Bush Mango performing (Photo: Elissa Sundman)

At 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 13^th and Saturday, April 14^th, Bush Mango’s 13-member, multi-generational company will present its spring performance.  Entitled Wongai! (which means Let’s Go! in Susu, a West African language), the performance is a celebration of the poly-rhythmic music and dynamic dancing of West Africa. 

Advance purchase tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for youth 12 and under and seniors and can be purchased at www.bushmango.org.  Tickets at the door on performance evenings are $18 for general admission, $15 for youth 12 and under and seniors.

Melissa, a Bush Mango Youth Project student (Photo: Lisa Barker)

At 7 p.m., Saturday, April 21^st, Bush Mango will hold its second annual “Beat the Drum” Friend-Raiser, a fund-raising event to benefit Bush Mango’s Youth Project.  Evening highlights include short, dynamic performances by Bush Mango’s Youth Project students and by Bush Mango’s performing company.  In addition, there will be a gallery exhibition featuring photos of the Youth Project, a silent auction and bountiful food and bountiful food and drinks.

Bush Mango’s Youth Project teaches West African drum and dance to Rochester city youth and enhances the quality of their lives at the same time.  The program provides a place where ethnically diverse young people from two to 18 years old can learn and thrive. Ninety-eight percent rely on scholarships to participate in the Youth Project.

“Through Youth Project’s drumming and dancing, students learn essential life skills: self-motivation, confidence, teamwork, discipline, and so much more,” said Colleen Hendrick, Bush Mango’s Artistic and Executive Director. “The program works, too: more than 90 percent of participants move up to the next grade in school or on to graduation from high school.  Community support is vital to continuation of this important program.”

Tickets for the fund-raiser are $100 per person.  Each “Beat the Drum” ticket includes one free ticket to either the Friday, April 13^th or Saturday, April 14^th Wongai! performance.  If a Beat the Drum ticket is purchased after the Wongei performance, a ticket to Bush Mango’s December holiday performance will be provided.

For more information, visit www.bushmango.org or call 585-235-3960.

GFC's Green Bean Distribution Machine (photo provided by GFC)

The Good Food Collective(GFC), a multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, was featured in WROC TV’s regular “Go Green” feature last month.  Its founder Chris Hartman and local farmer, Brian Beh, are featured, talking about good, local, sustainable food.  To see the video segment, click here: http://rochesterhomepage.net/search-fulltext?nxd_id=84931

The GFC offers membership programs that connect people to local, sustainable foods and some of the best farmers in our area. It runs a summer CSA offering a weekly distribution of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit (June-October) and a winter CSA offering a monthly distribution of frozen, stored, and fresh organic vegetables and fruit (December-March). The Good Food Collective is a project of Headwater Foods, a Community Food Enterprise creating a value-filled, year-round supply chain of local, sustainable foods for the greater Rochester area.

breathe happens to be one of its community distribution locations, along with its South Wedge Farmers’ Market site on S. Clinton Ave.

The 2010/2011 Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (photo credit: Royal Photography)

The 2010/11 season marks the 40^th anniversary of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO), a symphony orchestra comprised of 100 dedicated young musicians in grades eight through 12 from around the greater Rochester area.  Led by music director Dr. David Harman, the RPYO will perform its final concert of the season at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 15^th at Hale Auditorium, Roberts Wesleyan College, 2301 Westside Dr. in Rochester.

Entitled “Twentieth Century Symphonic Masterworks,” the concert will feature Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis, Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 and pieces by Bloch, Bruch, Hindemith, and Rosauro.  It will also highlight RPYO student soloists, including violinist Clare Grieve, a senior at Fairport High school; violist Rachel Haynes, a senior at Penfield High School; cellist Samantha Merrill, a senior at Brighton High School; and percussionist Matthew Parris, a senior at Charles Finney High School in Penfield. Each student won RPYO solo competitions earlier this year, thus earning these coveted solo positions.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.  They are available at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s (RPO’s) Box Office located at 108 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y.14604 or by calling the RPO at (585) 454-2100 or the RPYO at (585) 454-7311 ext. 224.  Tickets will also be sold at the door at the time of the performance. Group rate tickets for groups of 10 or more are available directly from the RPYO.  For more information, visit www.rpyo.org.

