SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Saratoga Performing Arts Center will welcome home resident companies -- New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center -- and bring the National Ballet of Cuba for its first-ever Capital Region appearance in a vibrant, eclectic 2018 line-up that integrates great works of the classical repertoire with artist debuts and SPAC premieres. 

The National Ballet of Cuba kicks off the season with three performances of Alicia Alonso’s Giselle on June 6, 7 and 8.

The New York City Ballet summer residency – from July 17 – 21 - features four distinct programs including NYCB’s production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” an all-Balanchine evening, and a program showcasing four SPAC Premieres by 21st century choreographers - NYCB Resident Choreographer and Soloist Justin Peck, NYCB Principal Dancer Lauren Lovette and NYCB’s youngest choreographer, Gianna Reisen, among them. The annual New York City Ballet Gala, takes place Saturday, July 21 and will celebrate the centennial of the birth of both Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, with a special Gala program dedicated to their works.

 “The interplay of tradition and innovation this summer is remarkable, with each program offering a completely unique experience for our audiences,” said SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol, in a statement.  

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s three-week residency, from Aug. 1 – 18, will showcase two weeks under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who holds dual roles as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director designate of The Metropolitan Opera; three new Thursday matinees -- including an afternoon of “Symphonic Shakespeare” led by Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Guest Conductor Stéphane Denève; and a new “Cinema Saturdays @ SPAC” all-ages series with the Orchestra accompanying the blockbuster movies “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope,” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” A finale features a 20th anniversary screening of the film “The Red Violin,” projected alongside Joshua Bell, the original artist on the movie’s soundtrack.

Making their Philadelphia Orchestra and SPAC debuts are the Dutch “Piano Brothers” Lucas And Arthur Jussen and Canadian pianist Serhiy Salov; also making her SPAC debut is young, dynamic violinist Jennifer Koh in Bernstein’s Serenade. As part of the Orchestra’s finale weekend, superstar violinist Joshua Bell will appear with Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. 

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns with a roster of internationally celebrated artists Aug. 5 – 21. Six programs at the Spa Little Theatre include “An Afternoon in Vienna,” and “An Evening in Prague.” 

NATIONAL BALLET OF CUBA: JUNE 6 – 8.

June 6 @ 8PM – Giselle

Giselle                                                               (Adam/Alonso)   based on Coralli and Perrot

June 7 @ 2PM – Giselle

Giselle                                                               (Adam/Alonso)   based on Coralli and Perrot

June 8 @ 8PM – Giselle

Giselle                                                               (Adam/Alonso)   based on Coralli and Perrot

Director of the National Ballet of Cuba and one of the most important personalities in the history of dance, Alicia Alonso is the leading figure of classical ballet in the Ibero-American sphere. Alonso's deeply humanistic interpretation of Giselle is considered the epitome of the romantic ballet tradition. Taking a French masterpiece based on a German poem, once best known through Russian interpretations, Alonso’s spectacularly re-created Giselle now defines the classic work.

Based on a fairy tale about a peasant girl who falls in love with a dashing prince disguised as a commoner, Giselle follows its heroine through a haunting story of betrayal, heartbreak, forgiveness and redemption. The title role of Giselle has been called “the ballerina’s Hamlet” and is regarded as one of the most difficult in ballet due to the intensely dramatic nature of the role as well as the physical stamina required to dance the lead throughout the full-length production. 

NEW YORK CITY BALLET: JULY 17 - 21

JULY 17 @ 8PM – All Balanchine

Square Dance                                                  (Vivaldi, Corelli/Balanchine)                       

The Four Temperaments                              (Hindemith/Balanchine)                

Symphony in C                                                (Bizet/Balanchine)

JULY 18 @ 8PM – All Balanchine

Square Dance                                                  (Vivaldi, Corelli/Balanchine)                       

The Four Temperaments                              (Hindemith/Balanchine)                

Symphony in C                                                (Bizet/Balanchine)

Known for his love of all things American, Balanchine joined the traditions of American folk dance with classical ballet in his work SQUARE DANCE.  Highlighting the dance forms’ common roots and similar regard for orderliness, the work is set to music from 17th-century Italian composers Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli.

Featuring a Balanchine-commissioned score by Paul Hindemith, THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS is classically grounded but with definitively modern movement.  Performed at the first night of NYCB’s predecessor, Ballet Society, on November 20, 1946, The Four Temperaments had its NYCB premiere on October 25, 1948. 

Originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, Balanchine’s SYMPHONY IN C sparkles with over 50 dancers in costumes covered in Swarovski elements featuring a spectacular finale with the full cast onstage. In 2012 Symphony in C returned to the NYCB repertory in a major revival with new costumes designed by Marc Happel, NYCB’s Director of Costumes, and lighting designed by Mark Stanley.

                                                            

JULY 19 @ 2PM – Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet                                                (Prokofiev/Martins)

In defiance of its tragic ending, Shakespeare’s ROMEO + JULIET remains the greatest romance of all time, demonstrating the power of love in its many forms. NYCB’s staging of this eternal classic, set to Prokofiev’s glorious accompaniment, features choreography by Peter Martins, sets and costumes by Danish artist Per Kirkeby, and lighting by Mark Stanley.

