The Middletown International Film Festival Schedule is Set!

The Middletown International Film Festival begins October 1st

The 11th annual Middletown International Film Festival is a collaboration between Russell Library, Middlesex Community College and Wesleyan University. All films begin at 7pm. This year's line up of films, speakers, dates and places is as follows:   

October 1: The Hubbard Room, Russell Library, 123 Broad Street

Loveless (Russia, 2017, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsex, 127 mins.)
Still living under the same roof, a Moscow couple of is in the final stages of a bitter divorce. Under those circumstances, as both have already found new partners, the insults fly in this toxic familial battle zone, always pivoting around the irresolvable and urgent matter of the custody, of their 12-year-old only son. Unheard, unloved, and above all, unwanted, the introverted and unhappy boy feels that he is an intolerable burden, what his parents don't know is that he has heard their argument confirming these facts. As a result, the couple finally realize that their son has been missing for nearly two days, it is already too late. 

Speaker: Victoria Smolkin, Associate Professor of History, Wesleyan University

October 8: Chapman Hall, 100 Training Hill Road, Middlesex Community College

Capernaum (Lebanon, 2018, directed by Nadine Labaki, 126 mins.)
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Nadine Labaki's CAPERNAUM ("Chaos") tells the story of Zain, a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the "crime" of giving him life. CAPERNAUM follows Zain, a gutsy streetwise child as he flees his negligent parents, survives through his wits on the streets, takes care of Ethiopian refugee Rahil and her baby son, Yonas, being jailed for a crime, and finally, seeks justice in a courtroom. CAPERNAUM was made with a cast of non-professionals playing characters whose lives closely parallel their own.

Speaker: Bruce Masters, John E, Andrus Professor of History, Wesleyan University

October 15: Chapman Hall, Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road
I Am Not a Witch (Zambia, 2017, directed by Rungano Nyoni, 93 mins.)

Following a banal incident in her local village, 8-year old girl Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp. At the camp she takes part in an initiation ceremony where she is shown the rules surrounding her new life as a witch. Like the other residents, Shula is tied to a ribbon which is attached to a coil that perches on a large truck. She is told that should she ever cut the ribbon, she'll be cursed and transformed into a goat.
Speaker: TBA

October 22: Hubbard Room,  Russell Library, 123 Broad Street
Roma (Mexico, 2018, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, 135 mins.)

Winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City. Delivering an artful love letter to the women who raised him, Cuarón draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst political turmoil of the 1970s.
Speaker: Maria Ospina, Associate Professor of Spanish, Wesleyan University

October 29: Chapman Hall, Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road
Shoplifters (Japan, 2018, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, 121 mins.)
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu's wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.

Speaker: Scott Aalgaard, Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies, Wesleyan University

November 5, Hubbard Room, Russell Library, 123 Broad Street
Summer 1993 (Spain, 2017, directed by Carla Simon, 97 mins.)

Frida, a six-year-old little girl, leaves Barcelona and her grandparents for the countryside, after her father and her mother have died from a mysterious illness. Taken in by her uncle and aunt, Frida discovers her new environment, an old farmhouse in the mountains, close to a dense forest. Her new "parents" prove friendly, and have a three-year old daughter who could be Frida’s playmate. For another child less unhappy than uprooted Frida, this would be the most idyllic of stays, a kind of permanent vacation. But Frida is disturbed and if there are undeniably good times at her new "home", there is also the unexpressed pain which makes her both sad and badly behaved.

Speaker: Olga Sendra Ferrer, Associate Professor of French, Wesleyan University

Jazz Up Close August 22: Bass Clarinet & Baltimore

We are lucky people living in Middletown Connecticut in that we have a vibrant arts scene, we have Wesleyan University and its concerts spaces, galleries, and theaters, we have the Russell Library, and we have Noah Baerman (pictured left).  Mr. Baerman is a composer, educator, pianist, author, and the creator of Resonant Motion.  Resonant Motion is a record label, a place for visual artists, for writers, for performance artists, and for collaborations.  Noah is artistic director and the producer of Jazz Up Close, a series of concerts presented in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library, 123 Broad Street in Middletown.  Now in its fifth season, the series has brought world-renowned artists to perform, talk about their work, and to answer questions from the audience.  The artists usually are joined by the pianist/curator along with his longtime collaborator, bassist Henry Lugo.

