Nov 24, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
One of the region’s most cherished holiday traditions, the Susquehanna Valley Chorale’s Candlelight Christmas, will take place on Saturday, December 14 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, December 15 at 3 pm at Zion Lutheran Church in Sunbury.
The beloved performance features the 100-year-old tradition of Nine Lessons and Carols.
The SVC ensemble includes over 70 members. The performance will be accompanied by Elizabeth Asmus on harp, David Cover on organ, the Commonwealth Brass, and percussion, as well as a traditional candlelighting to conclude the performance.
William Payn serves as Conductor and Music Director and David Cover serves as Accompanist.
Payn said of the tradition, “This event is not just a concert, but a celebration of the holiday spirit, inviting audiences to come together and enjoy the magic of music during the Christmas season.”
The concert will feature traditional carols such as Once in Royal David’s City, Angels We Have Heard on High, The First Nowell, Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Silent Night, among others. The performance also includes the world premiere of So Many Hopes, written by Bill Payn, and features a new version of the song Celebrate!, rearranged specifically for SVC by the composer, Robert Cohen.
Soloists include: Maya Caron, Kathleen Kelley, Fox Laubach, Molly Manhoff, Joanna Rees, Tabitha Weeks and Kirsten Weirich.
Sponsors for the performance include: Martha and Alan Barrick, Coldwell Banker Penn One Real Estate and Patricia McDowell. Co-Sponsors are Hoffman Advertising and Mifflinburg Bank and Trust. Underwriters include: Gloria Karchner, Jackie Paul and Al Bothe, Jr. and Bernadine Richard.
Tickets for the performance are $25 for adults, $10 for students, and children 12 and under are no charge.
Tickets are available online at SVCMusic.org, by calling 570-547-0455 or at the door.
For more information about this performance and future performances, visit SVCMusic.org.
Nov 24, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome Tab Benoit with Jesse Dayton on Saturday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center.
Tab Benoit is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and guitarist who has built a remarkable 30-plus-year career on the foundation of his gritty and soulful Delta-swamp blues. He’s acquired a devoted legion of fans along the way as well as five Blues Music Awards, including B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (twice) and an induction into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
He has recorded and/or performed with Junior Wells, George Porter Jr., Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Billy Joe Shaver, Maria Muldaur, James Cotton, Cyril Neville, Kenny Aronoff, Allen Toussaint, Kim Wilson, Jimmy Thackery, Charlie Musselwhite, Kenny Neal, Chris Layton, Ivan Neville, Jimmy Hall, Jim Lauderdale, Anders Osborne and Alvin Youngblood Hart, to name a few. Benoit’s accomplishments as a musician are matched only by his devotion to the environmental health of his native Louisiana wetlands. He is the founder and driving force behind Voice of the Wetlands, an organization working to preserve the coastal waters of his home state. He received the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Benoit also starred in the iMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to protect and restore the wetlands.
Jesse Dayton brings his fierce blend of Texas blues, outlaw country and punk rock to the stage, opening for Grammy-nominated blues powerhouse Tab Benoit on the I Hear Thunder tour. Celebrating his latest album, The Hard Way Blues, produced by Shooter Jennings and a #2 debut on the Billboard Blues chart, Jesse’s set is a raw, gritty journey through Americana. Known for his work with legends like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Social Distortion, and fresh off a Grammy-nominated collaboration with Samantha Fish, Dayton’s live show captures decades of fearless musical spirit. Expect powerful guitar riffs, soulful storytelling and a performance that’s both timeless and electrifying.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by Martha and Alan Barrick and Coldwell Banker Penn One Real Estate.
TICKETS
Tickets are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $20 for youth 18 and under, $20 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $20 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Nov 2, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome award-winning bluegrass ensemble Sister Sadie on Friday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by the Williamsport Sun Gazette.
Sister Sadie is a wildfire of raging hot bluegrass combined with breathtaking instrumental drive and awe-inspiring vocals. Comprised of original members Deanie Richardson (fiddle) and Gena Britt (banjo and vocals), and newcomers Jaelee Roberts (guitar and vocals), Dani Flowers (guitar and vocals) and Maddie Dalton (acoustic bass and vocals), Sister Sadie has combined the varied talents of each woman in the lineup to create something that is far more than the sum of its parts.
Sister Sadie’s sound is uniquely its own — undeniably classic, hard-driving bluegrass that is so much more. Rooted in forceful and tight vocal harmonies, the women’s music isn’t your granddaddy’s Appalachian high lonesome sound. This is something far more powerful than that — it’s the sound of the mountains themselves.
When Sister Sadie first formed, they didn’t plan to stick around for more than a decade. They didn’t even plan to stick around for more than one show. But fate had other plans. In December of 2012, the original lineup of the band took the stage at the Station Inn with the goal of having a good time and playing good music together.
The original Station Inn lineup formed the core of the band for the majority of the first eight years, featuring Dale Ann Bradley, Beth Lawrence, Tina Adair, and of course, Deanie Richardson and Gena Britt. Together, this lineup reached heights that none of them thought imaginable leading into what they had assumed would be a one-time Christmas season pickup gig. In 2019, following the release of their second studio album “Sister Sadie II” on Pinecastle Records, they had their debut on the Grand Ole Opry, won their first IBMA award for Vocal Group of the Year, and received a GRAMMY nomination for Bluegrass Album of the Year. In 2020, Deanie was named the IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year (the second woman to win that prize in the 30-year history of the awards), and the band took home the top prize as the Entertainer of the Year. Sister Sadie also was named Vocal Group of the Year for the second year running.
