Brooks Center welcomes The Concert Truck back to the Clemson community

Clemson, SC – Back by popular demand, The Concert Truck will make its way through the greater Clemson area from September 10-14 during a four-day residency. Presented by the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts and sponsored by Bill and Donna Eskridge and Hank and Kay Owen, the residency will include a total of eight free concerts, including performances in the town centers of Pendleton, Anderson, and Patrick Square, a local retirement community, and public schools in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties.  

Guests are invited to bring a chair or blanket to enjoy the music. Food will be available for purchase at surrounding restaurants at Carolina Wren Park, Village Green at Patrick Square and Pendleton Square. For more information, contact the Brooks Center box office at 864-656-7787.  

“The Concert Truck was a huge hit last Fall, and 2,000 people heard free live music right in their own neighborhoods,” said Janice Crews, Executive Director of the Brooks Center. “I am so grateful to our sponsors for the opportunity to bring the truck back to kick off the Brooks Center’s 30th season and celebrate National Arts in Education Week!” 

National Arts in Education Week begins on the second Sunday of September each year and recognizes the power of the arts in education, and how the arts can help students succeed in all areas of life. It also highlights the need for equitable access to the arts for all students and brings attention to the cause for elected officials and educational decision-makers. The Concert Truck exemplifies the “arts for all” movement.  

About The Concert Truck

Impassioned by their love for music and belief in its emotional power, pianists Nick Luby and Susan Zhang converted a 16-foot box truck into a fully functioning mobile concert hall, complete with lights, a sound system, and a digital piano. Since then, The Concert Truck has toured nationwide, presenting free concerts in city streets, music and arts festivals, schools, neighborhoods, and parks to make live music accessible to everyone.  

For this residency, Susan Zhang, acclaimed as a pianist with “astounding musical authority” (Columbia Free Times), and guest artist Mikael Darmanie, an eclectic pianist and composer, will perform a program featuring familiar classical, Broadway and jazz music. Selections will include music by Brahms, Duke Ellington, Ravel, and even an original composition by Darmanie. The program will also feature George Gershwin’s famous “Rhapsody in Blue” in honor of its centennial. Clemson voice students from the Department of Performing Arts will also be featured.   

About the artists

Susan Zhang made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Augusta Symphony. She has since been featured as a soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Aiken Civic Orchestra, the University of South Carolina Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has performed in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center as well as numerous other venues in North America, Europe and Asia. Her recordings have been featured on SC Public Radio. 

Pianist Mikael Darmanie has performed throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Russia, and the Caribbean. He is a strong advocate for the music being created today and is a frequent performer in New York City’s new music scene.  He is currently finishing his Doctorate at Stony Brook University under the mentorship of Gilbert Kalish. Other primary teachers have included Awadagin Pratt, Ray Anderson in Jazz, Arthur Haas on the Harpsichord, and Timothy Long in Conducting.