By Jennifer Stultz
Tri-County Tribune Editor
jstultz@cherryroad.com
Two concerts took place this past weekend in Pratt. Unspoken, a Christian rock worship group filled the Pratt Municipal Building with light, life, and lots of sound; and a classical piano/violin duo filled the Pratt Bible Church with testimonies and soothing favorites. Both concerts took place Saturday, March 29, both were successes according to those who attended.
“I listen to Christian music, I read my Bible, but to come here and just be able to meet these performers up close and to hear their stories and sing along with the music, it just made me feel alive,” said Stacey Canfield, who attended the Unspoken concert.
According to Visit Pratt Director Tiffany Riley, who coordinated the Unspoken concert in Pratt, tickets were sold to people who came from Pratt, the surrounding counties, and from across the state.
“We met our goal of bringing in people, the building was full and it was absolutely a success,” Riley said. “We had people from Kingman, Salina, Ellinwood, Hays, Wichita, as well as from many of our churches here in town. It was just great.”
Riley said ticket sales for this concert were comparable to other groups that have come in to Pratt to give concerts and provided a clear signal that more such concerts will be planned in the future.
“I spent a lot of time with the musicians, driving them around during their stay here and we had a lot of good conversations,” Riley said. “They were impressed how all the churches here were able to work together and come under one roof to chip in for this concert. They were also impressed with the many pizza options we had here in town and likes the Municipal Building as a performance hall.”
A quieter, lower key concert took place at Pratt Bible Church on the same evening, and considering the possible scheduling conflict, was also well attended. A husband/wife duo, Kevin and Heidi Cheng, played piano and violin hymn music as well as some classical selections, much to the delight of those who were able to attend that venue.
“I just enjoyed it all so much,”said Pratt resident Kathy Jacobsen. “I closed my eyes and just melted into the classical music. It was so soothing, brought back some good memories. It was beautiful.”
Testimonies and treats were shared at the Pratt Bible Church event, one that may be repeated in the future should the opportunity arise.
For those looking for more musical opportunities to attend, Riley said that Visit Prat will be bringing back Paramount 80s for another big show in late August of this year.
“It is going to be a big back-to-school bash outside at Green Sports Complex,” she said. “There will be some others happening before that, but this is the one we are able to announce at this time.”
There are several community event slated for the end of April this month, such as the Beach Boys tribute group “Sail On” which will perform at Pratt Community College as a Pratt Community Concert event. A DECCA Kid’s Health Fair is scheduled for Saturday, April 26 at Sixth Street Park in Pratt, and the Open Road Gravel Race takes place in Pratt also on Saturday, April 26 with live music played at the finish line near Merchant’s Park in Pratt.
