The Mystery of the Magi's Gold

It's "CSI: Bethlehem" in this holiday mystery extravaganza Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages - whatever happened to the Magi's gold? ("We know that Mary used the frankincense and myrrh as a sort of potpourri - they were in a barn after all.") Retelling the story of the nativity, as only Sister can, this hilarious holiday production is bound to become a yearly classic. Employing her own scientific tools, assisted by a local choir as well as a gaggle of audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any you've ever seen.With gifts galore and bundles of laughs, Sister's Christmas Catechism is sure to become the newest addition to your holiday traditions.  "A gift-wrapped holiday treat, this Catechism should be opened early!" says the L.A. Times.  This production is presented by Legacy Theatre and show times are December 5 at 7:30pm and December 6 at 2pm and 7pm.  All performances take place at Tabor Stage, 45 Tabor Avenue, Branford.  For tickets click here.

Legacy Theatre is a professional theatre company that enhances the Connecticut Shoreline's economy, educational opportunities and quality of life through live theatre and related programs. The Legacy strives to be a premiere Arts house for local artists, professional companies, and to ensure ongoing seasons of uplifting, inspiring, and challenging professional theatre and theatre training for all.

World Class Opera Voices Headline Master Works Concert

Cappella Cantorum MasterWorks Chorus is indeed most fortunate to have two outstanding operatic female voices headlining the production of Bach Magnificat & Vivaldi Gloria, December 7. Performance takes place at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church in Westbrook at 3pm.

Soprano Patricia Schuman has performed previously with Cappella Cantorum MasterWorks Chorus, most recently with our production of Poulenc Gloria and Bass Christmas Ornaments in 2008.
Recently, Miss Schuman made her role debut as The Duchess in Thomas Ades’ Powder her Face with the Opera Company of Philadelphia to great critical acclaim.  Preceding that, she appeared at the Glimmerglass Festival in a double bill as Estelle Oglethorpe in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening and as Carlotta O’Neill in a world premiere of A Blizzard at Marblehead Neck by Jeanine Tesori.  Miss Schuman made her debut with the Houston Grand Opera in the title role of Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catàn, which she also recorded for Albany Records.  She can be seen on video as Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Donna Elvira(Don Giovanni) from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) from Madrid Opera.  In the last few years, Miss Schuman has concentrated on recital and chamber music.  In January of 2013, she appeared with husband, David Pittsinger, in recital at the Essex Winter Series.  Following that, she premiered a new oratorio, Letter from Italy, by composer Sarah Meneely-Kyder and Connecticut poet Nancy Meneely, led by Joseph d’Eugenio and the Greater Middletown Chorale.

While this will be the first time contralto Heather Petrie has performed under the Cappella Cantorum MasterWorks Chorus banner, several members of Cappella Cantorum had the pleasure of singing with Ms. Petrie with the collaborative production by Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Connecticut Lyric Opera Chorus, New Britain Chorale and Paderewski-Polonia Choir where she headlined their production of Verdi Requiem last year.

Ms. Petrie returned last season to debut the role of Mary in Wagner’s der Fliegende Holländer, and was alto soloist in Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater.  In Manhattan, she performs frequently with Musica Sacra, the choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, and Voices of Ascension, and has also sung with the Holy Trinity Bach Vespers series, and at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. This past spring Heather made her Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra, as alto soloist in Ernst Bloch’s Israel Symphony.  At Symphony Space, she has given concert performances of Suor Angelica(La Zia Principessa) and Hänsel and Gretel (The Witch).  Other opera roles include Larina in Eugene Onegin, Baba in The Medium, Miss Todd in the Old Maid and the Thief, Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro.  She has also been a member of the chorus at both Bard Summerscape, and the Princeton Festival.

To purchase tickets click here.

Bach’s Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) is a setting of the Magnificat text by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach first composed a version in E flat major (BVW 243a) in 1723 for Christmas Vespers in Leipzig and then reworked that music in D major in 1733 for the Marian Feast of the Visitation which was celebrated on July 2.  This second version had its premiere at the Thomaskirche on July 2, 1733.
The Latin text is the canticle of Mary, mother of Jesus, as told in the Gospel of Luke.

