A new partnership with The Town of Guilderland will bring Playhouse Stage Company to the Guilderland Performing Arts Center Stage (GPAC) in Tawasentha Park this summer. Following its run at Albany’s Park Playhouse from June 18 through July 14, Playhouse Stage’s The Marvelous Wonderettes will play an encore weekend in Guilderland from July 19-21.
All seating will be free on a first-come, first-served basis, at 7:30 p.m. performances Friday through Sunday, and an additional 4:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Playhouse Stage Company has been producing free, outdoor summer musicals at Albany’s Park Playhouse since 1989, and has been presenting musicals year-round at the historic Cohoes Music Hall since 2016.
The Marvelous Wonderettes tells the story of a group of friends who become the impromptu entertainment at their High School prom in 1958, singing the girl group pop songs of the decade in four-part harmony. Act Two sees the friends reunite to perform at their ten-year reunion, singing the music of the girl groups of the Sixties. With beloved songs such as “Mr. Sandman,” “Lollipop,” “Heatwave,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” and “Respect,” audiences are treated to a night of harmonious hits, wrapped around a touching and funny story of enduring friendship.
The production is directed and choreographed by Ellie Francis, who appeared on-stage as Pythio in 2022’s PSC production of Head Over Heels. Long-time PSC associate Brian Axford, will music direct and lead the live, on-stage band for the production. “We are thrilled to welcome Playhouse Stage Company to perform at GPAC this summer and we look forward to a long-term relationship with the area’s premier musical theatre organization,” added Town Supervisor Peter G. Barber. “I also extend my appreciation to former State Senator George Amedore for his generous support for GPAC’s renovation which has helped bring new entertainment options to our community.” The Guilderland Town Board officially approved the Playhouse partnership at a May 7, 2024 meeting.
We are tremendously excited about this new partnership, and new opportunity to achieve our mission making the arts accessible to all in the Capital Region community. Through the support of the Town of Guilderland, all seating for this encore weekend in Tawasentha Park will be available free-of-charge to both residents and visitors. We are grateful to Town Supervisor, Peter Barber, the Guilderland Town Board, and the staff who have worked to make this inaugural year of this partnership a reality.
Tickets for reserved seating for the run of The Marvelous Wonderettes at Albany’s Park Playhouse are now on sale through The Playhouse Stage Box Office at Cohoes Music Hall, by phone at 518-434-0776, or online. The 2024 Playhouse Stage Company Summer Season will continue in July and August with runs of the musicals Legally Blonde and Disney’s Finding Nemo playing at Cohoes Music Hall.
Caroga Arts Collective announced they are receiving a grant award totaling $850,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the construction of a year-round artists’ lodge at Myhill as part of the Sherman’s Legacy Campaign.
Myhill Lodge Performance Hall rendering by Steven Smith.
This grant is part of a capital project funding announcement by NYSCA, totalling over $32 million for 102 capital projects across New York State. At Myhill, Caroga Arts Collective will construct a lodge, including eight bedrooms, four baths, a large wing, and a basement. The plan will provide needed living space, practice space, dining, kitchen, bedrooms, administrative workspace, rehearsal/performance space, and more.
The mission of Caroga Arts Collective is to reimagine the Adirondack experience through the power of the arts. Founded in 2012, Caroga Arts presents over 50 performances and community events each year, welcoming more than 150 artists to the Southern Adirondacks. They focus on revitalizing the region through community outreach, partnerships with local businesses and non-profit organizations, and arts education programming for youth and adults.
“The over 100 projects we’re supporting through this funding will showcase arts and cultural organizations across the state and spur economic development for decades to come,” Governor Hochul said. “From historic sites to new multi-use arts centers, these diverse projects will expand the accessibility and the sustainability of arts and culture organizations while growing local economies, driving tourism and creating jobs all across New York State.”
Recently, the 2024 Caroga Lake Music Festival lineup was announced, featuring over 150 world-class artists and 40 performances. Among the artists appearing this summer is future hall-of-fame guitarist, Cory Wong on July 30. This event will be unique and rare with Wong performing “unplugged” tunes with an intimate string section, and interspersed conversation about his life/music making between pieces. Moreover, a special raffle drawing for a Limited Edition Fender guitar, The Cory Wong Stratocaster (case included), signed by Cory Wong himself will be held.
