Doris Kolb Women in Music Series – KT Tunstall wsg Beth Bombara
Bradley University’s Doris Kolb Women in Music Concert Series – KT Tunstall wsg Beth Bombara at Dingeldine Music Center
Come join us for a great evening of music in the lovely Dingeldine Music Center featuring KT Tunstall with special guest Beth Bombara. This concert is part of the Doris Kolb Women in Music Concert Series under the direction of the Bradley University School of Music Business.
Since scoring a worldwide smash with her debut album Eye to The Telescope in 2004, which went on to sell over 5 million copies, and just celebrated its 20th anniversary, KT Tunstall has remained at the forefront of UK singer- songwriter talent. Tunstall outsold every other female artist in the UK in 2005, won the 2006 Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, an Ivor Novello Best Song award for her huge, self-penned hit ‘Suddenly I See’, and a Q award for Track of the Year. She also landed a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and lent her tunes to a host of movies and TV shows (‘Suddenly I See’, used in the iconic opening scene of Meryl Streep flick ‘The Devil Wears Prada’). Several critically acclaimed albums were released in the years that followed, culminating in a trilogy of albums on the theme of Mind, Body, and Soul: 2016’s Top 10 album KIN, WAX in 2018 and most recently, NUT (2022).
KT has toured and collaborated with a dizzying array of superb artists including The Pretenders, Simple Minds, Hall and Oates, Roger Daltrey and Barenaked Ladies. Her many awards include Inspirational Artist gong at the Women in Music Awards and most recently, earlier in 2024, a prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection. 2025 saw her perform a collection of ‘Eye to The Telescope’ 20th Anniversary Shows, including a duo of electric gigs in Glasgow (Royal Concert Hall and Barrowlands) as part of Celtic Connections, as well as her own headline show at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on June 23rd – her 50th birthday. A star-studded celebration, the highly praised show featured special guest appearances from Sir Roger Daltrey, Jools Holland, Mel C, Natalie Imbruglia and Rick Astley. KT has also written the music for the acclaimed stage musical of classic 90’s movie “Clueless”, which opened in London’s West End in February 2025 and will tour this year as well as several other forthcoming theatre projects, to be announced.
After studying music in college, Beth Bombara began playing in other people’s bands. It speaks to the depth of her musicianship that she played guitar and percussion in one band, bass in another project, and keys in yet another. So, just in case you weren’t aware – Bombara has talent and ears way beyond those of your average singer-songwriter.
Bombara spent years on the road in other bands before encouragement from peers led her to start writing and performing her own music. “I never set out to be a lead singer,” she admits. “I wasn’t comfortable being in the spotlight like that. I struggled with anxiety and talking into a microphone just froze me up.” Yet the songs were there. So Bombara slowly started performing her own material, watering the seeds that would grow into her own flourishing career. After releasing her first album, she was invited to perform in front of 10,000 people at the Missouri Botanical Gardens’ Whitaker Music Festival, and that was a breakthrough moment for her as a performer. “I figured, if I can do that, I can do anything.”
This concert is part of the Doris Kolb Women in Music Concert Series. Dr. Doris K. Kolb was a nationally-renowned chemical educator and affiliate professor emeritus of the Mund Lagowski Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. In addition to her many contributions and accolades in the field of chemical education, Dr. Kolb was an advocate of women’s rights and an avid supporter of the arts.
Concerts are held at the Dingeldine Music Center on the campus of Bradley University. Dingeldine is a beautiful performance facility that was built as a church in the late 1800’s. No food or drink is allowed in the recital hall.