“Our students have enormous talent and passion for music and incredible drive,” said Harman, a city of Rochester resident.  “Wherever they perform, they astound audiences time and time again.  Throughout this season, we have been celebrating them and the nearly 1500 young musicians who have been part of this important cultural institution over the last 40 years.”

The RPYO was founded in 1970 by the Women’s Committee of the Civic Music Association, the predecessor of the RPO, following many years of its sponsorship of annual youth music festivals. The RPYO is now sponsored by the RPO’s Education Department, whose musicians work regularly with RPYO students as mentors and coaches.  They also join the RPYO in an annual concert at the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.  Howard Weiss, former concertmaster of the RPO, was the RPYO’s founding music director from 1970 to 1989, followed by Darryl One.  Since 1993 Dr. Harman has been the RPYO’s music director and conductor.

RPYO musicians undertake a demanding schedule from September through May, which includes regular Sunday afternoon rehearsals, formal concerts and participation in an annual weekend-long musical retreat program.  In addition, they are involved in community outreach events and participate in regional and international tours.

Several RPYO alumni currently perform with the RPO, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Chicago Lyric Opera orchestra and other major ensembles in the United States and abroad.  Many other alumni have become music teachers or are dedicated amateur musicians and supporters of local arts institutions.

About the RPYO:
Established in 1970, the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO) is a non-profit symphony orchestra comprised of approximately 100 stellar young musicians who are in grades eight through 12 and come from schools throughout the greater Rochester area.  The RPYO is sponsored by the Education Department of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra whose musicians serve as mentors and coaches to the RPYO and join them in the annual side-by-side concert in Eastman Theatre. The RPYO is a 501c3 non-profit organization that staffs just two people and depends on parent volunteers and community support to thrive. For more information, visit www.rpyo.org or call (585) 454-7311, ext. 224.

There’s much more to the Youth Project at Bush Mango Drum and Dance than dance steps and drum beats. It’s about giving kids the skills they need to succeed, said Colleen Hendrick, executive director of Bush Mango, located in Rochester.

The program, in its 21st year, teaches West African drumming and dancing to area youth ages five to 18.

“Students enrolled in our programming learn so much more than drum and dance,” said Hendrick, founder of the program. “They learn and develop essential life skills and traits, such as discipline, teamwork, confidence and joy — all of which will help propel them into their futures.”

What:  Bush Mango’s presents “Alive!”
Bush Mango’s 13 member, multi-generational company will perform the traditional rhythms and movements of Guinea, West Africa, in this sure-to-inspire evening of drumming and dancing.

Tickets:
Advance sales:  $15 for general admission, $10 for youth under 12 and seniors. At the door: $18 for general admission, $13 for youth under 12 and seniors

When:
7:30 p.m., Friday, May 13^th, 2011
7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 14^th, 2011

Where:
Bush Mango Community Center, 34 Elton Street, Rochester, N.Y. For more information on Bush Mango, visit www.bushmango.org or call 585-235-3960

ABOUT:
Bush Mango Drum and Dance promotes the depth and power of traditional West African dance and drumming by engaging the young and old, rich and poor – the full human family of all colors – through dynamic programming and performances.  The company recognizes the racial, socio-economic and cultural differences of people and realizes that the ancient music, dance, and song it embraces can transcend one’s background and life circumstances.  The company offers learning experiences for students at all levels.  For more information on Bush Mango, visit www.bushmango.org or call 585-235-3960.

###

Photo by Michael Bloch

Recently, Dr. David Harman, the music director for the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO); Susan Basu, its manager and I sat down with Sarah Lentini, the editor and publisher of Metropolitan Magazine, a gorgeous quarterly publication of the Arts & Cultural Council of Rochester.  Sarah is also the president and CEO of this local, not-for-profit organization.

The conversation was engaging and from it the idea came to do a piece on Dr. Harman and the RPYO, as this is the 40th season of this amazing orchestra. (The RPYO is comprised of about 100 stellar musicians from grades eight to 12 from around the greater Rochester area.)

Sarah has written a beautiful piece on pages 20 and 21.  If you are out and about and can pick up a copy, please do.  And…if you are interested in seeing the RPYO perform, the next chance will be at 3 p.m., Sunday, March 6th at Eastman Theatre. This concert will include a side-by-side concert with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra with Christopher Seaman guest conducting.   For more information, visit www.rpyo.org or call 585.454.7311, x224.