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Author: Saratoga TODAY

New at The Zankel: SURROUND – Intimate Concert Series Seats Audience Onstage 

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Entertainment.

Tenzin Choegyal performing at the Tang Museum in October 2023. Choegyal returns to Saratoga Springs in November as part of an intimate audience-on-stage series at the Zankel. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Borrowing a page from the SPAC On Stage script, the Arthur Zankel Music Center on the campus of Skidmore College will host three shows in a new concert series that seats the audience onstage with the artist. 

The intimate three-show series, titled SURROUND, will utilize the setting sun as backdrop and showcase performances at 4 p.m. Sundays.   

The shows feature Brandee Younger w/ Eric Wheeler (Sept. 15), EMEL (Oct. 6), and Tenzin Choegyal (Nov. 3). 

Choegyal’s showcase will mark his first concert in Saratoga Springs since staging a pair of stirring performances at the Tang Museum and at the Zankel Center last October. His newest album, “Whispering Sky,” will be released this week. Look for a review of the release in an upcoming edition of Saratoga TODAY.    

Schedule 

Sunday, Sept. 15: Brandee Younger w/ Eric Wheeler (bass) –– Brandee Younger is revolutionizing harp for the digital era. Over the past 15 years, she has worked relentlessly to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists.  In 2022, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy® Award for Best Instrumental Composition. That same year, she was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award and later, the winner of the 2024 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Jazz Album for her latest album Brand New Life.  

Sunday, Oct. 6: EMEL solo performance –– Tunisian-American, NYC-based art pop musician Emel Mathlouthi, aka EMEL, rose to fame in 2012 with her protest song “Kelmti Horra” (My Word Is Free), earning her the title “the voice of the Arab Spring.” In 2016, she performed Kelmti Horra at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, marking a climax in her journey with this powerful song. Her latest album, MRA, derives its name from the Arabic word for “woman” and was entirely produced with women artists from around the world, embodying sisterhood and the musical fight against patriarchy in a male-dominated industry.  

Sunday, Nov. 3: Tenzin Choegyal solo performance –– Tibetan artist, composer, and activist Tenzin Choegyal channels the wisdom and traditions of his nomadic ancestors through his extraordinary vocal performances and mastery of the lingbu and dranyen. Forced into exile, he now resides in Australia, where he continues to blend traditional Tibetan music with contemporary influences, maintaining an unbroken lineage while exploring new musical horizons. The music is deeply connected to Tenzin’s nomadic roots and Buddhist practice, offering listeners an immersive experience that transcends geographical boundaries. 

Tickets are limited –– $20 general public; $5 Skidmore community (students, faculty, staff, alumni, and retirees). Buy online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/zankel/7074 or call the box office at 518-580-8381.

Acclaimed Organist Gail Archer at Round Lake Auditorium Sept. 15

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Entertainment.

ROUND LAKE —International concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor and lecturer Gail Archer will perform 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 at Round Lake Auditorium, 2 Wesley Ave. 

Archer is college organist at Vassar College, and director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she conducts the Barnard-Columbia Chorus, and is a member of the faculty of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. She serves as director of the artist and young organ artist recitals at historic Central Synagogue, New York City.

Her recordings include: September, 2017 CD A Russian Journey,  The Muse’s Voice, Franz Liszt:  A Hungarian Rhapsody, Bach: The Transcendent Genius, An American Idyll, A Mystic In the Making (Meyer Media), and The Orpheus of Amsterdam: Sweelinck and his Pupils (CALA Records).

Tickets are $15. To reserve or for more info, visit RoundLakeAuditorium.org or call 518-899-2800.

News & Notes: Week 6 Events at Saratoga Race Course

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Winner's Circle.


*Key: GI= Grade 1 Stakes  |  GII= Grade 2 Stakes  |  GIII= Grade 3 Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 2024 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course is underway and will continue through Monday, Sept. 2. Racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day. Admission gates will open for live racing at 11 a.m. First post time is 1:10 p.m. 

Week six stake races

*Mondays and Tuesdays = Dark Days. No racing. 

