Cover Story
United for Rochester’s sake
A letter from George Eastman to the treasurer of the Rochester Patriotic and Community Fund hangs in the lobby of the United Way of Greater Rochester on College Avenue. Typewritten on stately-looking Eastman Kodak stationery and dated June 29, 1918, the letter refers to checks that Eastman enclosed for $500,000 and $75,000. Eastman is the…
Are we really willing to tackle poverty?
Maybe the new Anti-Poverty Task Force will come up with a bold plan. But I’m not optimistic.
Profits or passing grades?
One of the most common complaints that many teachers and principals make against education reformers is what they commonly refer to as the privatization of public education. It’s a phrase that can take on many different meanings and is often dismissed as little more than a conspiracy theory. But federal and state governments spend billions…
Coalition: State should consider poverty when awarding money for child care
Late last week, a group of local government, business, and labor leaders known as the Rochester Community Coalition released its annual Community Agenda. The list spells out what the leaders want from Albany. Much of it should be familiar: a change in the state aid formula for municipalities, money for the Hillside Work-Scholarship program, and…
Film Review: “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”
The uniquely haunting aesthetic of the genre-bending “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” from writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour, is perfectly encapsulated in one glorious shot. As the alluring girl of the film’s title (an honest-to-God vampire) glides down the middle of the street on a skateboard, arms outstretched, chador flapping behind her like a…
RPO announces 2015-16 season
Philharmonics series (All performances at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre): Season Opener: Ward Stare conducts "Pines of Rome." Thursday, September 17, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, September 19, 8 p.m. Ward Stare, conductor. Dukas, "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice"; Tchaikovsky, "Francesca da Rimini"; Barber, Adagio for Strings; Respighi, "Pines of Rome." Sibelius and Britten Thursday, October 1, 7:30…
Film Review: “Mommy”
Wunderkind French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan is one of those people whose career can’t help but make you feel inadequate about how much you’ve managed to accomplish with your life. Only 25 years old and Dolan has already directed five feature films, every one of which has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s enough to…
Week Ahead: Charlotte Strong meets; State of the City address; coffee and conversation with Superintendent Vargas
The Charlotte Strong activist group will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12, at the Roger Robach Community Center, 188 Beach Avenue. The group is opposed to the private development plan for the Port of Rochester, which includes a hotel and condominiums; the city is also building a marina. The group says that the…
Jennifer Hudson and Gary Clark Jr. added as XRIJF headliners
Soul vocalist Jennifer Hudson and blues rocker Gary Clark Jr. have been added as headliners to the 2015 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, organizers of the festival announced this morning. [IMAGE-1] Hudson, a Grammy Award-winning singer and Academy Award-winning actress, will perform on Wednesday, June 24. Clark, who is also a Grammy winner, will perform…
Film Review: “Still Alice”
None of us like to think about the experience of living with disease, but Alzheimer’s in particular seems to make people uneasy – though it’s not hard to see why. The distress of being not only a prisoner to genetics, but feeling our mind slip away from us as memories, our awareness, and eventually even…
CLASSICAL | RPO season preview
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will announce and preview its 2015-16 season during a free concert at Kodak Hall, Tuesday evening. This will be the Music Director Ward Stare’s inaugural season. Stare will emcee the announcement as well as lead the orchestra in performances of excerpts from the upcoming season. The performance is free, but tickets…
Beethoven in a blaze of glory
CONCERT REVIEW: Stephen Hough and the RPO. Hough is a marvelous pianist in almost any repertoire you care to mention.
