Cover Story
A transgender musician uses her art to help reinvent herself
At any given time, Cora Treoir Duncan has no less than 100 CDs cluttering her car. She’s a voracious music fan devouring anything from The Byrds and The Bee Gees to Neko Case. She is a longtime musician as well. And whenever the discussion revolves around music — found in piles in the backseat or…
VIDEO: “One Cubic Foot” on the Genesee
The Seneca Park Zoo Society has created a video series of photographer David Liittschwager’s project documenting the biodiversity of the Genesee River’s ecosystem.
Dinolfo submits integrity office proposal
True to her campaign promise, County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo has introduced legislation to create a county Public Integrity Office (see below). Legislators will take the proposal up during committee meetings later this month. A public hearing and vote on the legislation will most likely take place at the March 8 County Legislature meeting. The Public…
Ad Council rebrands as Causewave Community Partners
Rochester Advertising Council announced today that it has rebranded as Causewave Community Partners. This is the first time in 65 years the non-profit, which helps increase the visibility of non-profits, has changed its name. “The organization known for 65 years as the Advertising Council of Rochester is finally taking the advice that we’ve been giving…
Stubborn grad rate irks Rochester school officials
But they point to other signs of progress, including the number of Regents exams students now have to pass.
Week Ahead: Watch Obama’s last State of the Union with local Dems
Monroe County Dems are holding a State of the Union watch party at Merchants Grill.
Ashes to Ashes
David Bowie passed away at age 69 Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer. Rebecca Rafferty writes about her lifelong love of the influential musician.
The City Seen: January 8-9
It is cold after all, and rather then complain, City took the time to celebrate and reflect with a visit to Cat Clay’s Winter Warmth fundraiser and to Central Library for a presentation on indigenous dance. On Friday evening, Cat Clay brought artists and the community together with more than 200 handcrafted bowls that were…
Van White: Proposed military academy is part of innovative approach the RCSD needs
In his last public statement before leaving the district, former Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas recommended that the school board close one school a year until the quality of city schools improves. Vargas often said that without significant improvements, the city school district will continue to lose students to charter, private, and suburban schools. But…
City of Rochester poised to study nuisance points system
Beechwood neighborhood president Kyle Crandall says that the city should use the system to close problem mini markets.
Dinolfo asks LDC’s to dissolve
County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo has asked the two county-linked local development corporations at the center of a bid-rigging case to dissolve. Dinolfo sent letters to Upstate Telecommunications Corporation and the Monroe Security and Safety Systems LDC boards asking each to adopt a resolution pledging that they’ll “take all steps necessary to dissolve in an orderly…
UPDATE: RCSD interim superintendent still hospitalized
UPDATE, Monday, January 11: Rochester school board president Van White provided an update on Lowengard’s condition in a letter to the “school community” over the weekend. The letter appears after the original post. ORIGINAL POST: Daniel Lowengard, interim superintendent of the Rochester school district, collapsed during a meeting with teachers on Thursday night. He is…
Memorializing a master
Two shows currently on view at RIT galleries explore the work and legacy of the late artist and educator Keith Howard. Hosted in two parts at Bevier Gallery (James E. Booth Hall 7A, RIT Campus, 73 Lomb Memorial Drive) and Gallery r (100 College Avenue), “Flux: Keith Howard and His Legacy” commemorate the life and…
Finger Lakes council meets on Friday
The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council will hold its first meeting of 2016 at 10 a.m. on Friday. The council hasn’t released an official agenda yet, but it’s a safe bet that a chunk of the meeting will be devoted to the $500 million Upstate Revitalization award that the Finger Lakes region won last…
SPECIAL EVENT | La Trulla Navideña
The Rochester Puerto Rican Festival will celebrate the New Year and Three Kings Day with its annual Trulla Navideña event, which will take place on Saturday, January 9, 7 p.m., at Ray Ray’s Bar & Grill (2260 Clifford Avenue). Puerto Rican Christmas-season customs include “parrandas or trullas navideñas,” which are when a small group of…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Dirt”
