Music

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals returning to SLU

February 3, 2013 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Grace Potter returns to the St. Lawrence University campus next Sunday for a 10-year anniversary concert with her band, the Nocturnals. The group was formed at SLU. Photo courtesy Williams + Hirakawa.

Grace Potter found her voice and her passion at St. Lawrence University — potent ingredients for the singer who USA Today last summer called “the best female rock singer in the country.”

So her return to the Canton campus next Sunday, as leader of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, has special meaning for her.

“Having this be a part of our history and being able to pay tribute to such a big part of why we are, who we are and where we came from is a great way to round out our 10-year anniversary,” she said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Up Front Tagged With: arts, Canton, Featured Post, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Music, St. Lawrence University

‘Tis the Season’ to sing and slow down with Trinity Series

December 10, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

A musical duo invites the public to pause next Sunday to carry a tune instead of the pressures of the holiday season.

“There’s sort of a dichotomy at Christmas,” said Richard E. Probert, director and founder of Sackets Harbor Vocal Arts Ensemble, a group that has expanded to include singers from throughout Jefferson County. “On one hand, you have the retail side of Christmas. This is the other side of it, the more meaningful and quiet side.”

The Trinity Concert Series will present “’Tis the Season: ‘Messiah’ & Christmas Carol Sing-In” at 3 p.m. Sunday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 227 Sherman St.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Up Front, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Music, Trinity Concert Series

Q&A: Gretchen Koehler inducted into Fiddlers Hall of Fame

November 28, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Violin/fiddle instructor and performer Gretchen Koehler, the latest inductee into the New York State Fiddlers Hall of Fame, sits on a piano bench with her beloved string instruments at her home in Potsdam. Photo by Jason Hunter/Watertown Daily Times.

WHO: Gretchen P. Koehler, Potsdam, is the latest inductee into the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame at the North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame and Museum in Osceola, Lewis County.

Ms. Koehler, a native of Westfield, Mass., was nominated by fellow musicians who are members of the North Country Fiddlers Association. Ms. Koehler also is a fiddle instructor.

Her latest recording, “The Fiddlers Three,” is a collection of old-time fiddle tunes in three-part harmony with Donald Woodcock and her sister, Rebecca Koehler. She also has recorded a Celtic CD of fiddle music, “Parallel Lines,” with her sister.

When did you begin playing the fiddle and what attracted you to the instrument?

“I began to play the violin in kindergarten. There was a demonstration at school and an invitation to enroll in free Suzuki violin lessons. They gave the kids a flyer to take home. My mom said that she was amazed that I gave her the paper when I got home from school. The musicians made a real impression on me. Soon after, we went to a small fiddle contest, not far from our home. I loved the music and met a young fiddler (Craig Eastman, who plays with Steve Martin’s band The Steep Canyon Rangers) who lived only a few houses away from me. I started going over to his house and he taught me tunes by ear in his living room.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music Tagged With: Featured Post, North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame and Museum

Symphony Syracuse to cease operations

October 24, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

In a press release issued early Wednesday, Jon Garland, chairman of the Symphony Syracuse Foundation, announced that the symphony will cease operations.

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Filed Under: Arts, Music, Up Front, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Musical Associates of Central New York, Symphony Syracuse

NPR’s Michelle Norris to discuss memoir in Potsdam

October 9, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

National Public Radio host Michele Norris, author of ‘The Grace of Silence, A Family Memoir,’ will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall on campus at SUNY Potsdam. Admission is free.

POTSDAM — National Public Radio host Michele Norris, one of the most respected voices in American journalism, will visit SUNY Potsdam for a public discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall at the college’s Crane School of Music.

Ms. Norris, the author of “The Grace of Silence: A Family Memoir,” will speak to more than 600 freshmen who read her book as part of SUNY Potsdam’s nationally recognized First-Year Success Seminars.

“The Grace of Silence” is a memoir by the co-host of National Public Radio’s“All Things Considered.” While exploring the hidden conversation on race unfolding throughout America in the wake of President Obama’s election, Ms. Norris discovered that there were painful secrets within her own family that had been willfully withheld.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Up Front, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Michele Norris, National Public Radio

Orchestra of NNY celebrating 25 years

October 1, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Kenneth B. Andrews, musical director of the Orchestra of Northern New York, said some of the dedicated musicians in the orchestra live hours away from its Potsdam base.

