Cover Story
Kings of the mountain
Rochester rock trio King Buffalo plays the heavy and finds success abroad.
Seneca Park Zoo deaths: Nature’s course or animal care concerns?
A string of deaths of crowd-pleasing animals at Seneca Park Zoo has patrons wondering why so many animals have been lost.
Council approves Rochester 2034 plan
It’ll replace the city’s previous comprehensive plan, which was completed in 1999.
City school officials look at cutting teaching positions
The district is attempting to address a budget gap from the last school year and trying to avoid a deficit at the end of this year.
Law could help undocumented domestic violence victims
The state’s new Green Light law restores undocumented immigrants’ ability to get driver’s licenses.
Vanishing Sun teases 2020 collab with Strasenburgh Planetarium
In a teaser video released today, Rochester funk-fusion band Vanishing Sun announced a 2020 collaboration with the Strasenburgh Planetarium and Director Steve Fentress.
Classical review: ‘Bach to Bartók’ an RPO journey worth taking
Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg – great composers but only occasional visitors to Kodak Hall at best — finally made it on the same Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra program last night.
Four city schools in receivership show improvement
More than a dozen schools around the state initially designated as ‘struggling’ by the NYS Education Department have been making progress. Four of those schools are in the City of Rochester: East Lower School and Upper High School, James Monroe High School, and Northeast College Preparatory High School. The state says that all 14 schools…
Opera review: the dark satire of Eastman Opera Theatre’s fall double bill
In staging its 2019 fall double bill, Eastman Opera Theatre and director Stephen Carr had the challenging task of linking two musical theater pieces with seemingly contrasting plots and moods to create a fluid narrative. But the subtle similarities in theme are what bind “Mahagonny Songspiel” and “Der Kaiser von Atlantis” in this highly intelligent…
At long last, La Marketa breaks ground in northeast Rochester
The open-air marketplace is expected to house retail, green space and events on what’s now an empty lot on North Clinton Avenue near St. Michael’s Church.
GOP, law enforcement push back on state’s bail reform laws
Sweeping reforms that will end cash bail for all misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges in New York state take effect in January. But some law enforcement groups are objecting, saying the changes go too far and could jeopardize public safety. The new law still allows cash bail to be set in the cases of those…
Theater review: ‘The Amish Project’
On October 2, 2006, a lone gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, and opened fire. “The Amish Project,” a 2009 play by Jessica Dickey, is a fictional retelling of that true story — a single-actor show that reimagines the events surrounding the day.
Fringe Festival reports record attendance
The annual festival expanded to 12 days this year.
Monroe County libraries boycotting e-book publisher
A major book publisher is now limiting library systems to one copy of new e-books apiece for the first eight weeks the title is out. Libraries argue that the policy will lead to unacceptable patron wait times for the books. Many of them are now boycotting the company’s e-books in protest.
Album review: ‘Jazz Shabbat’
TBK Music Project ‘Jazz Shabbat’ Self-released tbk.org The Old Testament has a lot of rules but nowhere does it say Friday night services can’t swing. Tradition, you say? The Jazz Shabbat tradition is pushing 15 years at Temple B’rith Kodesh. And now the program, a collaboration with members of the Eastman School of Music Jazz…
Album review: ‘Blooming’
Candy Isle ‘Blooming’ Self-released candyisle.bandcamp.com Originally formed in 2017 as an acoustic duo by college friends Kat Bakrania on cajon and Lydia Dake on guitar and ukulele, Candy Isle now has an amplified, indie pop sound with the addition of its newest member, bassist Allison Froio. The trio’s new album, “Blooming,” shifts through all the…
THEATER | ‘People of the Third Eye’
Half a century ago Waterford, Connecticut’s National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) unveiled its now-classic work, “My Third Eye,” a collection of ensemble pieces that spotlighted the unique expressions of Deaf experiences and techniques of sign language play. This week, RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) will present a new work inspired by…
JAZZ GUITAR | Stephane Wrembel
French jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel clearly sits at the foot of Django Reinhardt’s throne. But this amazing guitarist is more than a mere acolyte. There are rock demons in his head, demons that don’t necessarily rise up, but stir the man from within to create music that is both timelessly romantic and beautiful. Wrembel is…
SPECIAL EVENT | Canandaigua Treaty Commemoration
This year marks the 225th anniversary of the Canandaigua Treaty, which was signed on November 11, 1794 by the Hodinöhsö:ni’ (Six Nations Confederacy) and the infant federal government of the United States. Following the Revolutionary War, the treaty established peace between the nations and between the confederacy and the US, and recognized the sovereignty and…