              

JULY 19 @ 8PM – SPAC Premieres: 21st Century Choreographers

New Peck (Spring 2018)                                (Bernstein/Peck)

Composer’s Holiday                                       (Foss/Reisen)

Not Our Fate                                                   (Nyman/Lovette)                                          

Pulcinella Variations                                     (Stravinsky/Peck)

GIANNA REISEN’S COMPOSER’S HOLIDAY premiered on NYCB’s stage at the Company’s 2017 Fall Gala making her – at age 18 – the youngest choreographer to create a piece for the Company’s storied repertory.  Reisen is a former student of the School of American Ballet and current apprentice with Dresden Semperoper Ballet, in Dresden Germany.

NYCB Principal Dancer LAUREN LOVETTE will showcase her most recent NYCB work NOT OUR FATE (Fall 2017 World Premiere) for its SPAC Premiere.  Her second creation for NYCB, the work features ten dancers and is set to three movements from composer Michael Nyman’s concert suite of music from his soundtrack for the Peter Greenaway film Prospero’s Brooks.

NYCB Resident Choreographer and Soloist JUSTIN PECK brings two works for their SPAC Premieres as part of the 21st Century Choreographers program.  Peck’s PULCINELLA VARIATIONS (Fall 2017 World Premiere) is set to music by Stravinsky with costumes by fashion designer Tsumori Chisato and lighting by Mark Stanley. His forthcoming work for NYCB, which will to premiere at the NYCB’s 2018 Spring Gala, is inspired by Jerome Robbins and set to a Bernstein score.

JULY 20 @ 8PM – Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet                                                (Prokofiev/Martins)

JULY 21 @ 2PM – Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet                                                (Prokofiev/Martins)

JULY 21 @ 8PM – GALA: Robbins/Bernstein Centennial

Four Seasons                                                   (Verdi/Robbins) 

New Peck (Spring 2018)                                (Bernstein/Peck)

Other Dances                                                  (Chopin/Robbins)

Robbins Tribute, Title TBA                           CREDITS TBA

SPAC’s New York City Ballet Gala will honor the centennial celebration of the birth of both Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein.  The evening will feature two of Robbins’ own celebrated works, as well as Justin Peck’s Spring 2018 ballet, inspired by Robbins and set to a Bernstein score.  The centerpiece of the summer soirée will be the finale performance and SPAC Premiere of a new piece directed by Tony Award-winning choreographer and director Warren Carlyle, which will celebrate the Broadway choreography of Jerome Robbins and have its World Premiere at NYCB’s 2018 Spring Gala.

Set to Giuseppe Verdi’s vibrant melodies, Jerome Robbins’ 1979 work THE FOUR SEASONS, translates the seasons into frosty flirtation, springtime awakening, sultry revelry, and autumnal bacchanal.

Jerome Robbins was a great admirer of the Russian stars Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov, who each famously defected and made new careers in America. OTHER DANCES, a pas de deux created in 1976 for a New York Public Library for the Performing Arts benefit, was specifically crafted to display their legendary technique and artistry. Robbins chose four mazurkas and one waltz by Chopin, the composer whose piano music had inspired him for Dances at a Gathering. Other Dances, through its simplicity and virtuosity, pays homage to both Chopin’s Romanticism and the fluidity of classical ballet technique.

SPAC’s New York City Ballet Gala will conclude with the SPAC Premiere of WARREN CARLYLE’s TITLE TBD, which pays tribute to the legendary Broadway career of NYCB’s co-founding choreographer Jerome Robbins.  The ballet, set to have its World Premiere at NYCB’s 2018 Spring Gala performance on Thursday, May 3, will feature 30 NYCB dancers in a showcase of music and choreography from landmark Broadway musicals that Robbins was closely associated with during his storied career.  Featuring excerpts of Robbins’ original choreography, with staging and direction by Carlyle, the ballet will be set to music and lyrics from iconic scores written during Broadway’s golden age by such artists as Leonard Bernstein, Jerry Bock, Betty Comden, Morton Gould, Adolph Green, Sheldon Harnick, Oscar Hammerstein II, Bob Merrill, Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, and Richard Rodgers.  In addition to Carlyle, the creative team for the ballet will be comprised of a number of award-winning Broadway veterans including Rob Berman (musical arrangements), Jonathan Tunick (orchestrations), Beowulf Boritt (scenery), Toni-Leslie James (scenery), and Mark Stanley (lighting).  Currently represented on Broadway with his choreography for the revival of Hello, Dolly!, Carlyle received 2014 Tony and Drama Desk awards for his choreography for the musical After Midnight, which he also directed.

              

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA: AUGUST 1 – 18

NEW! Thursday Matinee Series:

AUGUST 2 @ 2PM: Symphonic Shakespeare

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Walton                                              Selections from As You Like It

Berlioz                                               Overture to Beatrice and Benedict

Tchaikovsky                                      Romeo and Juliet

Mendelssohn                                   Selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

As part of SPAC’s new Thursday Matinee series, Stéphane Denève will lead a “Symphonic Shakespeare” program of popular orchestral music set to Shakespeare’s most illustrious works. Pieces by Tchaikovsky, Walton, Berlioz, and Mendelssohn will underscore excerpts performed by guest actors of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and As You Like It.