We are incredibly grateful to the New York State Council on the Arts for their support of constructing a year round multi-use lodge at Myhill as part of our Sherman’s Legacy Campaign. This grant will help us create the supporting infrastructure for year round engagement and programs in Caroga Lake and surrounding regions thus helping further our mission of reimagining the Adirondack experience through the power of the arts.
Kyle Barrett Price, Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of the Caroga Arts Collective.
The Sherman’s Legacy Campaign will help Caroga Arts revitalize Sherman’s Park and the Myhill Campus into an Adirondack vacation destination where music, arts, community, and culture flourish. Constructing an artists’ residential lodge is part of the project’s first phase, which also includes the creation of a state-of-the-art amphitheater.
NYSCA Executive Director Erika Mallin said, “We are grateful to Governor Hochul and the Legislature for their support. These projects are essential to the prosperity and well-being of our creative industry and our communities, especially as we continue to navigate the recovery of our creative sector. This support will help stimulate local economies, catalyze investment in our communities, and help to ensure the vibrancy of our cultural organizations for now and for the future. Congratulations to Caroga Arts Collective, NYSCA is a proud supporter of your contributions to New York’s arts and culture.”
For more information about Caroga Arts, visit here.
Stop Zena Development Coalition is organizing a family-friendly event to bring awareness to the importance of protecting the wild spaces surrounding Woodstock that are being proposed for development with the Woodstock Walk & Rock: A Benefit to Save Our Forest on June 15 at 11 a.m.
Woodstock Walk & Rock: A Benefit to Save Our Forest will take place in the heart of the village. The event is a peaceful walk from the Woodstock Playhouse to the Colony’s outdoor event space, culminating with an eco-conscious puppetry performance by Arm-of-the-Sea Theater at 1 p.m.
Stop Zena Development is a partnership between the Woodstock Land Conservancy, environmental activists and nonprofit entities. The coalition believes the proposed development by Zena Development LLC (formerly Woodstock National LLC) will negatively impact the habitat in the eastern Catskills region. The project includes land designated a “Critical Environmental Area (CEA)” by NYSDEC because of its importance to protect water resources and habitat protection and diversity.
We designed Walk & Rock to encourage families to join our effort to save the Zena Woods. Habitat loss can give children a feeling of despair and helplessness. Being a part of a walk-a-thon to save a local forest gives children a voice in what happens to their future. By proactively engaging in a local issue, helplessness is replaced with empowerment.
Susan Paynter, environmental activist and co-chair of the coalition.
Attendees will kick off the half-mile walk at the Woodstock Playhouse (103 Mill Hill Road). The group will walk up Mill Hill Road ending at the Colony (22 Rock City Road). Those who can’t participate in the walk can still join the group at the end. There, guests will enjoy a puppet show by the acclaimed Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, a mask and puppet theater company based in Saugerties that combines art, ecology, and social action in its performances.
The event is a follow-up to the coalition’s sold-out benefit last October, a concert featuring resident and nationally acclaimed musician Marco Benevento & Friends, which applied pressure to the Zena Development Group (formerly Woodstock National). This and other grassroots activism campaigns stopped previously proposed development by the firm, such as an 18-hole golf course with a helipad.
Advance tickets are available for $15 starting May 10 (free for children 12 and under) and can be purchased here. There will be full-price tickets for sale at the Playhouse for $20 on the morning of the walk. Commemorative T-shirts will also be available for purchase. The event is positive-weather only; in the event of inclement weather, updates will be announced by 6 a.m. day-of on the website and social media, with a rain date TBD.
Sonya Cohen Cramer (1965-2015), the singular vocalist, graphic designer, and art director is being honored again with the new track “When I Was Most Beautiful,” ahead of the first-ever collection dedicated fully to her music, You’ve Been a Friend to Me, releasing on May 17 via Smithsonian Folkways.
Sonya Cohen Cramer was raised in a family committed to revitalizing the oldest songs of the American musical canon. Like her father John Cohen of The New Lost City Ramblers and her mother Penny Seeger, she believed in the transformative qualities of folk songs and traditional ballads. She has collaborated with her aunt Peggy Seeger, uncle Pete Seeger, Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel Littleton, and the folk-fusion group Last Forever. She was the granddaughter of musicologist Charles Seeger and the avant-garde composer Ruth Crawford Seeger, and her godfather was Folkways founder Moe Asch. While shaped by the roots of her family tree, the radiating and clear sound of Cramer’s voice is distinctly her own.
