music

If you have not heard of Henry Grace, that's OK; until a year ago, neither had Eric Zwieg.

Henry Grace, he said, is "a reinvention of yourself, right?"

So who is Henry Grace?

"He's someone who hasn't played music in like, almost 25 years, you know, on a regular basis, someone who hasn't written songs or played with other people (in a long time)."

That sounds a lot like Zwieg.

"The last time I legitimately played music was in Atlanta, with a couple of bands down there.
 Zwieg said. "We put records out. We played the scenes that were happening, played a lot of bars, did some great opening act type stuff."

Then Zwieg, originally from Jamestown, came back to Western New York. That was in 2003.

"Since then, I haven't done anything," Zwieg said. "I hardly picked up a guitar. In fact, I basically gave away all my gear over the years."

A little over a year ago, he showed up at the first Iburi Photography open mic and read from his thesis, and then he formed the musical duo Paris and Holly with Emily Crawford. They performed together at Iburi and GO Art! together for about six months. 

During that time, Henry Grace started to emerge. Now, Grace is ready to release his first full-length album, "The Complete Disaster," at a release party at 8 p.m. on Saturday at GO Art!, 201 E. Main St., Batavia.

Music has been part of Zwieg since childhood.

"I was always around music when I was a kid," Zwieg said. "I was fortunate enough to grow up on the grounds of Chautauqua Institute. When I was a kid, in my early adolescence and teen years, I saw amazing artists there, including the symphony and ballet companies and opera, a lot of the big touring acts of the late 60s and 70s. It was a big influence on me and kind of just hurtled me into music."

He started out on trumpet, joined choir and before graduating from high school, he was involved in musical theater.

At 16, he became a drummer (self-taught) in a band. They played Southern Rock in the bards of Jamestown.

"That was a lot of fun," Zwieg said. "It taught me how to deal with bar owners and drunks and everything that goes along with what used to be the only place you could play."

He paused his pursuit of music when he became "domesticated."  He became a father when he was 21 and went back to community college and majored in musical theater. During that time, he put his own band together for the first time, Common Man.

"I was writing songs right from the start, playing guitar and singing, and we had a great four-piece band," Zwieg said. "We stuck around for about five, six years, did some recordings, did a lot of regional touring, opening up for some smaller acts. It's a really small scene in Jamestown, but kind of the epicenter because of the fact that the 10,000 Maniacs had made it 10 years before, and so there were a lot of musicians around who were trying to put bands together."

His next band was called The Schmells but the gigs weren't happening, so he started doing solo acoustic work in college bars and coffee houses in Buffalo, Erie, Fredonia, Geneseo, and other college towns.

"It was a funky scene, and it was always better in the small college markets," he said.

In 2016, he came to Batavia and started formal writing programs, earning a bachelor's degree as well as an MFA.

He wrote fiction, plays, and poems and put together theatrical productions, poetry readings, and lectures.

Then the siren song of the musical muse started calling again.

"Music has definitely taken the upper hand because I find it easier to just play by myself and go out into a gig or set things up with other people, rather than putting together a full cast, Zwieg said. 

When you put a production together, it is, well, a production. You need rehearsal space and a place to perform as well as the casting and directing."

"It's incredibly time-consuming and I don't want to be a producer," Zwieg said.

He said he would rather be an artist, and music was always central to his life.

All the formal education sparked an interest at working at the craft of songwriting.

"I just didn't have any purpose, really, and I wasn't connecting with people," Zwieg said. "And it's an easy way to connect with people, and even if you're just playing open mics and things like that there becomes a community. And I was trying to create a community at the same time. So yeah, I was definitely trying to motivate myself. Once you put things out in front of you that you know you want to accomplish, or things that you're expected to do ... you become committed to it."

He hosted a series of Henry Grace and Company coffee-house-like shows at GO Art! over the past several months, featuring not just Grace, but also other solo acoustic performers.

"The overall purpose is just to get singer-songwriters to come out of the closet," Zwieg said. 