AUGUST 9 @ 2PM: Young Virtuosi: Carnival of the Animals

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Lucas and Arthur Jussen, duo pianos

Elgar                                                   Selections from The Wand of Youth

Saint-Saëns                                       Carnival of the Animals

Britten                                               The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Accompanied by accessible commentary, alongside projections of animal drawings submitted by local children, attendees are invited to follow each section of Saint-Saëns' classic piece while they listen. Young, virtuosic “piano brothers” Lucas and Arthur Jussen will perform alongside the Orchestra following their debut performance the previous evening.

AUGUST 16 @ 2PM: Captivating Classics

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

David Kim, violin

Choong-Jin Chang, viola

Rossini                                               Overture to William Tell

Mozart                                               Sinfonia concertante, K. 364, for violin, viola, and orchestra

Musorgsky                                        Pictures from an Exhibition

The final orchestra matinee of the season will feature DAVID KIM, concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and CHOONG-JIN (C.J.) CHANG, principal viola of The Philadelphia Orchestra, for an evening of “Captivating Classics.” Kicking off the afternoon is the festive Overture to William Tell, irrevocably remembered for its exciting final three minutes, which came to serve as the theme music for the Lone Ranger programs in movies and on radio and television.

NEW! “Cinema Saturdays @ SPAC” Series:

AUGUST 4 @ 8PM: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert

Justin Freer, conductor

Williams                              Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ (complete with film)

The concert will feature The Philadelphia Orchestra performing, live to picture, every note from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™, the first installment of the popular series. Audiences will be able to relive the magic of the film in high-definition projected on the big screen while hearing the live symphony orchestra perform John Williams’ complete score, which was nominated for a 2002 Academy Award for Best Original Score.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™, based on J.K. Rowling’s novel, Harry Potter learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two wizards and possesses magical powers of his own. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he learns the high-flying sport of Quidditch and plays a thrilling “live” chess game en route to facing a Dark Wizard determined to destroy him.

AUGUST 11 @ 8PM: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope in Concert

Constantine Kitsopolous, conductor

 Williams                             Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (complete with film)

Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope will be projected with The Philadelphia Orchestra performing live accompaniment of the iconic John Williams’ score. Since the release of the first Star Wars movie 40 years ago, the saga has had a seismic impact, inspiring audiences worldwide with its storytelling, characters, groundbreaking special effects and John Williams' iconic musical scores for all seven films. His score for 1977's A New Hope earned him an Academy Award for best original score. In Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker begins a journey that will change the galaxy, as he leaves his home planet, battles the evil Empire, and learns the ways of the Force.

The evening will be led by conductor CONSTANTINE KITSOPOLOUS, who comfortably spans the worlds of opera and symphony, appearing in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Royal Albert Hall, and musical theater, leading orchestras on Broadway. Music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra, he also continues as general director of Chatham Opera (which he founded in 2005), serves as music director of the Festival of the Arts BOCA (a multi-day cultural arts event in South Florida), and was appointed artistic director of Oklahoma’s OK Mozart Festival.

AUGUST 18 @ 8PM: The Red Violin with Joshua Bell

Michael Stern, conductor

Joshua Bell, violin

Corigliano                          The Red Violin (complete with film)

The season finale will feature the 20th Anniversary of the film The Red Violin with JOSHUA BELL, the original artist on the movie’s soundtrack, performing John Corigliano’s score alongside The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Academy Award-winning film The Red Violin follows the intricate history of a beautiful antique violin that is traced from its creation in Cremona, Italy, in 1681, where a legendary violin maker (Carlo Cecchi) paints it with his dead wife's blood to keep her memory alive, to an auction house in modern-day Montréal, where it draws the eye of an expert appraiser (Samuel L. Jackson). Over the intervening years, the violin travels through four different countries, where it has a profound impact on all those who own it.

The Philadelphia Orchestra Season:

AUGUST 1 @ 8PM: Festive Fireworks

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Dancers from American Ballet Theatre

Rachmaninoff                              Symphonic Dances

Connesson                                    Maslenitsa

Minkus                                           Pas de deux, from Don Quixote

Tchaikovsky                                  1812 Overture

Opening Night of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s August residency will continue the new tradition of featuring Tchaikovsky’s famed 1812 Overture, complete with fireworks, live cannon fire and dancers from American Ballet Theatre, as the kick-off to the 2018 orchestra season.

The evening will be led by Principal Guest Conductor STÉPHANE DENÈVE, who has conducted more programs than any other guest conductor during the period since making his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2007, in repertoire that has spanned more than 100 works, ranging from Classical through the contemporary, including presentations with dance, theater, film, and cirque performers. Mr. Denève is also chief conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic and director of its Centre for Future Orchestra Repertoire, and music director designate with the St. Louis Symphony. He recently received his third Diapason d’Or of the Year award with the Brussels Philharmonic for the Deutsche Grammophon release Pour sortir au jour, was shortlisted in 2012 for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year award, and won the prize for symphonic music at the 2013 International Classical Music Awards.

