University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 29, May 1

            Rollicking ragtime comes to Mitchell Hall May 8
     
     Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues, a band known for their
brilliant notational blend of classical and blues styles,
will perform at 8 p.m., Thursday, May 8, in Mitchell Hall.
     The group's performance is filled with good-natured
songs, which range from folksy, foot-stompin' numbers to
rollicking ragtime romps.
     Audience members can whet their appetites for this
outstanding performance by taking advantage of a special
cajun-style, New Orleans feast being offered before the
concert at the Blue & Gold Club. Dinner, which begins at 6
p.m., includes chicken gumbo soup, cajun burgers, shrimp
jambalaya and more.
     Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel has called
the Chamber Blues "a joyous marriage of classical music and
the blues."
     The band's combination of styles creates a
collaboration that is both uplifting and entertaining. Add
to this Siegel's gift for composition and humor and you have
a combination that is truly unusual and entertaining.
     Chamber Blues is the winner of the Lila
Wallace/Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer award, and Siegel
is the individual winner of the same foundation's award for
chamber music composition.
     Siegel, composer, blues harmonica and piano player and
singer, started his career at the age of 20 with the
legendary Siegel-Schwall Band that toured the major rock
palaces and clubs in the '60s and '70s.
     He has recorded 16 albums and written and performed
works for Arthur Fiedler and the San Francisco Symphony, the
Grant Park Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra.
     Other members of the group include Guillaume Combet on
violin, Rebecca Scott Dittmer on violin, Richard Halajian on
viola, Jill Kaeding on cello and Frank Donaldson on
percussion.
     Tickets for the band's UD performance are $10 for the
general public, $8 for UD faculty, staff and alumni and $5
for children 12 and under. Combination tickets that include
the Blue & Gold Club dinner are $27 for the general public,
$22 for UD faculty, staff and alumni and $18 or $11 for
students and children over 12. Children ages 5-11 eat for $5
at the Blue & Gold and children under 5 eat free.
     For further information, call 831-2204.