Thanks For The Music

A Message from Higley Center Manager, Bob Zucker

The Higley Center has been an entertainment and education destination for over 14 years. We had two choices in recent weeks as the new normal overtook life in Arizona and in particular the East Valley which is our main service area. We could furlough staff and lock our doors like so many others have done. In the spirit of the Higley Unified School District, which we are part of, we have chosen a more positive direction. We have looked at how we could reinvent ourselves for the good of the community that we serve. Thus we are proud to announce Higley Center Television. This new on line streaming platform will allow us to create and present original programming including entertainment, educational and informational broadcasts for residents of the East Valley. Initially we will only be doing one broadcast a week but that is just a start. There is so much more you can expect over the next few months as we build what we hope will be enduring service to support the community

The Higley Center staff has spent the last few weeks converting the Higley Center Concert Hall into a professional television studio capable of producing all sorts of programming. You may wonder how we have been able to do this. First, a local company has loaned the Center over $75,000 worth of production equipment that includes a complete 4K three camera video setup with a switcher and streaming encoder and is paying for and providing the streaming service platform. Also a local video production company is providing expertise in running the equipment. Our entire staff has worked through a large learning curve. Doing concerts and theater is very different from doing TV. I am sure our first couple of broadcasts may be a little rough as we get used to running video cameras and doing sound and light for TV broadast but the staff at the Higley Center are a group of dedicated and talented individuals and all of us are learning every day.

Below I am proud to reveal our first two programs, both entertaining with a little bit of education hidden between the notes. We are working on additional programming to entertain and inform the community and more programming will be announced very shortly.

To watch any of our programming, simply go to our website, http://www.higleycenter.org and click on the HCTV logo to go to our broadcast page.

HCTV presents Dolan Ellis Arizona's Official State Balladeer for over 50 years Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:00pm

Dolan Ellis has been Arizona’s Official State Balladeer for over 50 years, under the appointment of twelve Arizona Governors. While exploring the little known corners of this state in his specially equipped four wheel drive vehicles, and researching the legends and historical events that he writes and sings about, he has logged over a million Arizona miles on his Jeeps. He is also an expert photographer, and uses his photography to illustrate his Arizona ballads during many of his appearances.

Dolan is the founder of The Arizona Folklore Preserve in Ramsey Canyon, which is now owned by the State of Arizona and The University of Arizona South. The AFP is administrated by the The Arizona Folklore Preserve Board of Directors.

As an original member of the famous folk singing group, The New Christy Minstrels, Dolan has earned several gold records, as well as earning a coveted Grammy Award while with that group.

As Arizona’s Official State Balladeer, he has sung his ballads in more than twenty countries of the world and he continues to tour frequently with his one man “Arizona Experience” show. Dolan Ellis and his work have been entered into the United States Congressional Record, where he was recognized as an “Arizona Treasure”, by Senator John McCain. After many years of dedication to his work, Dolan Ellis and his music have become synonymous with Arizona, its lands, and its people.

HCTV presents Hannes Kvaran A Musical Tribute to the Life of Galileo Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 7:00pm

Hannes Kvaran has been singing, playing guitar and writing songs since his childhood in Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines. In addition to Galileo, Starry Messenger, he has written musicals drawing material from the life Christopher Columbus, an Icelandic saga, introductory economics, European philosophy and American history. The latter, the play SAM, was produced as part of Glendale Community College’s 1995 theater season.

He has performed throughout the Valley for over thirty years as a solo and as a member of a variety of groups. In the late 1990s he was on of the Artists Roster of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Hannes retired after thirty years as a full-time instructor of economics and mathematics at Glendale Community College. He is married with two grown children.

Higley Center for the Performing Arts | 4132 E. Pecos Road, Gilbert, AZ 85295