Cover Story
The mind of a musician
Rochester songwriters give a peek inside their process and reveal what’s at the heart of a song
THE WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of March 27
The Interracial Clergy Council of Henrietta and Rush will hold a community conversation on the topic “Immigration: Then and Now” on Tuesday, March 28. The Rev. John Walker will provide a historical look at how the country has reacted to immigrants in the past and will discuss the role faith communities can play in welcoming…
Classical review: SCMR’s ‘Bach to the Future’
In a long-ago “Young People’s Concert” on TV, Leonard Bernstein took as his theme the idea of “Bach Transmogrified.” To his audience of captive tykes, he presented numerous examples of the sturdy old baroque master’s sturdy old music re-arranged not only for symphony orchestras, but also for such then-up-to-date phenomena as a rock band and…
Geva announces its 2017-18 season
It’s the era of Lin-Manuel Miranda, if you haven’t noticed. Geva Theatre Center on Monday announced its 2017-18 season, with Miranda’s Tony Award-winning “In the Heights” opening the Wilson Stage Series, September 5 through October 8. (The Rochester Broadway Theatre League announced last week that the actor-writer’s “Hamilton” will be coming to Rochester in its…
![[Updated] Rally held for recently detained immigrants](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/kmf_3472-1-scaled-e1755041950317.webp?resize=613%2C409&ssl=1)
[Updated] Rally held for recently detained immigrants
Protestors filled the steps and sidewalk in front of downtown Rochester’s Federal Building on Friday for a rally against recent deportation actions taken in the area. A string of speakers and immigrant rights activists from Metro Justice, Worker Justice Center of New York, and other organizations spoke on the importance of farm workers in the…
Film review: ‘The Last Word’
It’s such a pleasure to see Shirley MacLaine back on screen in a leading role that I’m almost tempted to say it’s worth sitting through something as formulaic and painfully contrived as “The Last Word.” But let’s not get crazy. In the dramatic comedy, MacLaine stars as Harriet Lauler, a wealthy former businesswoman who wears…
In Dem committee voting, Sheppard continues to lead
Former Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard has boosted his lead in his effort to win the Monroe County Democratic Committee’s designation for mayor. Sheppard won two of the three Democratic committees that voted last night on the mayoral nomination: the 21st and 23rd legislative district committees. Mayor Lovely Warren won the 24th district committee. Former…
RBTL announces 2017-18 season
But you gotta wait a year for “Hamilton”
Rochester school district’s budget priority: teachers
In her first budget, Rochester schools Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams is trying to make do with more: more money and more teachers. Deane-Williams proposed a $791 million budget for the 2017-2018 school year, an increase of nearly $65 million over the current budget. She presented her proposal to school board members at a special meeting last…
ART | Jordan Seefried’s “Curtains”
Rochester-based artist Jordan Seefried creates minimalist, often gritty artwork that incorporates elegant mark making with industrial detritus. His latest body of work, “Curtains,” opens on Friday, March 24, at The Yards (50-52 Public Market). “The show is the last letters my father wrote in the hospital while in and out of sedation,” Seefried says. “Being…
SPECIAL EVENT | BRAWL For Planned Parenthood
For the last five years, Rochester’s Broads Regional Arm Wrestling League (BRAWL) has organized semi-annual fundraising events for local causes in need of community support. The group has raised more than $20,000 for various organizations, including Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, Teen Empowerment, RESTORE, and Alternatives for Battered Women. BRAWL’s next theatrical event, which will…
Cyclists want to connect parks
Genesee Regional Off-Road Cyclists wants to build a trail that would more or less connect Tryon Park and Irondequoit Bay Park West, but neighbors oppose the plan.
CLASSICAL | Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion”
There is perhaps no vocal work more significant in the classical repertoire than Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.” An unparalleled example of Bach’s genius, it features the composer’s quintessential sense of symmetry, rhythmic synchronicity, and glorious harmonic tension. Under the direction of conductor David Chin, the Voices Chamber Choir and Orchestra — along with…
FILM | Deaf Rochester Film Festival
Beginning Wednesday, March 22, and running through Saturday, March 25, the fifth installment of the Deaf Rochester Film Festival will bring three days of narrative, documentary, and short films that highlight the work of talented deaf and hard-of-hearing filmmakers from around the world. In addition to the program of film screenings, DRFF will also host…
HIP-HOP | “The Bar Association”
The first in its series, emcee Golden and Fresh Rich are hosting “The Bar Association,” a night of hip-hop featuring Rochester artists. The night includes live performances from King Righteous, Dwayne Collins, Da Cloth, Skandolous, Casso, 2 Way, Stoopid Bars, Rell $, Blockstar Nation, and Golden. D.J. JuTT will be spinning with special guests. This…
FILM | “Born In Flames”
Screening as the final selection in The Little Theatre’s Women’s History Month Film Series, “Born in Flames” is a fierce, feminist science-fiction allegory from cult director Lizzie Borden. Made in 1983, the film imagines a future 10 years after a peaceful social revolution in the US, the film follows two separatist factions of radical activists…
BLUES | Ray Bonneville
Ray Bonneville creates an instant narrative as if the stories are unfolding before your eyes as he sings in a nicotine tone. The groove is laid back, contributing to the sinister elements in his songs that scratch and claw at the casket’s lid. Musically, it’s more than the blues; somewhere between roots and lyrical oblivion,…
COMEDY | Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee’s magic, juggling, and love for audience involvement are key to the comedian’s one-of-a-kind, in-your-face performances. Lee’s stand-up comedy holds nothing back. From juggling sharp knives to playing with fire, his antics have entertained audiences around the world and on television. You may have seen him on Comedy Central, NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Fox,…