Vivaldi’s Gloria (RV 589) is the most familiar and popular piece of sacred music by Vivaldi; however, he was known to have written at least three Gloria settings.  Only two survive (RV 588 and RV 589) whilst the other (RV 590) is presumably lost and is only mentioned in the Kreuzherren catalogue.  The two surviving settings were written at about the same time (it is disputed which came first) in the early 18th century.  This piece was composed at the same time during Vivaldi’s employment at the Pieta.  The work remained relatively unknown, until its revival by Alfredo Casella during “Vivaldi Week” in Siena (1939).  Vivaldi’s Gloria (RV 589) enjoys well-founded popularity and has been recorded on almost one hundred CDs.

Cappella Cantorum is the lower Connecticut River Valley and Shoreline’s premiere non-auditioned community choral organization whose primary purpose is to learn, perform and enjoy great choral music while striving for excellence and the enrichment of its singers and audience.

Make.Art.Work.

Making Your Life as an Artist with Andrew Simonet
and Make.Art.Work. 2015 – Preview
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Housatonic Community College

Launching the Make.Art.Work. 2015 series in a special event, headlining artist-author Andrew Simonet discusses the importance of developing professional skills to keep your trajectory as an artist going forward.  Following Andrew, hear from Make.Art.Work. alumni about their experiences growing their professional skills and building their networks in a conversation moderated by Make.Art.Work. 2015 instructors Jeannie Thomma and Ryan Odinak. Learn what’s coming up in this next series and join fellow artist attendees for a networking lunch with table topics of your choice.

Make.Art.Work. is a comprehensive career training program for visual artists in Connecticut taking place in Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven counties. Make.Art.Work. addresses essential business and entrepreneurial skills for artists within a supportive peer environment.  From January to June 2015, artists will meet monthly in three-hour evening sessions, combining learning with coaching and peer support.  The program will consist of a workshop series run concurrently in three regions of the state.  As the culmination, artists will collaborate and implement their skills to curate and produce a group exhibition in their region. 

Andrew Simonet, dancer, choreographer, author and Founder and Director of Artists U, created in Philadelphia in 2006.  Artists U is a grassroots planning and professional development program run by and for artists. He is the author of Making Your Life as an Artist, a guide to building a balanced, sustainable artistic life.  In Andrew’s words, “nothing makes you a real artist except your devotion to making.”  Download his book for free here.

To register for the November 22 workshop click here.

A Behind the Scenes LOOK!

The City by Steven Plaziak

Indoor Flowers by Stu Lerner

Many of us have had the experience of visiting art galleries and museums to experience fine art. But rarely is the opportunity available to actually interact with the creator of this work. Shoreline ArtsTrail Open Studios Weekend affords visitors this wonderful experience on November 22 and 23 from 10am - 4pm.  For 13 years Shoreline ArtsTrail has invited the public to view artists work in a wide range of mediums and styles as well as a variety of environments from lofts, to barns, to industrial parks, to cozy studios.  While following the self-guided map to the more than 42 artists' studios in Branford, Guilford and Madison you will learn about each artist's space, their process, influences, and other facts that one would likely not see otherwise. The studio visits allow one to truly appreciate the work and understand the realities of how it gets done.  The passion and creative perspective of the artist are palpable when engulfed in their space.  They are commited to their craft, working hard and taking risks.  So whether you are a collector, an emerging artist, an appreciator or just curious spend some time this coming weekend with some of the Shoreline's outstanding artists. You might even get in some early holiday shopping on this artistic journey.
During Open Studios Weekend, colorful “Open Studio” signs will point you to all of these artists and studios. For specific locations and more information about events, discount offers and participating artists, pick up a copy of the Shoreline ArtsTrail map, available in libraries, town halls and visitors’ centers in Branford, Guilford and Madison, as well as at the Guilford Art Center and the various studios. Contact Martha Link Walsh at (203) 481-3505 or visit www.shorelineartstrail.com.

The Shoreline ArtsTrail was initiated in 2002 by a small group of artists and artisans in the Connecticut shoreline towns of Branford, Guilford and Madison. Their intent was to create an annual Open Studios event as a showcase to allow local residents and weekend visitors to interact with the artists and to experience the creative process first-hand. The seeds were planted and began to grow.

