SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Absolutely Live Entertainment announce the return of the 2021 Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, marking the first live performances on SPAC’s stage since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered arts venues last spring. 

The festival will be headlined by Dianne Reeves, Cécile Mclorin Salvant, Christian Mcbride’s New Jawn, Al Di Meola, Joey Alexander and Artemis, presented by Skidmore Jazz Institute, and will also feature acclaimed local musicians including Garland Nelson Leading “Joyful Noise” And Hot Club Of Saratoga, presented by Caffè Lena. 

Slated for Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27, gates will open each day at 10 a.m. with performances scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. The festival will be presented in compliance with current safety protocols to ensure the health and safety of artists, audience members and staff. As required by the State, all attendees of the festival will be required to show either proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test within 72-hours of the event. 

“Our Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival is always one of the most exhilarating and anticipated weekends of the year, kicking off our summer season. While this year’s festival will look a little bit different as a result of COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, the very fact that we will once again be able to join together on the SPAC grounds for live music feels absolutely miraculous,” said SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol, in a statement.

Performances from noon to 6 p.m. on both days, will take place on the main amphitheater stage. Guests are welcome to bring in food in a clear plastic bag and factory sealed water; there will also be food and beverage options available to purchase on site. In addition, guests are permitted to bring in their own blankets (no larger than their designated pod size), chairs, personal umbrellas or clip-on umbrellas and essential personal items. 

Festival Line-Up 

Saturday, June 26: Five-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves, seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz bassist Christian McBride presents his latest project – Christian McBride’s New Jawn; Indonesian jazz pianist, contemporary bandleader and composer Joey Alexander; and local premier gypsy swing ensemble Hot Club of Saratoga. 

Sunday, June 27:

Internationally recognized guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola; composer, singer, and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant – recently named “Female Vocalist of the Year” by the 2021 Jazz Journalists Association; Artemis – 2021 Jazz Journalist Association’s “Mid-Size Ensemble of the Year”; “soulist” and bandleader Garland Nelson presents Garland Nelson’s Joyful Noise. 

TICKET INFORMATION: 

Ticketholders who kept their seats from the 2020 Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, which was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be reseated in similar locations and contacted by the SPAC Box Office. SPAC Members will have early ticket access depending on membership level, beginning on May 18. Tickets for the public will be available to purchase on May 21. 

Designated pods of two will be allocated and reserved for ticket buyers in the amphitheater, while designed pods of two and four will be available on the SPAC lawn. Amphitheater tickets start at $130 per pod, which seat up to two people. Lawn tickets are available to purchase for $150 for a two-person pod, or $300 for a four-person pod. Single tickets will be extremely limited and available starting at $65 for the amphitheater and $75 for the lawn. Advance ticket purchases are strongly advised as ticket availability will be limited. If available, tickets will be on sale on the day of, but are subject to an additional fee. 

For more details about the event and Covid-19 Safety & Protocols, go to: spac.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Walk past the shop on Phila Street that stands nestled alongside Hattie’s Restaurant and just beneath the legendary performance stage that is Caffe Lena. Here, standing behind the stenciled glass front windows of the woodwind shop that bears his name, there’s a good chance you will find Billy Cole, continuing to do the work just as he has over the past several decades. 

What Cole does is he restores wind instruments. Over the past 40-plus years, he figures he has worked on more than 50,000 of them, from the repair of the instruments of teenagers learning their craft in school orchestras, to the sonic sculpting of the musical tools heard atop some of the world’s grandest stages. Many of the stories are shared in his new book, “With The Band: Memoir of a music shop owner.” 

Cole opened his first shop in 1977. Today, he writes, “I could never comprehend what a wonderful life I would lead when I started out so many years ago.” 

The stories of his tune-filled life date to his earliest days – forging a long-lasting relationship with musician Nick Brignola that was initiated with the repair of a baritone sax, to an insider’s detail of friendships and alliances that includes a community of legendary Woodstock musicians, orchestra members playing with the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and an assortment of traveling luminaries who have graced the Saratoga Performing Arts stage.     

He recognized the importance of the work early on. “Pitch, resonance, and sometimes intentional resistance could be shaped within an instrument to enable the artists to express the emotion in their music,” he writes in a 423-page memoir, accompanied by images and poignant glimpses of his family life, “with the help of my lifelong love and confidant Mary Alice, we have raised our family along with our little shop.” 

