Celebrate Steinway’s 160th Anniversary at Schmitt Music Edina, June 21 through June 30, featuring 20 Steinway and Boston pianos used at the 2013 MMTA Honors Concert in Minneapolis, and more great pianos!

Click here for event details!

Join us at Schmitt Music Minnetonka for the Basic Guitar & Bass Maintenance class! If you’re just getting started on guitar or bass, this is the class for you – we’ll cover all the basics you need to know! Instead of figuring it out on your own, come learn from us at this FREE workshop.

Saturday, June 22 at 1:00 PM

Can’t make it June 22nd? We’re hosting the workshop every 4th Saturday this summer: July 27th and August 24th at 1 PM.

At this informative class we’ll teach you the basics of how to get your guitar playing properly, how to properly change the strings, and what you need to do to keep your guitar playing at its best.

Plus, get special EVENT-ONLY DEALS and discounts for attendees!

Topics will include:

• Restringing a guitar and bass
• Basic maintenance and conditioning
• Tuning
• Basic playing tips-method selection Tabs versus Notation
• Basic Overview of Guitar
• Proper Restringing Tips
• Maintaining Electric and Acoustic Guitars and Basses

Please RSVP: call 952-546-0555 or click here to RSVP online.

New Small-Stars sessions added! Click here to learn more and sign up!

• Tuesdays, July 9 – 30 — Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center
• Wednesdays, July 10 – 31 — Schmitt Music Burnsville

Congrats to Judith Z. of Roseville!

Judith won 2 tickets to see Ramsey Lewis & Dee Dee Bridgewater live in concert at The Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis! She’ll get to choose from either the June 19th or 20th show at 9:00 PM. Thank you to everyone who entered the ticket giveaway contest at Twin Cities Schmitt Music stores.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Learn more about Ramsey Lewis and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and watch videos below!

Ramsey Lewis recently released his 80th collection of songs entitled “Ramsey, Taking Another Look” in fall of 2011. Ramsey has been an iconic leader in the contemporary jazz movement for over 50 years, with an unforgettable sound and outgoing personality that has allowed him to cross over to the pop and R&B charts.

The Ramsey Lewis Trio, with bassist Eldee Young and percussionist Redd Holt, became a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene, releasing their debut album, Ramsey Lewis & His Gentlemen of Jazz, back in 1956. Lewis earned his first gold record, as well as a Grammy award for Best Jazz Performance, for their swinging version of Dobie Gray’s hit “The In Crowd.” He returned to the pop charts in 1966 with versions of “Hang On Sloopy” and “Wade In The Water.” Throughout the years, Lewis’ trio has undergone membership changes, all the while staying true to Lewis’ high musical standards.

Famous for his passion for Steinway pianos, this is the first time Lewis has played the Fender Rhodes electric piano in over a decade. Lewis observed, “I was pleasantly brought back to what I loved about the instrument. Unlike an acoustic piano, you get that groove-oriented electric sound. And, you can add vibrato, enhance bass and treble. As a musician, it allows me to take on different and exciting roles. I feel almost like a horn player or even a singer because of the Fender Rhodes’ unique qualities and capabilities.

Learn more about Ramsey on his website: www.ramseylewis.com

Watch Ramsey Lewis and his Electric Band perform “Living for the City”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dee Dee Bridgewater is a three-time Grammy Award-winning American jazz singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio’s syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

One of the best jazz singers of her generation, Dee Dee Bridgewater (who was married to trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater in the early ’70s) had to move to France to find herself. She performed in Michigan during the ’60s and toured the Soviet Union in 1969 with the University of Illinois Big Band. She sang with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra (1972-1974) and appeared in the Broadway musical The Wiz (1974-1976). Due to erratic records and a lack of direction, Bridgewater was largely overlooked in the jazz world by the time she moved to France in the ’80s.

She appeared in the show Lady Day and at European jazz festivals, and eventually formed her own backup group. By the late ’80s, Bridgewater’s Verve recordings were starting to alert American listeners as to her singing talents. Her 1995 Horace Silver tribute disc (Love and Peace) is a gem, and resulted in the singer extensively touring the U.S, reintroducing her to American audiences. She would find even more success with her tribute album, Dear Ella, which won a Grammy in 1997. This Is New, released in 2002, featured Bridgewater singing Kurt Weill songs, while 2005’s J’ai Deux Amours found her tackling French classics. For 2010’s Eleanora Fagan (1917-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee, Bridgewater moved from Verve to Decca/Emarcy, and offered her versions of several songs associated with Billie Holiday.

She followed this in August 2011 with her sophomore effort for the label; a compilation collection of jazz standards entitled Midnight Sun, with tunes fom previously albums ranging from “Angel Eyes” to Horace Silver’s “Lonely Woman,” and included one cut, “L’Hymne a la Amour (J’ai Deux Amours),” which was released previously only in Japan. She is a United Nations Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Visit Dee Dee’s website here: www.deedeebridgewater.com

Watch Dee Dee perform “Don’t Explain” at the 2009 Victoria Jazz Festival:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Join us for a free piano concert by Kara Huber at Schmitt Music Denver. She will be playing works by Liszt, Beethoven, and Tower.