"We've created a bit of an audience there, and that's really the major thing I'd like to parlay that into -- I was hoping for a grant this year, but it didn't come through -- working towards the first Batavia Folk Festival to include all the local folks and local teachers."

So what does Henry Grace write and sing about?

The self, Zwieg said. Not necessarily the personal self but songs that are personal and about selves.

"There's a lot of storytelling in there," Zwieg said. "I like to tell stories. I have been fortunate enough to travel around the country and in Europe and really meet a lot of people. I love to sit and talk and bullshit. Once in a while, you extract something good."

Those conversations made it into journals, and those journals led to a stream-of-consciousness approach to songwriting, he said. 

"I would most compare it to somebody like REM, who was a big influence on me when I first started writing songs. A lot of their music is a stream of consciousness, or it's just it's poetic. Things in Michael Stipe just strung together, and that's always stuck with me."

So, in Henry Grace, Zwieg has rediscovered his roots.

"Music has always been my go-to thing," Zwieg said. "I've played it throughout my life and a lot of different kinds of different approaches, but I'm back to the singer-songwriter type of thing now and just really simplifying it."

The Genesee Chorale will sing you back to the 1960s in a concert at Batavia First United Methodist Church on March 29 at 4 p.m.

The "Classic Rewind" program features multiple hits from the pivotal decade arranged for choir.

Tickets are $10.

Batavia First United Methodist Church is located at 8221 Lewiston Road, Batavia.

Who can't use a little stress relief these days?

East Pembroke resident Don Thomas is here to help. His recently released album (CD and streaming) is his ninth, and like all prior releases, it's all acoustic guitar instrumentals with an emphasis on melody.

"I'm very excited about it," Thomas said about the new release, Sunset. "I like the way it turned out. There was a lot of rewriting, re-recording coming down to the end. It's meant to be another chill pill in my catalog."

Thomas is from New Berlin, Wis., not far from Milwaukee, and has been a performing musician most of his life. He spent some time on the road with a band called Snapshot, mostly as the keyboard player, opening for acts such as Journey, REO Speedwagon and Cheap Trick.

"I still once in a while get to talk with Rick (Nielsen, of Cheap Trick)," Thomas said. "I haven't talked with Robin (Zander) in quite a long time. When they were still touring, I'd bump into him at the House of Guitars. Whenever they would come by, I'd make a point to be able go and say, 'Hi.'"

When Snapshot stopped touring, Thomas came to Western New York looking for work with bands in the area and wound up working in studios.

"I've been in studios for 50 years, working, producing people, recording people," Thomas said.

He ended up with a studio on Goodman Street in Rochester, a design and music studio.

"My wife came down with ovarian cancer, and we shifted gears on everything," Thomas said. "We moved back here to East Pembroke, near her family. At that time, I built a studio and started working on music here and with different groups and individuals in the area. I started recording my own music, which is this guitar style, which I say is stripped of style. It's a melody-driven finger style, peaceful guitar playing."

He said he wasn't sure what he was going to do with his music. He handed out a few CDs to friends and one of them said he should participate in a show at a museum in Rochester.

"It was basically a craft show and he says, 'Get a booth and sell CDs,' and I went, 'oh, okay,'" Thomas said. "At that point, I had one Christmas CD, and I went to that show, got a six by six spot, and put two speakers on a table, and sold 350 CDs in two days."

That set Thomas and his wife on a path of traveling the country, particularly in the northeast and south, visiting trade shows, craft shows, vendor shows, selling his CDs.

He did that for 20 years. Then COVID-19 hit.

"We came home to care for our two mothers, and this is what we've been doing since 2020, so in between arriving at home and readjusting at home, in between, all that is where I recorded this new CD."

With all that going on, recording this CD took a bit longer than his prior albums.

"This CD marks another expression of style and is very carefully meant to entertain lightly," Thomas said.

The title of the new album is "Sunset," with a photo of an ocean sunset on the cover, which sums up the album nicely - music to carry you off to a warm, breezy, late afternoon along on a beach.

"My catalog is completely guitar instrumentals," Thomas said, though he is working on a larger project that involves a band and vocals.

