New Rochelle’s 2022 ArtsFest celebrates Bridge Records’ 40th Anniversary
New Rochelle’s Bridge Records, called “the grandaddy of American independent classical labels by The New York Times, will celebrate its history at ArtsFest with a concert and art exhibit on Friday, October 21st at 7 pm at the New Rochelle Public Library’s Ossie Davis Theater. The concert will feature Bridge artist Steven Beck, playing music by prominent American composer George Walker (the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Lilacs in 1996), and William Bland (aka C. Damon Carter). Beck will perform Carter/Bland’s ‘s 4th Piano Sonata- “Four Goodbye Rags” as well as. music from his latest recording, the Piano Sonatas of George Walker. (Gramophone recently wrote: “Walker would surely have admired Steven Beck’s impeccable technique, and thorough absorption of the idiom. And perhaps he’d cede his own recordings of the first two sonatas to Beck’s masterful authority.”)
There will also be an exhibition of six newly-completed Carter canvases. Label President Becky Starobin and A & R Director David Starobin will also speak about the music and artwork on display. Free; seating available on first come, first served basis.
The concert is part of ArtsFest, the annual celebration of the arts organized by the non-profit New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA). ArtsFest spotlights the diversity of arts and artists in the community, with open studios, live music and dance, film screenings, pop-up art exhibits, a classic car show focused on design, a spoken word event with the acclaimed READ650, and interactive activities for all ages. This year ArtsFest will feature 40 participating venues, representing the work of hundreds of artists. For a complete calendar of events visit www.newrochellearts.org.
ArtsFest sponsors include ArtsWestchester, Gwendolen Appleyard Trust, New Rochelle IDA, Charles Fazzino, Mill Creek Residential, Alvin & Friends Restaurant, Cappelli, L+M Wilder Balter, New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District, RXR, The Standard, Town House and in-kind sponsors AJ’s Burgers and New Rochelle Public Library.
The New Rochelle Council on the Arts is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive George Latimer.
About New Rochelle Art Association
The New Rochelle Art Association has a long tradition of promoting and supporting artists and the visual arts. Since its informal inception in 1912, the association has included among its membership many talented and internationally known painters, illustrators, and sculptors. The organization set formal goals among which were to “set an educational standard in the Fine Arts and promote interest in art in the community.” The NRAA sponsored its first annual juried show to celebrate the opening of the new city library. Some of the noted participants in that show of 140 entries included: sculptor Robert Aitkin, painters G. Glenn Newell, Remington Schuyler, A.G. Heaton and illustrators Norman Rockwell, Joseph C. Leyendecker and Victor Forsythe. Today, by promoting and broadening the awareness of the arts in the community, and the world at large, the New Rochelle Art Association continues its mission. It is the hope that by carrying out the precepts set up by its founding members, the NRAA will continue to bring beauty, art, and quality of life to everyone associated with it.
THE NEW ROCHELLE ART ASSOCIATION has a long tradition of promoting and supporting artists and the visual arts. Since its informal inception in 1912, the association has included among its membership many talented and internationally known painters, illustrators and sculptors. The organization set formal goals among which were to “set an educational standard in the Fine Arts and promote interest in art in the community.” The NRAA sponsored its first annual juried show to celebrate the opening of the new city library. Some of the noted participants in that show of 140 entries included: sculptor Robert Aitkin, painters G. Glenn Newell, Remington Schuyler, A.G. Heaton and illustrators Norman Rockwell, Joseph C. Leyendecker and Victor Forsythe. Today, by promoting and broadening the awareness of the arts in the community, and the world at large, the New Rochelle Art Association continues its mission. It is the hope that by carrying out the precepts set up by its founding members, the NRAA will continue to bring beauty, art, and quality of life to everyone associated with it.