Friday, August 16 

Skidmore: 2YO, 5 1/2 Furlongs – Turf, Purse $150,000
Union Avenue Handicap (NYB): F&M 3&UP
6 Furlongs- Dirt, Purse $125,000

Saturday, August 17

GI Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales:
F3YO, 1 1/4 – Dirt, Purse $600,000

GII Lake Placid: F3YO, 1 1/16 – Turf, Purse $200,000

Sunday, August 18

Bolton Landing: F2YO, 5 1/2 Furlongs – Turf, Purse $150,000
Even Shipman Handicap (NYB): 3&UP, 1 Mile – Dirt, Purse $125,000

Wednesday, August 21

John’s Call (R): 4&UP, 1 5/8 – Turf, Purse $135,000

Thursday, August 22

GII Ballston Spa: F&M 4&UP, 1 1/16 – Turf, Purse $300,000

Purdy’s Summer Concert Stage
The Purdy’s Summer Concert Stage will host live musical performances each afternoon of the season from popular local and regional bands.

Friday, August 16: Rodeo Barons
Saturday, August 17: Big Medicine
Sunday, August 18: Alta Havana
Wednesday, August 21: Hot Vox Trio
Thursday, August 22: The Hawthornes

TASTE NY PAVILION
Every Thursday-Sunday 

New York-made food and beverages will be available for sample and purchase at the Taste NY Pavilion, located inside Gate A at the Top of the Stretch, where fans can enjoy New York craft beers, wines, spirits, cheese and chocolate (must be 21 and over to sample and purchase alcoholic beverages). Featured products hail from Montauk to the Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley to the Adirondacks as a showcase of the state’s robust food and beverage industry.

Trucker Hat Giveaway
Friday, August 16

Alabama weekend gets off to a festive start with the third giveaway of the summer: a red and white Saratoga Trucker hat. This one-size-fits-all cap features a white Saratoga logo embroidered on a red patch above a red brim, with a white mesh wrap around the back.

Lustgarten Day
Saturday, August 17

Lustgarten Day honors the legacy of longtime NYRA trainer Dominic Galluscio with a day to support the Lustgarten Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance scientific and medical research related to pancreatic cancer. Many of the sport’s most prominent trainers will sign autographs for fans at the Jockey Silks Porch from 11:30am-12:30pm with suggested donations to benefit the Lustgarten Foundation.

Military Appreciation Day
Thursday, August 22

Presented by Rivers Casino.
Military Appreciation Day pays tribute to active military members and veterans in appreciation of their sacrifice and service to our nation with free general admission (proper ID required). All veterans and active-duty military will be honored with a special ceremony in the Winner’s Circle.

Family Sundaysevery sundayFamily Sundays feature a wide variety of free family-friendly activities, games, attractions and educational activities each Sunday inside the backyard Family Zone, located near Gate A.

SARATOGA BREAKFAST AND BREEDING FARM TOUR:
Every Wednesday-Saturday and select Sundays

The popular Saratoga Breakfast and Breeding Farm tours, which were first introduced in 2022, will be expanded this summer to meet growing demand. The program will be offered Wednesday through Saturday (excludes July 13, Aug. 24), plus select Sundays, beginning Friday, July 12 through Saturday, August 31. This yearwill feature newcomer Sugar Plum Farm to supplement incumbents Song Hill Thoroughbreds and Old Tavern Farm.
Fans will enjoy a buffet breakfast during morning training at Saratoga Race Course before boarding a CDTA trolley to that day’s breeding farm before returning to the Spa for the afternoon’s races.
Tickets must be reserved in advance at NYRA.com. Each tour accommodates up to 52 guests. Admission to Saratoga Race Course is included in the package.

Skidmore Hires Women’s Basketball Coach

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

David Bostick has joined Skidmore College as its new women’s basketball head coach.
Photo via Skidmore Athletics. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore College announced last weekend that it had hired David Bostick as the new head coach of the women’s basketball team.

Bostick has more than a decade of head coaching experience at the Division III level. Most recently, he was head women’s basketball coach for three seasons at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA).

“I am very excited about the opportunity to lead this great Thoroughbred basketball program,” Bostick said in a statement. “Skidmore College has a rich tradition of being successful on and off the court and I look forward to working with the talented student-athletes and staff to build on that success.”

While a coach at Becker College from 2014 until 2021, Bostick helped lead his team to a 2018 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship, as well as an NCAA Tournament appearance. He won NECC Coach of the Year twice, in 2016 and 2018.

Bostick will officially assume his duties at Skidmore on August 19.

Saratoga Grad Lands College Coaching Job

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.


Photo of Mike Eglintine via Hobart and William Smith Colleges. 

GENEVA, NEW YORK — Mike Eglintine, a 2018 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, was hired last week by Hobart and William Smith Colleges as an assistant Strength and Conditioning coach.

