Cover Story
Amplifying voices
Rochester’s unique cultural exchange with Nagaland — a remote state in Northeast India — has yielded an international film festival with the aim of preserving and amplifying the cultural expressions of the indigenous Naga people. Locally, the driving force behind the exchange are Heather Layton and Brian Bailey, who co-facilitate a variety of collaborative projects…
Jazz Festival announces full 2018 lineup
Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona on Tuesday announced the lineup for this year’s festival, the XRIJF’s 17th edition, and to music fans, the most wonderful time of the year. The festival runs June 22 through June 30 in downtown Rochester. Having already announced this year’s Kodak Hall at Eastman…
Trevyan Rowe and the city school district
Trevyan’s death has laid bare – once again – the Rochester school district’s failure in key management responsibilities: oversight and accountability.
Geva announces 2018-19 season
Geva Theatre Center unveiled its 2018-19 season this afternoon, a lineup that again includes a popular older favorite and several new works. In the season, Geva continues its commitment to staging premieres of new works and to multi-cultural works. It starts its season with a production of the smash 60’s hit “Hair” in its principal…
Attorney General and State Ed investigating Trevyan Rowe’s death
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia have begun an investigation into the death of School 12 student Trevyan Rowe. The investigation will look at the circumstances surrounding his death and will review the district’s policies and procedures to determine what improvements need to be made, according…
The Monday report
A look ahead at the coming week’s news: We’ll be watching for more developments about Trevyan Rowe’s death and updates on the vacancy caused by Louise Slaughter’s death. And we’ll report on yet more arts and entertainment season announcements.
Classical review: Pegasus’s ‘Bach & Bach’
In the Baroque period, different countries had different musical traits associated with them. In a quick-and-dirty overview: Italian music was vocally oriented and virtuosic; German music was “learned” (heavy on the counterpoint); and French music was, well, French: generally light textured, highly ornamented, more concerned with the intimate than the transcendental. (This is a very…
Rochester MusicFest becomes new Summer Soul Music Festival
Mayor Lovely Warren announced in a press conference Thursday that The Rochester MusicFest has been re-tooled, re-branded, and re-named The Rochester Summer Soul Festival. The newly named festival will be handled by Xperience Live Events, LLC., a promotions and events planning company based in Maryland and founded by Rochester native Varick Baiyina. The festival will make…
Groups to hold public forum on police accountability
The Rochester Coalition for Police Reform will meet on Monday, March 19 to reorganize under Police Accountability Board Alliance, says member Barbara Lacker-Ware. The new organization will consist of about 30 different community groups. The coalition recommended that an independent Police Accountability Board be formed and replace the current Civilian Review Board. The latter is…
Slaughter’s impact on Rochester was deep
Louise Slaughter, 88, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and was in the midst of her 16th term. She recently kicked off her re-election campaign; all House seats are up in this year’s midterm elections.
Little Theatre announces renovations, capital campaign
The Little Theatre on Thursday, March 15, announced plans to renovate and upgrade its theater 1 to better serve the needs of modern moviegoers. The “Little Big Picture Campaign” aims to raise $1 million for rehabilitation, renovations, and upgrades to its historic theater 1, to match funds already committed through the Regional Economic Development Council.…
State approves energy-buying arrangement for Brockport and others
A power-purchasing initiative backed by local climate activists received an important state approval today. The State Public Service Commission approved Joule Assets’ plan to administer a community choice aggregation program for the Village of Brockport, the Village of Lima, the Town of Geneva, and three other communities across the state, if those local governments decide…
RBTL announces 2018-19 season
Hundreds of attendees made their way through slushy streets and windy snow Wednesday night for the Rochester Broadway Theatre League’s 2018-19 season announcement. All seven of the shows are Broadway crowd-pleasers; the sort of shows most theater-loving folks have already seen in New York City.