This coming Thursday August 22, Jazz Up Close welcomes bass clarinetist, composer, and social activist Todd Marcus.  Mr. Marcus, a native of New Jersey, has lived in Baltimore, MD, for over two decades and works tirelessly in the Sandtown-Winchester/Upton section of the city to bring about positive change.  You may recognize that area because it's where Freddie Gray died in police custody in 2015 and where massive riots followed in the wake of the event.  Mr. Marcus, who is half-Egyptian, had moved to Baltimore to go to college but left after two years, settled down in the community and went to work with the non-profit organization Intersection of Change – click on the name to see all that the organization does to help its community.

In early 2018, Todd Marcus released "On These Streets (a Baltimore Story)", an instrumental recording interspersed with audio clips from those very streets.  While some clips present a neighborhood in the midst of exploding and trying to deal with the eruptions of emotions, the music has a power and stories to tell on its own.  At one time, the community's main thoroughfare, Pennsylvania Avenue, was alive with nightclubs, concert halls, theaters, and businesses, a hub of and for the African American families and working people.  Many Black artists played there, influencing generations of musicians and artists.  Mr. Marcus takes his compositional cues from the socially conscious music of Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, and Duke Ellington.  On previous recordings, he has explored Middle Eastern music, especially on his 2014 Jazz Orchestra recording "Blues For Tahrir", and he will play several of those compositions during the concert.

The program starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.  This event is supported in part by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, along with the Shoreline Arts Alliance.  Bring open ears and a curious mind, Jazz Up Close will do the rest.

Here's one of the audio clips and the musical story that follows:

Readers Theater presents "Mr. Williams and Miss Wood" Monday May 13 at Russell Library

"Mr. Williams and Miss Wood" is a play about
Tennessee Williams and his agent, Audrey Wood. 

Readers Theater will present the play, "Mr. Williams and Miss Wood" on Monday, May 13th at 7:00pm in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library. 

The play is a backstage view of playwright Tennessee Williams. The two-character, two-act play by Max Wilk chronicles the close, yet often strained, 30-year relationship between Williams and his agent and friend Audrey Wood.

The story of how Wood mentored Williams’ genius into theatrical success, then stuck with him through his ups and downs is poignant and deeply moving. Williams’ personal story unfolds through letters, soliloquies and direct dialogue between the actors. We learn his lifetime assessment of the tough but kind-hearted Wood who introduced him to the American theater.

Readers Theater is live drama enacted by local actors and directed by Anne Cassady and Richard Kamins. Performances are free. Drop-in, no registration required.Sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library.

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Money Smart Week at Russell Library

Russell Library offers several programs to help you learn about money!

Russell Library will be offering several events that help people gain a deeper understanding about money issues beginning March 31st. 

Sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library, all events take place in the Hubbard Room! Please call (860) 347-2520 to register, or register at the Information Desk at the library.

Here is the line up of our Money Smart Week programs: 

Finding Low Cost Rentals in the Middletown Area

Sunday, March 31, 2:00pm. Ann Faust, Executive Director of the Middlesex Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, provides an overview of the Middletown area rental market, focusing on lower cost rentals for individuals and families. Drop in; no registration required. Questions and/or experiences are welcome. 