Sunday, June 30th at 6pm – FREE!

Please RSVP: call 303-777-1900 or click here to RSVP online.

American pianist Kara Huber has been acclaimed for her “mature vision” by the Washington Post. The Classical Voice of North Carolina wrote that she plays “technically difficult solo passages with uncanny accuracy.”

Ms. Huber has made numerous solo appearances at the Kennedy Center, in the Eastern Illinois University Guest Artist Series and the Rising Stars Piano Series in Southampton, NY. Ms. Huber has received numerous prizes and awards for her performances, including the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, The Stetcher and Horowitz Foundation’s New York Piano Competition, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Kara has attended summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, and Pianofest in the Hamptons. She recently finished a creative music residency at the Banff Centre in Canada.

First picking up melodies by ear at an early age, Ms. Huber began private lessons at the age of five. At sixteen, she was admitted to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where she also made her orchestral debut with the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra. Teachers include John Perry, Awadagin Pratt, Frank Weintstock, Michael Coonrod, Yoshi Nagai, Paul Schenly, and Jerome Lowenthal. Ms. Huber has received degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is currently earning an Artist Diploma degree at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Learn more online at www.karahuber.com.

SALE EXTENDED at Schmitt Music Omaha!
NOW through Sunday, June 9

When you’re shopping for a piano, you need to explore all of your options. Let us help you find the perfect piano!

Join us at Schmitt Music Omaha for a piano event that’s better than any college piano sale! We’ve negotiated an exclusive deal with our manufacturers, and that means the BEST PRICES on all of our acoustic and digital pianos!

You’ll get up to 40% OFF MSRP on any new grand, upright, or digital piano in stock – Now through Sunday, June 9th!

We’re Omaha’s exclusive home of Steinway & Sons, Boston, Essex, Kawai, Lyrica, Roland and more. You’ll find better pricing, better quality and better service at Schmitt Music!

Contact one of our knowledgeable Schmitt Music Piano Specialists to set up a personal showing, or visit our piano gallery today and see for yourself why Schmitt Music can offer your something that’s “Better Than Any College Piano Sale!”

Call 402-391-5588 or send an email to omkb@schmittmusic.com.

“Same as cash” programs and other financing options are available, and we accept major credit cards. Ask us for details about our 0% Interest, 6 Month Financing!

Join us at Schmitt Music Kansas City for a free concert by Jeremy Boyer, organist for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Blues, and more!

Friday, June 7th from 12:30pm – 3:30pm

• Hot Dogs, Soda, and Cracker Jacks
• Autographed song sheets of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
• Free Concert by Jeremy!

Join us for a memorable afternoon – everyone is welcome!

Please RSVP: call 913-663-4756 or click here to RSVP online.

New Small-Stars sessions added! Click here to learn more and sign up!

• Tuesdays, June 4 – 25 — Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center
• Thursdays, June 6 – 27 — Schmitt Music Burnsville

Schmitt Music is proud to sponsor the 2013
DCI Minnesota Show in Minneapolis!

The Drum Corps International Tour will march through Minneapolis on Saturday, July 13 at 2:00 PM at TCF Bank Stadium. Get your tickets from Schmitt Music for $20, which includes a director reception during the dinner break at TCF Stadium with an upgraded viewing in our skybox!

We will also be hosting a Welcome BBQ on Friday, July 12 from 6 PM – 8 PM at Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center. Even if you’re not attending the DCI show, please join us for the BBQ!

Get a special hotel rate of $73 per night at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North – right next door to Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center. Rooms are limited, so call to make your reservations today!

Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North: 763-566-8000
2200 Freeway Boulevard, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

Please RSVP for the DCI show and/or the BBQ by Tuesday, June 25th. Contact Schmitt Music Educational Rep, Leanne Kardock – please send an email to Leanne.Kardock@schmittmusic.com if you plan to attend either event.

CLICK HERE to learn more about DCI Minnesota on their website!

The String Shop is proud to sponsor Patrick Clark in concert with the Osseo High School Orchestra on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:30 PM. Patrick is an accomplished violinist, fiddler, educator and clinician for Eastman Music Company.

Osseo Senior High School, 317 2nd Ave. NW, Osseo, MN 55369 – click for map!

Attend the event and *GET 15% OFF on string print music and accessories when you bring in a program from the orchestra concert! Offer good only at The String Shop at Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center – sale ends June 10, 2013.

Patrick has performed and/or toured with artists including Darius Rucker, Josh Gracin, Big and Rich, Sara Evans, Mark Chesnutt, Mark Wills, Shannon Brown, Roy Clark, Pam Tillis, Crystal Gayle, Brenda Lee, James Otto, Lee Brice, Chuck Wicks, Collin Raye and more!

Read more about Patrick – visit his Facebook page or click here to read his bio.

Please contact Jerry Babcock, Manager, Schmitt Music Brooklyn Center, for more information: call 763-566-4560 or email stringshop@schmittmusic.com — SEE YOU AT THE STRING SHOP!

Click here to visit The String Shop online – schmittmusic.com/stringshop.