Three years later, grants from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and from the three towns dramatically accelerated this burgeoning venture. The number of artists almost doubled; the media represented followed suit. With the invaluable support of the Guilford Art Center, the vigorous group of Open Studio artists morphed into a year-long Shoreline ArtsTrail. The combined efforts of all parties led to the ArtsTrail receiving the Compass Award for Excellence in Partnership in 2007 from the Greater New Haven Visitors' Bureau. The collaboration of artists, the Arts Center, and the tourism committees of the three towns was recognized as a powerful force for stimulating tourism on the Shoreline.

Painting by Christine Chiocchio

Now in its thirteenth year, the ArtsTrail and its Open Studio Weekend is better than ever. Armed with one of the thousands of maps distributed throughout Connecticut and its neighboring states, visitors get an intimate view of the artists in their natural habitat. Visitors are able to get a real feel for the artists and their work. One-on-one explanations illuminate the how's and why's that go into the design and development of each piece. The processes that artists use to transform raw materials into finished works of art are as different as they are special. No matter what the medium -- wood, glass, precious metal, paint, fiber, ceramics, stone, photography, or steel -- all require focus, an extended time frame, and skilled hands. Open Studios Weekend provides an opportunity to learn the "art" in each art form. What could be better than combining education, refreshments, and an unparalleled, early holiday shopping experience? Many visitors take the opportunity to initiate discussions of special projects or commissions that they have dreamed about.

2nd Annual Soup Fundraiser

Enjoy a warm, soup supper while supporting two great shoreline organizations—Guilford Art Center and the Community Dining Room—at Soup for Good, Sunday, November 16, 4:30-6:30pm at Guilford Art Center.
Guests are invited to the Art Center school to enjoy a bowl of hearty soup, bread, dessert and glass of wine or sparkling water. Each guest gets to choose their own one-of-a-kind soup bowl, handcrafted by Guilford Art Center potters. Bowls will be washed and dried for each guest to take home, “for good.”
After enjoying soup, guests are invited to the Guilford Art Center Shop and Gallery to visit Artistry: American Craft for the Holidays, the Center’s extraordinary annual sale of fine holiday arts and crafts.
Tickets for Soup for Good are $30 in advance, $35 at door. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Community Dining Room, as well as Guilford Art Center.
The Community Dining Room, located in Branford, is committed to serving the shoreline community by feeding the hungry and helping with other basic human needs. Guilford Art Center is a non-profit organization established to nurture and support excellence in the arts through education, communication, and outreach.
CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATIONS or contact Guilford Art Center at (203) 453-5947.

21st Annual Presentation of The Magic Toyshop

For a special holiday treat plan to attend one of the performances of The Magic Toyshop, performed by Starship Dance Theater.  Performances are Friday, December 5 at 7:30pm (following the Guilford Tree Lighting Ceremony); Saturday, December 6 at 2pm and 7pm; and Sunday, December 7 at 3pm.  Tickets are $20 General Admission, $18 Students, $15 Seniors and Children under 12. To purchase tickets call 203-453-2516 or 203-453-8068.  The program is sponsored by Guilford Parks and Recreation.

Based on La Boutique Fantasque, also known as The Magic Toyshop or The Fantastic Toyshop, Joyce DeLauro has adapted this ballet combining the music of Giochino Rossini with the music from Jeux d'Enfants by Georges Bizet. This 21st  annual production continues to promote the mission of Starship Dance Theater since its inception in 1980 and that is family involvement and inclusiveness.  Roles are created for all who audition and this year's cast of almost 50 work together to tell this wonderful holiday tale.

 

A world-famous toymaker has created exquisite dancing dolls in his magic toyshop. When they are wound up the dolls perform dance routines for the prospective customers.  Some perform a tarantella and others a mazurka. Customers come and go, all intrigued by the dancing dolls. An American family is in the shop when a Russian family enters.  Five Cossack dolls come out to entertain them with a traditional dance.  This is followed by two dancing poodles that keep everyone laughing and entertained.  Finally, the shop-keeper brings out his most prized pair of dancing dolls, the Can-Can dancers, male and female.  They are so enchanting in their dance and on eis bought by the American family and one bought by the Russian family.  They are paid for and boxed up with the customers arranging to claim them the following day. The shop keeper and the dolls are so upset that the Can-Can dancers are going to be split up and never dance together again.  How can this be?

Find out what happens on December 5, 6, or 7!  Join Starship Dance Theater at the Guilford Parks & Recreation Center, 32 Church Street, Guilford to learn the fate of the dolls and the secrets of The Magic Toyshop.

