Musical Associates of CNY has three concerts this weekend!

(Pianist Jon Nakamatsu)

For our readers in the Central New York and Mohawk Valley region, I am pleased to share the news that Musical Associates of Central New York (formerly Symphony Syracuse) is having THREE concerts this weekend, one in Rome, NY and the others in Syracuse.  Feel free to spread the word as this new symphonic organization gets off the ground!

The first concert will be on Friday, October 26th at Rome Free Academy, and it will begin at 8 P.M.  José-Luis Novo will conduct, and the soloist will be world-renowned pianist Jon Nakamatsu, who is a great favorite with audiences in our region.  

The program for this concert, and also for Saturday evening's concert in Syracuse, will include the overture to "Russlan and Ludmila" by Glinka, Grieg's Piano Concerto in a minor, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.  Ticket information for the Rome Free Academy concert is available from the Rome Chamber of Commerce at (315) 337-1700.  (BTW, if you have not been to RFA for a concert in recent years, check it out, since their auditorium is a very nice concert venue!)

The second concert this weekend from Musical Associates will be on Saturday, October 27th at 10:30 A.M. in the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center.  This is a Halloween family concert, and will be conducted by Heather Buchman. The orchestra and Ms. Buchman will be joined by narrator David Baker and members of the Empire State Dance Center troupe in what promises to be a program of frighteningly good favorites for your little boys and ghouls...corny, I know, but remember that the name of this blog is based on a pun, after all!  Children are encouraged to attend in costume, and to be part of the costume parade during the concert. Tickets can be purchased at the Ticketmaster website or in person at the Oncenter War Memorial Box Office, 760 S. State St. in downtown Syracuse. They are also available by phone through the Oncenter Box Office at (315) 435-2121.  Tickets to the family concert are $20 for adults, $9 for children and $17 for seniors.

The third concert from MA will be on Saturday, October 27th as well, starting at 7:30 P.M. It will also be in the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater, and it will feature pianist Jon Nakamatsu and conductor José-Luis Novo in a program that is identical to the one being performed on Friday at RFA.  Tickets range from $21 to $42 for adults, and student tickets are $12.  Tickets for this concert may be purchased through Ticketmaster, at the Oncenter War Memorial Box Office, and by phone at (315) 435-2121.

Again, feel free to spread the word, and we hope lots of you can attend and support Musical Associates' efforts with symphonic music in Central New York!  All good things...Marie

For Jerome Witkin fans: a brand-new official website!

(Photo: "The Two Of Us: Bergen-Belsen and Israel" from JeromeWitkin.com) 

We'll have a new DXing with Cumbre show this week, after our technical woes.  However, I know that some of you also enjoy the artwork I share here from time to time, including that of Jerome Witkin, who did the "Marie Lamb, The Chatterbox" portrait of me.  I have something to be chatty about today!  A few months ago, Jerome told me that there would soon be a new official website for his work.  I got a Google Alert about it this morning, so I am sharing the good news about JeromeWitkin.com !  Although webmaster Andrew Saluti mentions that the site is a work in progress, there are a number of Jerome's pieces you can see there, plus some YouTube video links and contact information for Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, the art gallery in Los Angeles that represents Jerome.  You can leave your comments, too, and Andrew Saluti invites Jerome's fans to check back often for updates!  Congratulations, Jerome; it looks good so far, and it's well-deserved!

Severe technical difficulties....

Hello, everyone! As you know, we have had some frustrating production problems in recent times, and the latest was a power failure today at the station where I work. This caused a computer glitch, and the only way that our evening programming can be aired is from our production computer. That means I cannot produce the show as I had planned to do. I hope we'll be back on schedule next week. In the meantime, here is a download link from our most recent DXing with Cumbre show. Thanks for your patience!  All good things--Marie Lamb

https://rapidshare.com/files/1493477586/CUMBRE735.MP3