Known mainly for her graphic design work for Folkways, her musicianship during her time in the New York Times-acclaimed folk band Last Forever (featuring composer and producer Dick Connette) was admired by the likes of Jeff Buckley, Loudon Wainwright III, Meredith Monk, and Joe Boyd. The upcoming project reveals her life as both a familial and mission symbol of the Folkways ethos, committed to revitalizing the oldest songs of Folkways Records and the American musical canon.
“When I Was Most Beautiful” incorporates lyrics from a poem Pete Seeger found while on tour in Japan in 1967 and got permission to record in the 60s for Columbia Records. Seeger accompanies Sonya on guitar for this version. The two performed this anti-war tune together at the Library of Congress in 2007.
For more information about Sonya Cohen Cramer visit here.
After an extraordinary 30-year career with the Bardavon, Chris Silva is set to retire as Executive Director on December 31, 2024.
Bardavon, photo by Tim Lee.
Arts Consulting Group will facilitate a national search for a new Executive Director. Board members and full-time Bardavon employees will aid in ensuring that the new Executive Director continues the transformational momentum of Bardavon & UPAC that began over three decades ago.
Stephen LaMarca, Managing Director of Theatre Production, joined Bardavon full-time in 1994 and will retire in December. AnnMarie Faust, Managing Director of Finance, joined Silva and LaMarca the same year and retired in March 2024.
The trio operated as a dynamic and successful team for over three decades. Together, they accomplished much, including twenty-two million dollars in capital renovations between the two historic theaters. In addition, nearly three million patrons have attended Bardavon-produced events over the last thirty years and some of the world’s greatest artists have graced the stages; from Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, and Carlos Santana to Al Pacino, John Legend, Jon Batiste and Yo-Yo Ma. The Bardavon/UPAC education programs routinely reach 20,000 young people every year.
Silva and LaMarca will remain involved with the Bardavon as program consultants and will work directly with the new Executive Director. While they will no longer oversee daily operations, “…we are fortunate to have a great staff, and aspects of all our jobs have been or are being absorbed by our team right now,” Silva stated. He is confident of the organization’s future success with the staff and board they have curated and the dedication they have instilled into the foundation of the Bardavon since 1994.
For information about the Executive Director position opening, visit here.
The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, a trailblazing arts immersion program for early-career string musicians, composers, and choreographers, is launching its expansive 12th season from June 1–14, 2024.
The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, founded in 2013, provides 20 young string performers (ages 20-30) with a countryside residency, a New York performance tour, and a groundbreaking cross-disciplinary workshop with early-career composers and choreographers chosen by leaders in the field.
The Next Festival has supported more than 250 emerging artists. Collaborating directly with major composers and performing alongside leading soloists, Fellows dramatically expand their network. Festival alumni become working musicians, leaders, and socially conscious citizens. Past participants include performers with the Handel and Haydn Society, the Executive Director of Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Le Concert des Nations, Malmo Symphony Orchestra (Sweden).
The Festival supports Fellows through a radical “pay-what-you-can” model, ensuring that talent can participate regardless of financial circumstances. The Next Festival commissions new compositions by established and early career composers, presenting over 75 guest artists since 2013, including Pulitzer, GRAMMY, and MacArthur award winners.
PS21 Performance. Photo by Steven Taylor.
The Festival features nine premieres in two weeks by some of today’s most exciting composers, including Curtis Stewart, Michael Dudley Jr., Rebecca Saunders, and Next Festival Artistic Director Peter Askim.
Two-time GRAMMY nominee Seth Parker Woods, “a cellist of prodigious technical gifts and sharp intellect” (The New York Times), appears as the 2024 Festival Guest Artist. The artists participate in recording sessions of the newly-commissioned works and take part in multi-disciplinary collaborations with composers and choreographers, including Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, along with Peter Askim, and Choreography Mentor Sidra Bell.
Woods has collaborated with a wide range of artists representing the classical, popular music, and visual art worlds and has been nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, first in 2023 as a member of the celebrated new music ensemble Wild Up, and again in 2024 for his autobiographical solo tour-de-force, Difficult Grace (Cedille 2023).
Seth Parker Woods. Photo by Ben Gibbs.
On Friday, June 7, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at PS21/Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, NY, and Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in NYC, Peter Askim leads an orchestra of String Performance Fellows in a program of three new world premiere commissions: Essay #1: Leave the People by GRAMMY nominee Curtis Stewart, …there is yet beauty by ASCAP Award-winning Michael R. Dudley, and a new work by Askim.
