Pianist Adele Mcconnell to perform for Nov. 6 virtual First Friday concert
On Nov. 6 pianist Adele Mcconnell will be the featured performer at First Friday @ First Presbyterian. This will be a VIRTUAL event only, available at 12:05 p.m. on facebook.com/fpc.sterling. You don’t have to belong to Facebook to access this performance. The program of ragtime, pop and classical piano will include “Maple Leaf Rag” by Scott Joplin, “From a Distance” and Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in c# minor.”
Adele Mcconnell is a native of Haxtun, Colorado. One of her most cherished memories of music in her home was the piano that her grandparents received from their parents as a wedding gift in the early 1900s. Not only did her mom and her siblings learn to play on that piano, but also Adele, her siblings and her children did as well.
Adele’s piano teacher was in a car accident when she was in eighth grade, which was basically the end of her formal music education. Through the years she has played for many church, weddings and funeral services. She has also enjoyed providing dinner music for a restaurant and various organizational functions. Teaching was always motiving for Adele, and she found her outlet through teaching piano to several students, as well as her own children, and directing a children’s choir at church.
In the past few years she started an “Open Mic” opportunity for musicians and others in the Haxtun area. It was such a success that she also started an “Open Stage” in the retirement community where she and husband Larry live in Mesa, Arizona during the winters. The Open Mic/stage format provides a “coffee shop” type of atmosphere that gives amateur and professional musicians, poets, ventriloquists, storytellers and others an opportunity to perform with a fun, suppor tive audience.
After teaching school for a few years, Adele chose to be home while raising their children. Farming and selling seed corn provided the opportunity for that choice. She and Larry are the proud parents of three children and their spouses, and 10 grandchildren.
As the children were leaving home, Adele started a new adventure as a ventriloquist, and had multiple opportunities to entertain and teach through puppetr y to a wide variety of audiences, including church functions, annual meetings, alumni meeting and schools. In 2014 she found herself drawn to a hypnosis school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a lifechanging experience, and she has enjoyed sharing her experience and knowledge with others. As a Cer tified Hypnotherapist, Adele has firsthand knowledge of the physical and emotional benefits that can happen through hypnosis.
Once her performance is over, it will stay up on Facebook to be viewable later.