Using Excel to Manage Your Investments: A Money Smart Week Event

Monday, April 1, 10:00am. Bob Carlson will demonstrate a variety of techniques for using Excel as a money management tool. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Market Corrections and How They Affect My Retirement

Monday, April 1, 6:30pm. This program will cover investments’ rates of return, how pensions and social security affect plans, ways to hedge or shelter a portfolio, taxes, buy-low / sell-high strategies, and weathering market storms. Michael Alimo has many years of experience on Wall Street and with various brokerage firms, much of that time devoted to clients in CT, with a focus on retirement planning, risk management, and wealth preservation. Registration is recommended. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Grants--How to Get Them and Then What: A Money Smart Week Event           

Tuesday, April 2, 9:30am – 12:30pm. Judi Margolin, formerly an executive with the Foundation Center in New York and a consultant in the area of philanthropy, will present this robust workshop. Topics covered include details on the types of grants available and the merits of each, writing proposals, alternatives to cash grants, what to do when you receive a grant, and how to best position yourself for the next grant. Registration is required and limited. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520. 

Planning for Long Term Care: A Money Smart Week Event

Tuesday, April 2, 6:30pm. Not knowing the rules can be devastating to your estate. Attorney Czepiga, of Czepiga, Daly, Pope and Perri, will discuss asset protection, gifting a home, the five-year look-back (another way to protect savings), and spending down resources. He will also discuss Medicaid and its often confusing rules. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Buying Your First Home                              

Wednesday, April 3, 6:00pm. Whether you’re buying or building your first home, a lot depends on your lender. With market conditions and mortgage programs changing frequently, it is important to have expert guidance throughout the process. David Colan, a Community Development Mortgage Officer, will lead the discussion. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Ben Butler Encore at The Russell Library

Readers Theater, in association with Russell Library, presents "BEN BUTLER" in the HUBBARD ROOM 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon February 23rd. 

The Civil War Comedy/History comes back to Middletown in celebration of Black History Month and offers those who missed the June 2018 performances another chance to enjoy this fascinating work by Richard Strand.  

New Haven actor Rodney Moore returns to perform the memorable role of runaway slave Shepard Mallory.  Richard Kamins carries on in the celebrated titled role of the Major General, and Daniel Ayotte adeptly portrays the Lieutenant. New to the cast will be Durham's Henry Coe as Major Cary of the Confederate Army, returning to the "stage" after many long years. 

The doors to Russell Library's Hubbard Room (in rear of Library building) will open after 1:00 pm---enter from Library's Court Street driveway.  Seating is limited.

Russell Library presents Nekita Waller in Concert

Nekita Waller will perform at Russell Library
on Thursday, January 24 at 7:00pm

On Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:00pm, our new state troubadour, Nekita Waller, and a five piece band will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Songs include inspirational pieces in a classic soul style. During the evening, actor Michael Scott will also present a reading of a piece by MLK.

A Middletown native, Nekita Waller won an award for singing at the Buttonwood Tree when she was just ten years old. Part of her mission as Connecticut State Troubadour is to connect with and inspire children to find their own voices. She is currently working with Oddfellows Playhouse to develop a show with their Teen Repertory Company for spring of 2019. She also is hosting their Teen Talent Search on January 19^th for 12-19 year olds.

Nekita performs throughout the region bringing a mix of pop, Motown, soul, Jazz and classic rock favorites with original music. She is the first non-folk musician to be appointed as the Connecticut State Troubadour.

This concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library. Like all programs at the library, it is free and open to all.

Osaki-san, William Gillette's Gentleman Valet at Russell Library December 16th

Japanese actor Taku Hirai will play "Osaki-san", the
valet of William Gillette for over 40 years. The play is
part of the Immigrant Artists series at Russell Library.

Russell Library and The East Haddam Stage Company will present a new one-man drama on the life of Yukitaka Osaki, the Japanese valet of actor William Gillette, featuring New York-based Japanese actor Taku Hirai on December 16, 2018 at 2:00pm in the Hubbard Room. This presentation will be the last in a series sponsored by the Middletown Commission on the Arts entitled, “Immigrant Artists”. 

