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Music commemorates challenging times

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Preservation Hall Jazz Band to play in 7 Iowa cities for Living With Floods event

Written by Steve Parrott and published by IowaNOW.

Preservation Hall

The Living with Floods project will culminate June 7-16 with free public concerts by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans.

It just makes sense that the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (PHJB) would be booked to provide the music for Living With Floods, a statewide project to commemorate historic floods in 2008 and 2011.

The University of Iowa-led effort culminates this June with free concerts in seven cities that were affected by the floods. The concerts, set for June 7-16, are the brainchild of the UI’s Hancher with help from six additional UI organizations.

After weathering Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans-based PHJB knows well the heartaches endured as well as the determination required to rebuild flood-ravaged communities.

The band’s return also completes circle of history for Hancher, whose original auditorium was damaged beyond repair in the flood of 2008. PHJB was the first to perform when that building opened in 1971. Now more than 40 years later, it returns as the university prepares the foundation for a new Hancher.

All of that explains why Hancher executive director Chuck Swanson says that PHJB is “the perfect capstone” for Living With Floods. “They are really into this,” he says. “They want to do the best job that they can.”

The connections do not surprise Ben Jaffe, PHJB’s creative director and son of the PHJB’s co-founders, Allan and Sandra Jaffe, but he acknowledges their significance.

“For some reason, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band seems to be at the center of an inordinate amount amazing, unpredictable situations,” he notes. “This is another one. Here we are 43 years later, coming back again. And to come back with this theme of water and rivers, considering what New Orleans has been through.”

New Orleans and the Iowa communities that suffered through serious flooding face not only the challenges of physically rebuilding, but also of emotionally rebuilding, Jaffe says. “Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that at the core of all this are humans and a community that need to be protected while all this rebuilding takes place.”

Music can help on both levels. “In New Orleans, music was back before we had electricity and water,” Jaffe recalls. “Some people don’t understand that, but music is a spiritual, religious experience for us. We use music and food to bring people together to get through challenging times.

“Music allows us to celebrate and rejoice,” he adds.

Swanson agrees. “We’ve come a long way since the floods and that’s worth taking time to celebrate our successes and encourage each other for the tasks that lie ahead.”

Here’s the schedule for concerts:

• Des Moines, Friday, June 7, 7:30 p.m. The Venue

• Council Bluffs, Sunday, June 8, 5:30 p.m. River’s Edge Park

• Muscatine, Tuesday, June 11, 7 p.m. Riverfront Park

• Cedar Rapids, Thursday, June 13, 7 p.m. Brucemore Greenhouse Lawn

• Davenport, Friday, June 14, 6:30 p.m. LeClaire Park Bandshell

• Iowa City, Saturday, June 15, 4 p.m. UI Pentacrest

• Dubuque, Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m. McGraw-Hill Parking Lot

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to attend any of these concerts, contact Hancher in advance at 319-335-1140 or 1-800-HANCHER.

Contacts

Chuck Swanson, Hancher, 319-335-1133
Steve Parrott, UI Communication & Marketing, 319-384-0037

iExploreSTEM Festival Comes to Muscatine

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April 25, 2013

Iowa’s K-12 students are invited to experience firsthand how much fun science and math can be at the iExploreSTEM Festival planned from 1–5 p.m. on May 4 at the Lucille A. Carver Mississippi Environmental Research Station (LACMRERS) on the banks of the Mississippi River near Muscatine.

The Iowa Flood Center will have a NWS floodplain model at the iExploreSTEM Festival in Muscatine.

Kids explore the impact of land use changes on flooding at a recent STEM festival in Des Moines.

A variety of hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities are planned for kids at the festival, including an interactive flood model from the Iowa Flood Center and the National Weather Service, an opportunity to build a robot with the Iowa State Extension Office of Muscatine County, and a chance to learn about the human body with plastinated human body specimens provided by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Among the day’s speakers will be Stanley Consultants President and CEO Gayle Roberts, who will speak at 1 p.m., and University of Iowa College of Engineering Dean Alec Scranton, who will speak at 3:45 p.m. The entire event is free and open to the public.

Diane Campbell, director of Innovation and Instruction in the Muscatine School District, says the festival will feature a diverse set of activities for young people. “We’re very excited about the activities and demonstrations we have planned,” Campbell says. “We’ve got everything from flubber (a chemistry activity) to robots. It should be fun for students, as well as educational.”

LACMRERS is part of the University of Iowa’s IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering, and provides a beautiful setting for people to study, collaborate, and learn about the river. Learn more about LACMRERS at www.iihr.uiowa.edu/lacmrers (a map is also available).

LwFVertThe iExploreSTEM festival at LACMRERS is part of Living with Floods, a statewide series of events that marks the fifth anniversary of the historic Iowa floods of 2008, and recognizes and celebrates the strength and resiliency of Iowans in the face of repeated flood events. The culmination of Living with Floods will be a free public performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on June 11 at Riverside Park in Muscatine.

