oscar winning Gold Record, "We May Never Love Like This Again" from "The Towering Inferno." Maureen made history in 1975 as the first singer to have recorded and introduced two Oscar nominated songs in the same year, "We May Never Love Like This Again" and "Wherever Love Takes Me" from "Gold." She has received International Gold Records from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the Philippines and has also won the Grand Prize award at the Tokyo Music Festival. She has personally received two Grammy nominations in addition to participating in four other recordings that received Grammy nominations. Other hit records include "Can You Read My Mind," John Williams and Leslie Bricusse's love theme from the motion picture "Superman" and "Different Worlds," the theme from the ABC television series "Angie."
Ms. McGovern most recently performed as 'Countess Aurelia' in an historic revival of the 1969 Jerry Herman musical "Dear World" (an adaptation of "The Madwoman of Chaillot") at The Sundance Institute Theatre. Last season, she originated the role of 'Eleanor Bridges' in the World Premiere of Paris Barclay's musical "Letters From 'Nam" at the North Shore Music Theatre in Boston. Other recent performances include her dramatic debut role as 'Eleanor of Acquitaine' in "The Lion in Winter" at the Carpenter Square Theater in Oklahoma, 'Madame Emery' in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" at the Sundance Theatre, and as 'Mary Turner' in George Gershwin's, "Of Thee I Sing" in the prestigious 'Reprise' series at the Freud Playhouse in Los Angeles. Critics and audiences alike were delighted with her definitive portrayal of 'Anna' in the National Tour of "The King and I." Maureen was featured on Disney Records' Winnie the Pooh Celebration "Take My Hand: Songs from the 100 Acre Wood" which was Certified Gold in Spring, 1998. In 1999, she was Grammy nominated for "The Pleasure of His Company," a piano/voice CD with jazz pianist, Mike Renzi, on Sterling Records. "The Bengal Tiger's Ball," her children's musical (in which she wrote the music, co-created and also starred) had its East Coast premiere in 1999. She is currently heard as the voice of 'Rachel' in the DreamWorks animated video/DVD "Joseph: King of Dreams" and her current CD release "With a Song in My Heart: The Great Songs of Richard Rodgers" with Skitch Henderson and The New York Pops celebrates Richard Rodgers Centennial.
Ms. McGovern's current CD, "Works of Heart," songs of hope featuring "The Morning After" will be released in May. Maureen has founded THE McGOVERN "WORKS OF HEART" PROJECT FOR MUSIC AND HEALING to address emotional and inspirational needs of patients and care givers. This first-in-a-series CD is her gift of hope to those individuals who face insurmountable odds with grace and courage.
*10:03 – Fireworks
*10:03 signifies the date that Worthington’s founders arrived: October 1803 or 10/03
Friday, July 4th Entertainment Line-up