Osaki-San and his older brother came to visit the US from Japan in 1888. His brother Yukio returned to Japan, where he went on to become the mayor of Tokyo. He was behind the famous gift of cherry trees to Washington D.C. Yukitaka, however, decided to stay. He became the quiet soul who worked beside the actor William Gillette for almost forty years as valet, secretary, confidante and friend.

Playwright and director Kandie Carle has developed several plays for the East Haddam Stage Company. She does extensive research, incorporating many details into the plays. Her one-woman show, “The Victorian Lady” is renowned for historical accuracy. She is the Artistic Director of the East Haddam Stage Company.

Established in 2002, EHSCO’s mission is Minimal Set, Maximum Connection, focusing on intimate live theatre presentations around New England and beyond. As resident theatre company at Gillette Castle State Park, EHSCO has offered 10 years of outdoor summer theatre to the visitors of the park. Find out more about the company at www.EHSCO.org

Taku Hirai has acted in films and stage. He is known for Valedictorian (2015), Film 101 (2005) and Dance Mania Fantastic (2005).

Exhibit Opening At Russell Library Friday November 2 from 6-8pm

As part of a series of events funded by the Middletown Commission on the Arts, Russell Library will open an exhibit of art works by immigrant artists on Friday, November 2nd. The public is invited.

Called "New Land, New Art", the works exhibited are by seven different artists, each with a story to tell, and each committed to their art.

The artists are:

        Giuliana M. Alama Villarrubia

        Elizabeth Rosio Barrenachea

        Alicia Finkel

        John Deden

        Ganga Duleep

        Juan Sarias

        Pierre Sylvain

The exhibit opening is Friday, November 2, from 6-8pm. It features the music of the Wesleyan String Ensemble.

The Hirsch-Pinkas Piano Duo Free Concert This Sunday at Russell Library

Sally Pinkas and Evan Hirsch play four-handed piano pieces.

This Sunday, October 21st,  at 2:00pm the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library will be graced with the Hirsch-Pinkas Piano Duo. 

Sally Pinkas and Evan Hirsch bring virtuosity, passion, and irresistible warmth to their collaborations. They perform works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Ravel, and Bartók, and their adventurous repertoire also includes rarely-heard works such as Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen and Milhaud’s La création du monde.

The program this Sunday is as follows: 

Ma mère l'Oye                 Maurice Ravel

La création du monde    Darius Milhaud

Intermission

Five Easy Pieces            Igor Stravinsky

Six Pieces, Op. 11          Sergei Rachmaninoff

This concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library and The Middletown Commission on the Arts as part of Russell Library’s Immigrant Artists series. 

Jazz Up Close at Russell Library Tuesday July 3rd

Hailey Niswanger plays Tuesday evening at Russell Library.

Tuesday, July 3rd at 7:00pm, Russell Library will play host to Resonant Motion’s 2018 Jazz Up Close series, Sound Belief: Faith Through Music. 

Saxophonist/composer Hailey Niswanger will be the visiting artist for the series. She will play and discuss her recent body of work inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh. 

The evening will have series curator Noah Baerman on electric piano, bassist Henry Lugo “plugged in” alongside Hailey’s collaborators Randy Runyon on guitar and David Frazier, Jr. on drums. 

Thank you for the support of the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, along with the Shoreline Arts Alliance. 

Hair! Sing-a-Long at the Buttonwood Tree this Sunday!!

Can you name this Middletown celebrity? 

On Sunday, April 29th, beginning at 6:30pm, we welcome the community to  a SING -ALONG celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Hair! The Musical.
Come to sing, reminisce and have fun! 

The event is presented by the Russell Library, Oddfellows Playhouse, ARTFARM and The Buttonwood Tree. It features a live rock band and opening with some footage from the original Broadway cast.

Get out your love beads! Warm up your voices! Prepare to enjoy an evening of “mystic crystal revelation and the mind’s true liberation”!

“Hair” opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on April 29, 1968. 