AUGUST 3 @ 8PM: The Planets -- An HD Odyssey

Kensho Watanabe, conductor

Theofanidis                       Rainbow Body

Sibelius                               Night Ride and Sunrise

Holst                                   The Planets (including images from NASA)

Film by Duncan Copp

Commissioned by the Houston Symphony

In Cooperation with NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratories

In this unprecedented multimedia event, The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform The Planets from the HD Odyssey film series, featuring images of NASA’s exploration of the solar system brought to life in vivid form with the orchestra’s performance of Holst’s exciting, cosmic score.

The Planets is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst. 

The program has received international acclaim by publications such as The New York Times, stating, “The images in the movie, produced and ¬directed by Duncan Copp, were often ¬astonishing. ¬Photographs from rovers and satellites, radar images and ¬computer-generated ¬graphics were combined to give the audience the impression of circling individual planets and sometimes ¬flying over their awesomely barren landscapes...There is, of course, a ¬film-score-like quality to the music, and combining it with imagery has been done ¬before, though not to my mind with such sophistication.”

AUGUST 8 @ 8PM: Mozart & Mahler

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Lucas and Arthur Jussen, duo pianos

Janai Brugger, soprano

Mozart                                Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365

Mahler                                Symphony No. 4

Internationally recognized Dutch piano duo LUCAS AND ARTHUR JUSSEN will perform at SPAC and with The Philadelphia Orchestra for the first time. Already a sensation from New York to Shanghai, the brothers are in their early twenties and are known for their ability to perform virtuosic repertoire with panache. Lucas and Arthur Jussen’s debut album on Deutsche Grammophon, featuring compositions of Beethoven, won the "Edison Klassiek Publieksprijs Audience Award."

Montréal-native YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN, “the greatest generator of energy on the international podium,” according to The Financial Times, will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga for two weeks, his longest SPAC residency to date. Named Musical America’s 2016 “Artist of the Year,” Yannick renewed his contract with the Orchestra in 2016, committing to lead the ensemble at least through the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he is the Music Director Designate of The Metropolitan Opera and in 2020, will become the third music director in the storied company’s history. 

Soprano JANAI BRUGGER, the 2016 winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Award, and one of Opera News’ top 25 “brilliant young artists” will perform in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with The Philadelphia Orchestra. 

AUGUST 10 @ 8PM: All Bernstein: Celebrating 100 Years

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Jennifer Koh, violin

Guest singers from the Broadway stage

Bernstein                           Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront

Bernstein                           Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium) for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp, and Percussion

Bernstein                           Scenes from West Side Story

Bernstein                           Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin pay homage to the birth centennial of the composer-conductor with an ALL-BERNSTEIN program featuring an orchestral suite from his only film score, On the Waterfront; the Serenade featuring violinist JENNIFER KOH; and scenes from West Side Story. Making her SPAC debut, Jennifer Koh, Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, is recognized for her intense, commanding performances. Collaborating with artists of multiple disciplines, she has premiered more than 60 works written especially for her.

AUGUST 15 @ 8PM: The Orchestra Unleashed!

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor           

Serhiy Salov, piano

Strauss                                               Don Juan

Rachmaninoff                                  Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for piano and orchestra

Bartók                                                Concerto for Orchestra

Born into the exceptional pianistic tradition of the Ukraine, SERHIY SALOV is recognized as an outstanding pianist, whose playing is both energetic and imbued with sensitivity. Salov, who will be making his SPAC and Philadelphia Orchestra debuts, is Artist-in-Residence at the Orchestre Métropolitain.

AUGUST 17 @ 8PM: Joshua Bell with The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Joshua Bell, violin

Dvořák                                               Otello Overture

Bruch                                                 Violin Concerto No. 1

Tchaikovsky                                      Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)

Returning to SPAC for two encore performances is celebrated violinist JOSHUA BELL. With a career spanning more than 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and conductor, he will perform two closing evenings including an August 17 program highlighted by Bruch’s ravishing Violin Concerto No. 1.

THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER: AUGUST 5 - 21

AUGUST 5 @ 3PM: In the Old Style

Schnittke             Suite in Old Style for Violin and Piano

Shostakovich      Quintet in G minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 57

Beethoven          Quartet in C-sharp minor for Strings, Op. 131

Gilles Vonsattel, Piano; Nicolas Dautricourt, Violin;

Schumann Quartet: Erik Schumann, Violin; Ken Schumann, Violin; Liisa Randalu, Viola; Mark Schumann, Cello

In this program, CMS presents three works written by composers at times when they were examining and transforming their own unique styles -- sometimes inspired from the old, sometimes searching for the new, but always in an effort to share their own voice.

