Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) will welcome The Moxie Strings on Saturday, March 18. This dynamic duo is celebrating their newest album “Live & Plugged In”- which debuted #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart.
 
Hailed by The Grand Rapids Press as “top-notch, instrumental wizardry,” The Moxie Strings offer listeners the unique opportunity to experience some of the world’s best- known instruments through an electric, innovative lens. Diana Ladio and Alison Lynn hold Bachelor of Music degrees in music performance and music education, which have given each the technical foundation to explore the limits of her instrument and helped the group build a reputation for musical excellence. Alison performs on a newly invented, electric cello, and Diana on a contemporary 5-string violin. Both use a variety of audio effects pedals. The Moxie Strings compose most of their pieces and arrange melodies from many countries, resulting in a genre-blurring blend of ear-catching, mainstream melodies and foot-stomping, rock-influenced rhythms. The band’s polished, high-energy show continues to redefine strings’ role in contemporary music, and offers audience members a diverse, fun, musical experience.
 
Soon after forming in 2007, The Moxie Strings were inspired not only to perform, but also to teach. Having made the exploratory journey from classical music to a world of eclecticism and music creativity, the band has now dedicated their careers to helping young musicians make this life-changing and transformative transition. Moxie clinics focus on musical self-discovery and the importance of incorporating socially and culturally relevant genres of music in the music classroom. They have taught clinics in over 200 schools throughout the US, and present on their research and methodologies to teachers at many music education professional development conferences. During most clinics, The Moxie Strings perform for students on electric instruments, teach music by ear, and introduce non-classical playing styles. The group has researched and created an innovative sequence of activities designed to introduce improvisation to classically trained musicians, which they employ at every clinic. The Moxie Strings deliver their message in a fun, accessible way, and stand before students as the illustration of the many opportunities that music holds.
 
After performing together for the past 16.5 years, this dynamic duo has made the decision to begin their goodbye tour. Their performance at Tecumseh Center for the Arts is one of the few indoor concerts scheduled in 2023 and one of the last times audiences can enjoy listening to Diana and Alison in concert. Tickets are $30-25 and are on sale now. The concert will take place Saturday, March 18 at 7:30 PM with doors opening at 6:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, or on-line at www.thetca.org.
 
This year’s season is thanks in part to the TCA’s 41st Season sponsors Michigan Arts and Culture Council, (MACC), the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation, and Vision Performance Group, National Touring Season Sponsors Robert Fox of Howard Hanna Realty, Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh, and Carpet on Wheels, and Show Sponsor County National Bank.
 
For more information, or to purchase your tickets, visit www.TheTCA.org or call 517-423-6617, Tuesdays-Fridays between noon and 5 pm.

​The Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation recently awarded Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) with a second grant award of $20,000; for a total of $40,000 for the creation and installation of the TCA Music Park in 2023.    
 
During the summer of 2022, the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation (ERWF) awarded Tecumseh Center for the Arts $20,000 for the new TCA Music Park, after the theater received a $10,000 grant award from the Maurice and Dorothy Stubnitz Foundation. The ERWF recommended that Tecumseh Center for the Arts contact their Foundation again in January 2023, about a possible second award.  
 
In January Director Kelly Jo Gilmore submitted a second grant request to the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation with updated financials, timelines, and project status; and requesting an additional $20,000 bringing the Foundation’s total contribution to $40,000. On February 5, Tecumseh Center for the Arts was notified that the Foundation’s board had unanimously approved the second grant award.  

"The City of Tecumseh and Tecumseh Center for the Arts are incredibly grateful to have local foundations that are committed to supporting quality-of-life programming for its residents and musical opportunities for our youth,” stated Gilmore. “The TCA Music Park is a dream come true for many people and organizations, including the theater and the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation.” 
 
To date, the TCA Music Park has raised over $70,000 from local foundations, individual donors, and funding through the City of Tecumseh’s Park and Recreation Department. The project officially started last fall with excavation. Over the next couple of months, the community will see more progress as landscaping begins, concrete is poured, and the first sound sculptures arrive. A ribbon cutting is planned for the beginning of June.  
 
“The Elizabeth Wilson Foundation is proud to grant a second round of funding to the TCA to implement a unique music project, the TCA Music Park,” stated Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation Board Member Sheri Powers. “Making this collaboration even more special is the fact that Elizabeth herself was on the original board for the TCA and remained an active member until her death. Knowing that this project is accessible to community members of all ages to gather and play music together, the board of the Wilson Foundation is confident that supporting this musical installation to the TCA park aligns with our mission to perpetuate a lifelong love of music.” 

Confident that music and the performing arts positively enhance people’s lives, the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation seeks to enrich the Lenawee County region’s cultural life through its support of, education in, performance of and appreciation for the performing arts. The foundation’s primary focus is on music and performing arts programs that benefit the Lenawee County community and/or students in the County’s primary and secondary education programs (including post-secondary scholarships in music and performing arts). ​