Eglintine was a strength and conditioning graduate fellow at Merrimack College, where he earned a master’s degree in exercise and sport science earlier this year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science/fitness development from SUNY Cortland in 2023. During the spring 2022 semester, Eglintine served as a football strength and conditioning intern at Syracuse University.

At SUNY Cortland, Eglintine played tight end for the Red Dragons football team, which captured two Empire 8 Championships during his tenure. He played in a total of 24 games, catching a pair of touchdowns. In 2022, he was named the Empire 8 Football Sportsman of the Year. Eglintine also played football and basketball at Saratoga Springs High School. 

Ballston Spa Softball Team Wins Tournament

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.


The Miss Scotties Terriers softball team wrapped up their season by winning the Halfmoon 16U Tournament last month, despite only having eight players. The team is part of Miss Scotties Softball, a developmental girls softball league founded in 2006. Photo via Miss Scotties Softball.

103rd Fasig-TiptonSaratoga Sale Shatters Records

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Featured, Sports.


A Not This Time colt was sold for $3.4 million during the first session of the 103rd Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale
on August 5. Photo via Fasig-Tipton. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 103rd edition of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale set new records for gross, average, and median, the company announced on Wednesday. 

The two-session horse sale was held at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs on August 5 and 6, resulting in 154 yearlings sold for a record gross of $82,160,000. This broke the $75,055,000 record set last year. 

The average and median figures also surpassed 2023 records. The average rose from $487,370 to $533,506, and the median climbed from $375,000 to $425,000. The sale also posted an 18.5% reserve-not-attained (RNA) rate, the lowest since 2015.

“It’s been a remarkable two nights of selling horses,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning in a statement. “We felt very confident coming here this year that the quality of horses in this catalog is the best we’ve ever had. I think the buyers proved us right.”

The highest individual sale was $3.4 million for a Not This Time colt, which was the fifth most expensive colt offered in the history of the Saratoga Sale. The colt was sold to Donato Lanni, an agent for Zedan Racing.

The second-highest sale was $2.4 million for an Into Mischief colt. Lane’s End, agent for Pamela Wygod and The Wygod Family Revocable Trust, consigned the bay colt.

Other notable sales included:

A Gun Runner colt out of Secret Sigh, sold for $1,900,000 to M.V. Magnier/White Birch from the consignment of Lane’s End, agent for Summer Wind Equine.

A filly by Curlin sold for $1,900,000 to West Bloodstock, agent for Robert & Lawana Low, from the consignment of Gainesway, agent for Don Alberto Corporation.

A colt by Gun Runner sold for $1,700,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Bluewater Sales, agent.  

A Gun Runner filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Pure Clan, sold for $1,500,000 to Whisper Hill Farm from the consignment of Gainesway, agent.

A colt by Tapit sold for $1,500,000 to Flying Dutchmen from the consignment of Lane’s End, agent for Don Alberto Corporation.

A colt from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Charlatan sold for $1,500,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Warrendale Sales, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised.   

A Ghostzapper filly out of Seeking the Blue, sold for $1,200,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Gainesway, agent.

This Weekend’s Lake George Fest Postponed Due to Hurricane Debby

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Entertainment.

LAKE GEORGE — The “Rock The Lake” 80’s music festival slated to stage at Lake George this weekend has been postponed until September. 

“Because of approaching inclement weather due to Hurricane Debby and for the safety of our patrons, we have decided to postpone the Rock The Lake events until Sept. 14 & 15,” according to a statement released by festival promoter E1 Presents.  

The outdoor two-day concert event was scheduled to take place Aug. 11 & 12, and tickets already purchased for Rock The Lake will be honored for the new dates in September. 

More information regarding the Sept. 14-15 band lineup will be coming soon.

Palace Theatre’s Community Block Party Returns to Downtown Albany Aug. 10

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Entertainment.


Community Block Party Saturday

ALBANY — The Palace Performing Arts Center presents the Palace Theatre Community Block Party. Saturday, Aug. 10, from noon to 4 p.m. in the the area around the Palace Theatre.

The event includes live music, family friendly activities, food trucks, vendors, community organizations, and more.
The Block Party will take place rain or shine, and in the case of inclement weather will take place inside of the Palace Theatre.

Live Music by Justin Henricks Funk All-Stars. A Kids Zone with Face Painting, Balloon Twisters, a Bounce House, Games and more. Free Hot Dogs & Hamburgers. This event is free and open to the public.