Anti-poverty effort will focus on data, flexibility
The Rochester Anti-Poverty Task Force announced last month by Governor Andrew Cuomo will hold its first meeting in the next few weeks. United Way CEO Peter Carpino gave an overview of the effort during this morning’s meeting of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. The task force, he said, will bring together 20 state…
Theory: GOP lured Doorley to protect Dinolfo
I never bought into the theory that the GOP duped county DA Sandra Doorley into switching parties. In case you haven’t heard it, the story goes that local Republicans threatened to get a big-name judge (Charles Siragusa is the name I usually hear) to challenge Doorley unless the DA jumped to the GOP. And Democrats,…
Sobering statuary: “Lost Bird Project” doc screens at Rockwell Museum
Five larger-than-life bronze representations of extinct bird species are scattered throughout North America, standing like sentinels in the places where each was last sighted. They are shadow-like in their dark patina and sleek, minimal details, silent tributes watching over the places where their species socialized, bred, and fed their young before vanishing from the earth.…
SPECIAL EVENTS | Sweetheart Dance and Gay Alliance Red Ball
In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, Rochesterians have a pair of opportunities to tear up the dance floor: Groove Juice Swing’s Sweetheart Dance, and the Gay Alliance’s annual fundraiser Red Ball. Groove Juice Swing, Rochester’s authority on swing dancing and Lindy Hop, is hosting its Fifth Annual Sweetheart Ball. Live accompaniment will be performed by Michael…
CLASSICAL | RPO performs Beethoven’s Fifth
This week, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra presents Beethoven’s greatest hit. On Thursday and Saturday nights, guest conductor Marcelo Lehninger will bring down the baton to cue the most famous eight-note sequence in history — the motto that begins Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. This is one symphony everybody knows and every conductor has led: a current catalogue…
Sean Jones
When trumpeter Sean Jones begins his residency at Penfield High School, students of all ages will encounter not only a first-call jazz musician, but also a first class educator. Jones, whose visit culminates with performances involving a variety of school ensembles in concerts on Friday and Saturday, has thought a lot about how to teach…
THEATRE/KIDS | “Ivy and Bean: The Musical”
Atlantic Theatre Company is coming to Nazareth College for two performances of “Ivy and Bean: The Musical.” The staccato 60-minute production is based on the wildly popular children’s book series of the same name. The books follow the adventures of two mismatched friends: Ivy, reserved and thoughtful, is by chance thrown into cahoots with frenetic…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Not so Long Songs of Longing”
Passive Aggressives Anonymous “Not so Long Songs of Longing” Self-released paaband.bandcamp.com I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to find out that deconstruction and introspection don’t necessarily equate to self-flagellation and shoegaze. Rochester quartet Passive Aggressives Anonymous plays deceptively simple and all the way brilliant tunes on its new EP, “Not so Long Songs…
Urban Action 2/4
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Rochester’s Sister Cities explored The Friends and Foundation of the Rochester Public Library will present the talk, “Rochester Sister Cities,” at 12:12 p.m. on Tuesday, February 10. The event will be led by…
Feedback 2/4
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. 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. Rochester helps…
Solar power push
A decade from now, solar power systems could be spread across the City of Rochester, providing low-cost renewable electricity for city homes, churches, public buildings, and businesses. That’s the vision of the people behind a new nonprofit, ROCspot. The organization’s founder, Susan Spencer, says that the best way to work toward that vision is to…
Transit center: Positive marks, and one big problem
After years of planning and quite a bit of controversy, Rochester’s transit center has opened to mostly positive reviews from regular bus riders who say that they appreciate the building’s warmth and amenities. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs would approve of the center’s high-tech functioning yet simplicity of design. Large touch screens let passengers plan their…
DINING REVIEW: Warmth and Waffles
If you’ve never been to The Arnett Café my guess is that, on your first visit, you’d find it familiar and welcoming. Sunshine floods the front dining room through its storefront windows. The staff welcomes you with megawatt smiles. And the menu has lots of comfort foods: burgers and fries, grilled cheese, and pancakes. Many…
DISCO | The United Booty Foundation