After decades in the business, Cole eventually set-up shop in Saratoga Springs in 2004 to, first in a space overlooking Broadway then on to Phila Street, where Cole’s Woodwind Shop is presently located, and regional readers of his memoir will recognize many local names among the stories that shaped the life of this music shop owner.

Billy Cole, “With The Band: Memoir of a Music Shop Owner,” published by Shires Press, available at Northshire Bookstore Saratoga on Broadway, and online via northshire.com. 

GREENWICH — The Washington County Fairground is opening the grounds and welcoming the community back to Old Schuylerville Road. This year they are bringing back some old favorites as well as new events to the community after a year of virtual communication.

Food Truck Fridays kick off Friday, May 7 with local band Kelly & Son. Food Truck Fridays will continue every Friday through the end of July. 

This spring will also host a delayed celebration of the newly completed Horse Arena with arena lighting made possible by the Glens Falls Foundation in 2020. To celebrate the arena’s completion, the Fairground will be hosting new equine events throughout the 2021 season. 

In conjunction with Food Truck Fridays, the second Friday of the month will star Gymkhana Under the Light, a Gymkhana series for all ages. 

On Sunday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be the Horse Tack Swap Meet. Admission to the event is a pet food item for the Comfort Food Pantry. Throughout the day, enjoy demonstrations by the Draft Horse Club and The Tri-County Liberty Club.

These are just a few events coming to the Washington County Fairgrounds in 2021. For more details and information visit washingtoncountyfairgrounds.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Trey Anastasio has announced he will return to the hometown of Phish collaborator Tony Markellis next month for three solo shows at SPAC. Markellis died on April 29.

Attendance will be limited to 30% of full capacity and all seating – including lawn – will be sold in “pods“ that range in size from 2 to 4 fans. Each group of seats must be purchased all together.

Concert goers will also need one of these: Proof of a negative antigen COVID-19 test taken within six hours of the event start time, or Proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the day of the event, or proof of vaccination. The type of vaccination proof required was not specified. For ticket information visit: trey.com/tour 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s flagship in-school program, “Classical Kids,” is set to return in a virtual format. 

Programs partnered with resident companies New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra will take place from May 10-28, and will reach more than 24,000 students and 55 elementary and middle schools in the greater Capital Region. 

New for this year, two engaging video performances that were curated exclusively for Capital Region students will be presented. All 24,000 students who participate in the program will then receive a SPAC Student Lawn Pass, which grants the student and an accompanying adult free lawn admission to all ballet and orchestra performances at SPAC until their projected year of graduation from High School.     

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused SPAC to innovate and reimagine many of our events and performances and our Classical Kids program is no exception. While we typically partner with our incredible local musicians and dance troupes, this year we had the unique opportunity to present ballet and classical music from our very own resident companies,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president & CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in a statement. 

The Classical Kids programs will feature excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Steadfast Tin Soldier, performed by New York City Ballet and works by Beethoven and Dvořák, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra. Both the dance and orchestra programs include an accompanying study guide, developed specifically for students.  Available to stream on demand from May 10-28, Classical Kids is scheduled to serve schools located in Albany, Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Mongomery, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties. 

To learn more on how to enroll your school, contact the SPAC Education Team at education@spac.org or visit spac.org for details. Classical Kids was made possible by CAP COM and Stewart’s Holiday Match Program. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Opera Saratoga has announced the company’s return to the stage for its 60th Anniversary with a season of performances inspired by the iconic novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. 

Working closely with a team of medical professionals and a dedicated COVID Safety Officer, Opera Saratoga will be produced outdoors during June and July in partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Spa State Park, and Pitney Meadows Community Farm to provide three unique performance spaces for audiences to safely enjoy two fully staged productions and a special concert. 

In partnership with SPAC, Opera Saratoga will present MAN OF LA MANCHA, the Tony Award winning musical, featuring Broadway and Opera star Zachary James in the role of Cervantes / Don Quixote; and Opera Saratoga favorite, Kelly Glyptis, returning to Saratoga Springs as Aldonza. Three performances are scheduled on the SPAC Amphitheater Stage at 8 p.m. on July 8, 9, and 10.