Brighton supervisor Moehle calls for smaller Whole Foods Plaza
Brighton Supervisor Bill Moehle wants the developer behind the Whole Foods Plaza to scale back its plans. During a press conference this afternoon, Moehle said that he’s directing the developer, Daniele Family Companies, to either eliminate a 6,300 square foot building from the plan, or cut out some equivalent amount of building space. He also…
VIDEO: Rochester students join national walk-out
Students from nearly two dozen Rochester-area schools joined millions of students from across the nation Wednesday for a school walkout honoring the victims of the Parkland shooting and urging stronger gun regulations. Today is the one-month anniversary of the shooting, and most of the participating students walked out of their schools at 10 a.m. and…
Fast casual Thai cuisine comes to North Winton Village
Sak Southi has owned his own Thai restaurant, Sak’s Thai Cuisine, in Perinton for nearly a decade. When the opportunity arose to collaborate with Adam Civalier and his real estate company, Vicar Holdings, Khong Thai Cuisine (260 North Winton Road) was born. The concept is fast casual Thai food and the location is nestled in…
COMEDY | Comedy Olympics
Rochester has no shortage of talented comedians. The Record Archive this week will present — in conjunction with InnerLoopBlog.com — eight of these individuals, who will test their funniness fortitude at The Comedy Olympics. Co-hosted by Shane Allen and Michael Colón, the event will challenge the contestants in the categories of writing, roasting, and stand-up.…
Charlotte residents and businesses seek a community vision
Charlotte, that appendix of a neighborhood at the northern tip of the city, has a dilemma: It’s in the city, but it doesn’t feel like it is. It’s a beach community, but it doesn’t always feel much like that, either. After the summer’s burst of activity, the area becomes quiet by November. Charlotte’s residents hope…
DANCE | ‘Scent of Spring’
Spring is on the way, and St. John Fisher College, International Culture & Arts Network, and Biodance are teaming up to celebrate with “Scent of Spring” to commemorate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The free event this Saturday features both regional and international artists. Montreal dance outfit Simorgh will perform dances native to Khorasan and…
New York plastic-bag ban debate intensifies
Plastic bags are the things people love to hate. Many shoppers think nothing of walking out of the grocery or drug store with handfuls of the bags, sometimes with only a few items in them. And often, the option to buy reusable bags is staring them right in the face. Eventually, some of the plastic…
ART | ‘Melissa Huang: Cavern’
For all the ways that we can connect to one another, there are private experiences and thoughts and emotions that are difficult — or impossible — to access. It’s important to remember to make space for and acknowledge the inner life of others and of ourselves. This tension of our revealed and private faces is…
East and West Coast farmworkers unite for labor rights
In the summer of 2013, migrant farmworkers on a berry farm in Skagit County, Washington, about an hour north of Seattle, began to organize against poor working and housing conditions and for better wages. The labor group they created, Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), is an independent union, led by indigenous Mixtec and Triqui…
SPECIAL EVENT | Ladies Skate Night anniversary
The first Ladies Skate Night, hosted at Breaking Free Skatepark, was founded in March of 2017 in order to provide a judgement-free zone for women of all ages who want to learn to skate in peace. The women-only night has continued on the third Monday of each month, and a one year anniversary celebration will…
Like the corners of her mind
To dub Barbra Streisand a household name might be an understatement. She is one of the best-selling vocal artists in history, a stage and film actress, and one of few entertainers to be awarded multiple Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards (a highly coveted status referred to in show biz as an ‘EGOT’). Streisand has…
JAZZ | Joseph Daley Tuba Trio
The three musicians in the Joseph Daley Tuba Trio have collectively collaborated with a “Who’s Who” of musical giants. Daley (tuba) has worked with Gil Evans, Charlie Haden, and Taj Mahal. Warren Smith (drums, marimba, and percussion) has played with everyone from Nat King Cole and Charles Mingus to Janis Joplin and Barbra Streisand. And…
Feedback 3/14
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. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in…
CLASSICAL | ‘Bach & Bach’