Lucid “Dirt” Self-released rulucid.bandcamp.com Straight outta Plattsburg, Jack, (that’s in the Adirondacks for you and me) comes the casual, laidback groove of Lucid on its second studio outing, “Dirt.” The album kicks in with “Cuerpo,” its groove hinting at the Allmans, before sliding into the accelerated funk of “Black Smoke.” The band shows it isn’t…
Urban Action 1/6
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Documentary follows massacre survivor The Rochester Committee on Latin America will show the documentary film “Discovering Dominga” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6. The film follows 29-year-old Denese Becker, an Iowa housewife,…
Feedback 1/6
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. Downtown is…
Cameras will help ‘stranded’ cyclists
Bicycles have the upper hand on cars in that they’re safer for the environment, healthier for the user, and generally have an easier time getting around in dense urban settings. One area where bikes will always lose to cars, however, is weight. Bikes aren’t heavy enough to trigger the underground sensors that change traffic lights,…
When doctors can’t ease suffering
Modern clinical care does not give suffering the attention it needs, says Dr. Ronald Epstein, professor of family medicine, psychiatry, and oncology at the University of Rochester. Even the word sounds slightly out of place in modern medicine, though Epstein says it’s more relevant than ever. Suffering tends to be seen as an end-of-life occurrence,…
NY’s nuclear power fight continues, while Ginna limps along
The Ginna nuclear power plant will most likely continue pumping power through the Rochester region and other parts of the state until at least March 2017. Sometime early this year, state and federal regulators are expected to approve a temporary arrangement between Rochester Gas & Electric and the aging nuclear generator. Under the deal, RG&E…
Effortlessly Healthy successful on the road, at the café, or at home
You may have seen Effortlessly Healthy’s blue and pale green truck at the Public Market’s food truck rodeo. Long lines have snaked back from the truck, filled with people hungry for seared ahi tuna-topped salad, chicken pesto and Portobello mushroom wraps, or the number one seller: the chicken, bacon, and avocado healthy trash plate. “People…
CLASSICAL | Russian Friendship Concert
Political relations between the United States and Russia may be complicated, but the enduring musical bond between the two countries is unequivocally vibrant. The bond extends to Rochester and its Sister City, Veliky Novgorod (composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was born nearby). In celebration of this connection, teachers and students from the Eastman Community Music School will…
CLASSICAL | William Warfield Scholarship Concert
The William Warfield Scholarship Fund has long worked to encourage career advancement for African-American vocalists. Since 1977, the fund has helped voice students at Eastman School of Music pursue their craft with the support of additional financial aid. On Sunday, as an important annual fundraiser, the organization will present the concert “William Warfield: A Legacy…
RIT hosts exhibit of Milton Glaser posters
Even if you’re unfamiliar with the name Milton Glaser, you’ve definitely seen the renowned American designer’s work. Glaser is the man behind the ubiquitous “I Love New York” logo, and has designed countless arresting posters, packaging, publications, and environments. Through February 26, RIT’s University Gallery is holding an exhibit of 24 of the 60 Glaser…
ROCK | Echohead
With just a hint of 90’s throwback gloss, Echohead’s sound is big, I tell ya. Unlike other multi-dimensional artists, this band’s swirling psychedelia display doesn’t need a seat belt, so the listener can count on a full-blown free fall. Haunting and sweet, but not at all saccharine. Echohead will perform with Periodic Table of Elephants,…
COMEDY | Judy Gold
What happens when you’re a Jewish lesbian mother of two who happens to work as a comedienne and you interview 50 other Jewish mothers across the United States? If you’re Judy Gold, you turn those interviews (and your own experience) into a one-woman show and take it on the road. The two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winner…
SINGER-SONGWRITER | Songwriters in the Round
Sure you can dig the voice and the instrumental dexterity, but if the song’s not there … Café Veritas’ Songwriters in the Round series shares this mondo importante philosophy with three top local songwriters: Alyssa Trahan who is now splitting her time between the Flower City and Nash Vegas; Le Roy’s Justin Williams (Morgan Twins’…
DANCE | “Bodies in Motion”
