NYS Music 202​1

Category: Festival News

  • Cooperstown Music Festival Returns with Series of Summer Concerts

    The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival returns for its 23rd season with five live chamber concerts throughout August and September. The shows will be held in venues across Cooperstown, including the Fenimore Art Museum, Louis C. Jones Center and the grand Otesaga Hotel ballroom.

    Cooperstown Music Festival

    Founded by flutist Linda Chesis, the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival has been bringing world-class music performances to the Cooperstown area since 1999. In previous years, the festival has featured performances by the Tokyo String Quartet, the American String Quartet, the St. Lawrence (Canadian) String Quartet, Simone Dinnerstein, the Sonia Olla Flamenco Dance Company, John Pizzarelli, and many more. 

    CSMF is thrilled to be partnering with the Caroga Arts Ensemble for our return to the stage… We wanted our first concert to be a gift to the community so that everyone can experience the joy of live music after such a difficult year. 

    Linda Chesis (Festival Founder and Artistic Director)

    The fest will open on Tuesday, August 10 at 7 pm with the CSMF Musical Kaleidoscope, a free outdoor performance at the Fenimore Art Museum Amphitheater. The Caroga Arts Ensemble, led by cellist Kyle Price, will perform a dynamic program ranging from bluegrass and classical to jazz and pop. The outdoor concert is free, but ticket reservations are required.

    Cooperstown Music Festival
    Caroga Arts Ensemble in 2018

    On Sunday, August 15, Imani Winds will perform a program of music for wind quintets. Cooperstown audiences can expect a concert filled with their signature fresh energy and technical expertise.
     
    The Verona Quartet returns to the Festival on Sunday, August 22. This multi-award-winning quartet and veterans of the Festival will perform a program of works by Shostakovich and Dvorak’s “American” Quartet.
     
    Brazilian jazz supergroup, Trio da Paz, will take the Otesaga Ballroom stage on Monday, August 30.

    Trio da Paz in 2018

    The festival will conclude with a duo performance by the violinist Danbi Um and guitarist Jiji on Sunday, September 19. These young virtuosos will join forces for a genre-spanning program including works by Corelli, Paganini, Piazzolla and Ella Fitzgerald.

    Chesis says that this season’s artists are all eager to be returning to the stage and are looking forward to bringing their craft to Cooperstown.

    After such a long period of isolation, we can’t wait to safely bring the community together to once again connect through music.

    Linda Chesis

    For all events, venues will be at limited capacity and masking and social distancing protocols will be in place.

    Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students and children. Tickets for all events must be purchased in advance on the festival website.

    The CSMF Chamber Orchestra at the Otesaga Ballroom in 2019

    Check out the complete concert schedule below:
     
    CSMF Musical Kaleidoscope: A Gift to the Cooperstown Community, Featuring the Caroga Arts Ensemble – Tuesday, August 10, 2021, 7-9 pm (Rain date: August 17)

    Fenimore Art Museum Lawn

    A concert for the Cooperstown Community. Tickets are free and can be reserved online at cooperstownmusicfest.org. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door, but all patrons are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets online.
     
    Imani Winds – Sunday, August 15, 2021, 7-9 pm

    Otesaga Resort Hotel Ballroom

    An evening of chamber music with this Grammy-nominated wind quintet.

    Verona String Quartet – Sunday, August 22, 2021, 4-6 pm,

    Louis C. Jones Center at The Farmers’ Museum

    The multi-award-winning quartet performs a program of Shostakovich and Dvorak.
     
    Brazillian Jazz Legends: Trio da Paz – Monday, August 30, 2021, 7-9 pm

    Otesaga Resort Hotel Ballroom

    A night of jazz with this Brazillian supergroup.

    Danbi Um (violin) and Jiji (guitar) – Sunday, September 19, 2021, 4-6 pm

    Otesaga Resort Hotel

    A duo performance by two young virtuosos including works by Corelli, Paganini, Piazzolla and more.

  • The 31st Bard Music Festival Announces Programming

    The Bard Music Festival will return for its 31st season with an exploration of the life and work of Nadia Boulanger. Nadia Boulanger is the pioneering Parisian pedagogue, composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and indomitable personality who shaped more than a generation of American musicians.

    Through a series of themed concert programs, Nadia Boulanger and Her World pays tribute to one of the most important female figures in the history of classical music.

