St. Cecilia Music Center Expands ArtPrize programming with New Critics’ Choice Music Awards & A Benefit Concert

During ArtPrize 2015, St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) will once again serve as the music hub, exhibiting 78 musical entries at 20 listening stations during the three weeks of ArtPrize. In addition to hosting the musical entries of ArtPrize, SCMC will award $10,000 in music prizes in five different genre categories. St Cecilia Music Center will also coordinate over 200 busking performances throughout the city and will present an ArtPrize Onstage performance on October 4 that will serve as a benefit concert for SCMC to help support music in ArtPrize.
New in 2015 is the addition of a benefit concert for St. Cecilia Music Center that will support the venue as the ArtPrize music hub. The benefit concert on Sunday, October 4th will welcome Michigan-based singer/songwriter Joshua Davis in a solo performance. Joshua Davis was most recently featured on the popular NBC Entertainment hit “The Voice” where he placed 3rd in the competition and performed and competed throughout the entire viewing season. Opening acts for the benefit concert will include local folk rock veterans Troll for Trout and bluegrass favorites Fauxgrass Quartet. The concert will begin at 6pm with a cash bar from 5:30-8:00 during the opening acts. Headliner Joshua Davis will take the stage at 8pm. A post-concert meet-the-artist reception will be open to all ticket holders. Reserved tickets are $30 for an A section seat and $25 for a B section seat. Tickets are available at www.scmc-online.org, by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE in Downtown Grand Rapids.

For the past four years SCMC has independently organized awards for musical entries into ArtPrize. This year the $2,000 award in five genre categories will be split between the public vote winner ($1,000) and a Critic’s Choice winner ($1,000.) Music Critics who will vote on their top choices per music genre are known music reviewers and scholars from the Greater Grand Rapids community. In addition, all winners will receive recording time at Mackinaw Harvest Music Studios.