"It's new material, and I have been working on this project for about six years, trying not to sound like everything else on the market," Thomas said. 'I have a fresh approach."

The new CD is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.  Thomas also has CDs for sale. Links to the streaming platforms and CD purchases can be found at donthomas.com.

Press Release:

Press The Batavia City School District (BCSD) is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Musicians of Note honor.

Each year, BCSD recognizes alumni and retired music educators for their accomplishments in the field of music. Batavia has many alumni who have had successful careers in music performance, music education, musical theater, and audio recording.

Honorees will be recognized in a future ceremony with a video presentation and performance ensembles to celebrate their achievements. A plaque featuring their accomplishments will be displayed on the Musicians of Note wall at Batavia High School.

Criteria for nominations include:

1. Recipients should be/have been an active performer or music educator.
2. Recipients must be at least ten years out of high school.
3. Recipients should have/had a successful musical career in either performance, composition, education, theater, or audio recording.
4. Nominations to posthumously honor deceased musicians/educators from BCSD will be accepted as well.

To nominate an alumnus or retired BCSD music educator who fits the criteria, click here.

Honorees and 2025 ceremony information will be announced at a later date. For any questions, please contact Batavia City School District Music Department Chair Melanie Case at mlcase@bataviacsd.org. 

Jason Ostrowski dazzled and electrified a near-capacity crowd at Batavia Downs on Thursday night, playing the best songs of two iconic rock and roll piano players, singers, and songwriters, Elton John and Billy Joel.

Previously: Rochester native returns to Batavia Downs on Feb. 27 with a high-energy homage to Elton John and Billy Joel

Photos by Howard Owens.

Jason Ostrowski is definitely excited about his upcoming concert at Batavia Downs.

Why? He loves playing rock and roll. He loves Elton John and Billy Joel. With a background in musical theater, he loves performing. He loves meeting people. And, he won't be far from his hometown, Rochester.

More than once during an interview with The Batavian about his Feb. 27 show (doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m.), Ostrowski said about performing, "I love it. I absolutely love it.

Ostrowski isn't sure where this love for music and performance came from but it started young.

"Nobody in my family is in entertainment at all," Ostrowski said. "(Starting in) kindergarten, I was bothering my parents for lessons, and then I took classical for about six years. I hated taking it. I loved my teacher, but I hated classical piano. And then I learned rock and roll."

In high school, at Greece Athena, he discovered musical theater.  He was inspired to get his degree from SUNY Fredonia in musical theater and he chased a career as an actor.

His resume includes roles on Broadway, cast on national tours for major Broadway productions, and regional musical theater.  His TV roles include co-starring roles on FBI: Most Wanted, Bull, The Detour, WeCrashed, and A Crime to Remember.

"I've been very lucky working for as long as I have in the entertainment industry and being able to support myself," Ostrowski said. "And the piano playing has always been there for me."

Ostrowski's path toward doing concerts featuring the music of the likes of Elton John and Billy Joel began when he was on Broadway in a show where cast members played their own instruments; then, on his own, he started playing more rock and roll on piano.

"I always thought, 'Oh, that would be fun to do for people. But I guess I was a little too shy or something," Ostrowski said. "In 2014, I learned how to do dueling pianos in Orlando, Florida. From there, I was just hooked on performing behind the piano."

Ostrowski was more of a Billy Joel fan (he's even met him a couple of times) but people always told him he looked like Elton John, so he explored his music and found it compelling, so he developed a live act around John's music. He said it's not exactly a tribute show.

"I started putting on my Nana's costume jewelry and some sparkly clothes and doing an Elton John show," Ostrowski said. "It's not an impersonator show because you already know it's not him. I look enough like the guy. I'm not going to try to pretend to be him but to capture the essence of his music and performance. What I do live hopefully translates, and that gives people an experience that, if they haven't seen him, can come close to what it would be like to hear that music live by him. And I love doing it. I love it."

The Feb. 27 show will feature both the music of John and his idol, Joel.

