TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student.

Conspiracy Deliracy, the brainchild of bassist and composer Andrew Binder, features original compositions crossed between modern jazz, pop music icons, their music, and conspiracy theories. Recipient of a 2023 Urbana Arts Grant, the music is tongue-in-cheek commentary on today’s delusional era of misinformation, sensitively interpreted by some of the Midwest’s top jazz musicians.

Bigfoot, Area 51, and the faked moon landing... birds are actually government surveillance drones... Stevie Wonder isn't actually blind... Avril Lavigne is dead and replaced by a doppelganger... Katy Perry is a shape-shifting reptilian... and Beyoncé is a part of the Illuminati? You won't believe it until you hear it for yourself.

This show is part of a Midwest tour of Conspiracy Deliracy's new self-titled album, releasing Friday October 13, 2023.

Andrew Binder - bass & compositions 

Justin Dyar - trumpet 

Brian Stark - woodwinds 

Frank Niemeyer - trombone 

Jose Gobbo - guitar 

Kurt Reeder - keys 

Max Osawa - drums

Website links:

andrewbindermusic.com

https://andrewbinder.bandcamp.com/album/conspiracy-deliracy

Andrew H. Binder is a bassist and composer from St. Louis, Missouri, currently Adjunct Professor at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO, and a participant in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop under the direction of Alan Ferber and Andy Farber. Andrew holds a D.M.A. from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in Jazz Performance with a cognate in Music Composition. He also holds a M.M. in Music Composition from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and B.M.A. degrees in Composition, Jazz Studies, and Double Bass Performance from Bowling Green State University. Some of his accomplishments include winner of the 2018 Ensemble Ibis Competition Graduate division for his piece Brux, winner of the 26th Annual Craig's Keyboards/UT Young Composer's Competition. Andrew had works performed by new music groups Dal Niente, Ritual Action, and Ensemble Ibis; works read by the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and members of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; Finalist in the 2014 Douglas Wayland Chamber Competition Graduate Division; Arrangements recorded and/or performed by University of Studio Jazz Band, Miami Vocal Jazz Ensemble, University of Illinois' Concert Jazz Band and Repertory Jazz Orchestra. Andrew has also worked for Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Little Theatre on the Square, and Adirondack Performing Arts Fellowship. Additionally, he's an in demand bassist with jazz groups and R&B/popular music groups.

Justin Dyar is a trumpet player from Champaign, Illinois. A former adjunct professor at Lincoln College and graduate of the Masters and Undergraduate Jazz program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Justin spends his time playing a wide variety of musical styles with many accomplished players throughout Central Illinois and the Midwest. Justin has performed with accomplished players, including Chip McNeill, Candy Foster, Tito Carrillo, Jose Gobbo, Jay Sawyer, John Merikoski, Nick Schroeder, Kevin Hart, and many more spanning the genres of jazz, r&b, alternative rock, musicals, and classical. He has studied with Tito Carrillo, Ronald Romm, Michael Ewald, and Sal Percoco. He has also appeared on a handful of albums, with bassist Andrew Binder, the University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band, Candy Foster and the Shades of Blue, and Sun Stereo.

Brian Stark(woodwinds) is a performer, composer, and educator in Central Illinois, performing regularly at local venues such as the Iron Post, NOLA’s Rock Bar and the Rose Bowl Tavern as well as at private functions as a member of the Bluewater Kings. He is the leader of in-demand local ensembles including the Blue-Funk All Stars, the Fiddle-Sax Fusion Band, the Illinois Flamenco-Jazz Collective, and the Iron Post Jazz Orchestra. As a member of UNT's One O'Clock Lab Band, Brian has performed alongside jazz luminaries Sean Jones, Andy Laverne and Stefon Harris and headlined at the Apex Jazz Festival, Bass Performance Hall, McDavid Studio, and the Next Generation Jazz Festival. Brian has held teaching positions at the University of North Texas (Jazz Arranging and Saxophone), Brookhaven College (Adjunct Professor of Saxophone) and Tarrant County College (Adjunct Professor of Music Appreciation) and has recruited private saxophone students at top public school music programs in the DFW area. Outside of the classroom, Brian has enjoyed the opportunity to perform with top local groups such as the Brad Leali Jazz Orchestra, the Keith Karns Big Band, and the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective, in addition to appearances alongside Professors Chip McNeill, Larry Gray, and Dr. David Moony, as well as Congolese Gospel performer Jean-René Balekita. He has also enjoyed composing a wide variety of commissions, including a cantata for choir and strings, a piece for children's choir, and big band works for ensembles around the world. Brian is currently working towards a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he was the inaugural recipient of the Helgesen Fellowship for Excellence in Jazz Studies and currently works as the Unit One Woodwind Instructor.