AUGUST 7 @ 8PM: Summer Warmth

Haydn                   Trio in A major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Hob. XV:18

Dvorák                 Quartet in E-flat major for Strings, Op. 51

Schubert              Quintet in A major for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass, D. 667, Op. 114

Gilles Vonsattel, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Nicolas Dautricourt, Violin; Joseph Conyers, Double Bass

Schumann Quartet: Erik Schumann, Violin; Ken Schumann, Violin; Liisa Randalu, Viola; Mark Schumann, Cello

CMS’s Summer Warmth program is highlighted by Haydn’s serene Trio in A major and Dvořák’s bohemian inspired Op. 51 String Quartet. Closing the evening is Schubert’s beloved “Trout” quintet, a masterpiece composed for friends, based on a song about a fish.

AUGUST 12 @ 3PM: An Afternoon in Vienna

Haydn                   Trio in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Hob. XV:29

Schubert              Fantasie in F minor for Piano, Four Hands, D. 940, Op. 103

Kreisler                 Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta for Violin and Piano

Schubert              Octet in F major for Winds and Strings, D. 803, Op. 166

Gilbert Kalish, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Alexander Sitkovetsky, Violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Yura Lee, Violin/Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Clive Greensmith, Cello; Joseph Conyers, Double Bass; Ricardo Morales, Clarinet; Daniel Matsukawa, Bassoon; Jennifer Montone, Horn

Viennese composers Franz Schubert and Fritz Kreisler are showcased in this program with their hometown-inspired masterpieces, while Austrian-born Joseph Haydn contributes a trio full of character and impeccable technique.  

AUGUST 14 @ 8PM: An Evening in Prague

Dvorák                 Terzetto in C major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74

Janáček                Presto for Cello and Piano

Suk                       Quartet in A minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1

Dvorák                 Trio in F minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 65

Gilbert Kalish, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Alexander Sitkovetsky, Violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Yura Lee, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Clive Greensmith, Cello

Nationalist composer Dvořák rose to fame in Prague, paving the way for his student and later son-in-law Josef Suk, as well as the highly original Leoš Janáček, who dedicated a number of his works to Dvořák.  This program will transport the listener to those cobbled streets of the old town and back to an era when music served as the voice of the Czech people.

AUGUST 19 @ 3PM: Timeless Masterworks

Mozart                 Trio in E-flat major for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, K. 498, “Kegelstatt”

Lobos                   Assobio A Játo (The Jet Whistle) for Flute and Cello

Mackley               Micro-Concerto for Solo Percussion, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano

Schumann           Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 47

Alessio Bax, Piano; Sean Lee, Violin; Matthew Lipman, Viola; Mihai Marica, Cello; Tara Helen O’Connor, Flute; Romie De Guise-Langlois, Clarinet; Ayano Kataoka, Percussion

This program features timeless pieces ranging from Mozart’s day, when the clarinet was just becoming a solo instrument, to the late 20th century, when works such as this program’s effervescent Micro-concerto by Steve Mackey offer an astounding variety of percussion instruments.

AUGUST 21 @ 8PM: The Composer’s World

Debussy                              Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915) 

Stravinsky                          Petrushka for Piano, Four Hands

Brahms                               Quartet No. 1 in G minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 25

Alessio Bax, Piano; Lucille Chung, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Sean Lee, Violin; Matthew Lipman, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Mihai Marica, Cello

The Composer’s World on August 21, invites audiences to experience Debussy’s fanciful cello sonata, Stravinsky’s exotic imagination through his milestone ballet about a puppet, and Brahms’s ceaseless internal struggle for musical perfection through his intensely emotional Piano Quartet No. 1. 

Tickets will be available at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22 in a wide range of prices. For more information, go to: www.spac.org.

Saratoga County police agencies will participate in a special enforcement effort to crackdown on impaired driving this weekend.

The effort is part of a statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown effort, which starts Friday, Feb. 2 and will end on Sunday, Feb. 5.

“Super Bowl Weekend is historically a deadly period for impaired driving,” according to a statement issued by Stop-DWI NY.  State Police, County Sheriffs and municipal law enforcement agencies will collaborate across the state and be out in force in a coordinated effort to reduce the number of alcohol related injuries and deaths.

The New York State Governors Traffic Safety Committee and the NYS STOP-DWI Foundation have released a Have A Plan mobile app, which provides a timely and convenient resource that enables persons to locate and call a taxi service, program a designated-driver list, as well as education on Blood Alcohol Content levels, information on DWI laws and penalties, and the ability to report a suspected impaired driver. It is available for Apple, Droid, and Windows smart phones. Download the mobile app “Have a Plan” at:  www.stopdwi.org/mobileapp

The Statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign also targets St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day Weekend, Halloween and the national Holiday Season in December. Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving, according to the organization. 

Who: James Mastrianni

Where: Caffè Lena

Congratulations on being elected Board Chair at Caffè Lena Where are you originally from?

- Niskayuna originally. I’ve been in Saratoga Springs since 1994.

Do you recall the first time you came to the café?

- I know exactly when it was. The spring of 1990.  I had a guitar teacher who was playing a show.

You play guitar?

- I’ve been a musician for 40 years, a pianist and guitarist. I’ve played with The Refrigerators, in Dead cover bands, with jam bands and duos with guitars. I have a recording studio in my house and release music of my own as well as produce other folks.

