Kim Krulish
Jazz Cover Singer Serenades St. Peter Area
Music enthusiasts around St. Peter are in for a treat this Friday, April 24. Soft jazz cover singer Maud Hixson will be performing at the Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m.
The program, titled “An Evening With Maud Hixson,” will be presented by the Mankato Area Lifelong Learners and is sponsored by the Nicollet County Bank.
“Maud Hixson is one of the best, most sensitive and creative song stylists to come out of the pages of the Great American Songbook in the last decade,” film critic and writer for the New York Observer Rex Reed said. “She has taste and sophistication, she is full of surprises, and boy can she sing!”
Hixson performs soft jazz from the flapper, swing, and bebop eras accompanied by both piano and bass.
Based in St. Paul, Hixson became a fulltime musician after she was presented “Best New Voice” at the KBEM Winter JAZZ Fest in Minneapolis in 2003.
She now works various artists, including a continental sextet, French 75, that she cofounded with clarinetist Tony Balluf.
“Maud Hixson is one of the best, most sensitive and creative song stylists to come out of the pages of the Great American Songbook in the last decade.”—Rex Reed
“I think she’s the new Peggy Lee, a young singer out of the Midwest,” singer and songwriter Amanda McBroom said. “If you like cool, artful storytelling in jazz, check her out!”
Some of the venues Hixson has performed at include the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and in New York at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, the New York Cabaret Convention, and the Midtown Jazz Series.
She has held album release events at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis and the Café Broadway in New York. She is also a twotime recipient of the Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
The concert is open to the public and tickets available for $15 at the Lifelong Learners Office on the MSUM campus and both HyVee stores in Mankato. In St. Peter, they are available at the Nicollet County Bank, The Arts Center of St. Peter, the Treaty Site History Center, and at the door at the time of the event.
The Treaty Site History Center is located at 1851 N. Minnesota Avenue, in St. Peter. The concert is open to the public. There will be refreshments available both before the performance and during intermission.
For more information on the event, call Lifelong Learners at 5073892011. To learn more about Hixson, visit her website at maudhixson.com.
-Kim Krulish