    Bard Music Festival

    Works will be featured by Nadia Boulanger, J. S. Bach, Grażyna Bacewicz, Lili Boulanger, Johannes Brahms, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Gabriel Fauré, Walter Piston, Raoul Pugno, Francis Poulenc, Jean Françaix, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Philip Glass, Adolphus Hailstork, Dinu Lipatti, Marcelle de Manziarly, Olivier Messiaen, Claudio Monteverdi, Thea Musgrave, Julia Perry, Astor Piazzolla, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Ethel Smyth, Igor Stravinsky, Germaine Tailleferre, Louise Talma, Louis Vierne, George Walker, and Charles-Marie Widor.

    bard music festival

    Weekend One: Music in Paris

    August 6
    Program One: The Exemplary Musician

    August 7
    Program Two: Contemporaries and Colleagues

    Program Three: 88 x 2: Music for 2 Pianos

    August 8
    Program Four: The Epitome of Chic: Paris Between the Wars

    Program Five: Teachers, Mentors, and Friends of the Boulanger Sisters

    Weekend Two: The 20th Century Legacy of Nadia Boulanger 

    August 12
    Program Six: L’Esprit de Paris

    August 13
    Program Seven: Crosscurrents: Salon and Concert Hall

    August 14
    Program Eight: Boulanger the Curator

    Program Nine: Remembering Ethel Smyth and Boulanger’s Circle at Home and Abroad

    August 15
    Program Ten: The Catholic Tradition in France: Clarity and Mysticism 

    Program Eleven: Boulanger’s Legacy: Modernities

    Program Twelve: Boulanger’s Credo

    Check out more articles from NYS Music on the Bard Music Festival here.

  • The Old Songs Festival goes Virtual June 27-29

    The Old Songs Festival­ of Traditional Music and Dance will be held virtually over June 25-27, 2021. Old Songs Festival celebrates folk, Quebecois, roots, Americana and world music from Scotland, Newfoundland, Quebec, Africa, the Midwest, Appalachia, New England and more.

    The old songs Festival

    The roots music featured at Old Songs Festival is highlighted by new music from contemporary songwriters, as well as music passed down through generations in families and/or communities.

    The Old Songs Festival

    The event will take place on Zoom, with evening concerts simulcast on Folk Music Notebook, the “Internet’s Finest Folk Radio” and on the Old Songs YouTube channel.

    Sing, dance, and listen at this highly participatory event for the whole family. At Old Songs Festival, audience members are encouraged to take part in learn-how sessions, sing sacred harp, move their feet to great dance bands, learn Hawaiian Dance, take in a tap lesson or take a Friday afternoon class.

    The Old Songs Festival

    Just like the in-person festival, it will feature over 70 artists and includes “Main Stage” evening concerts, workshops, ‘learn hows’, Dance (yes really), family events, open mics, sings, sacred harp, sightings of Roger the Jester, a photo display of past festivals, and more.

    The Old Songs Festival

    School age children who play an instrument have participated in this year’s virtual “Great Groove Band” and there will be a short video of their performance at the virtual main stage of the festival on Sunday, June 27.

    Featured performers this year include: Sheila Kay Adams with Melanie Rice Penland & Donna Ray Norton • Scott Ainslie • Stefan Amidon • Anita Best • Bourque Émissaires • Joe & Jim Bruchac • Matthew Byrne • Children’s Music Network • Andy Cohen • Guy Davis • Jeff Davis • Dennis Stroughmatt et L’Esprit Creole • John Dickson • Danielle Enblom • Frost & Fire Trio • Bing Futch • Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen • Sam Gleaves & Deborah Payne • Ron Gordon • Great Gambian Griots: Jali Bakary & Pa Bobo • The Great Groove Band • Hālau O Keikiali’i • Simon Harmer • Reggie Harris • Heard • Jamcrackers • Joe Jencks • Hubby Jenkins • JigJam • Ustad Shafaat Khan • John Kirk & Trish Miller • Chris Koldewey • La Croisee D’Antan • Evie Ladin • Frank Lee & Allie Burbrink • Jim Lloyd with Hunter Wilson & Sophia Pucket • Michael Love • Magpie • Val Medve • Will Mentor • Mist Covered Mountains • Emma O’Sullivan • Linn Phipps • John Roberts • Roger the Jester • Sally Rogers & Howie Bursen • Claudia Schmidt • Cedar Stanistreet & Donal Sheets • Stomp Rocket • Rodney Sutton • Toss the Possum • The Byrne Family • The Vox Hunters • George Wilson • Windborne • Bethany Yarrow • Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group!

    For more information and to register at festival.oldsongs.org.

  • Resonance Music and Arts Festival Announces Initial 2021 Lineup

    The Resonance Music and Arts Festival has recently announced its initial 2021 lineup featuring multiple sets from Resonance alumni, including Tipper, Lotus, Lettuce, Papadosio, Umphrey’s McGee and many more. The fest will run from September 16-18 at a new location – Marvin’s Mountaintop Campground in Masontown, West Virginia.

    Resonance Festival

    The lineup announcement comes on the heels of a recent change in location for the fest, now taking place at Marvin’s Mountaintop. Cooper’s Lake in Slippery Rock, PA hosted the festival in 2019, after a five-year run at Legend Valley in Thornville, OH.

