TASTE OF PLACE

WINEDOWN

JAZZ NITE

MORNING TOAST

Ben Marti

Classical & Jazz pianist, Euro-gypsy balladeer, and junkyard orchestra accordionist, Ben Marti embodies the restless musical spirit that permeates the atmosphere, the lineage, and the history of Morgan Creek Vineyards.

Ben left his native New Ulm during his high school years to continue his academics and piano studies at the Waldkirchen Gymnasium in Jandelsbrunn, Germany. He returned to the U.S. completing his high school career as an honors graduate in 1999 from the Perpich Center for the Arts, Golden Valley, Minnesota.
Ben was accepted as a Jussi Bjorling Music Scholarship recipient at Gustavus Adolphus College, where he studied from 1999 to 2003 as a student of Gustavus professor Helen Baumgartner.  During his Bachelor of Arts program, he entered the International Exchange Student program in Vienna, Austria, where he studied music and piano.

Ben was a studio accompanist at Gustavus serving students and faculty, music department seminars, and theatre department productions. Currently, he currently works at Minnesota State University Mankato in the same capacity.  Ben was the pianist for the Mankato Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ken Freed.  He has even donned renaissance costume to perform as Young Wolfgang Mozart in the “Mozart In Me” program for youth sponsored by the Mankato Symphony.  Ben's an avid collaborator with regional artists, performers, and poets - participating for eight years in the Cambria Eisteddfod, as musical director for the Welsh Heritage event sponsored by the Blue Earth County Historical Society, The League of Minnesota Poets, and Morgan Creek Vineyards.
 
Ben is also assistant wine maker, vineyard compost and living soils caretaker of the winery’s Biodynamic transition and Demeter certification.

Jim McGuire

listen to the rhythms of the season. . .
Since 2000, Jim has been the anchor Jazz Guitarist for Morgan Creek Vineyards JAZZ NITE! He is known and respected as one of the finest jazz and classical performers in the region. The Jim McGuire Jazz Trio is a Saturday night delight, swaying through the Spring, Summer, and Autumn seasons, under the portico at the winery.

Born at the bend of the Minnesota river valley, Mankato native, McGuire began his career when Rock 'n Roll came into its own in the early 1960s. He has spent a lifetime playing and teaching others to play guitar. His specialty is classical guitar, but he is also a composer, having written a suite of compositions that, in the classical guitar world, have been played by some of the greats.

He's taught at the University of Minnesota, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Olaf College, Carleton College, and performed with some of the biggest names in Minnesota music history. In 2017 he was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.

Dr. Stephanie R. Thorpe

Soprano, Dr. Stephanie R. Thorpe, is a voice faculty member in the Department of Music at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she teaches classical, musical theatre, and contemporary vocal genres. Prior to her faculty appointment, she performed full-time for several years in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thorpe is currently a member of Thursday Musical, a performing arts organization, and continues to be active in opera, musical theatre, contemporary music, and in recital.

Explore the Light & Dark side of the best of Opera ala Carte! Opera ala Carte! is a collaboration between Dr. Stephanie Thorpe and Ben Marti, bringing serious, and light street opera to the regional countryside. The duo performs a variety of popular art songs and opera arias in the rustic Tuscan-like setting of Morgan Creek Vineyards the 3rd Friday night of each month's Winedown for the Weekend!