He said Joel is his biggest influence as a singer, piano player, and writer.  Ostrowski has singles and EPs of his original music on streaming platforms and is anticipating releasing an album later in 2025.

"I've always written. I've always been, I guess, I've always been a little timid about it, like, uh, nobody's gonna like this or whatever," Ostrowski said. "But now, as I reach 50, I'm like, 'Well, who cares?' So I actually started work on an album in December, and in March, I'm going back to recording in New York City with this producer who was Bruce Hornsby's guitar player for 16 years, and he's worked with Dave Matthews and Ben Folds. He really likes my writing, so we started work on just a little album, four or five songs, but it's exciting, and it's gotten me excited about my own music again."

Ostrowski isn't surprised the music of legendary rockers like John and Joel remains popular, not just with the generation that grew up with John's songs on AM radio.

"I'm on ships quite a bit, and generally, the crowds are people who grew up with Elton John, but every now and then, I get young people and young teenagers out in the audience, and they're singing along to every single song," Ostrowski said. "There's some kind of magic in performing some of this music that's 56 years old now, much older than some of these people listening to it, and they know every single lyric. It really is a rush to just play this rock and roll music."

John, he said, is particularly thrilling.

"He's such a theatrical performer in how he dresses and presents himself," Ostrowski said. "So to be able to do that and sit behind the piano and play this amazing music with incredible bands is all I need. I love it. Absolutely love it."

Tickets are available through Eventbrite, starting at $13.37.

Press Release:

The fourth annual “Music at St. Mark’s” concert series begins on Thursday, February 20, at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1 East Main St. in Le Roy. All concerts are free to attend, as the project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program administered by GO ART! (Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council).

On Thursday, February 20, the series opens with The Rochester Bagpiper. Jake Kwiatkowski is a professional piper who will present an evening of performance, education, interaction - and some humor - that explains just how unique bagpipes are in the world of music. He'll cover things like how bagpipes work, the origins of the instrument, stories about the tunes being played, and a wide variety of modern and traditional bagpipe music.

On Thursday, March 20, Laura Dubin and Antonio Guerrero present an evening of jazz. Laura Dubin, a virtuoso pianist as well as a composer and arranger, and her husband and percussionist Antonio Guerrero, will play a repetoire of Dubin’s creative pieces that combine works of classical greats and popular contemporary pieces with elements of jazz.  The duo play an astonishing number of concerts each year and have produced 11 albums of their music, including the latest recorded in Vienna, Austria in 2024.

On Thursday, April 24, the Genesee Valley Recorder Ensemble performs music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods along with some contemporary compositions.  Their instruments include recorders of all sizes, from the small sopranino to the very large Great Bass. The group also includes harpsichord, gamba (an early bowed string instrument), and various percussion instruments.  The eight members of the group are from the northern Genesee Valley region, and all have had formal music training and enjoy playing music on period instruments. Several of the members also play with the Rochester chapter of the American Recorder Society.

On Thursday, May 15, the Batavia Swing Band is back by popular demand.  This is a full 17-piece band that has been playing music in Genesee County and the surrounding areas for over 40 years. Members range from music educators, professional musicians, and advanced amateurs who love to play; a few high schoolers join the group occasionally.  They play standard jazz/swing classics like “In The Mood” and “Moonlight Serenade” to more modern songs from Frankie Valli, Disney, and Michael Bublé. Membership may have changed over the years, but the one thing that keeps the band going, is that they all love to play and make music together.

For more information, call the church office at 768-7200 or visit stmarksleroy.org/upcoming-events.

Submitted photos.

The "Musical Fireworks" will be flying Sunday at Genesee Community College when the Genesee Symphony Orchestra plays its February concert at 4 p.m.

Featured works conducted by Music Director S. Shade Zajac:

• Symphony no. 9, Shostakovich
• Overture to William Tell, Rossini
• Three-Cornered Hat, Suite no. 2, Manuel de Falla
• Russian Sailors Dance, Gliere

Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for seniors, and students with an ID can attend for free.

