Dexter Community Orchestra Concert Sunday, March 3, 4 pm, Dexter High School

If you grew up grooving to the jazzy rhythms of Dave Brubeck – or if you just enjoy catchy, tuneful music of any kind – don’t miss the Dexter Community Orchestra’s late-winter concert, “Madcat and the DCO,” featuring popular blues harmonicist Peter “Madcat” Ruth. The concert will take place Sunday, March 3 at 4 p.m. in Dexter High School’s Center for the Performing Arts.

Madcat will perform “Blues Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra” by Chris Brubeck (Dave’s son), as well as some other jazz favorites. Also featured will be pianist Shuya Zheng, winner of this year’s DCO’s Youth Artist Competition, who will perform the opening movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.”

Madcat grew up in Chicago, where he took harmonica lessons from famed bluesman Big Walter Horton. There he met Chris Brubeck, and eventually joined Darius Brubeck’s jazz group, playing alongside such legends as Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, and Dave Brubeck himself (including at the Newport Jazz Festival). For the past 45 years, Madcat has lived in the Ann Arbor area, while performing internationally on the folk, blues, and jazz circuits.

Music Director David Schultz has assembled what is sure to be a crowd-pleasing concert for music lovers of all ages and tastes. The program includes Leonard Bernstein’s lively overture to the Broadway musical “Candide,” and “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America” by African-American composer Florence Price.

This is a family-friendly concert, so bring the kids and grandparents! Like all DCO concerts, this event is free to the public, no ticket required. Donations to help defer the orchestra’s expenses are greatly appreciated.