There is a lot to process on Andrew Cloninger’s new album, “Brutalist.” Processing, in fact, could serve as the guiding concept behind the album. Song titles like “Archive” and “Field Notes” suggest raw sonic material of various sorts underwent a careful process of refinement, sifting or even distilling. Instead of clean, repeatable melodies and chord […]
Home Feature
Posted inMovies
REVIEW | ‘The Odyssey’
“Is Christopher Nolan Catholic?” That’s the first thing I Googled upon exiting “The Odyssey.” As a director, Nolan has built a filmography around tortured men: atomic-bomb patriarch J. Robert Oppenheimer; dream wanderer Dom Cobb in “Inception;” marooned Joseph Cooper in “Interstellar.” But Nolan’s latest protagonist, the Greek hero Odysseus, endures a barrage of suffering so […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Circus in the City’ anchors Rochester Fringe Festival 2026 lineup
There can be no ESL Rochester Fringe Festival without the Spiegeltent, the signature mirrored hall that houses many of its shows. Indeed, the Spiegeltent will return for the fest in September. But this year’s Fringe also brings a slew of outdoor acrobatics, trapeze and aerial arts performances to downtown venues like Parcel 5 and Gibbs […]
Posted inCulture
Local radio show ‘Rainbow Roc’ celebrates 10 years of proud LGBTQ+ advocacy
When Brian Hurlburt applied to host a radio show on low-power community broadcaster WAYO-FM, the station didn’t technically exist yet. This was 2015, and organizers were still laying cables and installing power racks before launching. Hurlburt wanted in. He’d worked in radio before, hosting a show in Batavia, and he dreamed of returning to the […]
Posted inMusic
Eastman School’s 2026-27 concerts include Timothy Long’s Indigenous songbook, Chris Thile, Aoife O’Donovan and more
The Eastman School of Music has announced its concerts for the next school year. The new season includes student performances and a few guest stars. The celebration of America at 250 will be woven throughout the next year of concerts at Eastman in performances by students, faculty and visiting artists. Those concerts include “The North […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘Como Me La Pida’ by Orquesta La Muralla
Rochester loves its hometown icons, and in that pantheon of lilacs and frozen custard there is a special place for the long-tenured local salsa band La Muralla. Founded on the city’s northside in 1973, this all-star mashup of musicians released a new album, “Como Me La Pida,” on June 28 that provides a delightful break […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘Spit Takes and Split Tapes, Vol. II’ by Various Artists
Lilypad Underground and Raincoated Records are at it again, showcasing four of Rochester’s most interesting indie bands recorded directly to a four-track cassette tape. The result is “Spit Takes and Split Tapes, Vol. II,” an endearing split EP offering two songs each from local bands Chores, Comfy, Bad Bloom and Big Nobody. The opening song, […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘When I Am a Fossil’ by Benny Bleu
New York singer, songwriter and clawhammer banjo player Benny Bleu has announced his debut collection of self-recorded songs, “When I Am a Fossil” due June 5, with a release show at Bop Shop Records on June 6. A decade in the making, Bleu, a geologist by trade, examines the roots of traditional song through his […]
Posted inMusic
RPO names Tonya McBride Robles as new president and CEO
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has tapped Tonya McBride Robles to lead the organization as its new president and CEO, beginning August 17. McBride Robles most recently served as vice president of expanded education at the New England Conservatory in Boston and before that, she had been chief operating officer at both the Baltimore and Nashville […]
Posted inCulture
As ‘Antiques Roadshow’ films in Mumford next week, these local shopkeepers are ready
Antiques are the name of the game this week in Mumford, when PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow” rolls into the Genesee Country Village & Museum to film on June 17. The production will host thousands of collectors looking to get their items appraised — and to explore what local spots have to offer. Rick McKay opened McKay’s […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘Graceland Way’ by Mikaela Davis
It’s morning. You’re sipping coffee, watching the sun crest over a California canyon. Or, it’s midnight. You’re crushing beers, closing down a bar somewhere on Monroe Avenue. Either way, “Graceland Way,” Rochester-born Mikaela Davis’s latest, would be an apt soundtrack. Davis and company strain melancholy and make-believe through frontier thinking. Orville Peck — your favorite […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Medina Triennial brings ambitious, accessible art to the Erie Canal
Last September, an old canal barge made its way from Rochester 45 miles west to the village of Medina. Community members lugged trees and soil to help the artist Mary Mattingly build a unique garden — a floating one. Mattingly’s project is one of the key pieces of the Medina Triennial, which brings international artists […]