Audience members who arrive at 3 p.m. can meet the orchestra.

Photos by Howard Owens.

A new Paul McCartney tribute band, Band on the Run, from Rochester, played its debut concert on Thursday at Batavia Downs.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Genesee Chorale presents its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia, featuring baritone Joseph Finetti.

Finetti is featured in the performance of "Fantasia on Christmas Carols," composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The chorale will also perform "Magnificat" by Taylor Scott Davis.

Tickets are $10.

Press Release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced that tickets are now available for several indoor concerts in the Park Place Event Center on Thursdays throughout the upcoming Winter and Spring months.

All events will have General Admission tickets, and some will have VIP tickets.  All tickets include $10 back in Free Play to be redeemed at Player’s Club. These shows will all begin at 7 p.m.

“As Batavia Downs continues to grow with weekend events, we’re excited to introduce a brand new Thursday night concert series that stretches from mid-December to mid-May, “ said Byron Brown, President & CEO of Batavia Downs.  “With a wide range of musical acts, including Polka, Rock, Comedy and Country, we’ve got something for everyone.”

On December 19, Batavia Downs welcomes Terry Buchwald as Elvis Presley. This acclaimed musical experience showcases Terry Buchwald's talents, as he has done for many years, performing “The King” Elvis Presley’s greatest hits throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.

On January 9, WBBZ’s Polka Buzz returns to Batavia Downs. Listen to polka music from the New Direction Polka band while Ron Dombrowski hosts WBBZ’s weekly show. You may even see yourself on TV. This show will have $10 GA seating.

On January 16, “Band on the Run Live”, a Tribute to Sir Paul McCartney, will rock the Park Place Event Center stage at Batavia Downs. Take a trip through Paul’s music throughout his iconic and award-winning artistic career with the Beatles, Wings, and as a solo artist. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.

On February 27, Jason Ostrowski will return to Batavia Downs to perform the greatest hits of piano-rock legends Elton John and Billy Joel! Enjoy back-to-back hits from the Piano Man and the Rocket Man live inside the Park Place Event Center. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.

On March 13, 2025, Batavia Downs welcomes Frank Spadone's comedy. Frank has been featured at comedy festivals in Australia and South Africa and is a regular face at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. His movie credits include “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,” and he has appeared in several television series. This show will have both GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.

On April 10, 2025, following their acclaimed set during the Rockin’ the Downs Summer Concert Series, Tiny Music Band will grace the Park Place stage to perform a standing-room-only show. This tight, talented group will showcase their skills playing crowd-pleasing party hits throughout the night. This show is FREE. There will NOT be seats, but an ADA-seated section will be available for those who need it.

And finally, on May 22, 2025 the popular Zach Brown Tribute Band (ZBTB for short) will close out the Thursday concert series with a bang, playing a mixture of Zach Brown Band hits alongside country and rock classics. Known well throughout the area, this band is sure to please music fans of all genres. All tickets for this show are $15. This show will NOT be seated (ADA ticketed seats will be available).

General admission tickets are now available on BataviaConcerts.com, and the Lucky Treasures Gift Shop is located in the lobby of the main entrance of Batavia Downs. VIP tickets will be available exclusively at BataviaConcerts.com. Hotel Specials for select events are available on the Hotel Deals tab on BataviaDownsGaming.com.

Batavia Downs’ Summer Concert Series announcement will take place later in December.

Your ugly Christmas sweater could be your ticket to ride at Sunday's annual Genesee Symphony Orchestra holiday concert at GCC.

At intermission, GSO elves seek out the ugliest sweater worn by an audience member who will be the winner of the grand prize -- a chance to conduct the orchestra during its annual performance of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride."

While "Sleigh Ride" is a perennial fan favorite, among the highlights of the concert, said Conductor and Musical Director Shade Zajac, is the vocal performances of Soprano Jessica Moss.

She's singing an aria from the opera “La Wally,” two from Handel's “Messiah,” and an aria from “La Bohème.”