The evening concludes with Herencia, a deeply personal ode to hybrid cultural identities by cellist Andrea Casarrubios and the East Coast Premiere of the wildly unpredictable Ire: Concerto for Cello, Strings, and Percussion by Rebecca Saunders with Woods as soloist.
Co-commissioned with the American Composers Orchestra and workshopped in 2023 EarShot Readings, Dudley’s …there is yet beauty is meant to evoke hope amidst chaos, within both the musicians and audience.
Michael R. Dudley. Photo by Anna Marshall.
Curtis Stewart’s Essay #1: Leave the People takes the audience through a multi-part logical argument about the nature of academia in classical music: who is remembered, who is lauded, who is leading the way? Who is used and who is left behind, and does it matter? Stewart was inspired to write the piece after the lawsuits around affirmative action directed at schools. “So, I asked myself: What would American music be without Blackness? What would American conservatories be without blackness? What would American classical music be without blackness?” he said.
Andrea Casarrubios’ Herencia was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization and is the Spanish translation for both “inheritance” and “heritage.”
For this work, my inspiration was not a particular musical ‘heritage’ or genre; rather, it was the artists who would be playing it. I envisioned the remarkable musicians of Sphinx Virtuosi taking the stage to play this piece, and I thought of how each individual has trailing behind them a unique history of unfathomable complexity; an epic that they bring to bear in every moment of performance. I also imagined the way this collection of histories would one day coalesce with a shared intention to illuminate their world — your world — with music.
Andrea Casarrubios.
Askim’s new work is a study in emotional cross-currents – music that is at times unyielding and relentless, soaring and transcendent: breathless, cascading, exuberant, and complicated – but always in motion.
Saunders’ Ire (2012) is the last in a series of three-string works, exploring the sonic potential of a tiny fragment of sound, the trill. The composer says of the piece, “The sonic potential is pushed almost to breaking point, the bow revealing again and again the fast quasi-mechanical manic trilling sound that lies hidden beneath the surface of silence.”
The following week, young composers and choreographers at the beginning of their careers, selected by Aaron Jay Kernis, Sidra Bell, and Askim, are invited for workshops at Gibney Dance Studio in NYC. The Next Festival’s 2024 Choreographer, Composer and String Performance Fellows premiere new music and dance works in a free, public showing at the studio on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 3:00 pm.
This is the culmination of a week-long workshop, consisting of rehearsals, collaboration, and spontaneous creation, aided by mentors Aaron Jay Kernis, Askim, and choreographer Sidra Bell. The composers will guide Composer Fellows in new music to be played by the Festival’s String Performance Fellows alongside new dance works supported by Bell. The workshop’s unique structure focuses on developing new languages to work across disciplinary boundaries, prioritizing processes rather than a finished product.
For more information about the Next Festival, visit here.
Billie Eilish has announced two album listening parties in support of her highly-anticipated third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, set for release on May 17. The free events presented by American Express, and produced by Live Nation, will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday, May 15 in association with YouTube Music and at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA, on Thursday, May 16 in association with Snapchat.
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT album cover by William Drumm.
Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster HERE. Fans can request up to two tickets for the free Billie Eilish listening parties in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Requests must be submitted by Tuesday, May 7 at noon ET. Submissions do not guarantee tickets to the event. Confirmations will be sent out on Friday, May 10.
Described by Rolling Stone as “Eilish’s best album yet,” her third record is her most anticipated yet. Itwill be available on all digital platforms, and in a continued effort to minimize waste and combat climate change; across all physical formats in limited variants on the same day, with the same track-listing and using 100% recyclable materials.
Photo by William Drumm.
The listening party announcements come after Billie Eilish announced her HIT ME HARD AND SOFT tour, coming to Madison Square Garden on Oct. 16, 17, and 18. She will continue her long-standing partnership with environmental nonprofit REVERBon this tour, building on the success of previous efforts, which resulted in over $1 million donated to greenhouse gas reduction and climate justice projects, more than 150,000 fan actions, and much more. Sustainability efforts on this tour will include reducing greenhouse gas pollution, decreasing single-use plastic waste, supporting climate action, and updating concession offerings to promote and encourage plant-based food options with Support+Feed.