Our goal is to provide our students with a firm foundation and a clear understanding of their art form.  We strive to provide superior technical dance training in an atmosphere that fosters creativity, motivation, and a positive self-image.  Our ballet teaching follows the Vagonova system from Russia, which trains a child to develop good body placement and strong muscles with a progression of skills.
Our students benefit from the confidence that comes from learning something new and becoming comfortable with their abilities.  Young students who continue in dance can expect to build self-esteem, self-discipline and an ability to stand up to the pressures of school with more poise and confidence.  Adult students can rediscover the joy of learning new skills or sharpening existing ones in a caring and open environment.

We offer a range of classes for dancers aged two years of age to Adult.   Our offerings include various levels of Ballet, Modern, and Jazz, both child and adult classes.  For the pre-school aged child, we offer Creative Dance and Parent and Child Classes.  Throughout the year various Workshop opportunities are offered including Belly Dance or instruction with visiting professional dancers / choreographers.

Classes run throughout the school year (September till the end of May) for children pre-K through 12th grade, half session classes for those pre-school aged, ten week long adult sessions (September to May), half day workshops (at various times), and one to three week programs  through the summer months.

New Haven Symphony with Yale Opera Perform Suor Angelica

New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) and Yale Opera will present a fully staged performance of Puccini's opera Suor Angelica on Thursday, November 20 and Friday, November 21 at 7:30pm at St. Mary's Church in New Haven. Tickets are $15 - $74 and may be purchased at www.newhavensymphony.org.

The performance will be led by NHSO Music Director William Boughton and the program will also include the New England premiere of New Haven compose Christopher Theofanidis' Virtue, featuring guest soprano soloist Tony Arnold, narrator Chris Dickerson, and the Elm Cith Girls' Choir. 

Muisc director William Boughton says, "What defines a person's lifeas virtuous or sinful? Who deserves forgiveness? These are the themes that we will explore through music in this dramatic program.  In addition to performing the New England premiere of Theofanidis' newest work, we are very fortunate to be able to present a full opera with the incredible talents of Yale Opera.  From the costumes to the gorgeous setting of St. Mary's Church, this will be a completely unique orchestra concert experience."

Suor Angelica is the second of three one-act operas Puccini composed during World War I, known together as Il trittico (Triptych). Puccini composed his operas to depict situations true to life, never shying away from the earthy and ugly in human nature - as wll as never missing a chance to lace realism with melodrama. The opera takes place in a seventeenth-century convent in Italy and tells the story of a Princess (Angelica) who was forced into the convent after giving birth to a child out of wedlock.  While at the convent, Angelica learns of the death of her son and struggles between this devastating loss and her search for spiritual redemption.

Suor will feature performers from Yale Opera, costumes by John Carver Sullivan and direction by Marc Verzatt. St. Mary’s Church, the founding church of the Knights of Columbus, will serve as the opera’s set.

Opening the program will be the New England premiere performances of Theofanidis’ Virtue, a
commission by a consortium led by the New Haven Symphony. Theofanidis based the story on texts by
the medieval mystic, herbalist, playwright, theologian and composer, Saint Hildegard of Bingen. The
narrative of Virtue depicts a dramatic encounter between a human soul (portrayed by soprano Tony
Arnold) and its temptation and confrontation with the Devil (narrated by Chris Dickerson).

In addition to the two concerts at St. Mary’s, the NHSO and Yale Opera will perform a concert version of Suor Angelica on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT. This performance will not include costumes or staging. For information about this performance, visit www.cathedralofsaintjoseph.com/music-sacredsounds.

Yale Opera is the graduate opera program at the Yale School of Music. This highly selective program is led by Artistic Director Doris Yarick Cross. Over the years, Yale Opera has been very effective at
launching successful careers for its graduates. This season alone, Yale Opera alumni are performing at
virtually all of the major opera houses in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera
House—Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

Founded in 1993, The Elm City Girls' Choir has received national recognition, and has appeared at
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Walt Disney World. The Choir has performed with many outstanding choral groups, including The American Boychoir, CONCORA, New York Virtuoso Singers, and Yale Schola Cantorum, and with professional orchestras including the Boston Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, and Moscow State Orchestra. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, ECGC has toured
extensively throughout North America and Europe, and has appeared on national television performing
with Diana Ross at the women's finals match of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament.