CLASSICAL | “Bach to the Future”
Johann Sebastian Bach would have been 232 years old on March 21, 2017, but musically he’s as young as ever. This Sunday, the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester proves the point by rounding up a list of notable players for a different kind of Bach birthday tribute. Most of the music on the program…
THEATER | “Private Lives”
Following a harsh divorce, Elyot and Amanda go their separate ways, but five years later, when they end up in neighboring suites on their honeymoons with new spouses, passion comes creeping back. This 1930’s comedy, “Private Lives,” by Noël Coward, follows what happens when a once dreary couple reconnects on the French Riviera. Arguments and…
JAZZ | The Hot Sardines
She was a travel writer educated at the London School of Economics and he was a New York actor. But when Elizabeth Bougerol met Evan Palazzo at a jam session in 2007, they bonded over their love of Fats Waller. Turns out Bougerol could sing like a sultry 1940’s diva and Palazzo could lead a…
For undocumented workers, a rock and a hard place
Many undocumented farm laborers are in the country looking for real, hard work — and our agricultural system has come to crucially depend on them. Others, like Dolores Bustamante, have fled a dangerous situation. But undocumented immigrants face a lot of barriers, and it’s creating a situation of isolation
POP-ROCK | Wren Williams and The Sons of Luther
Clutching power chords in hand, Wren Williams and The Sons of Luther aren’t afraid to tap into pop music’s heavier side. This stuff is irresistibly catchy as it borrows from past decades and mashes them up into a sound that says “listen now” rather than “remember when?” There’s a tight drive from the drums as…
School board weighs Geneseo proposal
SUNY Geneseo inched closer last week to a partnership with the Rochester school board and School 19, a K-8 school in southwest Rochester. It’s a sign that the board is continuing to seek outside organizations to help turn around some of its most troubled schools. In a presentation to the board on March 16, a…
CLASSICAL | Manuel Barrueco
Cuban-born guitarist Manuel Barrueco will bring his sumptuous tone, sparkling articulation, and fluid phrasing to Kilbourn Hall on Tuesday. A masterful interpreter of works by canonic artists and 20th century composers alike, Barrueco is equally comfortable performing as an orchestral soloist and recitalist. In addition to works by Manuel de Falla— including selections from “The…
‘The Enchanted’ finds truth and beauty in the abyss
Rene Denfeld’s debut novel, “The Enchanted,” is not of the mystery genre, but from page one it beckons readers to pursue its glittering secrets through the dark, twisting narrative. The work is one hell of an unconventional prison story that trowels the depths of humanity’s horrors. The reward for bearing painful witness to such supreme…
Bred in the bone
Joe Fiedler never meant to play the trombone, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the most in-demand players on the New York scene. Growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1960’s and 70’s, his home life wasn’t particularly musical. His father mostly listened to singers like Roger Miller, but Fiedler’s ears perked up…
Album review: ‘F*CK Ya Feelings’
Golden “F*CK Ya Feelings” Self-released golden585.bandcamp.com Rochester emcee Golden is impressively armored with lethal lyrical dexterity and an upbeat, free-flowing delivery. “F*CK Ya Feelings,” Golden’s latest release, is a product of an artist’s vision made without the normal calculated process; this is more of an impulsive, uninhibited creation. After finding some unused beats, “I decided…
Urban Action 3/22
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) School budget ready to review The Rochester school district will hold public input meetings on the proposed budget for the 2017-2018 school year on Tuesday, March 28, and Tuesday, April 25. The board…
Think spring
Even though it may not seem that way — especially after Stella wreaked havoc on our city last week — spring is technically here. The snow may still crunch under our feet, but the intoxicating smell of French fries and gravy will soon be in the air as Le Petit Poutine starts the engines of…
Album review: ‘Taphonomy’
Bailey Mason Lickers “Taphonomy” Self-released Bmlmusic2.bandcamp.com Here’s the perfect soundtrack to those skate park blooper reels where a kid wipes out on a half-pipe and breaks everything when he eventually lands. Or maybe a NASCAR race with opposing traffic. Instrumental power house Bailey Mason Lickers — or BML — has arrived with these two descriptive…
Lessons for Democrats from ‘Hillbilly Elegy’
Southern Appalachia isn’t the only region of the country where decent-paying jobs have all but disappeared and adults have lost hope.
Theater review: ‘Hands on a Hardbody’ at Blackfriars
The penultimate production of Blackfriars Theatre’s 2016-17 season is an interesting one. “Hands on a Hardbody” is a 2012 musical co-written by Trey Anastasio of Phish and Amanda Green. Any traces of Anastasio’s killer guitar chops and jam band intuition have vanished, and in their place is a collection of enjoyable but predominantly generic pop-rock…
![[Updated] Jazz Fest announces 2017 lineup](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/maceo-2-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
[Updated] Jazz Fest announces 2017 lineup
With the headlining acts already announced, the Xerox Rochester International Festival’s bigwigs filled in the remaining blanks with the what’s what of who’s coming to town for the festival’s 16th edition. The 2017 XRIJF takes place Friday, June 23, through Saturday, July 1, in and around Rochester’s downtown. There are a few past Jazz Fest…
Vittorio Storaro on writing with light
The George Eastman Museum this week is celebrating legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and on Saturday will present him the George Eastman Award, the museum’s highest honor
Theater review: ‘Sketching the Soul’ at MuCCC
The existence of MuCCC, a church-turned-arts venue, enables many small performance groups with a script and a dream to produce theatrical works. And while it’s important to support and encourage this kind of community theater, it’s equally as important for the troupes to reward audience members with a quality night out — especially if there’s…
Feedback 3/22
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com or our Facebook page. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. We’re a nation of immigrants This past Saturday I was…