POTSDAM — Kenneth B. Andrews was told the project he envisioned for Northern New York couldn’t be accomplished.

“I had heard from so many people that it would be impossible,” Mr. Andrews said. “I was told by countless people that it wouldn’t last one season — that it had been tried many times.”

On the last weekend of October, the “impossible” will be celebrated when the 25th season begins for the Orchestra of Northern New York. Mr. Andrews has been the orchestra’s musical director since its beginning.

Fittingly, the first concert of the season, to be staged in Potsdam on Oct. 27 and Watertown on Oct. 28, will be one of triumph.

Mr. Andrews said the orchestra had often thought about performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony but put it on the back burner.

DPAO presents ‘The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber’

September 25, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Sarah K. Sharlow, Chaumont, will sing a selection from ‘Evita’ at the Oct. 6 ‘The Music of Andrew Loyd Webber’ show sponsored by the Disabled Persons Action Organization.

The Disabled Persons Action Organization often combines national and local talent for its annual fall concert. But this year’s show stands out for the organization.

“This year has the potential to be one of the greatest shows we’ve ever done,” DPAO board member and volunteer Joseph L. Rich said.

In an interview at the Times, Mr. Rich was seated next to David Elmer, the newly elected president of the Northern Choral Society. Mr. Elmer also spoke enthusiastically of the Oct. 6 “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” concert that will bring singers from Broadway and the north country to the stage of Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St.

DPAO and Northern Choral have never worked together before, Mr. Rich noted.

“I’ve admired Northern Choral for a long time, especially the special performances they do during the holiday season,” said Mr. Rich, the former chief executive of DPAO. “I just want to showcase the talent that we have in this area.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Disable Persons Action Organization, Northern Choral Society

Season set for seventh annual Trinity Concert Series

September 15, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Violinist Olga Caceanova performs Feb. 17 as part of the Trinity Concert Series.

For the last six years, people have grown to expect something from Kyle A. Ramey. He’s told such when he’s stopped around town.

“It’s become almost expected that we’re going to have a series,” the organist and choir master at Trinity Episcopal Church said. “People are looking for it now.”

Nothing is guaranteed these days, especially when the arts and budget cutbacks are involved, but Trinity Episcopal Church and its annual series have become the reliable go-to place in Watertown for music, mostly classical, performed by artists from around the world. The series also has become a showcase for local singers and musicians.

“It takes a lot of effort with a lot of people involved,” Mr. Ramey said. “It’s moving so much more smoothly than it used to. We’ve worked out the kinks over the years.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Up Front, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Music, Trinity Concert Series

Clayton Country Jam Thursday, Friday and Saturday

September 11, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

The Eagles tribute act Hotel California will perform Friday at the Clayton Country Jam.

CLAYTON — A handful of local charities will benefit from the second annual Clayton Country Jam Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Clayton Opera House, a musical fundraiser which the organizer says features three of the top “tribute acts” in the country.

The event was created last year by Clayton native Bruce T. (“Mac”) MacFarlane, who moved back to this area about four years ago.

Mr. MacFarlane is the son of John C. MacFarlane, who died in 2007. John C. owned the Youngs Drug Products Corp., a company based in Piscataway, N.J., for 45 years before his retirement in 1985. In 1997 Mr. MacFarlane and his wife, Lois Jean, donated the farm buildings on Route 12E and 130 acres of the farmland at Zenda off Route 12E to the Thousand Islands Land Trust.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Music, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Clayton, Country Jam, Featured Post, Music

Chopin Society holds 10th annual T.I. International Piano Competition

September 10, 2012 By NNYBiz Leave a Comment

Victoria C. Ruggiero, Lancaster, takes a deep breath Sunday as she nears the end of her performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 in the junior division of the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition in Cape Vincent. Photo by Amanda Morrison.

CAPE VINCENT — The sound of passionate piano music fluttered through willow trees this weekend at Maple Grove Bed-and-Breakfast, 596 W. Broadway, which overlooks the St. Lawrence River.

Sunday was the last day of competition for 16 young musicians at the 10th annual Thousand Islands International Piano Competition sponsored by the Chopin Society of the Thousand Islands and the Cape Vincent Arts Council. To secure a spot in the three-day competition, the piano players needed a glowing recommendation from their instructors.

Many contestants came from elite schools such as The Juilliard School, New York City.

Some have been perfecting their skills since they first were able to speak full sentences, and many of them have competed in major cities throughout the world.

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