Take a break in your week and join us for a night of Worship at our North Campus. 7pm. Women and girls of all ages are welcome! Free to all. At 8160 Bank Street Road, Batavia, New York.
Busking in Batavia is uncommon -- in fact, I've never seen it before and a couple of longtime residents I spoke to said they've never seen street musicians in the city before, so when I spotted Anthony Coco in front of Aldi yesterday evening, I had to stop and chat with him.
He wasn't too talkative, so no interview in the video.
He said he's been in Batavia for three months. He's from Las Vegas. He's busking -- accepting donations while playing music -- because that's his only option to feed himself. He's lost his Social Security card and birth certificate so can't get help from any social services. He's been couch surfing since moving to Batavia.
Yes, "that would be the idea" to become a professional musician he said, but right now the best he can do is busk.
Press release:
Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced the lineup for their late winter and spring indoor tribute shows, with one concert each month featuring music from great artists.
The Paddock Room will play host to ZBTB, based out of Rochester. ZBTB is the nation’s premier Zac Brown Tribute Band. The band captures the true Zac Brown experience. They will play on Saturday, Jan. 19th.
Friday, Feb. 8th is the date for the Soul Brothers – a Blues Brothers Tribute from London, Ontario, Canada. Real-life brothers Chris and Geoff Dahl have been performing as the iconic duo for 25 years. The show features songs from the Blues Brothers, James Brown, Ray Charles, the Righteous Brothers, Sam and Dave and more!
Next up, on Saturday, March 23rd, Batavia Downs welcomes Music of the Stars – A Tribute to Eight Internationally Famous Artists Such as Neil Diamond, Tom Jones, Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, Gary Puckett and Elvis. Music of the Stars has achieved a reputation of excellence, owing to its committed and talented team members and mentors.
21 Gun Salute – AC/DC Tribute takes the stage on Saturday, April 6th. 21 GUN SALUTE is undoubtedly one of the premiere AC/DC reviews ever assembled. The band plays true homage to AC/DC’s high voltage rock 'n' roll. Every detail has been painstakingly reproduced, from the Hell’s Bell stage props to Angus Young’s schoolboy outfit and signature live antics and lead singer’s dead-on vocal rendition of both Bon Scott and Brian Johnson.
$10 General Admission tickets went on sale at www.BataviaConcerts.com for each show today, Dec. 18th. Each ticket is redeemable on the gaming floor the day of the concert or the next day for $10 in Free Play. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel at their “Lucky Treasures” Gift Shop located in the lobby. Seating availability varies for each concert, full details are available on the website.
“Following the success of our fall tribute shows, including several sellouts, we are excited to continue booking these events to entertain our guests,” said Henry Wojtaszek, CEO/president at Batavia Downs Gaming.
“With ticket prices again set at a reasonable $10, getting $10 back in Free Play, we’re trying to make sure everyone can enjoy these great tribute shows and visit our newly renovated facility.”
About Batavia Downs/WROTB
Owned and operated by 15 Western New York counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo, Western Region Off-Track Betting Corporation is a public benefit corporation with headquarters in Batavia. WROTB owns and operates 29 branches, as well as Batavia Downs Gaming, a standard bred racetrack and gaming facility. Since its inception, Western Region OTB has generated more than $215 million in operating and surcharge revenues to the taxpayers of those participating municipalities.
The Genesee Valley Wind Ensemble Autumn Concert will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, in the auditorium of Oakfield-Alabama Middle/High School. It is located at 7001 Lewiston Road in Oakfield.
The program will feature these works:
The purpose of the GVWE is to serve and to provide the Greater Genesee Valley audience with new and familiar live music, to serve its membership with the opportunity to perform challenging wind ensemble literature and to create the opportunity for the conductor and musicians to grow their collective musical talents.
Cost is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors (55+) and veterans; and $5 for students with ID. Children 5 years old and under attend free. There is also a Family Deal for $25 -- immediate family and children as defined by mother and/or father and up to four children
Contact: geneseevalleywindensemble@gmail.co or click here for the website.
