Love Elgin Day benefit concert features powerful lineup of professional musicians

On Sunday, Aug. 30, professional vocalists Jeorge Holmes and Diva Montell reunite for a "Love Elgin Day" benefit concert. They will be joined for the first time by Solange Sior and Mary Ellen Kanies Beckmann, who also are highly acclaimed singers.

Renowned pianist Murna Hansemann will accompany them.

Beginning at 6 p.m. at Evangelical Covenant Church of Elgin, 1565 Larkin Ave., the concert will be followed by a silent auction and coffee reception.

A freewill offering will be taken, and concertgoers also are asked to bring used shoes, sandals and boots in any size or condition for donation.

Proceeds help fund Love Elgin Day, a biannual event offering free food, clothing, medical and legal services, car and bike repair, and other benefits to low-income families and individuals.

An all-volunteer, donation-based ministry, Love Elgin Day is hosted by some 40 churches from many different denominations and takes place each spring and fall in downtown Elgin. Love Elgin Day 8 is set for Saturday, Sept. 26.

All five musicians are powerful talents with impressive resumes.

Holmes and Montell have sung together for several years at concert and restaurant venues across the Fox Valley area and also have successful solo careers of their own. Both perform styles ranging from Big Band and Broadway show tunes to opera, pop, and sacred - just the kind of music that attendees can expect to enjoy at the Aug. 30 event.

Holmes has sung with the Elgin OPERA and staged many shows as an Elvis impersonator. Montell has opened for name artists of varying genres, including Michael Bolton, Il Volo, KC and the Sunshine Band, and The Drifters.

A winner of the Canadian Music Competition and National Bel Canto Competition, Sior has performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Elgin Symphony Orchestra and other companies across the Midwest and Canada. She is the founder and artistic director of Soirée Lyrique in Elgin.

Kanies Beckmann has performed with theater groups and choirs and soloed with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and Elgin Choral Union. She sings Broadway favorites of all eras, as well as standards and light classics.

Besides having a proficiency on piano and organ, Hansemann also plays violin, saxophone, bassoon, accordion, and other instruments. As a pianist, she accompanies many vocal artists in the Fox Valley area. She and Holmes collaborated in 2012 to produce the CD "Hymns of Faith."

For more information about Love Elgin Day, visit www.LoveElginDay.org.