Influenced by Will Ackerman’s Windham Hill record label in the late 1980s, the music of conservatory-trained pianist and composer Dan Kennedy infuses New Age music with jazz and rock. In addition to touring throughout the country, Kennedy also conducts “how to compose” seminars for budding composers from school-age children to adults. Kennedy’s current “Heartland Tour” 2016 is taking him from his native Massachusetts to the Mississippi and back again. One of his stops will be the Creamery Arts Center, 411 Sherman Parkway in Springfield, for a composing master class and a concert on Monday June 20. Sponsoring his visit is the Conservatory of the Ozarks. Faculty member Heather Leverich says Dan Kennedy simply “e-mailed the Conservatory and said he was doing this Heartland Tour, and asked if we’d be willing to sponsor a concert for him in Springfield.” They were, and their students are getting a composition master class with Kennedy out of the deal. Kennedy says “budding composers young
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