Conductors
Raymond Suriani -- guest conductor: retired middle, junior and high school band director -- Warsaw Central School; Josh Pacino -- member conductor, Buffalo State College Graduate -- Batavia Concert Band librarian & associate conductor; Philip J. Briatico -- conductor & founder of the GVWE -- Warsaw Central School.
Celloist Marza Merophi Wilks will be the featured soloist tomorrow in a concert by the Genesee Symphony Orchestra at Genesee Community College.
The concert starts at 4 p.m. and tickets are available at the door.
Wilks, born in Peru, started playing cello when she was 5 years old and is a master student at the Julliard School. She has previously been a guest soloist for the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra.
Wilks will perform with the orchestra Samuel Barber's "Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra," a piece in three movements.
Also on the program, "Electric Dream for Acoustic Orchestra," a world premiere performance, which was written by S. Shade Zajac, the GSO's musical director and conductor.
The orchestra will close with "Symphony No. 2 in B minor" by Alexander Borodin.
The Genesee Wind Ensemble performs at the Oakfield-Alabama Auditorium at 4 p.m., Nov. 18. It is located at 7001 Lewiston Road, Oakfield.
Featured works include "Beguine for Band," "Blue Moon," highlights from "Camelot," "Entry for Gladiators," "Procession for Nobles," "Abracadabra," and Symphony No. 3 by Clifton Williams.
Visit geneseevalleywindensemble.org for more information.
Photos are from last night's rehearsal.
The Genesee Symphony Orchestra, with S. Shade Zajac music director/conductor, will perform at Genesee Community College on Sunday, Oct. 28.
The program for "Dare to Dream" is as follows:
Meet the orchestra at 3 p.m., followed by the concert at 4.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $7 for students; $10 for seniors; $35 for a family with parents and children age 12 and under.
Tickets are available at GO ART!, The YNGodess Shop, Vinyl Record Revival, Bank of Castile in Le Roy, and at geneseesymphony.com
This concert is sponsored by WBTA and is also made possible, in part, by the NYS Council on the Arts, with the support of Gov. Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.
The college is located at 1 College Road in the Town of Batavia.
KISS THIS photo from Batavia Downs.
KISS THIS -- the East Coast's premiere KISS tribute band, based in Buffalo, will be the stars of a meet-and-greet photo op in full regalia at Foxprowl Collectables on Tuesday (Oct. 2).
Its members are Kevin Blakita - Paul Stanley (Starchild), John Jeffrey - Ace Frehley (Spaceman), Julius Giambelluca - Eric Carr (the Fox), Bradley Heath - Eric Singer (The Catman), Taylor Stursa - Gene Simmons (The Demon).
Fans are welcome to do some "KISSmas" shopping early since all KISS collectibles will be 10 percent off during the band's brief store visit -- from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Foxprowl relocated to its old digs, at 440 Ellicott St. in the City of Batavia.
Also, KISS THIS will appear in concert Saturday Oct. 13 at Batavia Downs. Tickets are $10. Doors open at 7 p.m.; concert starts at 8. Minors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For concert tickets, click here.
Pictured (left to right, back to front): Erin Parnapy, Caleb Calhoun, Jacey Donahue, Sydney Brown, Jason Hoehn, Hope Hersom, Hannah Van Skiver, Kelly Ireland, Stephanie Buell, and Justine Bloom.
Submitted photo and press release:
Congratulations to the 10 Byron-Bergen students chosen to participate in the prestigious Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Holiday Pops Chorus.
These students will join other top vocal performers from school districts across eight local counties to perform with the world famous Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Grammy-winning conductor Jeff Tzich.
"It's my last year," said senior Stephanie Buell. "I'm ready to go out with a bang with a great group of singers."
The students were selected via diverse criteria, including NYSSMA solo scores, experience singing in choirs, teacher recommendation, and overall musicality. Three of the selected singers also participated last year.
