Lowville, NY, May 01, 2013 — World-renowned soprano Lisa Vroman took a break from concerts and musical tours to return to her native North Country this spring.

Vroman, who grew up in Adams, just south of Watertown, and graduated from SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, hosted a workshop for dozens of young singers in Lewis and Jefferson counties. The students auditioned before a panel of judges, including Vroman, in an event dubbed "Broadway Idol."

Some of the top students got an opportunity to sing on stage with Vroman at Lowville Academy as part of the Black River Valley Concert Series. Competition aside, for many of the students it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet a Broadway star with local roots.  Go to full article

Apr 30, 2013 — An anti-bullying organization will use a play written by a St. Lawrence University theater professor as part of its "peaceful schools" tour this spring.

SLU Associate Professor of Performance and Communication Arts Ann Marie Gardinier Halstead, is the author of the one-act play, Have you Filled a Bucket Today?. She says schools and parents seem eager to use the arts and creative ways to address bullying in schools.

Based on Carol McCloud's popular children's book of the same name, the play also emphasizes that bullying is wrong. The organization, Peaceful Schools, will perform the play at schools in northern and central New York throughout the 2013-2014 school year.

Halstead told Todd Moe that she first heard about McCloud's book at a meeting at her son's school, and was thrilled when McCloud gave her permission to adapt it as a play.  Go to full article

Apr 25, 2013 — The movie world is changing the way it makes films. Hollywood studios are going digital and later this year will no longer release films on film. Movie projectors are disappearing during this digital revolution. For most small theaters, the price to upgrade to digital equipment can be staggering, and the change is putting many in a very difficult financial situation -- upgrade costs are as high as $100,000.

The Adirondack Film Society and Adirondack North Country Association are kicking off a campaign Friday night at the Palace Theatre in Lake Placid to raise money to help local theaters complete the digital upgrades needed to continue to operate. Todd Moe has more on the Go Digital or Go Dark world premiere.  Go to full article

Apr 25, 2013 — The Orchestra of Northern New York continues its 25th anniversary season with two concerts this weekend featuring the music of love: Tchaikovsky's Overture to Romeo and Juliet, and Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.

The spring concerts will be presented Saturday night (7:30) in SUNY Potsdam's Hosmer Hall and Sunday afternoon (3:00) at the Dulles State Office Building in Watertown. The weekend's performances will also feature the World Premiere of Paul Siskind's Flute Concertino, featuring soloist Jill Rubio.

Todd Moe spoke with ONNY Music Director and Conductor Ken Andrews about the performances, which include the music of two tales of love from the 19th and 20th centuries.  Go to full article

Apr 23, 2013 — The Vagina Monologues, a celebrated play about female empowerment, will be performed at St. Lawrence University this weekend. The performances are Friday and Saturday night, 7 pm, in the Winston Room of the Sullivan Student Center. This year marks the 15th anniversary of V-Day Campaign, a national movement to end violence against girls and women. V-Season was inspired by the play, which debuted in New York City in 1996, and includes a wide variety of events, from local theatrical productions to film screenings and workshops.

Written by Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues is noted for its central literary device: a series of actors giving solo speeches on topics such as sex, love, rape, menstruation, female genital mutilation, masturbation, birth and orgasm. The monologues are based on interviews Ensler conducted with more than 200 women. Todd Moe talks with Haley Feickert and Anne Clements, co-producers of the St. Lawrence University performances. The local cast includes 16 women of varying ages and backgrounds.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Apr 18, 2013 — The Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will perform music of Japan, Cuba, Spain and Latin America in a concert Saturday night in SUNY Potsdam's Hosmer Hall. The concert is presented by Community Performance Series. For more than 30 years, the LAGQ have set the standard among guitar ensembles. Todd Moe spoke with founding member William Kanengiser about Saturday night's concert. The quartet, along with a guitar orchestra of 24 guitarists, will perform a Japanese composition by Shingo Fujii, entitled Shikki, written to honor the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan two years ago.  Go to full article

Apr 17, 2013 — The North Country has a rich history of outstanding community bands. And the number of local concert bands has increased in just the last few years. Some are year-round ensembles that rehearse at local colleges or community centers. Others garner heaps of applause in parades and gazebos during the summer months. Organizers will tell you that community bands give every player a chance to contribute in their own way.

The St. Lawrence Wind Ensemble began more than 25 years to offer students and local musicians a challenging and rewarding musical experience in an encouraging environment. Today, the group includes just over 30 students, faculty and community musicians.

Members say the St. Lawrence University Wind Ensemble fills a void because every college or university needs its own band and has a pool of eager student, faculty and community members. But the main reason most everyone gave for joining was to keep their instruments out of mothballs.

Todd Moe stopped by a rehearsal of the SLU Wind Ensemble this week as the group prepared for its spring concert, next Monday night in the Peterson-Kermani Performance hall.  Go to full article

Shelburne, VT, Apr 16, 2013 — The Shelburne Museum opens its new Center for Art and Education this summer, and for the first time in the museum's 66-year history, it will be open year-round. Todd Moe talks with Shelburne Museum Director Thomas Denenberg about the new building, which will include galleries, an auditorium and classroom.  Go to full article

Apr 12, 2013 — Caramelo Trio joined us live in the studio this morning to share some all original Latin contemporary music. The group is based in Potsda, NY includes cellist Beth Robinson, guitarist Oscar Sarmiento, and percussionist Stephen Farina.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, Apr 10, 2013 — Clarinetist Michele Von Haugg is on a mission to save a very important tree for a lot of musicians. She grew up near Saratoga Springs and is the founder of Clarinets for Conservation. Von Haugg will give a concert in Plattsburgh on Saturday night at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts. Todd Moe talks with her about efforts to save the African Blackwood Tree, or 'Mpingo, in Tanzania. The wood is used to make musical instruments, like the clarinet.

Over a the last few years, Von Haugg and other clarinetists, have raised money to travel to Africa to teach music and plant hundreds of trees. She says the 'Mpingo wood is durable and very valuable.  Go to full article