One of the most popular performers in Illinois is coming to Canton for one performance only on Sunday, February 12 at 3:00 p.m. at the Canton Church of the Brethren, 269 East Chestnut. Ken Bradbury presents his one-man show “Ken Bradbury in Concert: A Whirlwind Tour of the Music of America in Story and Melody.” The concert is sponsored by the Spoon River College Community Chorus as part of its mini-concert series.
Tickets may be reserved by calling (309) 649-6260 or by contacting Carol Davis at cdavis.tenacious@gmail.com. General admission tickets are $10 with proceeds going to the SRC Foundation’s scholarship program. Seating is limited to 100.
“Ken is one of the funniest and most gifted performers I’ve had the opportunity to meet,” said Carol Davis, Artistic Director for the Chorus. “He first appeared for us at one of SRC’s Spoon River Reads events and had the audience enthralled. We’ve been asked to bring him back many times.”
Ken Bradbury, until recently a teacher at Triopia Jr-Sr High School for 35 years, and now an instructor at Lincoln Land Community College, is a resident of Jacksonville, Illinois. Since 1995, he has been named the most-produced author of dramatic material for competition in the United States.
Ken is the author of The Coonridge Digest, a newspaper column appearing in 14 Midwest newspapers, and has won the Associated Press Award for “Best Humor Column.” He’s also the author of five books, The Coonridge Digest, Around the World with Freida Marie Crump, The Coonridge Devotions, Homerville, Souptown, Bilgewater, and his most recent book of children’s poetry, The Place Where We Live. He’s also a regular columnist for The Source newspaper. He’s the author of over 500 published plays.
Bradbury is a staff writer for Cass Communications and has authored and appeared in over 100 television commercials for the company. He’s written music for five recordings by Shiloh, a Christian singing group, and is a founder and director of the Green Pastures Performing Arts Camp. His play, Shadow of Giants (also co-authored with Robert Crowe) appeared on PBS television. Bradbury was the winner of the Downstate Playwrights Award at the University of Illinois. His recent musical, Genesis, the Musical, played to several Midwest venues.
Ken spends much of his summer as the resident Honky-Tonk piano player on the Spirit of Peoria Riverboat, cruising the Illinois River from Starved Rock to St. Louis.
In addition to numerous other awards, Ken was awarded the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by MacMurray College in Jacksonville, the honorary Doctor of Letters by Illinois College, was inducted into the Jacksonville Hall of Fame, and received the Studs Terkel Humanities Award.
He also plays the bagpipes, much to the chagrin of his Illinois neighbors.
For more information about the Bradbury Concert or to learn more about the SRC Community Chorus, please visit the Chorus webpage at www.src/foundation, on Facebook or contact Carol Davis at cdavis.tenacious@gmail.com.