The band includes: 

Keyboard - Matt Durland
Guitar 1: Matt Kerovac
Guitar 2: Tom Oh
Bass: Harper Liles
Tenor Sax: Alex Antaya
Drums: Zach Fontanaz

(Fun fact: Tom Oh was part of the national tour of the show and has worked with the writers of the show)

Refreshments are available, all are welcome.

In 1968, the production was directed by Tom O’Horgan, choreographed by Julie Arenal, with set design by Robin Wagner, costume design by Nancy Potts, and lighting design by Jules Fisher. The original Broadway ‘tribe’ (i.e., cast) included authors Rado and Ragni, who played the lead roles of Claude and Berger, respectively, and Lynn Kellogg as Sheila, Lamont Washington as Hud, Sally Eaton and Shelley Plimpton reprising their off-Broadway roles as Jeanie and Crissy, Melba Moore as Dionne, Steve Curry as Woof, Ronnie Dyson (who sang ‘Aquarius’), Paul Jabara and Diane Keaton (both Moore and Keaton later played Sheila). Among the performers who appeared in “Hair” during its original Broadway run were Ben Vereen, Keith Carradine, Barry McGuire, Ted Lange, Meat Loaf, La La Brooks, Kenny Seymour (of Little Anthony and the Imperials), Joe Butler, Peppy Castro (of the Blues Magoos), Robin McNamara, Heather MacRae (daughter of Gordon MacRae and Sheila MacRae), Eddie Rambeau, Vicki Sue Robinson, Beverly Bremers, Dale Soules and Kim Milford. The production ran for four years and 1,750 performances, closing on July 1, 1972.

Get Smart with Money at Russell Library This Week!

This week, April 23 - 27 is "Money Smart Week" at Russell Library. We've got a great line up of programs designed to give you some insights into how to control your money:

Monday at 10:30am is 
Introduction to Grant Resources
Join this discussion and hands on session related to grant seeking. Participants will be introduced to several online resources that describe grants and funding options as well as providing information on the grant seeking process. There will be some formal instruction and then time to explore your own needs. These sources are most helpful for individuals who in the nonprofit world, with some options also for individual needs.  If you have an interest in pursuing grant funding please also consider attending the workshop on Friday, April 27th at 10am, 'How to Secure Grant Funding,' led by Judi Margolin. Registration is required for both events, available online or by calling 860-347-2520.


Tuesday at 6:00pm is: 
Become a Master of Your Money
Organize your finances! Using Excel to Manage your Investments, we will focus on creating and using a spreadsheet to list all of your investments, bank accounts, savings and stock information in a single location (in case of an injury or death in the family).  Financial security topics will also be discussed.

This hands-on class is taught using library- supplied laptops on Windows 7 and Excel version 2013. Seating is limited to 8 students.

Wednesay at 1:30pm is: 

Budgeting with Excel

In this introductory course, participants will learn how to create a monthly household budget using Microsoft Excel. Topics will include working from templates, formatting spreadsheets, and creating basic formulas. Bring a rough draft or working file to start simplifying and streamlining your budget in this hands-on workshop.

A general understanding of computers and comfort using the keyboard and mouse is recommended.

Class capacity is 8 seats. Registration recommended; drop-ins suggested if there’s room.

Please sign up on-line or call the Information Services Desk at 860-347-2520.

Thursday at 6:30pm is:

From Millennials to Boomers - Financial Advice Built for the Generations

Whether you are in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s or approaching retirement, you experience many of the same

financial pressures. For all of our differences, there’s much we can learn together about how to overcome the

challenges we face. Whether you’re just starting down the path of your life’s financial journey, or you’ve already

walked a mile or two, attend this seminar for some helpful strategies and financial habits to help get you headed.  Light refreshments included.

in the right direction.

