Experimental Music Weekend at Wesleyan

Soprano saxophonist/composerJasmine Lovell-Smith came to study at Wesleyan University in the Fall of 2012. A native of New Zealand, Ms. Lovell-Smith has lived in the United States since 2010 and released her initial Stateside CD with her Towering Poppies quintet, "Fortune Songs", before undertaking her studies.  Over the past 15 months, she's been studying, composing and being part of the extensive University music community.  I met Ms. Lovell-Smith at the Middlesex Fruitery and she informed me of the following event.

This weekend (Saturday 11/23-Monday 11/25), the Wesleyan Experimental Music Group presents a 3-night Festival dedicated to "Dualities", musical conversations for 2 instrumentalists or voice atThe Russell House, located at the corner of Washington and High Streets in Middletown.  Saturday's sets will commence at 9 p.m. with operatic vocalist Stephanie Lavon-Trotter with pianist Ben Zucker performing the songs of Wesleyan composer Nathan Friedman.  They'll be followed at 9:30 by Menschenduett, the duo of composer/clarinetist Sean Sonderegger and Nathan Friedman (here on clarinet) playing a blend of original compositions and improvisations.  At 10 p.m., Jasmine Lovell-Smith joins forces with pianist Cat Toren (who is also a member of Towering Poppies) to create their own blend of lyrical improvisations.

Sunday evening will belong to the duo of Christopher Otto (violin, left) and Kevin McFarland (cello), members of JACK, a rising contemporary string quartet.  The duo will play a set of music by the weekend's featured composers. The music begins at 9 p.m.

Monday evening, there are 2 sets opening at 9 p.m with the combination of Daniel Fishkin (daxophone?) and Matt Chilton (woodwinds, voice).  The Festival closes with Sam Pluta (electronics) and Peter Evans (trumpet), creating a whirlwind of sounds.  Evans, whose Zebulon Trio joins forces with Dave Leibman (saxophones) and Ron Stabinsky (piano) to perform at Firehouse 12 on Friday November 29, is one of the more interesting brass players on the contemporary music scene.  He's also a member of Moppa Elliott's Mostly Other People Do The Killing, a pre-emminent jazz quartet.

The Wesleyan Experimental Festival is free and open to the public.  If you need directions, call The Russell House at 860-685-2000.

More Live Music on Sunday

Pianist-composer-educator Noah Baerman pays tribute to one of his mentors this Sunday (October 16) with a 3 p.m. concert at The Russell House, 350 High Street. Pianist-composer-educator Kenny Barron, who was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2010, played at Crowell Concert Hall this past July.  Baerman studied with Barron at Rutgers University and, for this concert, will play music composed by his mentor as well as pieces by other composers that Barron has performed over the years.

Kenny Barron, a native of Philadelphia, is the younger brother of the late William "Bill" Barron, the tenor saxophonist who went on to be head of the Music Department at Wesleyan until his passing in 1989.  The younger Barron has a lengthy career, working with many jazz greats as well as leading his own groups.

Joining Baerman will be his exceptional rhythm section of Henry Lugo (bass) and Vinnie Sperrazza (drums.)  The concert is free and open to the public.  For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Saturday, Sunday & Monday (4/17-19)

Saturday:
One of the nicer events on the Wesleyan campus each Spring semester is the Elizabeth Verveer Tishler Piano Recital.  It takes place on this day at 2 p.m. in the Russell House, 350 High Street. The concert features the finalist and the winner, each playing a piece or short set and what's so nice is that many of the finalists are not music students but scholars who also play.  A reception follows the concert which is free and open to the public.

The Buttonwood Tree has an exciting double bill of music that combines salsa, rock, Afro-Cuban, jazz and more when singer/songwriter/guitarist Giovanni Almonte comes to town to celebrate the release of his new CD, "High and Low." Almonte's band includes, among others, the Hartford natives Luques and Zaccai Curtis (bass and piano respectively.) Opening the show at 8 p.m. is guitarist/vocalist Fernandito Ferrer, an exciting performer who has graced the performance space several times in the pats few years. For more information, go to www.buttonwood.org. 

