On Saturday May 6 at 7:30 pm, the Marion Art Center will feature the Dixie Diehards Jazz Band in a Dixie Diehards Go to War concert. The event will mark the 10th anniversary of the talented group performing at the Marion Art Center. In honor of the centennial of the United States’ entry into World War I, the Diehards will perform music from the era leading up to and just after the conflict. Not only was it a politically tumultuous time, but music was also undergoing a revolution. Ragtime (then the current rage) was giving way to jazz. A new sensation, the Original Dixieland Jass Band, recorded their first disk in 1917. Young men who marched off to war came home to strut their stuff to hot new music!
The Dixie Diehards will first take you back to the ragtime era, and then move through the war years, when music was helping to sell an unpopular war to a skeptical public. Included in this program are World War I patriotic numbers, marches that morphed into Dixieland jazz, and a selection of early jazz dance tunes that formed the basis for the ‘Roaring Twenties’ era. This concert will feature a number of well-known New Orleans style jazz tunes for audience singalongs and handclapping fun.
As always, this concert is expected to sell out quickly. As a benefit of membership, current members of the Marion Art Center will have an early opportunity to purchase tickets during a presale event that will run from Tuesday, April 11 through Friday, April 14. On Saturday, April 15, tickets will become available to the general public. Though reservations and holds cannot be accommodated, tickets may be purchased either in person at the MAC or by calling the MAC at 508-748-1266 during regular gallery hours (Tuesday – Friday from 1:00 to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm). Cabaret tables will be available for parties of 4 on a first come, first served basis, and general seating will also be available for this performance. Tickets cost $15 for MAC members and $18 for non-members.