What you will Learn:

• Common 'debt traps” and how to avoid them

• How much to invest and what investment vehicles make sense for you

• The importance of creating and sticking to a financial plan, regardless of your age

• How fees (obvious and not so obvious) reduce your returns

• If you and your family are protected with your current insurance coverage

Friday from 10am to 1pm is: 

How to Secure Funding from Foundations

Foundations are mysterious institutions to those unfamiliar with them. This workshop demystifies the process of securing foundation funding. It provides a thorough grounding in what foundations are all about, including how many there are, who runs them, trends in foundation giving and how to learn more about them.  The workshop focuses on what motivates foundations to give and helps participants determine why a funder might or might not support their organization. Built into this session will be an overview of the Foundation Directory Online, the premier source for finding funders, available at the Russell Library. Light refreshments included.

Registration is required, drop-ins are welcome if space permits.  

This program is made available through the generosity of the Friends of the Russell Library.

Free Yoga Class at Russell Library this Saturday March 24

Jeff Hush teaches a monthly "Standing Yoga" class at Russell Library.

Saturday, March 24, at 11:00am, Jeff Hush will be teaching a free "Standing Yoga" class in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library.

"Standing Yoga" requires no mat, since most of the poses are done on your feet. The class is geared for people of all ages and levels. You can move at your own pace.

Jeff Hush is a founder of Food and Movement Therapy, and lives in Middletown.

The class meets on the last weekend of the month, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library.

Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem perform at Russell Library this Thursday!

Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem's songs from their Wintersong CD
will be featured at the concert on December 21.
CD Cover Artwork by Keiji Shinohara. 

Thursday, December 21st at 7:00pm, Russell Library is pleased to present Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem in the Hubbard Room.

The songs featured in the concert will be primarily from their recent CD, Wintersong.
Many of them are original adaptations of traditional songs.

In the song "Yonder Come Day", the percussion stylings of Scott Kessel form the basis of this song recorded by Bessie Jones and the Sea Island Singers for Alan Lomax in 1960. A type of call-and-response, audience members can't help but participate.

No doubt the audience will also be joining in with "Children Go Where I Send Thee",  a counting song from the African American tradition.

In "Maybe This Christmas" by Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith, hope for the holiday that seems to carry with it a melancholy of loss:

Maybe this Christmas will mean something more, 

May this year love will appear

Deeper than ever before

And maybe forgiveness will ask us to call 

Someone we love, someone we've lost

For reasons we can't quite recall... 

Rani Arbo's own setting of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1850 poem, "Ring Out, Wild Bells". She states on the liner notes, "It seems to balance an unshakeable grief with a need to articulate hope. In my reading -- and in this musical setting -- the grief is winning, even while it's understood that hope is the only way forward."

This concert promises to be a singular experience for the local fans of Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem. 

 Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem's Wintersong program is sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library, and is free to the public, as are all of Russell Library's programs. 

Third by Wendy Wasserstein presented by Readers Theater Monday at Russell Library

Readers Theater opens their season at Russell Library with the play, Third by Wendy Wasserstein. Theater goers are asked to come to the Court Street entrance of the Hubbard Room. Doors will open at 6:30pm. Light refreshments will be served until curtain time at 7:00pm.

Since the library closes on Mondays at 6:00pm, the only access to the Hubbard Room will be from the Court Street entrance.

Wendy Wasserstein

Third was Wasserstein's last play, and premiered off Broadway in 2005. The play takes place at a small, prestigious, New England liberal arts college during one academic year. A female college professor, Laurie Jameson, has her her life and fundamental assumptions challenged by an encounter with a student, Woodson Bull, III. The professor and student have strongly divergent personal and political characteristics.

The play grapples with the issues of stereotyping, identity politics and family issues.

Reader’s Theater is live drama enacted by local actors.

Directed by Anne Cassady and Richard Kamins

Funded by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and The Friends of the Russell Library.

Free Fiddlers Workshops at Russell Library Beginning July 8th

The Connecticut Bristol Old Tyme Fiddlers Club (CBOTFC) and Russell Library will sponsor a 6-week, 2-hr, hands-on fiddling tutorial on Saturday mornings beginning July 8th and running through August 12th.