Sunday:
Here's a welcome missive from CG&SS (Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan: From 4 - 7 p.m. on Sunday April 18, the historic Middletown Almshouse, 53 Warwick Street, hosts a Benefit Reception for CG&SS's fall 2010 production of "The Mikado", taking place October 22-24 in the MHS Performing Arts Center.  Music Director Dr. John Dreslin will sit at the piano and lead the assembled singers through many of the British duo's greatest songs.  For more information, call 1-800-866-1606 or go to www.ctgilbertandsullivan.org. 

Monday:
In honor of Arts Advocacy Day, the Middletown Commission of the Art will celebrate by honoring the work of Middletown High Band Director Marco Gaylord and the Greater Middletown Chorale from 5 - 6:30 p.m. in First & Last Tavern, Main Street.  Gaylord, who also serves as the music director of the Middletown Symphonic Band, has worked extremely hard over the past 10 years + on "Middletown High Goes to the Symphony", the program that brings the Band, choir and selected soloists to the Bushnell Auditorium to perform alongside the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.  The GMC, in existence since 1977, has grown into one of the area's premiere vocal ensembles. Under the guidance of Joseph D'Eugenio (named 2009 Choir Director of the Year by the Connecticut chapter of the American Choral Directors), the group has created many memorable concerts and soon will present "Elijah", Mendelssohn's famed oratorio (Sunday May 2 in the MHS Performing Arts Center.)  The Arts Advocacy Award presentation is free and open to the public.  

Summer is just around the corner and registration for Kids Art 2010 is in full swing. There are still openings in the morning and afternoon Children's Circus programs as well as a few openings for 10-14 years old children in the afternoon Troubadour Program.  The Circus, now in its 22nd year, is run by Oddfellows Playhouse and is a 5-week program that culminates in a gala production on Friday August 6.  Rehearsals take place at McDonough School.  The Troubadour Program, also running for 5 weeks, not only includes working to create songs built from the experiences of the participants but also the production of a newspaper.  For more information, call the City Arts Office at 860-343-6620, ext. 201 or find the Registration packet online at www.cityofmiddletown.com/arts.

Sunday's Super Sounds

Sunday February 7:

The Greater Middletown Concert Association presents the Heartbeat Dixieland Jazz Band in concert at 3 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of Middletown High School, LaRosa Lane.  Providing the "beat" in Heartbeat is drummer Bill Lagozzo and joining him will be Sherman Kahn (clarinet), Scott Black (trumpet), Al Brogdon (trombone), Ed Cercone (piano), Bob Price (banjo) and Dianne Mover (vocals.) They play music from the early days of jazz, when it came to life in the private clubs ad taverns of New Orleans. For ticket information, call 860-347-4887 or 860-346-3369 - now, you ca buy tickets online at www.greatermiddletownconcertassociation.org.  

Vocalist Giacomo Gates come back to Middletown to play a free concert at 3 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street.  Gates, who started his career in the mid-1990s after working a series of construction jobs, is a modern master of "vocalese", taking instrumental solos and creating vocals for them (either wordless or in "scat" syllables or giving them real word phrases.  He also teaches at Wesleyan, at the Hartford Conservatory of Music, the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven and conducts workshops throughout the country.  He's issued 4 CDs as a leader and just returned from a tour of Australia.  To find out more about Gates, go to www.giacomogates.com. As stated above, the concert is free and open to the public. 

If you desire to do singing but have issues with reading music, join Professor Neely Bruce for a session of Shaped Note Singing at 4 p.m. in Downey House, at the corner of Court & High Streets. It's great communal fun.  For more information, call the good professor/composer/pianist at 860-685-2578 or email at nbruce@wesleyan.edu. 

What's Goin' On (Part 3) This Weekend 5/01-03

Another very busy weekend around these parts and, trust me, this posting won't cover all the good things happening in Middletown.

If you hemmed and hawed about purchasing tickets to the Greater Middletown Concerts Association's Friday night presentation of "La Traviata", it's too late. GMCA's chief mover & shaker Barbara Arafeh and her devoted minions went out and sold every seat in the house, all 700 or so in the Performing Arts Center inside the new Middletown High School. To join the waiting list, call 346-4887.