"She's an extraordinary singer," Zajac said. "I met her about two years ago. I've only been able to work with her one other time before, and she's a real, a real fine artist. I mean, absolutely, see her now before she gets to the Met, where the tickets are going to be more expensive."

Besides "Sleigh Ride," other fun numbers on the program include "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," as well as selections from the “It's a Wonderful Life” Suite -- yes, the soundtrack of the Jimmy Stewart classic arranged for orchestra.

"We've had a very busy start of the season and really intense start of the season, so it's really nice to just kind of let loose a little bit and play some fun music," Zajac said. "We love doing 'It's a Wonderful Life.' It's some great, great music and they don't make scores like that any more. It’s really cute and full of old Hollywood schlock."

GSO performs at GCC at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $17 for adults; seniors $12, and students with ID are free.

Photos by Howard Owens

An eclectic evening of music is planned for the main gallery to GO ART!, 201 E. Main St., Batavia, at 7 p.m. on Friday when local musicians Howard Owens and Henry Grace perform solo sets that touch on pop, folk, country and Americana.

On stage first, Henry Grace, a Batavia-based singer-songwriter whose style evokes a variety of influences cultivated from years of living a life simple as a moment, partly an urban legend, a dreamer of dreams, and a storyteller to the working class whose live performances connect vividly with audiences.

Grace has an extensive musical background has taken him through New York to Atlanta to Nashville and back again, playing coffeehouses, church basements, bars, colleges, libraries, backyards, and regional festival stages.

Recently, Henry Grace has become a part of the burgeoning Batavia music scene as co-founder of the folk duo Parris and Holly and clamor pop band Rose Mary Christian’s Babies gigging locally at Jackson Square, GO ART!, Iburi Photography, Pub Coffee House, and VFW Post 1602.

Grace plays a mixture of original songs and covers by Vic Chesnutt, Jules Shear, and Neil Young, among others.

Owens is a product of the backcountry of San Diego County and the nascent punk scene in Southern California (birthplace of cowpunk). He never lost his Western roots, and his musical interests reflect that broad range of influences.  On Friday, expect to hear some Dave Alvin, Odetta, Iris Dement, Johnny Cash, Graham Parsons, Jack White, Amos Milburn, Tanya Tucker, and Bob Dylan.

Over the past two years, he's played at Juneteenth, GO ART!, Iburi Photography, and VFW Post 1602.

Admission to Friday's show is free.

When conductor Shade Zajac discovered the piece “From the Diary of Anne Frank” by American composer Michael Tilson Thomas, who was already “a big hero of mine,” he says, he also thought of his sister Gemini, a freelance actor and vocalist who could embrace the emotional importance of the work.

That was during the pandemic, and Gemini lives in Philadelphia, so it took some time for this concert to come together for Genesee Symphony Orchestra. 

“I was just struck by what a great piece of music it is. So of course, two years go by and everything worked out that we could do it this season. I think people will have a bit of an idea what the piece might be, just because we know how her story ends, unfortunately, which is tragically. But the remarkable thing about the piece and about her writing, and all of the text comes from her diary, obviously, is that how optimistically and how hopeful she views not only the world, but people,” Zajac said during an interview with The Batavian. “One of the most striking lines is towards the end she writes, I'm paraphrasing here, but deep down, I truly believe that people are good at heart, which is incredible, that this 13-year-old girl hiding in an attic while people are disappearing or being shot or, all this kind of horrible stuff that's going around, that she can still be so optimistic and have such a view of, not just the world, but of people.”

Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s program is to begin at 6:30 p.m. with a pre-concert chat/lecture followed by the concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at Stuart Steiner Theatre, Genesee Community College, 1 College Road, Batavia.

Anne Frank was a teenager caught up in the horror of the holocaust, and she began to write in a diary two days after her birthday on June 14, 1942. She documented her life in hiding amid Nazi persecution during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She died in February 1945.