The third annual Wilmington Mountain Music Festival lineup has been announced, featuring a diverse lineup of five bands, and the beloved Smoke Show Firedancers as evening entertainment on July 27.
There will also be a lot of local food, beer/wine, and coffee vendors on site to keep you fed and hydrated throughout the day. The Wilmington Mountain Music Festival is a family-friendly and community-minded event, so grab chairs and blankets and get ready for a truly amazing show, the Wilmington way: tons of fun with our community members and visitors.
Acts performing at the festival #1 Bon Jovi Tribute Band – Don Jovi, the Van Halen Tribute Band -Completely Unchained, Taylor LaValley, The Midnight Stargazers, and Merle Jam.
The 2024 NY Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks lineup has been announced. Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, it will take place from June 11–14, 2024.
Photo by Chris Lee.
Conductor Thomas Wilkins leads four free outdoor concerts at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx (June 11); the Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan (June 12); Cunningham Park, Queens (June 13); and Prospect Park, Brooklyn (June 14). The program includes Beethoven’s Egmont Overture; Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, featuring Randall Goosby — who made his NY Phil debut on a Young People’s Concert at age 13 — as soloist; Elgar’s Wand of Youth Overture; the New York Premiere of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol; and works by New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Dalya Shaman and David Wright. All four outdoor performances begin at 8:00 p.m. and conclude with fireworks by Santore’s World Famous Fireworks.
The Concerts in the Parks series has become an iconic New York summer experience since it began in 1965. It transformed parks across the city into a patchwork of picnickers and allowed them to hear classical music under the stars. More than 15 million listeners have been delighted by the performances since their inception.
The 2024 Concerts in the Parks marks Wilkin’s first time conducting the event, making his NY Philharmonic debut in 2015. He has since conducted and hosted numerous Young People’s Concerts, and returns in October 2024 for the Philharmonic’s exploration of Afromodernism on a program that features a New York Premiere by Nathalie Joachim and a reprise of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances.
Following the Concerts in the Parks, musicians from the New York Philharmonic will perform a Free Indoor Concert on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m., at St. George Theatre in Staten Island. The program includes Clarke’s Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale for clarinet and viola; Mozart’s Oboe Quartet; and Prokofiev’s Quintet.
The New York Philharmonic’s annual Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, are always a highlight of our year. It is a joy to see tens of thousands of New Yorkers turn out to enjoy free concerts under the stars, creating a sense of community and shared experience that is rare and vital. We are deeply grateful to Didi and Oscar, the visionary and generous couple whose love of music and of New York City’s parks is essential to making possible the ambitious tour of our hometown.
NY Phil President & CEO Gary Ginstling.
Admission to the 2024 Concerts in the Parks is free, and tickets are not required. Admission to the Free Indoor Concert in Staten Island is free. Tickets are required and are available here.
GRAMMY-winning production house PARMA Recordings announced its acquisition of Albany Records, with PARMA assuming responsibility for Albany operations and catalog administration.
Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians, established by Peter Kermani in 1987, based in Albany.
Albany’s catalog will be available alongside releases from PARMA’s Navona, Ravello, Big Round, and Ansonica Record labels. The acquisition aligns with and further strengthens PARMA’s offerings, adding new depth to diverse recordings. Through this, Albany’s catalog will continue to resonate with classical music enthusiasts for years. PARMA has updated and relaunched Albany’s website, maintaining the presence of Albany’s celebrated catalog with updated aesthetics, new features, and more.
PARMA Recordings specializes in high-quality audio production, social media promotion, digital advertising, website design and development, and multimedia creation. Their international team works with a diverse roster of creative types across several independent record labels to make compelling music and media in an innovative, engaging, and entertaining way.
We are honored to welcome Albany Records into the PARMA family. Albany’s historical focus on excellence and innovation in the arts mirrors our own values at PARMA. We are committed to upholding Albany’s legacy, and to ensuring that their extraordinary catalog of classical music continues to reach new audiences.
PARMA CEO Bob Lord.
Albany founders Peter Kermani and Susan Bush, who will continue to serve as artistic directors for the label, shared their thoughts on the transition. “Albany’s journey over the past few decades has been one of passion and dedication,” said Kermani. “Seeing it find a new home with PARMA, an institution that shares our vision for the future of classical music, is immensely gratifying.”
“We’ve always believed in preserving the traditions and integrity of classical music while also making room for new voices,” added Bush. “With PARMA, Albany’s legacy is in good hands.”
