In 2024, The Opera Bell Band was commissioned by the Missouri Botanical Garden to write and perform an original 30-minute musical-comedy program about corn. In the grand tradition of Schoolhouse Rock, they whipped up a handful of (mostly) educational corn-centric earworms covering such topics as: the six types of corn, corn mutations, the importance of popcorn to the Midwest diet, deriving enjoyment from the eating of corn, and so on.
As luck would have it, there were several botanists in attendance specializing in maize research. They invited the band to perform the show again at the International Maize Genetics Meeting the following year.
Needless to say, in a room full of corn scientists, the show went off like a frog in a sock — that is to say: the band was royally received and the room was rollicking.
That’s when they decided to record these tunes for all the world to hear. We hope you enjoy The Opera Bell Band Presents a Salute to Corn, but more importantly, we hope you learn something about this most exalted grain — this incomparable kernel — this superlative starch — and celebrate it with us at our release show & potluck on June 28th at The Green Center!
As luck would have it, there were several botanists in attendance specializing in maize research. They invited the band to perform the show again at the International Maize Genetics Meeting the following year.
Needless to say, in a room full of corn scientists, the show went off like a frog in a sock — that is to say: the band was royally received and the room was rollicking.
That’s when they decided to record these tunes for all the world to hear. We hope you enjoy The Opera Bell Band Presents a Salute to Corn, but more importantly, we hope you learn something about this most exalted grain — this incomparable kernel — this superlative starch — and celebrate it with us at our release show & potluck on June 28th at The Green Center!