“Even after they were discovered and she was sent away to the camp at first she was still in a good mood. There were other children, there were people that she could be with. It was only right up to the very end. And she talks an awful lot about being in nature, that she wants nothing more than to stick her head out of the window and breathe the air and listen to the birds and all this,” Zajac said. “And it's this love of nature that connects the second half of the program, which is the Beethoven “Pastoral” Symphony, which is all about nature, being in nature, and having nature be a safe haven, having it be a cure for feeling depressed or dejected, or an escape from all the terrible things.”

The first half features the orchestra as a strong backdrop to Gemini’s reading Anne Frank’s words from the diary. There are somber moments accentuated with heavier strings offset with fluttering woodwinds, and long paused notes held to emphasize points throughout the essay.

The program also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major “Pastoral,” one of those lengthy classical numbers that is pretty, flowing, and if you close your eyes — possibly conjures visions of someone running about in a field with butterflies or perhaps watching clouds floating overhead.

There’s a connection between Anne Frank and Beethoven, Zajac said, and it’s one of isolation. While Anne’s was forced upon her by being captured, Beethoven’s was self-imposed due to his embarrassment at being deaf and unable to hear and understand most conversations. Throughout both stories, there’s a message about “just finding hope in really terrible times,” he said.

Zajac hopes that the audience can glean some of the overall contemplative essence that while we can celebrate a Thanksgiving in the end, it came with steep cost and some have paid dearly. It’s a heavy program, he said, but a thought-provoking one that features a little food for thought to this concert menu. 

This is a third visit to perform with GSO for Gemini (pronounced Gemin-ee), who has her bachelor’s in fine arts from University of Buffalo and performs with Sesame Place in Philadelphia. Similar to her brother, she grew up with creative interests, realizing early on that it was more than a passing whim.  

“I just kind of remember one show I was in in high school and I didn’t get the part that I wanted, and I remember being back stage during one of the performances, going ‘it’s not the part that I wanted, but if I’m going to pursue theater, then I have to be ok with getting parts that I don’t want, because that’s part of the lifestyle.’ And it was at that moment where I was like, oh I’m thinking about pursuing my career in theater,” she said. “So it was that moment where it was, I guess, the deciding factor. I’ve always enjoyed doing just kind of anything creative, and that’s just what’s pulled me most.”

When Shade talked to her about doing the Anne Frank piece, he felt confident about it being a role for her, one that she could breathe life into. 

She quickly agreed that it was quite an emotional piece.

“Incredibly. I know I talked about it on my little video on Instagram and the Facebook page, how I talked about that a lot of people don't feel safe and seen in this world. And that's a lot of what this piece talks about, in as much as finding the hope," the 26-year-old said. "But it's one of those things that I know lots of people personally who experience those fears and those things throughout the world, just because of who they are and their differences, and it just breaks my heart, that they have to go through things like that and they don't feel safe or welcomed in certain areas. And when I'm reading this piece, it just makes me think how how they're feeling, and how awful it is that they are feeling this, experiencing this.

“But also with that idea that these people that I know, they're still hopeful, they still see the good in people, and they're still fighting for, you know, their place in this world," she said. "And I think that's the part that really gets me, is that no matter what, there always is that hope and that drive to find your place.”

She has been rehearsing with a recording while being out of state, and described the music as having “moments where it gets very beautiful and light, and whimsical.”

“But there's also moments that are very haunting, and that contrast is it keeps the listener very engaged, because it kind of flows one way and then the other from that beauty and that fear,” she said. “It’s a very emotional piece, and I hope that people, they feel that emotion, not necessarily the emotion that I'm feeling on stage, from narrating and from the words, but the feeling of the music and what they take away personally.

“I really hope that people will get that same feeling of, people go through this, they're still going through this, and that's horrible, that people are still going through these kinds of fears and emotions,” she said. “But there’s always that hope, and I think that what people really should take away is that treating people with kindness, respect and equality is so important now more than ever, and to continue to do that.”

Tickets are $17 adults, $12 seniors, and free for students with a student ID, and are available at Mr. Wine & Liquor, GO ART!, YNGodess, The Coffee Press, Holland Land Office Museum, Gillan Grant and at www.geneseesymphony.com.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Parris and Holly, a Batavia-based folk/pop duo, headlined the second of a four-night residency at GO ART! on Thursday, with featured artist Alex Feig opening.