The students chosen to perform are sopranos Jacey Donahue, Hope Hersom, Kelly Ireland, Erin Parnapy, and Hannah Van Skiver, altos Justine Bloom, Sydney Brown, and Stephanie Buell, and basses Caleb Calhoun and Jason Hoehn.
"It's a tremendous honor," said Byron-Bergen music teacher and choirmaster Laurence Tallman.
All of the participating students study voice with Tallman and are members of the school's select chorus, the Singing Silhouettes. Despite the concert being almost three months away, the students are excited to get started. As sophomore Kelly Ireland put it, "We're pumped!"
The performances are: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20; 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 21; 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22; and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23.
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is located at 108 East Ave. in Downtown Rochester. Tickets are on sale at the RPO website here, or by calling the box office at 454-7311.
Since 1969, English heavy metal band Judas Priest has sold more than 50 million copies of their albums worldwide.
Last evening at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, the band opened for Deep Purple and had the crowd revved up and rockin' to classics like "Living after Midnight," "Breaking the Law," and "You’ve Got Another Thing Coming."
Judas Priest is ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time, and singer Rob Halford's voice projected robustly throughout the hour and a half set at Darien Lake.
Deep Purple, named the planet's loudest band in 1972, was formed in 1968 and has had decades of success. The English band opened with "Highway Star" and "Pictures of Home."
A poll on the British radio program Planet Rock ranked them fifth among the "most influential bands ever" in the early 2000s. One of their biggest hits, "Smoke on the Water," from their 1972 Machine Head album, was ranked number 4 in the United Kingdom's Total Guitar magazine list of songs with the "Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever."
Photos below of Deep Purple.
Submitted photo and press release:
On Friday, Sept. 21, jazz will be in the air in Downtown Perry. The Arts Council for Wyoming County (ACWC) is presenting the Batavia Brass Society in their main gallery to play a "Light Evening of Jazz." This is the first time this group of musicians has played at the ACWC.
The Arts Council for Wyoming County is located at 31 S. Main St., Perry. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; concert begins at 7.
The Batavia Brass Society is made up of Derek Reiss (trumpet), Peter Mark (trombone), Edward VanZandt (trumpet), Roger Bolton (tuba), Elizabeth Kockler (horn), Scott Kockler (percussion).
Musicians are current, former, and retired music teachers from our area. They have been performing since 1980 playing a variety of music from classical to jazz and pop. You may have seen them at the Oakfield Labor Daze, Le Roy Oatka Festival, Genesee Community College, and the concert series in Holley and Akron.
"I am pleased that the Arts Council will finally have the opportunity to present the the Batavia Brass Society in concert at the Gallery," says Jacqueline Hoyt, executive director of the Arts Council for Wyoming County, "This show will feature local musicians playing songs that are familiar to our ears."
Tickets for this concert are $15 ($13.50 for ACWC members). Purchase online at artswyco.org or by calling the ACWC at (585) 237-3517, ext. 101. Tickets are first come, first served, and early reservations are suggested.
If you would like to reserve tickets for parties larger than 10, please contact the ACWC directly at (585) 237-3517 or email info@artswyco.org.
About the Arts Council for Wyoming County
For more than 40 years, the Arts Council for Wyoming County (ACWC) has created opportunities to bring arts into their rural communities through programming, grants, and art events. The ACWC is also Wyoming County’s NYSCA Decentralization Site for Community Arts Grants. In addition to yearly programming, the ACWC produces the Letchworth Arts & Crafts Show and Sale. For more information on membership or advocacy in the arts, please visit www.artswyco.org.
It was a near capacity crowd at The Ridge NY in Le Roy last night for Travis Tritt.
Co-owner David Luetticke-Archbell said both VIP tickets and the campground were sold out. Once the Frostridge Campground sold out, he started referring customers to other campgrounds in the county and three other campgrounds sold out.
He doesn't have an exact ticket count yet but he said it may have been the largest crowd ever for a concert at The Ridge.
Press release:
Calling all singers! Join with the Genesee Chorale in preparing for a holiday concert of glory and majesty, including the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel’s "Messiah" and a newly commissioned work celebrating the beauty of Letchworth Park.
