MARQUETTE, Mich.—Master autoharp player and songwriter Bryan Bowers will conduct an afternoon workshop and give a public evening performance at Northern Michigan University on Saturday, Jan. 12. The workshop is at 4 p.m. in the Charcoal Room of the University Center. The concert, beginning with a short set by All Strings Considered, will be held at 8 p.m. in 105 Jamrich Hall. The NMU Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and the Hiawatha Music Co-op are collaborating on the event.

            A joint ticket for the workshop and concert is $15. Separate tickets for the workshop or concert are $10.  Advance registration is recommended for the workshop by calling the Hiawatha Music Co-op at 226-8575.  Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the Beaumier Center, Hiawatha Music Co-op office or at the door. This concert is being funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Bowers’ creativity and talent have won him induction into Frets Magazine's First Gallery of the Greats after five years of winning the stringed instrument, open category of the magazine’s readers' poll. This distinction put Bowers alongside other luminaries such as Chet Atkins, David Grisman, Stephan Grappelli, Itzhak Perlman, Tony Rice, Rob Wasserman and Mark O'Connor. In 1993, Bowers was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame to stand only with Maybelle Carter, Kilby Snow and Sara Carter. The Washington Times has said of Bowers, “…This man makes more music from an Autoharp than you can imagine from a 12-string guitar and a harpsichord combined. He has more stage presence and charisma than any stage performer in recent memory."