The sessions are offered FREE of charge, but you must have some experience playing the violin.  

Students will learn how to play traditional fiddle tunes by ear. Music CD’s and sheet music will be provided. Violins will be available on loan, but if you own a violin, please bring it with you.

After the final class students may participate in a 'slow jam” musical recital on August 19^th.

Registration is required. Please register online, at the Russell Library's events calendar, at www.russelllibrary.org. These lessons are offered to adult students who have played some type of violin or fiddle music in the past. For more information, call Russell Library: (860) 347-2520. 

The Connecticut Bristol Old Tyme Fiddlers Club was formed in 1972 with the purpose of bringing back old time fiddling music for public enjoyment. The club has been playing fiddle music concerts throughout Connecticut for the past 45 years. The purpose of this summer’s fiddle workshop is to promote, encourage, teach and prepare fiddle players wishing to learn the traditional tunes, style and techniques played by CBOTFC. The goal is to promote, maintain and preserve the traditions of old time fiddle folk music!

No More Fines for Youth at Russell Library!

Parents no longer have to worry about their children accruing
fines on their library cards.

Seeking to remove barriers to youth literacy, Russell Library will no longer charge late fines on youth accounts

With Summer Reading just around the corner, Russell Library is removing late fines for all youth library materials checked out on youth accounts (ages 0-17), effective June 12. Children's and young adult items will no longer be charged late fines.

The public library is a partner to youth, parents, families and caregivers from birth through high school. Exposing children early to a world rich with words, songs and play helps them become readers and succeed in school and in life. We proudly serve youth of all ages with high-quality books, fun and captivating programs, research resources, homework help, and caring staff who offer personal assistance.

“For many, late fines are a real barrier that stops children and families from using and benefiting from the resources the public library offers”, said Matt Poland, Library Director and CEO. “With the support of the Library Board, our library is changing this practice.”

Patrons of all ages will still be responsible for returning library material for others to use within 20 days of the due date, or be charged the replacement value of that item. 

Jazz Up Close Thursday June 1

"Jazz Up Close", the series that pianist, composer, and educator Noah Baerman has produced at The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street in Middletown over the past several years, continues on Thursday June 1 with guests Meg Okura (violin) and Sam Newsome (soprano) joining Mr. Baerman, bassist Henry Lugo, and drummer Paul Wells. Over the past two decades, Ms. Okura has been busy playing in multiple ensembles and multiple genres, from composing string quartets to performing with Cirque du Soleil to being a featured soloist with artists such as Dianne Reeves and Lee Konitz.  She's also the leader of the Pan Asian Jazz Ensemble (an ensemble with 2 CDs released so far), a Trio, and the J Orchestra, a big band dedicated to playing the music of Japanese and Jewish composers (the latter two ensembles have yet to record).

Mr. Newsome first came to critical in the late 1980s when he joined trumpeter and compose Terence Blanchard's group. He went off on his own in 1995 and also decided to concentrate on soprano saxophone.  Mr. Newsome is now considered one of the masters of the instrument.  His solo concerts and recordings are brilliant, each in their own right.  His breath control, intelligent use of amplification and prepared saxophone, plus the various ways he employs the saxophone keys, stand out.  Since 2007, he has  released six CDs of solo performances with performances that are as musical as they are challenging, amazing and earthy music that defies labels. Sam Newsome is also a fine blogger; on his "Soprano Sax Talk", he writes about many aspects of his chosen instrument and some of the people who play it. Go to sopranosaxtalk.blogspot.com to check it out.

If you have attended these events in the past, you know the host leaves time inside the concert and after for the audience to ask questions of the artists. In that way (and others), Mr. Baerman does much to demystify the music, making it accessible to those who shy away from what they consider a challenge.

The concert takes place at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room. Best of all, the event is free and open to the public.  For more information, go to www.russelllibrary.org.