The Friends of the Russell Library hold its "Bag Book Sale" this weekend (but not Sunday) during regular Library hours (9 a.m, - 6 p.m. Friday, 9 - 5 Saturday, 9 - 8:30 p.m. on Monday.) Great values abound along with much fine reading. Call 347-2528, ext 135 for more information.

The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street, presents an evening of "Gypsy jazz" when the trio known as Ameranouche plays on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Composed of Richard "Shepp" Sheppard (lead guitar), Ryan Flaherty (rhythm guitar), and Xar Adelberg (double bass), the trio has been charming audiences with its fine acoustic music since 2004. The music is a blend of flamenco, French chanson, American soul music, bop, and more. Their 3rd CD, "La Foule" has just been issued and they'll be playing many of the tracks on this evening. For more information, go to www.ameranouche.com/.

Friday at 12:30 p.m., Buttonwood Tree director Anne-Marie Cannata will be my guest on "Best of the Valley-Shore", heard on both WMRD-AM 1150 and WLIS 1420-AM. We'll chat about plenty of upcoming events but especially the "Tribute to Susan Allison" on Friday May 8.

Wesleyan will be a busy campus on Friday. At 5 p.m., the new exhibition in the Zilkha Gallery opens at 5 p.m. with a reception and Curator Talk. "Global Warning: Artists and Climate Change" is a large scale show that aims to "increase awareness of climate change through challenging content that is laced with poetry and aesthetic power." Included in the show are works in a variety of media from the past three decades by Marion Belanger, Lorraine Berry, Diane Burko, Nancy Cohen, Helen and Newton Harrison (one of their works, "The World Ocean is a Great Draftsman", is pictured above), Chris Jordan, Aviva Rahmani, Lenore Malen, Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Frances Whitehead. The exhibition, part of the University's "Feet to the Fire: Exploring Global Climate from Science to Art" initiative, will be on view through May 24. Gallery hours are 12noon - 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (12noon - 8 p.m.on Fridays.)

Also part of the "Feet to the Fire" programming, Native American composer Barbara Croall has been commissioned to compose a new work on global climate change that will be performed by the Wesleyan University Orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Roy Wiseman, at 8 p.m. Friday in Crowell Concert Hall. According to the website, Croall is Odawa and balances her time between work in outdoor education rooted in traditional Anishhinaabe teachings and composing music. She has been actively performing and composing for Anishhinaabe musical instruments and for European classical instruments since 1995. Her music for soloists, small and large chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, film, dance and theater have been premiered internationally and across Canada." The program will also feature works by the winners of the Wesleyan Orchestra Concerto Competition. The event is free and open to the public.

Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Patricelli '92 Theater, the student choreographers from the Wesleyan Dance Department present the Spring Dance Concert. For ticket information, call 685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

The Fishbone Cafe, 120 Court Street, presents the "Sweet Sue" Terry Quartet Friday at 8:30 p.m. Joining the fine saxophonist (a graduate of the Hartt School of Music) will be Michael Musillami (guitar), Joe Fonda (bass) and George Schuller (drums.) For more information, call 346-6000.

Saturday events include The Wesleyan Collegium Musicum performing at 7 p.m. in Memorial Chapel, High Street. The WCM is an ensemble "dedicated to exploring and performing the diverse vocal and instrumental repertories of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of European music." This fine performance is free and open to all.

The Buttonwood Tree welcomes the trio of Ben Ross (harmonica), Phillip Greene (keyboards) and Shula Weinstein (cello, guitar) for an evening of blues, classical music and more. The Saturday performance begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 347-4957.

Sunday, there will be a "Chamber Music Extravaganza" at 2 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Students of Anthea Kreston and Jason Duckles (2/3rds of the wonderful Amelia Piano Trio) will perform and the free event is followed by a reception for all.

At 7 p.m. in the World Music Hall, one can enjoy the Spring Taiko Concert, featuring students of Mark H Rooney of Odaiko New England. If you've not experienced Taiko drumming, it's both brash and subtle, alternately thundering and precise. For ticket information, call 685-3355.