    We’re so happy we have a new home for Resonance at Marvin’s Mountaintop. Despite all of the challenges we’ve encountered, we’re looking forward to a fantastic weekend with a ton of incredible artists.

    Casey Schneider – Founder of Resonance Fest

    Resonance Festival will continue its tradition of special sets from a range of performers, including a mountain sunrise set from Tipper and a sunset set from jam-band Spafford. The special sets continue with “TAUKing Wonder,” a Stevie Wonder tribute set and Keller Williams’ “Grateful Grass,” a “psychedelic bluegrass” set inspired by the Grateful Dead.

    Papadosio at Resonance 2019 Photo Credit: Keith Griner

    Known for providing a blended lineup ranging from electronic to instrument-driven music with everything in between, Resonance is expected to stay true to form this year. In the past, the Resonance Festival 2021 has featured art tents, light shows, interactive displays, and scenic views.

    In the coming weeks, attendees can expect updates on lineup additions, visual artists, activities, and more. Tickets are on sale now through the event website with weekend, RV, car, camping and VIP packages available. 

    Resonance Fest 2019 Recap Video Credit: Sacred StoryWeavers

  • Twiddle announces Double Down at Champlain Valley Expo in August

    Scaling back an annual weekend of music and art in Burlington, VT, Higher Ground will present Double Down, with Twiddle performing at the Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Expo on Friday, August 6 and Saturday, August 7.

    Double Down

    The annual Tumble Down weekend, headlined by two nights of Twiddle with multiple bands performing each day as well as late night at Nectar’s and Higher Ground, will be scaled back as Double Down this year. Offering two nights of music along with support acts, fans can enjoy Twiddle’s annual Burlington summer jaunt as they have since 2015.

    On August 6, Robert Banks Trio will open for Twiddle, while on August 7, Gubbilidis and Frends will kick off the night.

    Tickets are $49 advance, $53 day of show, and $79 2-day pass. Gates open at 5:30pm, with the show starting at 7pm. Both shows are all ages, with children 12 & under are free. $2 of each ticket sold will help to combat Vermont’s opioid crisis. Tickets are now on sale at highergroundmusic.com

    Higher Ground has a few other concerts planned at Champlain Valley Exposition. On Wednesday, July 28, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats performs, with The Marcus King Band and Tre Burt. Tuesday August 3 will find Billy Strings on the shores of Lake Champlain, and on Saturday, October 2 Primus will perform, with Wolfmother opening.

  • Opera Saratoga Presents a Juneteenth Celebration on June 19

    Opera Saratoga has announced the concert series America Sings will return to Caffè Lena this month on June 19th for A Juneteenth Celebration, celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.

    The program was curated by bass-baritone Carl DuPont, a distinguished alumnus of Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program who is now on faculty at Peabody Conservatory where he teaches voice and a survey course on Art Song by African American Composers. 

    Opera Saratoga Juneteenth

    Carl DuPont is a highly accomplished bass-baritone and vocalist equally engaged in performing, teaching, and research. Major operatic credits include productions at Opera Columbus, The InSeries, The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Carolina, Toledo Opera, Opera Saratoga, Sarasota Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, El Palacio de Bellas Artes, Opera Company of Brooklyn, and Leipzig Opera. His world premieres include the title character in Dennis Rodman in North Korea as well as Why Peace is Always a Good Idea at Carnegie Hall under the baton of composer Jacqueline Hairston.  

    Opera Saratoga Juneteenth

    In putting together the concert program, DuPont has included prose and poetry – along with an extraordinary selection of music by African American composers –  to create a more comprehensive texture of why we celebrate Juneteenth. Musical selections include songs by H. Leslie Adams, Tim Amukele, Margaret Bonds, Uzee Brown, Moses Hogan, Betty Jackson King, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, and Hale Smith. Spoken word selections include excerpts from The Declaration of Independence, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The General Orders which actually notified the enslaved people that they were free. The program will also include first-hand diary accounts and poetry from formerly enslaved people, as well as newspaper copy of the observation of the first Juneteenth celebrations. 

    The program will be performed by Festival Artists from Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program, who include notable emerging Black singers alongside artists who come from a wide range of other racial backgrounds, many of whom are learning more about Juneteenth through the experience of putting together this program.

    I am glad that the performers at this concert represent a wide variety of racial backgrounds. Some of whom might be performing art songs by Black composers for the first time. Many of the members of the concert-going public will also be hearing these wonderful songs for the first time. That will be a special moment, and I hope the singers feel inspired to continue to advocate for Black composers as well as other marginalized composers, themes, or causes in their careers. And, I hope the audience gains a window into the faith, hope, joy, dreams, suffering, consolation, and frustration of the Black American experience and of our shared history as a nation.