The Central Library is hosting a free event featuring Daystar, a Rochester-based company that educates and entertains with the contemporary Native American dance-drama. Rosalie Jones, who was born on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and earned a master’s degree in dance from the University of Utah, founded Daystar in 1980. It is the first such…
POP | Rain & Leaves
Rain & Leaves is an electropop duo based here in Rochester. In its music, Bright ukulele pops over pulsing electronic drum tracks fronted by lead pop vocals and lilting harmonies. The duo, often compared to Twenty One Pilots, released its first EP, “The Buttons,” earlier in 2015. Rain & Leaves plays Thursday, January 7, at…
SPECIAL EVENT | “Cirque Musica”
It’s been a successful, experimental first half of the season for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra — from Disney-focused performances to live soundtracks for beloved holiday films like “Home Alone” — and 2016 promises to bring more of the same. In the upcoming performance of “Cirque Musica,” a host of touring cirque performers will execute daring,…
HIP-HOP | Young Scooter
Young Scooter is one of the latest rappers to come out swinging from Atlanta’s Southern trap scene. But the musician easily sets himself apart through his freestyle: he never writes down his lyrics, preferring to go off-the-cuff at the microphone. The guy loves money — really, obsesses about it — and has a lot to…
SPECIAL EVENT | “Winter Warmth: A Soup(er) Benefit”
Cat Clay (The Hungerford Building, 1115 East Main Street, studio 242) will host its annual “Winter’s Warmth: A Soup(er) Benefit” on Friday, January 8. The event is held in collaboration with the Healthy Sisters Bean and Soup Project, an arm of Catholic Family Center that assists women in recovery as they reenter the workforce. The…
HIP-HOP | Lil Reese
Lil Reese got widespread attention in 2012 for his verse on Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like.” The single — and a lot of work in Chicago’s drill scene — landed Lil Reese a deal with Def Jam in 2012. With hard, sharp beats, and a halting flow, the rapper makes music about the roughness of…
LECTURE | “The History of the Snowman”
I fondly remember being taught, as a kid, to look on the bright, magical side of winter by building an army of snowmen. For generations, whenever the snow is just right, children have been ushered outdoors for fresh air and the task of adorning the front lawn with the most ubiquitous of winter sentinels. My…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Together We Stand Alone”
Rise From Autumn “Together We Stand Alone” Self-released risefromautumnband.com Here’s another one of those tres cool, heavy projects we’ve come to expect and respect from Lockport producer Doug White at Watchmen Studios. This time around it’s the fearsome foursome from Buffalo, Rise From Autumn, and its new EP, “Together We Stand Alone.” This is a…
Film review: “Hitchcock/Truffaut”
Consisting of an extended interview between Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut, the influential 1966 book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is a favored text among Film 101 professors everywhere. And with good reason: the conversation is endlessly enlightening. The book (and by extension, the film) offers a unique dialogue between one of history’s greatest directors (though Hitchcock was still…
Film review: “The Danish Girl”
As the first person to undergo sexual-reassignment surgery, Danish artist Lili Elbe (played here by Eddie Redmayne) is a transgender pioneer, but while Tom Hooper’s Oscar-baity biopic of Elbe’s life is well-intentioned and pretty to look at, it adds up to little else. As portrayed in “The Danish Girl,” Lili’s transition seems to spring forth…
Film review: “In Transit”
“In Transit,” the lovely final film by legendary documentarian Albert Maysles, focuses on the various passengers aboard the Empire Builder, the busiest long-distance train route in America. Aided by co-directors Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Ben Wu, and David Usui, the filmmaker captures the conversations and connections formed between what were once complete strangers, and in…
Get a grip on fear
We shouldn’t be naïve about the danger of homegrown terrorism (whether it comes in the form of ISIS-inspired mayhem or an attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic, a church, or a movie theater). But we shouldn’t be foolish, either.
Film review: “The Hateful Eight”
Quentin Tarantino’s latest cinematic cherry bomb, “The Hateful Eight,” has been the subject of spirited debate and dozens of finger-wagging think pieces: Is it misogynistic? Racist? Just wholly reprehensible? I’m a steadfast believer in the idea that depiction doesn’t equal endorsement, but the film is loaded with enough stomach-churning sadism to supply more than enough…