What's Goin' On (Part 1)

Vocalist Lynn Knapp brings her Quartet to Public Bar & Grill's Tuesday Jazz After Work series April 28 for a 6 p.m. date. Joining the fine stylist will be her husband Vin Knapp (drums), Don de Palma (piano), Jimmy Biggins (saxophones) and Steve Benson (bass.) Go early and then head over to City Hall at 7 p.m. for the Budget discussions. As you have already read, the Middletown Commission on the Arts will probably take a big hit when all is said and done (read here.) Granted, the proceeds from this year's Mayor's Ball is targeted for the arts but there are other conditions making it tough for grant recipients.

As most of us understand, it's not easy to put a value on the arts. Yes, there are ticket sales but that's the end result of a long process that starts with ideas, rehearsals, advertising, promotion, salaries (in many instances) and competition. Yes, we know when we walk out after a Chorale concert or an Oddfellows production or a night of dance at Wesleyan or see a video from the Green Street Arts Center or attend the city-wide Arts Exhibition or hear John Basinger's amazing work on "Paradise Lost", we know how good it feels to do those things in our home town. Think of the many people who come in from out-of-town. Many of them buy dinner in one of our fine restaurants and shop in out stores, pay for parking, and walk through the town. In a report to the Middletown Commission on the Arts, commissioner Joyce Kirkpatrick stated that the arts brought over $1,000,000 dollars to the city - and that was over 7 years ago!

If you can't attend the meeting but you want to help the cause, call or write the members of the Common Council (click here for more information.) The Mayor has spoken by presenting his budget and now it is your turn. No matter what happens this year, many of us involved with the arts in the area are really scared about 2010-11 budget, especially in light of the current recession. But, one year at a time.

Back to the events:
Poet-translator Linda Zisquit will read at 8 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street, as part of the Jewish & Israeli Studies Program at Wesleyan. Zisquit, the author of 3 collections of poems, has translated the works of many modern Israeli poets including Yehuda Amichai, Yona Wallach and Rivka Miriam. She also edits an Israeli poetry magazine and runs ARTSPACE, a gallery for contemporary art in Jerusalem. Her reading is free and open to the public.





Toumani Diabate is a master of the kora, the 21-string harp unique to West Africa. He is among the first artists responsible for introducing this beautiful instrument to audiences around the world and has collaborated with with many renowned artists including Bjork, blues master Taj Mahal and jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. Aside from being a player of exceptional virtuosity and creativity, he was born and has lived all his life in Mali's capital city of Bamako, where he is at the vanguard of a new generation of Malian griots (bards). The griots are constantly looking for ways of modernizing while still honoring their traditional music. Winner of the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album, Diabate also plays vital roles as bandleader, teacher, musical conservationist and composer.

Diabate is appearing at Wesleyan this Saturday evening May 2 at 8 p.m. as the final show in the 2008-09 Crowell Concert Series. He'll be leading his 11-member Symmetric Orchestra, an Afro-Pop ensemble that can and should rock Crowell to its core. Diabate is a stunning player and one will hear what sounds like American folk and blues music in his Malian songs.
The "Pre-concert talk" will feature Associate Professor of Music Eric Charry at 7:15 p.m. For ticket information, call 685-3355.

Busy Weekend (Part 2)

Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19 offers residents and visitors several choices of musical entertainment.

The Annual Elizabeth Verveer Tishler Piano Competition Recital takes place Saturday at 2 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Betty Tishler is a true patron of the arts, especially classical keyboard. This year's recital features finalists Andrew Chung (class of 2011), Nicholas Luby ('11) and Julie Zhao ('10.) A reception follows the concert, all of which is free and open to the public.

Ms. Tishler's husband, Professor Max Tishler (1906-1989), taught at Wesleyan after a distinguished career at Merck & Company (he led research teams whose work was of enormous importance for human health as well as a microbiological group that developed fermentation processes for actinomycin D, streptomycin, and penicillin. In addition, his invention of the animal-health drug sulfaquinoxaline made possible a great expansion of the poultry industry and created overnight a new field for research--an event of great magnitude for agriculture - read more about his many accomplishments by clicking here.)

The First United Methodist Church, 24 Old Church Street, presents its Annual Spring Organ Concert Saturday at 7 p.m. Scheduled to perform is Joshua Brown. For more information, call 346-3689.