What do you think of the café since the renovation?  

- It’s awesome. I think it has the chance to be one of the best listening rooms in the country - capable of attracting high caliber performers to a great sounding intimate space and in an awesome community. We also have the capability now to be a full-fledged studio and offer production services to artists – off-hours recordings, or live recordings. We can do audio. The next phase is video. If you’re an up-and-coming artist, we can create these videos that go on YouTube and can go viral. So, there’s an opportunity to be a little video production studio as well. That’s what we’re shooting for. We’ll see if we can get there.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

- A professional hockey player. I was a hockey addict from 5 to age 15 and grew up ice skating rink in back yard. But, I couldn’t do both – play piano and hockey. I was missing my piano recitals and it got to the point where I had to choose. I chose music.

If you had the opportunity to play music with anyone, who would that be?

- It’s hard to pick just one. I’m a huge fan of Lake Street Dive. And if I could hang with the guys from Snarky Puppy, that would be unbelievable.

What stands out to you about Saratoga?  

- I think there are some very interesting people and businesses who are doing very interesting things. There’s a heck of a talent pool of very committed folks in this community and that’s what I like about it.

A Saratoga entrepreneur and business owner, since 2007 Mastrianni has served as president of a company that administers federally funded affordable housing programs in 11 counties. What is the vision in the near future for Caffè Lena?

- We’ve built this tremendous infrastructure and now we have a real organization to run. We have to deal with things like human resource issues and health insurance, employee handbooks and contracts. I’ve done these things my whole career - these things you do in business. It wasn’t too long ago, if we ran out of copier paper we would check the bank balance to see if we could buy some paper. We’re a very different organization now. The nuts and bolts stuff, and that’s where the café is now.  

Who would play you in a film about your life?

- George Clooney, of course. I’m often mistaken for him.

Mastrianni was joined by five new Board members the famed music venue: Tom Kernan, Margo Olson, Christopher Shaw, Kevin Veitch and Joanne Dittes Yepsen. They join current Board members Kevin Bright, Eric Brodwin, Michael Eck, Wanda Fischer, Kira Karbocus, Peter Martin, Bob Rehm, George Ward and Brent Wilkes. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A discussion about present-day feminism and the implications of technology will take place 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29 at the Tang Teaching Museum, on the campus of Skidmore College.

Tang Curator-at-Large Isolde Brielmaier will lead a group of innovative thinkers in the discussion titled “#feminism?: Activism & Agitation in the Digital Age.”

In recent years, many have argued that digital media has paved the way for “Fourth Wave Feminism” by offering key platforms for people to come together and organize hashtag campaigns and grassroots movements. Social media, specifically, has allowed people to share stories, maintain a safe space in which to define feminism by working through urgent issues, and enact social and cultural exchanges with others from around the world.

Joining Brielmaier will be Kimberly Drew - writer, curator, activist and social media manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Natalie Frank, an artist whose paintings and drawings revolve around women’s bodies, desires, and narratives; and Amy Richards, a writer, producer, and organizer. Recently, Richards produced the Emmy nominated series WOMAN for Viceland and curated a series of talks to accompany Annie Leibovitz’s traveling exhibit WOMEN.

 “#feminism?: Activism & Agitation in the Digital Age” is part of the Accelerator Series at the Tang. The dynamic conversation series on big ideas and big issues seeks to find new entry points into discussions that veer from traditional paths. As an open and inclusive public forum for dialogue, exchange, and questioning, the Accelerator Series ignites a collective sense of intellectual curiosity and fosters thoughtful engagement with a deeper understanding of compelling issues that have the potential to spark radical transformations.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to: http://tang.skidmore.edu, or call 518-580-8080.

Return of the Dead

Dead & Company, featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer and Bob Weir with Oteil Burbridge & Jeff Chimenti will stage a show at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on June 11. Tickets are $149.50, $99.50, $75.50, lawn - $45, and are available online at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com or Charge By Phone at 1-800-745-3000.

      

SPAC to Host Quintet of Country Music Concerts

Promoter Live Nation has announced five country music concerts that will be staged at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this summer, and sales of a “2018 Country Megaticket” that will allow fans to attend all five shows.

The concerts include: Keith Urban with Kelsea Ballerini on June 27; Rascal Flatts on July 7; Jason Aldean with Luke Combs and Lauren Alaina on July 15; Dierks Bentley with Brothers Osborne and Lanco on Aug. 5, and Luke Bryan with Jon Pardi and Morgan Wallen on Aug. 19.

The Megaticket sale begins Friday, Jan. 26 and goes through Feb. 24, and is as follows: Gold: $695 – Secure the same reserved seat to all five shows in sections 1-7 or 15-18 plus get one premier parking pass per show, per pair. Silver: $450 – secure the same reserved seat to all five shows in sections 8-14 or 19-30; Lawn:  $159 – spend an evening on the lawn with a ticket to all five shows. Tickets available at Megaticket.com. Shows will go on sale individually at later dates. Ticket subject to service charges.