Here's a taste of Ms. Okura's wonderful violin work:




Here's Sam Newsome from his 2014 album, "The Straight Horn of Africa":



(This post also appears on steptempest.blogspot.com.

Fake News - Can You Spot It? presentation at Russell Library This Thursday

On Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 6:30pm a special program on fake news will be presented in Russell Library’s Hubbard Room. The program, Fake News: Can you spot it? is a collaboration between the Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Journalism Department and Reference and Instructions Librarians at CCSU’s Elihu Burritt Library. It began as an hour-long interactive workshop delivered designed to define fake news and develop strategies to fight it. 

According to Craig Silverman, media editor of Buzzfeed, fake news traveled better online than mainstream news did in the three months preceding the recent presidential election (8.7 million hits to 7.3 million hits, respectively). 
The program begins by defining fake news on a spectrum. There is a difference between actual fake news, misleading news, biased news, and (at the other end of the spectrum entirely) news that simply challenges a held belief. 
Social media has made every information consumer into an information producer. It is our habit, when a piece of news makes us feel strongly, to share that piece of news with others. Given that, when we improve our abilities to determine news quality we do not just help ourselves; we help others too, as we let dubious news die instead of adding fuel to a false fire. 
Presenters are: Theodora Ruhs, Professor of Journalism; Martha Kruy, Reference, Instruction and Assessment Librarian; Briana McGuckin, Reference and Instruction Librarian; and Susan Slaga-Metivier, Head of the Reference and Instruction Department, Elihu Burritt Library.

Hip Hop and Hoopfest at Russell Library This Saturday!

Alex Pock's work can be seen in and around Hartford. 

Saturday, May 20,  is a busy day at Russell Library. The library will host an exhibit opening of the photos from Middletown's Summer Hoopfest., as well as Hip Hop Day, with four separate workshops in Hip Hop.

HOOPFEST EXHIBIT 

Photos by Tony Donovan of The Middletown Summer Hoopfest are on the lobby walls and upstairs in the information area. Hoopfest, produced by Malik Pemberton, has been a summer time tradition for the past ten years. The opening reception runs from 11:00am through 1:00pm.   

HIP HOP WORKSHOPS 

The series of Hip Hop workshops have been organized in the same spirit of the Hip Hop cultural ideals that rose out of the late 1970’s and 1980’s in the Bronx. These ideals focused on using the arts as a positive force of change in the community, which at the time was suffering from extreme poverty and gang violence. While much of the subsequent attention of Hip Hop has been given to the separate and distinct arts of the movement (such as rap and breakdance), the positive ideals of Hip Hop still resonate with us to this day.

Funded in part with a grant from the Middletown Commission on the Arts, these workshops are offered to the community free of charge. Light refreshments will be provided.

Turntablism with DJ N.E.B.

Saturday, May 20, 10:00am – 11:45am. The Hubbard Room. 

One of the four pillars of Hip Hop is 'Turntablism' -- the art of creating music using two turntables and cross-fading from one to the other. DJ N.E.B. (also known as Arun Ranganathan) is well-known. He has a vast collection of LPs he uses to provide the music. His technique of “scratching” is awesome to behold! 

Breaking with B-boy Bryan Giles

Saturday, May 20, 10:00am – 11:45am. Activity Room.

All ages are welcome to participate or just watch as teaching artist and b-boy Bryan Giles demonstrates and teaches the classic movements of breaking and its many variations. Bryan Giles is also known as “Lingba Flare” leads a b-boy team entitled Of Shadow and Earth.

Graffiti Art with Alex Pock

Saturday, May 20, 12:15pm – 2:00pm. Activity Room Patio. 

Alex Pock is a community muralist, working in and around Hartford and West Hartford.  

Rhyming with Tang Sauce

Saturday, May 20, 12:15pm – 2:00pm. The Hubbard Room.

Hartford Rap artist Tang Sauce will teach the basics of rhyming! Tang Sauce has recently produced an album entitled Maturity.