Back in the 1990’s, when The United Booty Foundation landed in Rochester from planet Funktron — or maybe it was Syracuse — it didn’t take long for audiences to embrace lead singer JT and his crew: guitarist Lucius, bassist Hutch, Dr. Fever on keys, and drummer Brother Starsky. Four straight years of weekend shows…
GYPSY JAZZ | Stephane Wrembel
Big Apple by way of France’s Stephane Wrembel clearly sits at the foot of the Django throne. But this simply amazing guitarist is more than a mere gypsy acolyte. I call what he does djazz. And there are rock demons in his head, demons that don’t necessarily rise up but rather stir the man from…
Fierce and found
“Gruntwerk was just always a term that stuck out in my head, even as a kid,” Alyssa Radwick says about the name she chose for her small jewelry business. “I love the phrase — ‘Doin’ the grunt work.'” Radwick, who is 23 years old, says she has been making jewelry from found bits of nature…
BLUES | Chris Beard
To quote something I said a while back: “Blues is a drug and Chris Beard is the pusher man.” Beard literally wrings the blues out of his guitar and out of his body. The lower end bops while the upper register positively stings. A Chris Beard show will leave welts. The man, a nascent legend,…
COMEDY | LaughingStock
MuCCC will host its first comedy festival, LaughingStock, pulling talent from the greater Rochester area for a week chock-full of events. Sketch comedy by the likes of Etch-A-Sketch, EstroFest, and Thank You Kiss complements a full array of short- and long-form improv teams. Featured events include an hour-long set on Friday by Canary in a…
JAZZ | Eastman Jazz Ensemble with Dave Glasser
A concert featuring Bill Dobbins conducting the Eastman Jazz Ensemble in a celebration of the centenary of Billy Strayhorn would be promising enough. After all, Eastman School of Music Professor Dobbins is a leading scholar of the music Strayhorn wrote and arranged for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and the jazz ensemble is a first-rate band.…
EVENT | ROC-Podfest
This weekend, rocpodcasts.com and the Record Archive team up to present the 2nd annual Roc-Podfest, featuring more than 20 podcasts from ROC Podcast’s network of local podcasters. Attendees can view live, public podcast recording sessions throughout both days of the festival. From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both Friday, February 6, and Saturday, February…
JAZZ | Tony Caramia
Tony Caramia is celebrating Valentine’s Day a little bit early in a program titled “A Time For Love In All Keys.” The Eastman School of Music professor will cover all aspects of love by way of the Great American Songbook. From the beginning (“Let’s Fall In Love”), to the rumors (“People Will Say We’re in…
FESTIVAL | inspireDANCE
No combination is too bizarre for Doug Elkins, the award winning dance choreographer who wrote “Mo(or)Town/Redux.” The contemporary piece, to be performed at this year’s inspireDANCE festival, tells José Limón’s “The Moor’s Pavane” (based on Shakespeare’s “Othello”) through the bass and backbeat of Motown. Elkins is joined by other renowned guest dancers and choreographers for…
HIP-HOP | N.O.R.E., Foxy Brown, A.Z., and Kool G
Foxy Brown may be best known for her work with Jay-Z, including the single “I’ll Be” while being signed with Def Jam for almost a decade. She’s tough and unfiltered like rapper Kool G, founder of the subgenre, Mafioso rap — hardcore, explicit, and indulgent. A.Z., also with Brooklyn roots, had a stint alongside Nas…
SPECIAL EVENT | “If All of Rochester” Scavenger Hunt
Every year, Writers & Books puts on the reading program “If All of Rochester Reads the Same Book.” The program is in its 15th year, and the title says it all. This year’s selection is the Karen Thompson Walker novel, “The Age of Miracles.” To kick off “If all of Rochester,” Writers and Books is…
STONER ROCK | All Them Witches
King Buffalo’s Sean McVay told me I had to check out Nashville-based All Them Witches, citing them as his favorite band in the world. I gave in, buying the album “Lightning at the Door.” Wouldn’t have thought great stoner rock could come from a country-heavy city like Nashville, but boy did I think wrong. At…
THEATRE | “Katherine’s Colored Lieutenant”
Americans have long been fascinated by the lore of World War II, and especially that of the Tuskegee Airmen — the renowned military pilots who were the first black military aviators to serve in the U.S. Air Force. In “Katherine’s Colored Lieutenant,” actress and playwright Nora Cole taps into her family’s history in this tempestuous…
CLASSICAL | University of Rochester Press Anniversary
The University of Rochester Press will celebrate its 25th Anniversary with performances by the entire organ faculty of the Eastman School of Music. The all-organ concert at Christ Church is titled “Organ Music of Mendelssohn” and will feature performances on the Craighhead-Saunders and Hook & Hastings organs. With this performance comes a new book edited…
The bus station and the fights
Superintendent Bolgen Vargas is right. The Rochester school district can’t solve all of the ills of the community.
