From soulful to brassy, the rich sounds of Motown will fill the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Auditorium in Wieden Hall when the Star City Syndicate performs a special fundraising concert on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.

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Admission is free for this high energy, family-friendly event, but donations of all sizes will be accepted at the door to benefit future renovations to the Auditorium in Wieden Hall.

So, what is the Star City Syndicate? By day, the members of the musical group are mild-mannered music teachers, postal workers, clergy members, or other unassuming parts of the community. By night, though (and on select weekends and sometimes summer weekday-early-afternoons), they meld their various musical interests and backgrounds into the driving, thumping, horn-resounding, soul-burning Motown tour de force, the Star City Syndicate.

Blending songs from old-school Detroit with deeper cuts from bands such as Gnarls Barkley and The Heavy, the Star City Syndicate is the melodic guilty pleasure of a group of people who just want to play the Motown songs everyone loves.

Members of the Star City Syndicate include Anthony Scott on lead vocals; Mark Shaw, guitar and vocals; Brian Mosher, keyboard and vocals; Doug Chronkhite, percussion and vocals; Jon Simonoff, bass guitar; Sean Diette, baritone sax; Sarah Diette, trumpet; Jenna Simonoff, tenor sax; Kelly Chartier, alto sax; Chris Morton, percussion; Pat Kinsey, trombone; Kevin Kinsey, trumpet; and Cassidy Pelletier, baritone sax.

The group will perform a bevy of Motown favorites during the Feb. 4 concert, from "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave and "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley to "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire and "Papa's Got A Brand-New Bag" by James Brown.

“This is a concert you won’t want to miss—we are delighted to have the Star City Syndicate perform a live show for us at UMPI and to help us to raise much-needed funds for our Auditorium,” Rachel Rice, UMPI Director of Community and Media Relations, who is helping to organize the event, said. “We hope to see Motown fans from across the region join us for a very special evening with a great group of very talented musicians and singers.”

For more information about this concert, please contact Gayla Shaw at 207-768-9452 or umpi@maine.edu.

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