Several UI departments and units are collaborating on Living with Floods; these include the Iowa Flood Center, Hancher, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, the UI colleges of education and engineering, the Department of Health and Human Physiology, and the State Hygienic Laboratory. These UI partners are engaging with seven communities across the state, including Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Muscatine. Throughout the spring of 2013, Living with Floods is sponsoring community forums; STEM learning events for K-12 students; and free community concerts in the partner communities. Sponsors of the LACMRERS iExploreSTEM Festival also include: Kent Corporation/GPC, Muscatine Community College, Monsanto, HNI, Carver Pump, Central State Bank, Stanley Consultants, Sycamore Printing, Iowa’s Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, Hy-Vee, and the Muscatine Community School District.

To learn more about the festival at LACMRERS, visit: http://iexplorestem.org/muscatine. For information on Living with Floods and how you can participate, visit www.iihr.uiowa.edu/livingwithfloods.

Contacts:

Sara Steussy, 319-384-1729 (sara-steussy@uiowa.edu)

Jackie Hartling Stolze, 319-335-6410 (jackie-stolze@uiowa.edu)

 

Forum to Explore Flooding in Davenport

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Flooding in Davenport

Photo courtesy of the City of Davenport.

The people of Iowa — and especially the citizens of Davenport — understand the necessity of living with floods. A series of statewide events called “Living with Floods” will recognize the resiliency of Iowans in the face of flooding; the series includes a free, public community forum at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at Modern Woodmen Park, 209 S. Gaines St., Davenport, Iowa.

Living with Floods is planned to mark the fifth anniversary of the historic Iowa floods of 2008, as well as to recognize and celebrate the strength and resiliency of Iowans in the face of repeated flood events.

The March 21 Davenport community forum will offer residents an opportunity to discuss flood-related issues, examine better ways to cope with future floods, and learn more about flood mitigation strategies. Nathan Young, associate director of the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa, will be a featured speaker. Local speakers will include representatives from the City of Davenport, who will discuss local efforts to minimize the impacts of future flooding through floodplain and watershed management, as well as the community’s vision for the Davenport riverfront.

“Community forums like these allow us to share some of the work at the university designed to help Iowans cope with flooding, and that definitely has value,” Young says. “But it’s also an opportunity for us all to hear directly from Iowans about local efforts and issues. For me, that’s the really exciting aspect.”

Living with Floods is a statewide project that started at the University of Iowa. Several UI departments and units are collaborating on the project; these include the Iowa Flood Center, Hancher, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, the UI Colleges of Education and Engineering, the Department of Health and Human Physiology, and the State Hygienic Laboratory. These UI partners are engaging with seven communities across the state, including Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Muscatine. Last fall, Living with Floods sponsored an Interdisciplinary Flood Workshop for Teachers, which brought together teachers from areas affected by recent flood events to learn how to incorporate environmental learning into their classrooms. Throughout the spring of 2013, Living with Floods is sponsoring community forums; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning events for K-12 students; and free community concerts in the partner communities.

In June, Living with Floods will culminate with free outdoor concerts by New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band in each of the communities, including a concert in Davenport on Friday, June 14. As residents of New Orleans, flooding has a special significance for these musicians.

More Living with Floods community forums are planned across the state:

  • Muscatine — May 29
  • Des Moines — June 4
  • Iowa City — June 6

To learn more about Living with Floods and how you can participate, visit www.iihr.uiowa.edu/livingwithfloods.

MEDIA CONTACT
Sara Steussy, Iowa Flood Center, 319-384-1729, sara-steussy@uiowa.edu

Robbin Dunn, Davenport Public Works, 563-327-5159, rrd@ci.davenport.ia.us

 

Living with Floods

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Preservation Hall Jazz Band

As anyone in New Orleans would argue, a party just isn’t a party without the perfect band. That’s why Hancher is bringing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band—Hancher’s opening performers in 1972—back to Iowa for a series of seven free outdoor concerts for a 40th anniversary celebration.

Named the Living with Floods project, the Hancher series is in keeping with the University of Iowa’s mission of teaching, research, and service and aims to provide services to communities throughout the state. The project will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 2008 flood, celebrate progress made towards recovery, and raise awareness of strategies to mitigate floods as well as of the interconnectedness of our environment and watershed.

Hancher will present free, outdoor performances by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the seven Living with Floods communities: Iowa City, Dubuque, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Muscatine.

                        

                  

Living with Floods partners include the University of Iowa College of Engineering, College of Education, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and the Iowa Flood Center.

Named for the esteemed music venue in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a true national treasure. Hailed as “America’s Best Traditional Jazz Band” by All About Jazz, the group has been a driving force in American music ever since its inception in 1961, counting jazz royalty like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong among its distinguished alumni. Now in its 51st year, this national treasure continues to honor the dirty rags, mournful blues, and laid back swing that form jazz’s legacy.