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, trombonist Frank Niemeyer has been awarded a Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University School of Music, a Master’s Degree from The Conservatory of Music at Purchase College and is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Jazz Trombone Performance at the University of Illinois where he has served as the studio Teaching Assistant. During his studies, Frank has had the great opportunity to study with Jim Masters, Jim Pugh, John Fedchock, Steve Wilson, Chip McNeill, Jon Faddis, Weston Sprott, John Abercrombie, Joe Duchi, Andy Laverne, Jan Radzynski and Todd Coolman.

Before entering the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Illinois, Frank spent a number of years living in New York. While there, he had the opportunity to perform in a number of the city’s iconic venues and intimate clubs including, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, SOMETHIN' Jazz Club, Smoke and ShapeShifter Lab and has performed live on WBGO, Jazz 88.3 FM. Additionally, Frank has performed on stage alongside musical luminaries including John Fedchock, Byron Stripling, Jason Scheff, Todd Rundgren, Jon Faddis, Jimmy Greene, Jim Rotondi, Houston Person, John Riley, Chris Potter, Ralph Lalama, and Randy Brecker.

Frank Niemeyer also works extensively as a composer having won numerous arranging and original composition prizes throughout his career. A versatile composer with an eclectic range of influences, Frank has been commissioned to compose for wind ensemble, string orchestra, jazz band, brass ensembles, and Broadway-style cabaret singers and their orchestras. Additionally, Frank has also been a staff arranger for numerous awarding-winning high school and collegiate marching bands, which include ensembles competing in Bands of America. In 2010, Frank was commissioned to develop a piece for wind ensemble in commemoration of the state-wide Hudson River Quadra-Centennial Celebration in New York and, more recently, his original compositions for brass ensemble have been published by Cherry Classics.

Jose Gobbo is a Brazilian jazz guitarist.In 2018, Jose was a finalist at Chicago's Luminarts Jazz Competition, winning popular vote, and was a semi-finalist at Milwaukee's Wilson Center Guitar Competition. He was Artist in Residency at Allerton Park in 2022, which culminated with the album "Allerton Park Suite". In 2022 Jose performed in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and Cincinnati. Jose has been featured as a guest artist at Belmont University, Millikin University, Western Illinois University, University of Iowa, State University of Campinas (Brazil), and Federal University of Uberlandia (Brazil). Jose taught at Lincoln College, in Lincoln, IL, University of Illinois Springfield, and currently teaches at the Eastern Illinois University and the Arthur School District.

Keyboardist Kurt Reeder, originally from Utah, is working on his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The 2009 winner of the Downbeat Award for best original composition, Reeder earned his Master’s in Jazz Performance at Cal State Fullerton, then after 5 years back in Utah as a freelance musician and adjunct teacher at two universities he relocated to Champaign-Urbana in 2018. Fluent in multiple styles, Reeder is a working musician, playing everything from cocktail piano to rock and pop tunes to incendiary jazz organ in the school of Jimmy Smith and Charles Earland. He is also an expert in Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean styles. He developed a taste for Brazilian music while living in Brazil from 2006-2008, learning to speak fluent Portuguese in the process. His love for Afro-Caribbean styles was born as a young teenager and has led to work directing the Salsa ensemble at Cal State Fullerton, and performing with artists such as Alex Acuña, Poncho Sanchez, and Tito Puente Jr. Reeder currently lives in Champaign with his wife Candy Elliott Reeder and their six children. He will be releasing his first three albums as leader later this fall and next spring.

Drummer Max Osawa grew up in the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began playing the drums at the age of twelve, and by age fifteen had discovered a passion for jazz music. While in Winnipeg, Max studied under the tutelage of such drummers as Curtis Nowosad, Quincy Davis, and Ethan Ardelli, and performed with Derrick Gardner, Jon Gordon, Larry Roy, Will Bonness, Karl Kohut, Julian Bradford, Ron Paley, Christine Jensen, and The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. After graduating with a jazz performance degree from the University of Manitoba, Max relocated to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to continue his studies at the University of Illinois. Since arriving in the Midwest, Max has performed with such musicians as Tito Carillo, Larry Gray, Chip McNeill, Chip Stephens, Joan Hickey, Candy Foster, Jeff Helgesen, Johnnie Owens, Kurt Reeder, and Jim Pryor. Max is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, where he plays in award-winning ensembles, serves as Joel Spencer’s graduate teaching assistant for jazz drum set, and continues to work as a freelance musician.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trust Foundations, which include grants from the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation (2020-2021; 2022-2023 seasons), the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation (2021-2022; 2022-2023 seasons), and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust (2021-2022; 2022-2023 season). Special concert event support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season). Activities are made possible in part by the Arts Organization Support (AOS), Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency (2023-2024 season).

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation (2020-2023 seasons).

The Student and Home Grown Series concerts made possible, in part, with support from the ArtsEverywhere Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and the Arts Project Support Grant and the Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.