The Buttonwood Tree welcomes The Erasmus Quintet, an offshoot of the New Haven Improvisers Collective, for a 7:30 p.m. show on Saturday. Composed of guitarists Jeff Cedrone and Bob Gorry, saxophonist Paul McGuire, percussionist Steve Zieminski, and Adam Matlack (accordion, clarinet), the EQ creates music that blends many elements, including jazz, classical, "free" improvisation and sonic explorations, into an aural "mash" that is challenging and rewarding. To hear an excerpt of the ensemble's music, click here. To find out more about the NHIC and its many members, go to www.nhic-music.org/.



Sunday morning at 11 a.m., "folk crooner" Dave Downs plays his monthly gig at Brew Bakers, 169 Main Street. Downs plays popular "standards", folk music, and his own fine compositions. Imagine the Mills Brothers meeting Woody Guthrie and Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys) - that's part of what Downs' music reminds me of.

The Greater Middletown Chorale, Joseph D'Eugenio, music director and conductor, joins forces with the Wesleyan University Concert Choir for a 4 p.m. show Sunday in Crowell Hall. The highlight of the program will be Schubert's "Mass in G-Major" featuring both ensembles, selected soloists and a 22-member string orchestra. Also, there will be music by Brahms, Mozart and Telemann. For ticket information, call the University Box Office at 685-3355 or go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Listen & Look

Here are several events early this week worth your attention.

Jazz at Public, 337 Main Street, presents "Rudy & Rich", a quintet led by vocalist Rudeyna Babouder and guitarist Rich Goldstein, Tuesday evening from 6 - 9:30 p.m. Joining them will be the impressive young pianist Craig Hartley, Henry Lugo (bass, from Noah Baerman's fine trio), and Jay Williams (drums.)

The Wesleyan University Writing Program and the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies presents a poetry reading featuring Professor Vera Schwarcz Tuesday at 8 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Schwarcz, Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan, is an accomplished poet and will be reading from two new books of poems. "Brief Rest in the Garden of Flourishing Grace" (2009) is comprised of renditions based on the life and times of the Manchu Prince Yihuan. "Chisel of Remembrance" (2009, picture courtesy of Antrim Press ) is a personal collection which blends Chinese and Jewish themes in a passionate and personal style (see below.) The evnt is free and open to the public. Call 685-3448 for more information.

The Screwball Comedy Film Series at The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, continues Wednesday April 1, at 12noon. "My Man Godfrey" (1936) stars Carol Lombard and William Powell and tells the story of a ditzy socialite who hires a vagrant to be the family butler. The butler (played to perfection by Powell) ends up saving the family fortune and you'll laugh all the while he's doing it. Bring lunch and the library staff provides drinks and dessert as well as expert commentary from Richard Alleva, Assistant Head of Children's Services at Russell and film critic for Commonweal Magazine. The event is free and open to the public.

The Distinguished Writers Series at Wesleyan presents author and editor Junot Diaz at 8 p.m. in The Russell House. Diaz, who is Wesleyan's English Department 2009 Millett Writing Fellow, is the author of the short story collection "Drown" and the novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Díaz is the fiction editor at the "Boston Review" and the Rudge & Nancy Allen Professor at MIT. The event is free and open to the public.

Here's a poem from Vera Schwarcz's "Chisel of Remembrance" (courtesy of Antrim Press.)

THE WHITE BUTTON

My mother,
seventy years ago,
sat between her parents
on a sculptured chair.

The man in the stylish hat
has one arm around the girl
with lace-up shoes, another
on his waist as if the world
were a leisurely place
where he might have taken out
a gold watch, counted the minutes
of daily blessing. His young wife
holds the hand of their daughter,
gazing inward, almost in a dream,
not yet alarmed by war. A wig
on her married head slopes gently
like a sumptuous robe, no armor
against the ravage when it comes.

War comes.

To all her children,
not just this serious girl in a dark sailor suit
with one white button, balanced
between parents she will not be able to save,
war comes. It comes to all her kin

and mine.
I refuse to let them vanish
speechless. I call them back
on this page. I strengthen
my hand around a child with dark eyes
and old fashioned lace-up shoes—

gone the aristocratic chair,
gold chain, hat, wig.
The white button remains,
a pustule of hope.

