Join us for an evening of music at Meadow Brook.
At our summer concert series, guests will enjoy live performances by some of metro Detroit’s most talented musicians. Come early to explore the grounds and bring your own picnic dinner to enjoy in the climate-controlled garden tent. Outside food is allowed, but all beverages must be purchased at the cash bar. Snacks will be available, as well.
Event Details
June 27 | Kimmie Horne
July 11 | Mobile Dueling Pianos
July 24 | Dave Bennett
August 8 | Ben Sharkey
7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
$40 per person| $36 Meadow Brook members
About the Artists
Kimmie Horne is a consummate entertainer. In fact, this native Detroiter is considered by many to be one of the most outstanding performers and recording artists to emerge from our area in years. Her beautiful alto voice, coupled with her unmatched ability to perform and entertain, puts her in a category of her own.
Kimmie is the grand niece of the legendary movie star and songstress Lena Horne and niece of Cleveland Horne, of Motown’s Fantastic Four fame. And having been a featured performer at the prestigious Bellagio Casino and Resort and engaged at the luxurious Venetian Casino and Resort, Kimmie became highly sought after. Internationally, she is a frequent visitor to Japan – entertaining multitudes of adoring fans in Kyoto, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka and Nagoya – and she has performed in Toronto, Montreal, and Puerto Rico.
Come and experience the phenomenon that is dueling pianos. A dueling piano show is a live, all-request interactive experience, with a heavy emphasis on audience participation. The performers of Mobile Dueling Pianos are prepared to play all your favorite tunes, from The Beatles and Elvis to Snoop Dogg and Miley Cyrus and everything in between.
The dueling piano show format originated in New Orleans in the early 1900s. The oldest dueling piano bar, Pat O’Brien’s, is still in operation today. Circa 1987, the style developed into the “rock and roll” style of show we’re familiar with today, featuring additional instruments or comedic monologue. And today there are dueling piano bars in just about every major city in America.
Frank McGlynn, owner of Mobile Dueling Pianos, has been involved in the dueling piano bar circuit since the mid-2000s, leading him to start his own company in 2014. He’s traveled abroad with cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines, even spending two years as principal entertainer for Crazy Pianos, a dueling piano company out of the Netherlands. While standard dueling piano shows take place in one location (commonly called dueling piano bars), Mobile Dueling Pianos bring the fun to you – performing at both corporate and civic events, fairs, festivals and weddings around the country.
Dave Bennett is a clarinet virtuoso who plays electric guitar, piano, drums and vocalizes. Saluting everything from swing to rock, he’s covered music as a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops (2013) and has played with 35 other U.S. and Canadian orchestras. An annual fixture at several American music festivals, Dave’s “Rockin the ‘50s” show pays tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis (piano and vocals), plus Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley (electric guitar and vocals). His original compositions are influenced by the style of Roy Orbison, the “soul of rock and roll.” Some of his annual “roots music” presenters include The Elkhart Jazz Festival, The Suncoast Classic Jazz Festival, The Arizona Classic Jazz Festival, The Southeast Clambake Music Festival and The Redwood Coast Music Festival.
Perfectly fusing vintage old school cool and contemporary jazz, soul and pop energy and swagger, Ben Sharkey has enjoyed an extraordinary dual career over the past 10 years. Since the charismatic vocalist posted his first raw home videos of himself singing Michael Bubleé and Frank Sinatra classics to YouTube in 2007, he has amassed more than five million views worldwide for his 70+ clips – including the professionally shot, James Bond-themed original “What You’ve Given.”
The Michigan native has also become one of the Motor City’s premiere live entertainers, with hundreds of performances at big house venues, such as the Fillmore, Royal Oak Music Theater and Comerica Park, also playing at jazz hotspots, like Cliff Bell’s and a five-year and counting residency at the Axis Lounge at the MGM Grand Detroit.