In a more classical vein, Opera Saratoga will also present DON QUICHOTTE AT CAMACHO’S WEDDING, a one-act comic serenata by Georg Philipp Telemann with a libretto by Daniel Schiebeler, taken from an episode from Part Two of Cervantes’ celebrated novel, in which the Knight and his squire Sancho Panza encounter some rather strange wedding celebrations as they roam the world in search of adventure. The al fresco production will be staged by Rebecca Miller Kratzer and will be conducted by Michelle Rofrano in and around the Columbia Pavilion in Saratoga Spa State Park, with the backdrop of the forest creating a natural setting for this pastoral adventure.  Twelve performances are scheduled between July 14 and July 18, with performances at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 6 p.m.

The two staged productions will be complemented by QUIXOTIC OPERA, a concert of scenes from other operas inspired by Cervantes’ novel, presented in partnership with Pitney Meadows Community Farm. Two performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. on June 24 and 25.

“As we considered how to best return to the stage this summer, I found myself repeatedly drawn to works inspired by Don Quixote,” said Opera Saratoga’s Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson, in a statement. “ I think we’ve all needed to channel some of the famous knight-errant’s idealism and extreme optimism – and to dream impossible dreams in the face of unprecedented challenges.  Thanks to the willingness and enthusiasm of our partners at SPAC, Spa State Park, and Pitney Meadows to dream with us, we are able to come back together as a community to safely enjoy some incredible music and theater together this summer.” 

Leading up to the Festival, Opera Saratoga will also offer an 8-week online course: Another Age, Another Place, Another La Mancha:  Don Quixote and the Birth of the Modern World. Taught by Skidmore Professor Grace Burton, this course will explore why the story of an old man’s wanderings through the dusty plains of 17th-century Spain have captured the imagination of philosophers and filmmakers, composers and choreographers, dramatists, and dreamers alike. The course will be offered via Zoom, on eight consecutive Wednesday evenings, from May 12 – June 30. 

OPERA SARATOGA COVID-19 AUDIENCE SAFETY PROTOCOLS 
As required by New York State, all ticket buyers will be required to show either proof of vaccination at least 14 days prior to their attendance, or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the performance they are attending. In addition, attendees will be required to complete a health screening questionnaire and pass a mandatory temperature check prior to entry. Audience members will be required to wear masks at all performances, regardless of vaccination status or proof of a negative test. Restrooms will be available with social distancing and enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols in place in accordance with
recommended guidelines. 

TICKET INFORMATION 
Due to social distancing at all performances, tickets are extremely limited this season, and it is anticipated that performances will sell out in advance. At all venues, tickets will be sold in socially distanced pods of two seats.  At SPAC, pods of one, two, or four seats will also be available on the SPAC lawn for Man of La Mancha. Very limited single tickets will be available under the roof of the amphitheater for Man of La Mancha, but single tickets are not available for Quixotic Opera or Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding due to the seating configurations at these venues. Advance ticket purchases are required for Quixotic Opera and Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding. Advance ticket purchases are strongly advised for Man of La Mancha. If tickets are available on the day of performance at SPAC, ticket purchases will be subject to an additional fee.

Ticket sales open to the public on Monday, May 10. Go to: www.operasaratoga.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Jazz Festival is returning to Saratoga Performing Arts Center on June 26 and 27 for two days of LIVE jazz. This summer, “The Hang” will look a little bit different due to COVID-19 safety guidelines and regulations, promoters say. Details about tickets and festival lineup to come. Jazz Fest artwork: by Skidmore College student Madeleine Tyler.   

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Kimberly Hawkey – multi-genre vocalist, instrumentalist and bandleader – debuts a 13-track album called We the Nighthawks on May 21.  The first single, “Slow Cool Water,” will be available on May 7. 

We the Nighthawks pulls from art song, jazz, musical theatre and American songbook to invite listeners on a sonic journey that captures human stories of life, love and loss.

The project was conceived and driven creatively by songwriters Lecco Morris and Justin K. Rivers.  Morris and Rivers raised well over six figures through investors and donors, ensuring the project and story continued to unfold in the same way it began.

Hawkey shares a deep connection with the project’s musical director, Assaf Gleizner, whose orchestrations and arrangements were featured in Stephen Schwartz’ 70th Birthday Concert at the Hudson Theater. On the production side, We the Nighthawks secured the talents of producer, Joel Moss. 

The album was recorded over several days at Dreamland Studios in upstate New York, featuring performances by a full orchestra of 20 musicians. 

