PORT TOWNSEND — Andy Mackie will appear at The Upstage on Sunday for a program featuring students and local musicians.
The free concert featuring Mackie, who is visiting from Michigan, will be at the bistro and entertainment venue at 923 Washington St. from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“Andie Mackie and the Andie Mackie Music Foundation welcome players of all ages to join an evening of musical fun, enjoying Andy’s visit to the Olympic Peninsula,” The Upstage says on its website at www.upstagerestaurant.com.
Student recitals
Prior to Mackie’s appearance, Chuck Easton student recitals are planned at 4 p.m.
Mackie, 72, will return to Concord, Mich., on Wednesday after a visit to the Port Townsend area that included a series of concerts.
Prior to leaving Jefferson County in September, Mackie — the creator of the Andy Mackie Foundation — taught more than 12,000 children, mostly in public schools, to play harmonica and made and donated instruments to schools while working from his Quilcene home.
Plagued with health problems, Mackie moved to Michigan to be closer to family and has already taught 1,000 children there to play the harmonica.
Mackie’s return home was marked with performances at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, followed by an appearance at The Upstage’s open mic Monday, where Jack Reid, master of ceremonies, introduced him as “the man who has brought music to every child in the valley.”
Chimacum appearance
On Wednesday, he performed at Chimacum High School with students from the PIE program and the ICE Program.
Once back in Michigan, Mackie plans to begin developing a program to build musical instruments in prisons and donate the instruments to public schools.
Mackie was recognized at the inaugural Real Heroes Breakfast of the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the American Red Cross in 2003 and was one of five recipients of the first Jefferson County Heart of Service awards in 2006.
