News & Events

Centre College Performs Bluegrass Music at Carmel Community Playhouse

(Carmel, IN) 04/05/2011 - The Centre College “Kentucky Ensemble,” featuring Carmel High School Alumnus, Cadey Phipps, on lead vocals, will perform a concert at the Carmel Community Playhouse, 14299 Clay Terrace Blvd, Suite 140, in Carmel 8 pm April 16. The “Kentucky Ensemble” consists of a six Centre College students and two faculty members, who sing and play traditional Bluegrass music using nearly a dozen instruments, including guitars, banjos, fiddles, mandolin, upright bass, dobro, Irish flute and whistles.

Music professor Dr. Nathan Link, who also performs with the group, formed the “Kentucky Ensemble” in 2007 after teaching a course on the folk music of Kentucky that was extremely popular with students and faculty alike.

“It (Kentucky Ensemble) is without question one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of my teaching at Centre,” Link said.

Along with former Carmel Ambassador show choir stand out Phipps, who is attending Centre College on a vocal performance scholarship, the touring edition of the “Kentucky Ensemble” includes Alex Ruffner, (Chatanooga, TN), Corwyn Wyatt (Fort Thomas, KY), Rachel Ison (Greenup, KY), Jimmy Kalb (Louisville, KY), and Ty Carter (Richmond, KY). They are joined by music faculty members Dan Worley and director Dr. Nathan Link.

“We’ve heard so many people from our audiences tell us they love our music and that we should take our show on the road, so we decided it was time to start doing just that,” Link said of his decision to bring a portion of Kentucky Ensemble to Carmel. “Over the past few years our group became so popular around campus and the local community that it grew to more than 30 performers. This
year we decided to showcase some of our best talent and create a smaller group that would be more manageable for touring. “

The “Kentucky Ensemble” will be second in a planned series of world music concerts at the Carmel Community Playhouse, according to marketing director, Chris Barnthouse.

“It is our goal for the Playhouse to provide a wide variety of top tier, affordable live entertainment to the Carmel Community," Barnthouse said. “As part of that, we are holding a World Music Series, featuring music from a wide variety of countries and cultures.

“This concert will fit right in as a lot of the songs come from the Appalachian region,” he continued, “where many English, Irish, and Scottish immigrants settled, bringing with them the musical traditions of their homelands."

“We’re from the heart of Bluegrass country,” Link explained, “so naturally we play some genuine Bluegrass but we mix it up with some ballads, old-time music, and alternative country. We have a lot of fun performing and it gets contagious with the audience.

“I’m delighted and grateful for the opportunity to bring my students, of whom I’m extremely proud, to Carmel to share our music with the community there,” Link concluded.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased at the door, online at www.carmelplayers.org, or by calling 317-815-9378.