The residency continues on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. with Billy Lambert as the featured guest artist and on Oct. 24 with Chris Humel.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Requiems are a centuries-old art form.

The most famous, perhaps, is Mozart’s, which was left unfinished (though finished by other composers) at the time of his own death.

Typically, composers write eight or nine movements corresponding to the Catholic Mass for the Dead. A vocalist or chorus sings the mass in Latin.

Typically.

Thirty-five years ago, Laurence Tallman, a Genesee County resident, had a different idea. He became intrigued with the idea of composing a requiem that was purely orchestral—no singing, just the music, with the lyrics implied by the melody.

On September 28, Tallman's “Unsung Requiem” will have its world premiere at Genesee Community College, where the Genesee Symphony Orchestra will perform it.

"The piece was inspired by an experiencing Maurice Durufle’s Requiem with the Crane Chorus and Orchestra in Potsdam way back in 1989," Tallman said to The Batavian. "Even then, as a composition student, I thought it would be amazing to write a requiem using the form that would be just instruments. It's been mulling around in my head forever. Then, 200-some compositions later, and finally, the time and the inspiration were there, and so I constructed this piece, so based on an actual Requiem form, the nine movements that are typical in it, but there's no singing."

This isn't the first time GSO has performed a piece by Tallman, but this is a piece that Musical Director Shade Zajac encouraged Tallman to complete so the orchestra could perform it.

"The things he's done of mine have been very playful, very funny," Tallman said. "I get hired a lot for humor pieces and pieces that have a lot of moving parts to it. I told him about this, and I said, 'This has always been on the back burner, and I've got bits and pieces of it done.' I started showing him some sketches, and he's like, 'I love this. I love this idea. I think you should invest in this, and we'll get the group to do it.'" 

Tallman, who lives in Byron with his husband, is a retired music teacher. He taught at Byron-Bergen Central Schools. He is the music director for the First Presbyterian Church of Byron and plays contrabassoon and piano in the GSO. He received his B.M. and M.M. in Music Education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. He also has a certificate of compositional study from the Birmingham Conservatory of Music in Birmingham, England.

He said his requiem reflects the text and moods of the Mass for the Dead. 

"Some of them are very somber and pensive. Some of them are playful and joyful," Tallman said. "The lux aeterna is like the light that you know we're searching for. And then the in paradisum ends with this lovely kind of ascension into the Netherworld."

He said the last movement is composed through the lens of his own passing and he had some fun with it.

"(It is) what would it be like if I was in that state of transition and then, ideally, the ascension," Tallman said. "So that piece has a lot of musical allusions to some of my favorite works of music, and it just becomes this collage of sound. The agnus dei has this little repeated pattern that is a variation of a pop tune that is very obscure, and everything builds around that pattern. It's dedicated to a pop star I loved in the 1980s (Alison Moyet), who got me through a lot."

The concert is at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Stuart Steiner Theater at GCC. Tickets are $17 for adults, seniors $12, and students (with ID) may attend for free.

Additional works on the program: 

• Canzona per Sonare No. 2, Gabrieli
• Crisantemi for String Orchestra, Puccini
• Ritual Music, David Skidmore
• A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Britten (which Tallman will narrate).

For more information, click here.

The rock band Falling in Reverse headlined a night on Tuesday, supported by Jeris Johnson, Tech N9ne, Dance Gavin Dance, and Black Veil Brides.

Photos by Philip Casper

The Genesee Chorale is opening its 2024 Fall Season and is looking for a few good singers.

The Chorale held its opening rehearsal on Monday at St. James.

For more information on joining, click here.

Photos by Howard Owens.

On a cooler rainy September Friday night, it didn’t stop anyone from dancing and grooving to T-Pain, who opened for Pitbull at Darien Lake Amphitheater. 

A sold-out 22,000 plus crowd packed the venue to greatest hits by both performers including a few dressed up Pitbull outfits.