Hailed by the New York Times as “a bold, powerful interpreter,” Tony Arnold is recognized internationally as a leading proponent of new music in concert and recording. Since becoming the first-prize laureate of the both the 2001 Gaudeamus International Competition and the 2001 Louise D. McMahon Competition, Ms. Arnold has collaborated with the most cutting-edge composers and instrumentalists on the world stage, receiving consistent critical accolades for a voice of beauty and warmth, an uncanny technical facility, sterling musicianship, and her riveting stage presence. Ms. Arnold is the soprano of the intrepid International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and is one of the most recorded singers of contemporary music, with more than two dozen CDs to her credit.

Christopher Dickerson is an alumnus of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Center for American Artists, and
has performed with Connecticut Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Minnesota Opera, and the
Caramoor Festival. Dickerson studied at Texas Tech University before joining the professional Resident Artist Program of Opera San José. Born in Dallas, TX and a graduate of Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, Christopher Theofanidis has been the recipient of the Masterprize, the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Charles Ives Fellowship, among others. He is a former member of the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and currently teaches at Yale. For the 2006-07 season

he was composer-of-the-year of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Internationally Renowned painter Nelson H. White Presents at Lyme Academy College, Nov. 7

Bagno la Salute

Internationally renowned painter Nelson Holbrook White is the second speaker in the 2014-15 lecture series, “Inside My Studio: The Artist Revealed,” hosted by the Alumni Association of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts of the University of New Haven on Friday, Nov. 7. The evening begins with a reception in the Sill House Gallery at 6 p.m. before White’s presentation at 7 p.m.  


White received his earliest art instruction from his father and grandfather who were both prominent American artists.  Nelson White’s grandfather was an early member of the famed Lyme Art Colony of impressionist artists, many of whom lived at Florence Griswold’s boarding house in Old Lyme. Nelson White’s father also lived with his parents at the Florence Griswold house, where he met some of the most influential artists of the day, including Childe Hassam, Will Howe Fotte and Harry Hoffman.  


Nelson H. White was born in New London in 1932. After graduating from Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., he enrolled at Mitchell College in New London, but left to pursue music theory and composition.  At that time, he began to spend more time studying with his father and grandfather and by 1955, had decided to commit himself to a career in painting.  
White’s studies led him to Florence, Italy, where he became an apprentice to the world-renowned Florentine painter Pietro Annigoni and studied with the acclaimed Italian teacher Nerina Simi.  Although he received instruction from a number of major artists, White’s work is highly individual.  His ability to use color, coupled with rich brushwork and graduations of light, air and atmosphere, richly conveys both mood and intimacy.

Collections of White’s work are held by many organizations including the Wadsworth Atheneum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Florence Griswold Museum and Pfizer Inc.  He has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally and received the Biennale Internazionale Career Award in 2003.  Today, White divides his time between the USA and Florence, Italy.

Reservations are required at $10 per person and should be made by contacting Ann de Selding at 860.434.3571 ext. 117 or adeselding@lymeacademy.edu.  Early reservations are recommended since seating is limited and a capacity audience is expected.

For more information about this event or Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts of the University of New Haven, contact Olwen Logan, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at 860-434-3571, ext. 135
or ologan@lymeacademy.edu


The mission of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts of the University of New Haven is to educate aspiring artists through a rigorous studio curriculum rooted in figurative and representational art. The college offers a comprehensive liberal arts education essential for advanced critical and creative thought. For more information call 860-434-5232 or visit www.lymeacademy.edu.

The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920 the university enrolls approximately 1,800 graduate students and more than 4,600 undergraduates.

 

Dear Eva: A WWII Story, Told in Letters November 8

Your emotions will be stirred when you hear a reading of highlights from “Dear Eva,” a captivating non-fiction play based on World War II letters that were written by ordinary men and women in an extraordinary time. The 50-minute reading on November 8 at 1pm will be by the play’s co-authors, Catherine Ladnier of Greenwich and Paul Janensch of Bridgeport. They will welcome your questions and comments immediately afterwards.