First season rehearsal is 7 to 9 p.m., Monday, Sept. 10, at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia, with other rehearsals following Monday evenings leading to Dec. 12, 14 and 16 concerts.
Ric Jones is director, and all skills are welcome. For further information contact Heather Lovelace at (716) 531-8986, e-mail Info@geneseechorale.com
Press release:
After a three-year break from touring on the East Coast, arguably one of America’s great songwriters brings his stories and melodies back to select East Coast locales this month.
At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, Walt Wilkins will be at Farmer’s Creekside Tavern & Inn, located at 1 Main St. in the Village of Le Roy. There is a $15 cover charge at the door.
Since he was last on the East Coast, Wilkins has put out three new records:
This eight-stop tour, will give old fans and new friends a chance to see and hear a master songwriter in intimate venues and concert houses.
About Walt Wilkins:
San Antonio, Texas-born Walt Wilkins has been called a genius, more than once, and a writer the caliber of John Steinbeck and his voice as comfortable as a pair of old blue jeans, and he is, and has, all of that.
His crafting of story-songs, hard-edged vocals to sing them and a plaintive guitar have made him a fixture of the Texas music scene (and Nashville before that). He’s put his magical touch on recordings by new and veteran artists, too many to count.
His songs have been recorded by the likes of Kenny Rogers, Kellie Pickler, Ricky Skaggs, Pat Green, Brandon Rhyder, Ty Herndon, Cory Morrow and Kevin Welch. He has recorded 12 records, some solo, some with his Texas super-group The Mystiqueros and some with his singer-songwriter wife, Tina. His latest record is a live CD with fellow Texas songwriting master Kevin Welch.
Walt Wilkins: "I am fortunate that I play my songs across a wide region that is filled with people who find comfort, enjoyment and meaning in coming out to listen to folks like myself. I am fortunate that enough they come out, generally, that I can come back to those places and play my songs again. I am lucky, I think, that I knew my calling at an early age, and at one point in my life, I took the necessary steps to follow that calling out into the world.
"I am still learning how to listen to, and stay true to the voice, and true to the work I am given. I try not to take myself too seriously, but I do try to take seriously this work; this calling. I play some nights just me and my guitar, and some nights with my talented and funny wife, Tina. And some nights with the The Mystiqueros, a living art collective, a hill country jukebox, one of the bands on the bill in honky-tonk heaven.
"I drive, I play, I sleep and dream. I have had a fair share of songs recorded by other folks, which was my dream all along, and I have played shows with heroes and real poets and the deepest of cats. But I live for the gig tonight, and tomorrow. I am fortunate... and I hope to see you down this road.”
(Photos by Howard Owens.)
Press release:
As part of the last concert, Dave Lumberg, owner of Tim Hortons, of Batavia, received the annual Pam Frisby Friend of the Band Award. Pam was a longtime board member and president for the Batavia Concert Band, and the Band honors her memory every year with a Friend of the Band Award.
Tim Hortons was recognized for their generous donation each season of baked goods for the concession stand, of which the proceeds are used to fund a scholarship program for college students who play in the Batavia Concert Band.
Pictured is Dave Lumberg, a Tim Hortons Batavia franchise owner, Anne Arent, BCB Board member, and Jason Smith, BCB general manager.
Tim Hortons received a certificate for display in their restaurant, and their name will be engraved on a special plaque displayed at every concert. Tim Hortons also donated the prize award back to the Batavia Concert Band.
The Band also thanks GO ART!, WBTA, the City of Batavia, and Genesee Community College for their support of our entire season, as well as the following concert sponsors: The Zehler Family, Rotary Club of Batavia, HE Turner & Company Funeral Home, Batavia Lions Club, Bailey Electric, GCASA, The Insurance Center, UMMC, friends of Neil Hartwick, the Pacino family, Michael Kubinec D.D.S., and Brighton Securities.
Thank you to all our audience members who faithfully attended each week, and plans are already underway for the 2019 season!
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