Cellist Beiliang Zhu is a rising star in the early-music world: She won first prize at the 2012 International Bach Competition, the first string player to win for performing on a baroque instrument. This Sunday, Pegasus Early Music will feature Zhu on cello and on its ancestor, the viola da gamba, in examples from the twin…
Urban Action 3/14
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) ‘Holy Land Five’ is program topic Activist and writer Miko Peled will present a talk on Monday, March 19, titled “Injustice: the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five,” about five Palestinian-American men…
CLASSICAL | ‘Scordatura Violin’
If you’re a violinist, sometimes a composer wants you to play out of tune — or more precisely, to deliberately retune your strings. “Scordatura,” as this technique is called, is generally done to increase the tone color and expressive range of the instrument, adding low or high notes beyond its normal compass. Scordatura has been…
BLUES | The Jason Dodson Band
It must be something in the water: Rochester is spawning a lot of young guitar players lately, young six-stringers like Mickey James, who recently moved to Nashville, Jack West, Jon Dretto, and Jason Dodson. Dodson, formerly of the JD Blues Experiment, plays the blues a la SRV. The boy really digs in. If you get…
ROOTS ROCK | Kyle Cook
Kyle Cook blew through town last year with Rivers & Rust and showed us the blood, bones, and guts of the rock ‘n’ roll he’s been involved in, whether it was as a sideman with Mick Jagger or, as he’s more recognized, the lead guitar player for Matchbox Twenty. Do what I did: After seeing…
CLASSICAL | ‘Superb String Soloists’
Hochstein School of Music and Dance will launch its 2018 “Live from Hochstein” concert series with a trio of string players from the Eastman School of Music. Hosted by Mona Seghatoleslami of WXXI Classical 91.5, “Live from Hochstein” is the longest-running live broadcast concert series in Western New York. The ‘Superb String Soloists from Eastman’…
Album review: ‘Reading Daze’
Mike Wall “Reading Daze” Self-released mwall.bandcamp.com Boasting some odd, one-word titles for each of the tracks to his new, 15-song release, “Reading Daze,” Rochester musician Mike Wall takes us on a smooth ride full of trippy, chilled, Sunday lazy haze, with some Saturday night sophistication for punctuation. On “Reading Daze,” Wall constructs his multiple layers…
Album review: ‘Stay Pissed’
Citizens Against People “Stay Pissed” Self-released citizensagainstpeople.bandcamp.com “Stay Pissed” is a 10-song, thrill-a-minute, guitar-driven, head-banging, hardcore harangue. The album exhibits a band that has a capable choke-hold on its music and dynamics. Rochester quartet Citizens Against People offers a cohesive, abrasive, well-varied take on the hardcore genre without losing its own identity. There are 10…
Four galleries exhibit Danny Allen retrospective
Some people wake up from the fever dream of youthful turbulence and substance-tinged madness into steadiness; others don’t make it. Rochester-based artist Danny Allen was central to the city’s young art scene in the late 1960’s and early 70’s before he ended his life in 1974 at age 28. A four-venue retrospective exhibition of Allen’s…
THEATER | ‘Mustard Seed Private Pain’
Imani Theatre Ensemble, Inc. has been a place for African American actors to hone their skills for nearly 15 years, and provides a great opportunity to witness new theater made for and by the Rochester community. Fresh from a 2018 ROC Award for the play “Collard Green Curves,” Artistic Director Michael Atkins Yawn and company…
SPECIAL EVENT | 40th Annual Maple Sugaring & Pancake Breakfast
Maple sugaring is a time-honored tradition here in Upstate New York, and this Saturday and Sunday marks the 40th year of the Cumming Nature Center’s outdoor activity and subsequent pancake breakfast. Families will be able to walk the trails, learn firsthand about how maple trees produce the sap required for delicious maple syrup, and then…
Film preview: ‘Love, Simon’
The coming out narrative isn’t new, but “Love, Simon” is the first film to center on the story of a gay teen to get a wide release from a major studio. Adam describes how it felt to sit in a Regal theater and hear the young, mostly straight audience cheer and applaud when two male…
Film review: ‘A Wrinkle in Time’
“A Wrinkle in Time” arrived in theaters heavy with the weight of expectation. As an adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved 1962 sci-fi novel and the first $100 million movie from a black female director, the film serves as quite the challenge for director Ava DuVernay. Add in the fact that the material she’s adapting has…
Stand by your plow
Stay the Plow arose from the ashes of Dang!, a tongue-in-cheek country outfit that some people didn’t get. The band now plays sincere country that’s often flawless.