 

Kuinka Performs at Caffe Lena Saturday          

Pacific Northwest band Kuinka performs at Caffe Lena 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27 in advance of a 17-city tour through the western states. The dynamic string band’s new EP, “Stay Up Late,” will be released June 2. Tickets to the local show are $18 general admission, $16 members and $9 students and kids.

 

Funkadelic George Clinton Coming to the Mountaintop for 3-Day Fest

George Clinton, Sturgill Simpson, Alt-J, and Jack Johnson lead a musical cast of dozens slated to perform at this year’s three-day Mountain Jam concert, June 15-17, on Hunter Mountain.  

Mountain Jam will also feature yoga events, an Awareness Village with exhibits from not-for-profit organizations and a children's activity tent (those under 10 are admitted for free with a paid adult). Other activities include a Sky Ride offering scenic views of the Catskill Mouintains and North America's longest, highest zipline.

A three-day general admission pass is $184; a three-day pass with campground access is $219. For more information, go to: http://mountainjam.com/.  

 

Avant Folk Duo Bringing Sound and Verse to Saratoga and Schenectady

Billed as an “avantgarde folk duo,” and sporting impeccable influences that run the gamut from Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk to Patti Smith, Anna & Elizabeth will be stage a show at Taylor Music Center at Union College on Feb. 23 and at Caffe Lena on April 20. The duo will performs new music from their upcoming Smithsonian Folkways debut, “The Invisible Comes to Us,” which is out March 30. Tickets for the Caffe Lena show are $22 general admission/ $ 20 members, and $11 students and kids.  

 

The Championship Tour at SPAC

Kendrick Lamar with special guests: Schoolboy Q, Sza, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, Sir, Lance Skiiwalker and Zacari, will perform at SPAC June 9. Tickets are $125, $89.50, $49.50, $39.50, lawn $35 and available online at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com or Charge By Phone at 1-800-745-3000.

 

Sawyer Fredericks to Perform Sunday on Live TV Fundraiser

ALBANY - Singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks will perform live during the #518Gives televised fundraiser to benefit the Center for Disability Services on Sunday, Jan. 28.

Fredericks is scheduled to appear at 5:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. and the broadcast airs from noon to 7 p.m. from the Radisson Hotel Albany, 205 Wolf Road, in Colonie. The all live, all local show airs on WXXA/FOX23 (cable channel 8, or check listings). All proceeds support the Center and its divisions, Down Syndrome Aim High Resource Center, Life Quality Solutions Incubator, Prospect Center in Queensbury and St. Margaret’s Center in Albany.

The Center is celebrating 76 years of service to the community in 2018 and offers opportunities for achievement, hope and innovation to people with disabilities and their families. Text 518Gives to 41444 to donate or give online at www.cfdsny.org. Call 518-459-7070 to make a pledge that day to benefit the Center. For more information, search #518Gives, or go to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @cfdsny.

by Thomas Dimopoulos

Saratoga TODAY

City Council

- The City Council this week unanimously approved two additions to the city’s existing Rules of Conduct for Council meetings. The first identifies agenda items determined to not require council discussion – which are typically singularly listed on the “regular meeting agenda” and require line-reading - and instead places them on the “consent agenda” - which is approved en masse. The move is expected to result in some time-saving measures during public council meetings.      

The second addition allows the mayor the authority to declare an immediate meeting recess should the conduct of any person “impede the Council from conducting public business.” If order cannot be maintained following the recess, the council meeting may then be declared adjourned, until a future date. 

- The Saratoga Springs Recreation Commission, a 7-member mayor-appointed board of community volunteers, announced the following programs and leagues will take place 2018: Registration for the recreation department’s Soccer League and Spring Program will begin Jan. 29.  Volunteer coaches and paid referees are needed.

Camp Saradac registration begins Feb. 26 for city residents, and March 19 for all residents. 

Future registration dates: Summer programs - April 9; Fall soccer – June 4; Fall programs – Aug. 6; Intro to Ice and Basketball – Sept. 4, and winter 2018 program registration begins Nov. 5.  

- Mayor Kelly announced the State of the City address will be held at the Saratoga Springs City Center at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1. Kelly also thanked the City Center of waiving the venue usage fee.

- Supervisor Matt Veitch reported a Jan. 9 meeting was staged with the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation to enable low-interest financing for a new science building at Skidmore College. The amount of financing asked for was $35 million, up to a $42 million cap, Veitch said. The overall cost of the new building is anticipated to be approximately $65 million. “So, we’re providing low-interest financing for about half the project,” Veitch explained.

CRC provides financing for expansion and construction projects and had previously been involved in the financing and re-financing of local developments such as the expansion at Saratoga Hospital, the updates to the Raymond Watkins apartments and for a St. Peter’s Hospital project. The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the measure Tuesday, Veitch said.

Planning Board

The city’s Planning Board is scheduled to consider a variety of large-scale proposal applications this week. They include:

- Rip Van Dam, 353 Broadway. Site plan modification: increasing room count from 142 rooms to 152 rooms; slight reduction of footprint, bringing building to the sidewalk; eliminating proposed sixth-floor ballroom and replacing it with a pool and a restaurant.   

