Choir students at United Township High School in East Moline have orchestrated creative ways to make beautiful music together, despite the dissonant challenges of Covid-19. A few weeks after an unusual, invitation-only concert in the new commons area at the school March 4, four select UT female choir members took part in a unique statewide virtual choir with the Bradley University (Peoria) Honor Choir. As did about 40 other Illinois high schoolers (including eight from Orion), they individually recorded a video in late March of them singing their part to “Afternoon on a Hill” by Eric Barnum,... Read More

You can see all the Best Picture Oscar nominees – and some of the films nominated for Best Shorts – this week at the Davenport Cinemark multiplex (3601 E. 53rd St.), for a discounted price. The nationwide movie-theater chain is offering its annual Oscar Movie Week in partnership with Focus Features. Tickets are now on sale now at Cinemark.com or on the Cinemark app. Face masks are required in all theaters. “Cinemark is thrilled to be giving the big screen treatment to the past year’s best films and to bring back one of our most popular programs of the year with our annual Oscar Movie... Read More

Renew Moline invites the public to a virtual presentation Wednesday, April 21, by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services Panel to discuss downtown Moline and the future redevelopment in the I-74 area. Renew Moline, along with the City of Moline, The Deere Foundation, and MetroLINK contributed to fund technical assistance by ULI to develop a strategy surrounding the future I-74 redevelopment area. The panel is comprised of development experts in a variety of disciplines, including retail market assessment, housing development, finance, economic/community development and urban design. The... Read More

Tim Heyvaert, of Erie, Ill., was just 57 when he died Feb. 21, 2016, after a long battle with various medical conditions. His son Wyatt – as he’s done in past years – will lead his band in a memorial tribute, this year in a new venue. The Q-C country band Dirt Road Rockers will perform Saturday, April 24 at 9:30 p.m., with other musicians invited to join, at Harley Corin’s, 1708 State St., Bettendorf. In 2017-18, the memorial event was at KJ’s Bar and Grill in Morrison, Ill., and after outgrowing that, moved in 2019 to Kingpin’s Saloon in Fulton (which attracted 400 people) and couldn’t... Read More

In conjunction with the new Ken Burns PBS documentary on author Ernest Hemingway, WQPT will hold a special 30-minute virtual screening and discussion with Mary V. Dearborn, a Hemingway biographer featured in the film, on April 27. The free virtual event will take place that Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and attendees will have the opportunity to ask Dearborn their Hemingway-related questions. Participants will also have the chance win copies of Dearborn’s 2017 Hemingway biography, a Google Home smart speaker, and other great prizes. “Hemingway has this public image of being this extraordinarily masculine,... Read More

One month after Quad-Cities environmentalist Chad Pregracke announced his ambitious Bison Bridge plans, the creative concept has earned over 27,000 supporters online, an endorsement from The Chicago Tribune editorial board, and a strong social-media shoutout from TV’s Mike Rowe. “This is VERY cool. My old friend Chad Pregracke – whom many of you will remember as the self-appointed garbageman of America’s rivers – is on a mission to create a brand new National Park on the Mississippi River,” Rowe (well-known for cable’s “Dirty Jobs”) posted on Facebook late last month... Read More

Taking a page from the college sports signing days, there will be a signing day Monday celebrating Quad-Cities academic and career excellence. The invitation-only event is the Quad-Cities-Wide High School Apprenticeship Day, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 19, at the Waterfront Convention Center, 2021 State St., Bettendorf. Q-C schools and the companies that will host their apprentices will celebrate the efforts of their 50-plus 2021 apprentices, all energetic young people, excited about their futures. The apprentices are from schools all over the Q-C, including Davenport, Rock Island, Moline, North... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Quad-Cities artists and audiences alike are hungry to return to live, indoor, in-person shows, and the Adler Theatre Foundation is filling the need – a varied series of six performances over six weeks, starting May 8. Rick Palmer, executive of the Adler and RiverCenter, said Thursday that they not only wanted to bring in national touring artists, but give local performers... Read More

On Thursday, Matt Manweiler had a “come to Jesus” moment. Just not the kind you may think. The kind, bright and artistically adventurous orchestra director for the Rock Island-Milan School District, Manweiler has accepted a new position of education programs coordinator with Jesus Florido and his company Latinfiddler Music. On Facebook Thursday, Manweiler posted: “Jesus is a world-renowned Latin violinist who is a caring educator at heart. I will be working with Jesus on arrangements for his orchestral and educational residences, in helping build his pedagogy, and in coaching classically-trained... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island, is seeking online submissions to fill open roles for their long-awaited summer production of “Saturday Night Fever.” The highly anticipated musical was in dress rehearsals when the theater at 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island, had to shut down March 16, 2020, because of Covid-19. The musical has been rescheduled for summer 2021. Production dates, including rehearsal, for the stage adaptation of the hit 1977 John Travolta movie musical, are July 1 – Sept. 11, 2021. The directorial team for this musical featuring the hits of the Bee Gees are director/choreographer... Read More