    -Carl Dupont

    For more information, visit www.operasaratoga.org

  • Woodsist Festival Announces 2021 Lineup

    Woodsist Festival is returning to Arrowood Farms in Accord, NY for their 2021 season. The festival is to take place on September 25th and 26th and will be enhanced since its last run in 2019 with more music, more food, and more space. Yo La Tengo and Parquet Courts will be welcomed to the festival as headliners.

    Woodsist Festival

    Woodsist Festival leaders found that because of the unnatural state of the world in 2020, they were listening to slower, more contemplative, more intentional music. This pattern inspired them to add slower artists to the festival, such as 75 Dollar Bill Big Band, Joshua Abrams’ National Information Society, and Laraaji. Other featured artists include Kurt Vile, Kevin Morby, and Woods.

    Arrowood Farms is located at 236 Lower Whitfield Road, Accord NY 12404. Tent and RV camping is available at the Rondout Valley Campground one mile away from the festival site. A carefully curated selection of local Hudson Valley-based food vendors will be on-hand serving all day long. Tickets are on sale here

    The festival’s first edition in 2009 was a collaboration with label Captured Tracks, and was one of Real Estate’s first shows. The most recent Woodsist Festival lineup from 2019 included Whitney, Real Estate, Woods, Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Bonny Doon, Wet Tuna, and Anna St. Louis.

  • Ready For Takeoff: The Heron Summer Series 2021

    Everyone knows New York State Music loves The Heron campground in Sherman, NY. Whether we’re attending The Great Blue Heron Music Festival, Night Lights, The Slyboots Circus, or any other event, there is something for everyone in their summer series, every year.

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  • SummerStage 2021 Lineup Released with Shows Across New York City

    The SummerStage 2021 lineup has just been released, with shows planned presented by Capital One and the City Parks Foundation to begin on June 17th in New York City. The concert series will continue throughout the summer, ending in October. This is the largest free outdoor performing arts festival, so you don’t want to miss it! You can complete a ticket request form now.

    This year’s SummerStage festival centers around the theme of rebirth and resilience, as seen in the season’s artwork. All of the graphics are illustrated by Lyne Lucien, an award-winning Haitian artist based in Brooklyn. SummerStage is a women-run festival with a mission of diversity and inclusion. Since 2019, SummerStage has been transforming the music industry by presenting an annual lineup that features a 50:50 gender balance.

    Performing arts fanatics will be able to enjoy the SummerStage 2021 lineup in various locations across New York City: Central Park, Coney Island, and Marcus Garvey Park. The festival will focus on distinctly New York genres, including hip-hop, Latin, indie rock, contemporary dance, jazz, and global music. SummerStage will also be partnering with Rooftop Films for a free drive-in film and live performance at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

    New York-Centrist artists such as Patti Smith and Her Band, Sun Ra Arkestra, Tito Nieves, Armand Hammer & The Alchemist, The Metropolitan Opera, La India, Antibalas, and Marc Rebillet will be featured as part of the free in-person shows. Benefit concerts will feature artists such as of Machine Gun Kelly, Lake Street Dive, Dawes, Chris Botti, Galactic, and Indigo Girls.

    Free tickets are required for entry to every free SummerStage show this season. Ticket pod request forms will be available three weeks prior to each show. City Parks Foundation will frequently update their audiences on venue safety following New York State and City public health guidelines.

    To get amped up for the 2021 season, take a look at the SummerStage 2019 recap!

    City Parks Foundation helps to make public parks vibrant and welcoming gathering spaces for community initiatives such as arts, sports, and environmental education programs for New Yorkers.

  • White and Blues: Music on the Farm takes place June 27 in Peru

    On June 27th in Peru, NY, just south of Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz (PB&J) will present White and Blues: Music on the Farm at White Rainbow Farm.

    white and blues

    White and Blues will featuring Giovanina Bucci, Lucid (trio) and the Memphis based Ghost Town Blues Band for an afternoon of soul, funk and modern blues. Giovanina Bucci, a rising singer songwriter with a brand new album release, will be opening at 1pm. Following at 2pm will be the immensely popular Lucid (trio) ready to funk it up.

    white and blues
    Lowell Wurster – Lucid

    Then at 3pm, the Ghost Town Blues Band will take to the stage with a show and energy that has been hailed as the best new live blues show in the world. Their album Shine debuted number one on the Billboard Blues Charts and the band was awarded the International Entertainer of 2019.

    white and blues
    Ghost Town Blues Band

    White and Blues is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. 

    At White Rainbow Farm there is a beautiful open area with a sheltered barn stage and more then enough space for social distancing. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket to enjoy the music and check out the food truck, beer and craft vendors.

    Giovanina Bucci

    Limited advance tickets are $25 dollars per person and are available at the White Rainbow Farm, Alpha Stereo and online. Children under 12 are free.

    White and Blues takes place June 27th from 1-5 pm at White Rainbow Far844 Route 22B, Peru, NY.