- Adelphi Hotel Partners, owners of property at 19/23 Washington St.: SEQR consideration of lead agency status and coordinated review for construction of 62,567 square-foot hotel and spa.

- Ballston Avenue Townhouses, at 96 and 116 Ballston Ave/ Route 50. Residential construction, site plan review. 

- Spencer Subdivision, Kaydeross Park Road and Arrowhead Road. Proposed 22-lot residential subdivision totaling approximately 12.63 acres.

- Regatta View, Phase 3, Union Avenue & Dyer Switch Road & Regatta View Drive: Site plan review for construction of 24 residential units within the Interlaken PUD District.

- 79 Henry Street: renovation of building. The renovation had initially received Planning Board approval in 2014; there are proposed changes to the approved building design.

- Earlier this month, the city Zoning Board of Appeals upheld its May 2017 interpretation that a proposed new Code Blue permanent shelter on Walworth Street is zoning compliant. The Planning Board is expected to rule on the project’s final approval, although that vote did not appear among the Board’s agenda items this week. The Planning Board is slated to next convene for a full meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at City Hall.

I was 12 years old and sprawled across the back seat of the family station wagon – a big-finned, hardtop machine with wicked tail lights and heavy metal side panels painted the color of wood. Dad sat in the driver’s seat, directly in front of me, losing his mind.

My sister and I had reached the age when promises of ice cream sodas and enticement of egg creams in exchange for orderly behavior – can you just sit still, for five minutes, please! – no longer carried significance. If we were going to be bribed into silence, it was going to take cash. Five bucks apiece, to be precise. Our palms dutifully greased with paper greenbacks depicting a serious-looking Abe Lincoln, we giddily trotted into the department store. It was a momentous occasion: each of us setting out to purchase our first record album. Dad waited in the car. My sister chose an album by The Beatles: love, love, love, blah, blah, blah. I made a beeline for the new releases. The Rolling Stones. Sticky Fingers.

I cradled it in my arms, this inspired 12-inch by 12-inch platter, double-wrapped in an opaque shopping bag, the contents within filled with strut and swagger and songs about slave-owners and demon lives and drugs, salivating Pavlovian dogs, mad, mad days on the road and nightdreams of sins and of lies and living after we’ve died. 

“Beatles, very nice,” said dad, during the unveiling of the albums in the family station wagon. “And you?”

He gazed over the back of the album jacket first, which was festooned with a bright sticker that depicted a big red mouth and a long unfurling tongue. It was the album’s front side that got the more immediate reaction. Here was a near life size snapshot of a human torso wearing a pair of jeans upon which was fixed a working zipper. When unzipped, the jacket revealed an inner-jacket picture of a pair of cotton briefs. To this day I’m not sure what dad said when examining the zipper-front, other than the sound of the words seemed to emanate from somewhere deep in the gut. The jargon itself was a mash-up of words that mixed phrases from the Old Country, new American slang and some otherworld language yet-to-be invented. 

Of course, immediately, I was hooked.

“God knows what I’m on about on that song,” Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone magazine many years later, when asked about his lyrics for the album’s first track, “Brown Sugar.” “It’s such a mishmash,” Jagger said.  “All the nasty subjects in one go.”

The Rolling Stones debuted a rough working version of “Brown Sugar” at the Altamont festival in 1969 - the first song in the setlist performed immediately after that infamous stabbing captured in the film “Gimme Shelter.” Despite the karmic baggage, when it was finally released as a single a year-and-a-half later, it climbed up the American charts and all the way to number one, displacing Three Dog Night’s six-week cling to the top of the charts - with “Joy to the World” of all things - and provided a daring counterpoint to chart-topping snoozers by Carole King - “It’s Too Late,” James Taylor -“You’ve Got A Friend,” and the Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” - that would soon follow.       

“Sticky Fingers” begins, as most good things do, with a succession of scything Keith-chords, adds a dose of heavy horns, and a killer rhythm section highlighted by the booming of Charlie bass-drum beats, as Mick Jagger releases the pent-up verse: Gawlko slayship bownfocottan feels/ sawld in-a-mawket-down in New Awleens…  

The album was released at an important time in popular rock and roll history: the Beatles had broken up, Bob Dylan a recluse and the trippy-hippy ‘60s were over. ‘Sticky Fingers’ boasts 10 songs in all, and not a throwaway tune in the bunch. There is the acoustic beauty of songs like “Wild Horses” and “Moonlight Mile,” the Gram Parsons-inspired country-rock-and-tonk of “Dead Flowers,” the heavy horn and musical jam explorations of “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” and the solemn hair-on-your-neck at attention moodiness of “Sister Morphine.”

The Rolling Stones classic 1971 album "Sticky Fingers" is the focus of the next Rochmon Record Club Listening Party, which takes place Tuesday, Jan. 16 at Caffe Lena. I can’t wait to see and hear what Rochmon’s got lined up for the night. Doors at 6:30 p.m. and show time is at 7. A word of advice: If you want a seat, get there early. A $5 donation is suggested. Donations go to the restoration funds of Caffe’ Lena and Universal Preservation Hall.