We the Nighthawks will be available on May 21. For more information, visit: bit.ly/slowcoolwater.

ROCK CITY FALLS — Seth Sikes, of whom NY Arts Review said, “may well be one of the saviors of the Great American Songbook” will return to The Mansion of Saratoga on Friday, May 21 for one performance only. 

In “Runnin’ Wild,” Sikes will be singing favorites from the Great American Songbook in his own modern style and highlighting songs made famous by idols like Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Liza Minnelli.

Hailed as “the best male singer of his generation on the cabaret scene” by Theatre Scene, Sikes will perform many of the show-stopping standards for which Garland, Minnelli and Streisand are known along with some best-loved gems. Tickets are $45 and are available now by visiting: www.showclix.com/event/seth-sikes-runnin-wild. 

 The Mansion of Saratoga is located at 801 Route 29, Rock City Falls. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails and light fare available prior to and during the performance which will begin at 8 p.m. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Film crews set up a series of shooting locations in the Spa City the past week – Railroad Place and Caroline Street among them – where segments for an independent movie titled “Paint” are being captured. 

The film – directed by wBrit McAdams – features Owen Wilson, Michaela Watkins, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ciara Renée, Lusia Strus, and Stephen Root. The script centers on “Carl Nagle” – a fictional character whom, in visual context anyway appears not unlike the late Bob Ross – best known as the host of the instructional PBS TV program in the 1980s and ‘90s, The Joy of Painting. 

While not the most common occurrence, the Spa City has performed a number of times as a setting for the film industry. 

“Saratoga” filmed in part at Saratoga Race Course, stars Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, and Jean Harlow – the latter in her final film. Harlow collapsed on set during the making of the film, and her unfinished scenes were completed by using a stand-in actress. A few years later, the racecourse made another appearance with the 1947 film “The Homestretch.”  Here, a Boston socialite – portrayed by Maureen O’Hara, navigates across a landscape of various American racetracks and through one rocky marriage. The racecourse also was featured in the 1979 made-for-television drama film “My Old Man,” starring Kristy McNichol.

Perhaps the most prominent appearance of the racecourse, at least in the modern day, was in the adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction bestseller, “Seabiscuit: An American Legend.”  During a week-long shoot following the conclusion of the 2002 summer meet, a crew of more than 200 people settled into the Saratoga region transforming the racecourse into a circa-1920s and ‘30s setting. When the film was released the following year, locals scanned the silver screen for their own faces as film extras alongside actors such as Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges.

A number of Victorian-era homes on and around North Broadway provided the setting for the 1981 film “Ghost Story,” that showcased performances by John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Fred Astaire, and multiple scenes across the Saratoga County region were used alongside additional settings in Montana and California in the 1998 movie “The Horse Whisperer.” Robert Redford directed and starred in the film, which garnered praise and attention for a 13-year-old relatively unknown Scarlett Johansson, portraying a teenager traumatized by a riding accident. 

In the fall of 1990, 3,000 area hopefuls tried out as extras for the filming of “Billy Bathgate.” Approximately one-third were chosen for the three-week shoot at Saratoga Race Course, the Hall of Springs and at the Gideon Putnam Hotel. Film fans snooped around the region for the film’s stars Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman and then-boyfriend Tom Cruise. Kidman was filmed dancing in the Hall of Springs in the Saratoga Spa State Park. 

Historically incorporating portions of the Saratoga story is “12 Years a Slave” (the Solomon Northup story) – released in 2013, and “Saratoga Trunk,” released in 1945 with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.

In 2005, the city provided a setting for the films  “Aftermath” – which featured Anthony Michael Hall, Tony Danza and Chris Penn – and the dramatic thriller “The Skeptic” –  with a cast that included Tom Arnold and Tim Daly. 

Saratoga Springs native Chris Millis debuted the local premiere of his film “Small Apartments” – starring Billy Crystal and James Caan –  in a sold out event at Saratoga Music Hall in 2013, and local resident and filmmaker and photojournalist Charlie Samuels released his award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary “Virgin Blacktop: A New York Skate Odyssey,” last year. 

Some of the rest: “Virgin Alexander” – a 2011 comedy depicts a young man who attempts to stave off eviction turns his Saratoga house into a brothel, and “Isabelle,” is a horror-filled 2018 film that showcases the life of Matt and Larissa, a young couple who move into their dream home in Saratoga Springs.