The letters were saved by Eva Lee Brown of Easley, S.C. The men are in uniform. Some see action. The women are lonely and dealing with shortages. The letters are candid, sad and funny. The common theme is a longing for a return to normal life. The letters were discovered by Eva’s daughter, Catherine, who is a theater buff and compliance consultant in the securities industry.   She invited Paul, a former newspaper editor and professor emeritus of journalism at Quinnipiac University, to collaborate with her. Together, they selected the most dramatic letters, arranged them into story lines and edited them down to their essentials. The letters tell several compelling inter-twined stories. Something terrible happens to the battalion in which Eva’s brother Bill is serving, but it’s a military secret. Cousin Clifton flies against his mother’s wishes and is shot down over France. Eva is pursued by servicemen who write her ardent letters; one correspondent is Harry Ladnier, who receives love letters from other women. At the end, we learn what happened to Bill’s battalion and who won Eva’s heart.

The time seems right for hearing the highlights from “Dear Eva.” Interest in World War II is high. During the discussion period that follows a reading, audience members of all ages are eager to talk about World War II. Maybe they were involved in the war. Or they heard about it from parents or grandparents. Many draw comparisons between World War II and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They note that back then all Americans made sacrifices, not just members of the armed forces and their families.

Symposium on Arts & Aging

ARTFARM and Middlesex Community College are co-sponsoring a “Symposium on the Arts and Aging” on Friday, November 7 at the Community College. The event, which will run 2:30 – 6:30 pm, is free and open to the public.

The keynote speaker at the Symposium is Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of the best-selling book “Love, Medicine and Miracles”. He is globally influential on the use of painting and visualization in the treatment of cancer patients. In 2011 he was honored by the Watkins Review of London as one of the top twenty Spiritually Influential Living People on the Planet.  Bernie is an iconoclast who will be certain to challenge the assumptions of everyone in the room about how the arts can play a role in the lives of aging people and their caregivers.

The afternoon will continue with a session of workshops, followed by a Panel Discussion with artists and scientists on the effects of aging on artists and the benefits of the arts to the aging.

Workshops will include “Memoir Writing” with MxCC Professor of English Dale Griffith, and “Sharpening the Aging Brain” with actor, storyteller and teacher John Basinger. Symposium participants will have the choice of attending one of the two workshops.

Dale teaches memoir writing at the College and has also worked extensively with women in the State Correctional System. She specializes in helping people tell their life stories through writing.

John, who is eighty years old, played the title role in ARTFARM’s production of King Lear this summer. He is Professor Emeritus of Theater and Sign Language at Three Rivers Community College, has appeared in many films and was a long-time performer with the National Theater of the Deaf.  John has memorized and performs Milton’s Paradise Lost in its entirety, and uses physical and mental memorization techniques to keep his aging brain sharp.

The Panel, which will be moderated by Judith Felton, MxCC Professor and Coordinator of the Human Services Program at the College, will bring together artists, scholars and scientists to investigate the Arts and Aging. The audience will be invited to engage in an active dialog with the panelists, and the Symposium will culminate in a wide-ranging community discussion on how aging effects artistic people, how creativity and artistic expression can serve as antidotes to depression, loneliness, memory loss and other challenges of aging, and how the arts can serve as tools for persons working with aging populations.

Panelists include Neely Bruce, composer, pianist and Wesleyan University Music Professor; Donna Fedus, Gerontologist and Coordinator of Elder Programs at The Consultation Center, Yale University School of Medicine; Carolyn Kirsch, actor, director and former Broadway performer; Carlos Hernandez-Chavez, a painter, musician, and Arts and Humanities Policy Development Consultant; and Wendy Black-Nasta, director of Artists for World Peace.

The afternoon will end with light refreshments and an opportunity to network informally with panelists, presenters and other attendees.

The Symposium will be held in Room 808 in Chapman Hall at Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road, Middletown. The event is free and open to the public, but participants are asked to pre-register by emailing info@art-farm.org.
 This Symposium is intended for artists, students, caregivers and anyone coping with the challenges of getting older. For more information, write info@art-farm.org, visit www.art-farm.org, or call (860) 346-4390.

ARTFARM is a Middletown-based non-profit which cultivates high-quality theater with a commitment to simple living, environmental sustainability and social justice. Since 2006 ARTFARM has been presenting professional Shakespeare in the Grove on the MxCC campus each summer. The “Symposium on the Arts and Aging” is the culminating event of “The Lear Project”, a series of public talks and events around Aging held in association with this summer’s production of King Lear.