Concert series adds Omaha, Lincoln

The Brownville Concert Series wasn't about to let a little thing like the destruction of its concert hall interfere with its musical mission.

In 1991, lightning struck the hall, which was in a former church in downtown Brownville, Neb. Fire burned for three hours and destroyed the building's steeple and a significant portion of the roof.

“Our insurance agent viewed it as a total loss,” said James Keene, the founder of the series. “He handed me a check and said, ‘Good luck.'”

This week, the series is launching its 20th-anniversary season in grand style, with performances in Brownville and, for the first time, Omaha and Lincoln. Keene said the shows will travel only this year because of the anniversary.

The touring shows are part of a program called “Widening the Circle” and are intended to introduce the series to a larger regional audience. The first Omaha show, featuring cabaret stars Andrea Marcovicci and Jeff Harnar, is 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Joslyn Art Museum's Witherspoon Concert Hall.

“A lot of people in the region don't know what we have in Brownville,” said Keene. “We're going to give people in Omaha and Lincoln a taste of what they can get in Brownville.”

Two things will remain the same, he said.

First, most performances will continue to be in the Brownville Concert Hall –– the old church was lovingly restored after the fire.

Second, the series will continue to present world-class artists. Past performers have included piano legend André Watts and jazz trombone great Wycliffe Gordon. Cabaret legend Marilyn Maye appears this season.

“We get the same great performers that you hear in New York City at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center,” said Barbara Moore, the chairwoman of the concert series' board of directors.

Keene, 74, an engineer who worked for Peter Kiewit Co. for 32 years before founding his own Omaha manufacturing company, has always loved music. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where one of his first jobs was working as an usher at Lisner Auditorium.

“That's where I heard my first symphonies, operas and recitals,” said Keene. “I remember walking a woman to her seat when the orchestra began playing the big, dramatic opening chords in ‘Carmen,” and it just about scared me to death.”

In 1980, Keene and his wife, Ruth, bought the historic Muir House in downtown Brownville. The Keenes wanted to entertain and considered purchasing a one-room schoolhouse, which they would relocate to property they owned next to Muir House.

“We thought about holding dinners, lectures and bridge tournaments there,” Keene said. “But all the one-room schoolhouses we found were made of Nebraska brick, which doesn't move well.”

Keene finally located a 19th-century wooden church in Peru, Neb., that had not been used for decades. He bought it for $4,000, moved it to Brownville and restored it. He decided to turn it into a concert hall because of its beautiful acoustics. The hall officially opened on April 28, 1990.

The series usually presents about 10 concerts a year, most of which feature classical music, jazz and cabaret.

Over the years, the concert series has obtained many of its artists from two New York City-based organizations. One is the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which supports aspiring vocalists. The other is Young Concert Artists, Inc., which has near-perfect pitch when it comes to finding the world's most talented young performers –– alumni include violinist Pinchas Zukerman and pianist Emanuel Ax.

Keene has also been a long-time supporter of Opera Omaha, the Omaha Symphony and the Tuesday Musical Concert Series and has recruited talent from those organizations as well.

He met Watts, for instance, at a dinner following a Tuesday Musical recital in 1991.

“I told him about the Brownville series and he immediately volunteered to do a benefit concert,” Keene said. “He wouldn't let us pay for his plane ticket, rental car, hotel or anything. He filled the house, and all he would accept for payment was a beef dinner.”

Keene said artists keep returning to the series because “we treat them like stars.” Fans come back because of the quality of the music and the intimacy of the 150-seat Brownville hall.

“It's up-close and personal,” said Sandy Bertelsen, a Brownville resident who's been a series regular for the past seven years. “The space is so intimate you feel like you can reach out and touch the stars.”

Joe Wheeler of Council Bluffs has been attending jazz concerts in Brownville for years.

“I'll never forget the performance of the Four Freshmen,” said Wheeler, who plays jazz trumpet. “The series gets the best jazz concerts.”

Contact the writer:

444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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