Digging a Bit Deeper

Guitarist Eric Hofbauer, who appears Sunday February 22 at The Russell House as a member of saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase's Quartet, has built quite a resume since setting up shop in Boston a dozen years ago. He's co-founder of the creative music ensemble The Blueprint Project and has recorded with vocalist Rebecca Shrimpton and guitarist Garrison Fewell. Their 2007 duo CD, "The Lady of Khartoum" (Creative Nation Music) is notable for a number of reasons, e.g. the blend of disparate styles such as Persian music, blues, West African music, straight-ahead jazz and the sounds of Sun Ra (truly a musical world of its own.)

Another notable aspect of the recording is that the artists (and label) are donating 10% of the profit from the sales of the CD to Mercy Corps, an Oregon-based relief fund that works throughout the world (in their words) "to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities." Fewell ( a distinguished musician and educator also based in Boston) and Hofbauer have designated their money to go to the Darfur region of Sudan.

As I wrote above, Hofbauer appears with Charlie Kohlhase - the concert takes place at 3 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. The concert is free and open to the public.

Hofbauer will be back in Connecticut on Saturday March 21 performing not only in a duo setting with Fewell but also with his new group The Infrared Band. They'll be hitting the stage at 8 p.m. in Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street in Hartford. The Infrared band is a quartet whose debut CD, "Myth Understanding" (Creative Nations Music) is a band with a good sense of humor as well as great musical intelligence. The CD arrived in my mailbox today and it's low-key yet probing (and challenging) music is quite delightful. Click on the label name above to find out more about the recordings. For information about Real Art Ways, go to www.realartways.org or call 860-232-1006.

On the Town (Friday through Sunday)

From six-strings to life-size puppets to contemporary creative music, there's much to see and do in Middletown this weekend.

Today at 5 p.m., attend the opening of "Stan's Cafe: Of All the People in All the World, USA", the new performance art/installation at the Zilkha Gallery (there is also a part of the installation in the lobby of Olin Library, Church Street.) To read more about the event, click here for a previous EYE posting or go to www.wesleyan.edu/feettothefire.

The appropriately-named Arlene WOW! returns to The Buttonwood Tree tonight at 7:30 p.m. The New Haven native is a singer-songwriter who slowly but steadily has been making inroads into the national music scene. Her songs speak of love won and lost, of the ups-and-downs of everyday life, and dreams of a better times. To get a taste of her music, go to www.arlenewow.com.

Besides the Greater Middletown Chorale Winter Choral Festival (read about it here), one can choose to go to The Buttonwood to hear the Collin Wade Quartet. The Colchester native, currently attending Western Connecticut State University (whose jazz studies program is the equal of many major schools), is a alto saxophonist with a "sweet"tone and an intelligent approach to creative music. Joining him will be Eric Laursen (guitar), Jake Habegger (drums) and Ian Tait (bass) - the rhythm section has worked together in the post-modern rock band The Files and Fires. The music starts at 7:30 p.m. Click here to get a sample of Wade's fine saxophone work.

The picture at the top of the posting shows the Awaji Puppet Theater Company preparing for a performance. The Company, who practices the ancient from of Japanese puppet theater developed on the island of Awaji, is in the midst of a North American tour and will perform on Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. in the World Music Hall, Wyllys Avenue. With elaborate costumes and precise movements, the APTC tell stories that range from comedic to tragic, from love to sorrow. As you can see from the photo, it takes several people to manipulate the large puppets. For ticket information, call 685-3355 or go online to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa. Click here to see a video of the Company's tour.

On Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., The Russell House Music Series presents saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase in concert. A mainstay of the Boston creative music scene, Kohlhase is proficient on alto, tenor and baritone saxophones and has worked with the Either/Orchestra, Wesleyan Professor Anthony Braxton's Genome Project and Wesleyan graduate Matt Steckler's Dead Cat Bounce. He also had led his own groups for the past 2 decades and has issued 7 CDs as a leader. Joining Kohlhase will be guitarist Eric Hofbauer, bassist Jef Charland and drummer Mike Connors. The Russell House is located at 350 High Street and, as always, the event is free and open to the public. To find out more about Charlie Kohlhase, go to www.charliekohlhase.com.