Sept. 2, 2025

Contact Dillon McArdle at 608-796-3730 or dtmcardle@viterbo.edu

DAVE MARCK AND FRIENDS TO PRESENT FREE CONCERT ALWAYS: A CELEBRATION OF IRVING BERLIN AT VITERBO UNIVERSITY SEPT. 10

LA CROSSE, Wis. – New York City pianist and La Crosse native Dave Marck and his friends will perform the free concert Always: A Celebration of Irving Berlin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10 in the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

Marck will be joined by longtime friends and colleagues Greg Balfany on saxophone, Karyn Quinn on bass, and Rich MacDonald on drums. Marck spends much of the year in New York, where he is an acclaimed jazz pianist. He returns to La Crosse each year to visit friends and family and to perform in the area. This is his 11th free concert at Viterbo.

“Musicians love to play, and music can be a great vehicle through which to make connections with people,” Marck said of his annual concert at Viterbo. “It’s a lot of fun to come back to my hometown every year and do that.”

The concert will feature Cheek to Cheek, What’ll I Do, Remember, How Deep is the Ocean, and other Berlin classics from the Great American Songbook. A quintessential American success story, Berlin immigrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of 5 to escape religious persecution in his native Russia. He overcame abject poverty growing up in New York City to rise to the pinnacle of the entertainment industry and popular culture through hard work and his incredible music and song-writing talents.

“He had a way of tapping into the American vernacular that transcended social and economic boundaries and made his music accessible to everyone,” Marck said of Berlin’s success. “Of course, they are simply great tunes, with good melodies and interesting harmonies that allow for improvisations that jazz musicians embrace.”

The concert is sponsored by the Bob and Jean Marck Family Gift of Music and the La Crosse Community Foundation Ambrosius Fund. The Marck Family Gift of Music was created in memory of Marck’s parents, Bob and Jean, to support free, live music events in the community. Marck looks forward to carrying on his parents’ goal of making community connections while having a great deal of fun.

Doors will open at 7 p.m., and seating is first-come, first-served. This is not a ticketed event. For more information, call the Viterbo Box Office at 608-796-3100.

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