RECREATION | Full Moon Hike & Brewery Experience
As autumn rapidly shifts into winter, we’ve got a few final chances to take in the gloriously colorful leaves and fill our lungs with crisp, fragrant air before it gets too chilly to enjoy many evenings outside. Bearing this in mind, local outdoors-loving squad A-List Adventures is hosting an event this week that pairs a…
FILM | The 1619 Project
If we truly want to know how we got to where we are, we have to take an honest look at the past. Organized and presented this year by The New York Times, The 1619 Project is an initiative that aims to deepen our understanding of both American history and the America of today by…
Urban Action 11/06
This week’s call to action includes the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.) The church and the LGBTQ+ community Father James Martin will present a talk, “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church Can Show Welcome and Respect to the LGBTQ+ Community,” at 7 p.m. Thursday,…
CLASSICAL | RPO presents ‘Bach to Bartók
The title of this week’s Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert, “Bach to Bartók,” is a bit misleading. Conductor Ward Stare’s ambitious program might more accurately be titled “Great Hits of 20th-Century Modernism”: fascinating music from the three composers of the so-called “Second Viennese School,” plus a masterpiece by Béla Bartók. The concert does indeed begin with…
HIP-HOP | Black Violin
Look no further than Black Violin to give classical music a fresh twist. The duo of Kev Marcus and Wil B. has impressed audiences for more than a decade by merging the seemingly incompatible: hip-hop with fiddles. Strip away the sonic experiments in this hybrid genre, and you still have a showcase of virtuosity. Much…
AMBIENT JAZZ | Sooner: Simon Jermyn & Charlotte Greve
It’s difficult to say which is more ethereal: the voice of Charlotte Greve, or her gorgeous saxophone playing. Born in Germany, Greve has led two groups, Lisbeth Quartet and Wood River. After winning several awards in Europe, she moved to New York in 2012. The other half of the duo Sooner, guitarist-composer Simon Jermyn, is…
THEATER | ‘Division Street’
CenterStage Theatre has become a local hub for debuting challenging new plays, with a specific focus on the work of New York City-based playwright Jason Odell Williams. In 2016 CenterStage (along with Skylight Theatre in LA) debuted Williams’ “Church & State,” which was co-developed with CenterStage Artistic Director Ralph Meranto. That work explored how our…
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles
I was looking for some good music on YouTube when I suddenly found Sarah Borges, a New England rocker who skates the razor between sweet balladry and rock ‘n’ roll. She was working it out on Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.” It was beautiful; Borges’ voice has that sweet Wanda Jackson snarl,…
ART | ‘De’VIA: The Manifesto Comes of Age’
In 1989 a group of deaf artists and a deaf art historian gathered at Gallaudet University, led by artists Betty G. Miller and Paul Johnson, and issued a manifesto that established a new genre of art. Dubbed Deaf View/Image Art (De’VIA), the founding of the genre was meant to spotlight the growing contemporary Deaf arts…
DUBSTEP | kLL sMTH
A massive electronic Denver, Colorado sound will roll through Atlantic Avenue when Kris Endland, a.k.a. kLL sMTH, comes to town on Saturday. His music is hypnotic dubstep — robotic in its gait, but with a noble, titan-like stature. The production is a synthesis between computational precision and spiritual reverence, an organic marriage between software sound…
Webster girds for civic battle over proposed lettuce farm
Start-up farming operation would erect seven greenhouses over 147 acres.
Rochester wants renewable power for the people
Community choice aggregation means cheaper electricity and more green power
Why does Monroe County have so many legislators?
County residents vote for 29 seats on Tuesday. The question is: Do we really need them all?
Anderson & Low evoke awe at Eastman
Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low have collaborated for decades, creating mind-bending bodies of photographic work and films that vary drastically in style from project to project. But the enduring common denominator in everything they do is observing some fascinating phenomena in the world, taking the deepest dive into studying it, and finding the cleverest way…
Vegan butchery opens in Hungerford
“Vegan” and “butcher” are not two words you expect to see side-by-side. But with the help of Grass Fed, a local purveyor of plant-based meat alternatives, there’s no reason a vegan lifestyle can’t be compatible with a BLT, some chicken schnitzel, or a Thanksgiving turkey.
Film preview: Anomaly — The Rochester Genre Film Festival
The inaugural festival’s lineup showcases independent films from the genres of horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, dark comedy, and some titles that blend more than one genre (namely supernatural thrillers and, yes, supernatural rom-coms).