But without change, there is no growth—and Sister Sadie continues to grow.
The first gravitational shift came in finding a new lead vocalist in 2020—someone whose voice had the power and confidence to hold court and capture an audience. Fortunately, Jaelee Roberts had all of the above and more. Roberts had been in close proximity to the members of Sister Sadie for her whole life: Richardson played with her dad in New Tradition and Britt had played with her mom in Petticoat Junction. So when it came time to find a new voice for the band, her name immediately came to the fore. Despite her young age, there is nothing immature to be heard when she sings. Her voice is commanding, demanding the world stop and pay attention. It has the charisma and singularity to lead, while also melting like butter into spine-tingling harmonies. She is undeniable.
In 2021, Sister Sadie was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s American Currents exhibit. That same year, the band took home a third consecutive IBMA Vocal Group of the Year award, and new member Jaelee Roberts was awarded the IBMA Momentum Vocalist of the Year award.
In 2022, there was a need for a third vocalist that would blend well with Jaelee and Gena. The first person to come to mind was one of Deanie & Gena’s favorite singer/songwriters, Dani Flowers. When the time came, they made the call & asked if she’d be interested and there was an immediate yes on the other end of the phone. Dani brings a sweet, tender tone in her lead vocals and her harmonies meld seamlessly. Her songwriting is second to none, which you’ll continue hearing on upcoming Sister Sadie recordings. While not intended, it was ironic how it worked out that Dani’s first show with Sister Sadie was at the Station Inn, where the band was originally formed. It seemed like the perfect fit, and it was. The addition of Dani maintained the inescapable magnetic draw that the Sister Sadie trio is known for.
In 2022, Gena Britt was recognized as the SPBGMA Banjo Player of the Year and Sister Sadie signed with Mountain Home Records to begin work on their third studio album.
The final puzzle piece fell into place with the addition of Maddie Dalton to the band in 2023. When Sister Sadie began their search for a new bass player to join the lineup, they also needed to find someone to fit the energy & drive that the band has maintained since the beginning. Maddie is widely known in the Missouri bluegrass scene & she is a musical force to be reckoned with. Maddie’s second show with the band was again at The Station Inn, the band’s home away from home. Playing together that night sealed the deal: that same spark from 2012 was alive and burning. This was the new Sister Sadie.
In 2023, Jaelee Roberts took home the honor of SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year. The band continues to work on the third album which is set to release soon.
Sister Sadie has been completely reborn, with an energy and excitement that they’ve never had before. Vocals have always been the foundation of Sister Sadie’s sound, and the new vocal blend—combining Gena Britt’s hard-driving North Carolina bluegrass, Dani Flower’s honeyed folk, and Jaelee’s world-shaking power and range—has spurred the band into exploring new aural territory. Finally Maddie Dalton’s charismatic and sublime bass underpins everything.
The addition of three new wildly talented musicians and vocalists has broadened the genre palette of their compositions as well, shifting the landscape of the music they make. This band didn’t climb down from their peak during these changes—they moved the entire mountain instead.
This new energy continues to drive the band forward. Now, entering their second decade as a band, the energy that they felt all those years ago burns brighter than ever before.
TICKETS
Tickets are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $20 for youth 18 and under, $20 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $20 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Oct 27, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome classical ensemble Quartetto di Cremona on Sunday, November 3 at 4 p.m. at the Weis Center.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by Service 1st Federal Credit Union and Sam and Nancy Craig.
Winner of the 2019 Franco Buitoni Award, Quartetto di Cremona is among the world’s preeminent string quartets, noted for its lustrous sound, refined musicianship and stylistic versatility.
According to The Strad, its Lincoln Center debut in 2022 “was distinguished by splendid balance, abundant color and a relaxed mastery of all the musical elements.”
The quartet was established in 2000 at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona, Italy. Now in its 23rd season, Quartetto di Cremona has toured extensively in Europe, the U.S., South America and Asia; appeared at leading festivals, and performed regularly on radio and television broadcasts, including on the RAI, BBC, Westdeutscher Rundfunk and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The group’s extensive repertoire encompasses key masterworks from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert; essential late nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, and contemporary works by Osvaldo Golijov, Helmut Lachemann, Fabio Vacchi, Silvia Colasanti, Nimrod Borenstein and Kalevi Aho. The quartet is also known for its performances of work by Italian composers, including Verdi, Respighi and Boccherini.
When at the Weis Center, the quartet will perform: Dvořák’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American”, Bartók’s Quartet No. 4 and Robert Schumann’s Op. 41 No. 1.
TICKETS
Tickets are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $20 for youth 18 and under, $20 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $20 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Oct 27, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome jazz pianist Sean Mason on Thursday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by Teri MacBride and Steve Guattery.
When Sean Mason speaks about music, the notes fall into place. The cadence of his ideas unfolds with deliberate tempo, each exploring and resolving tension like an inspired chord progression.
On his debut album, The Southern Suite, he emerged as a guiding luminary, shining his introspective command as both a pianist and composer through the historic lens of jazz to create a work that distilled the essence of the genre, even as it pointed the way forward.
Born and raised in Charlotte, N.C., Mason took to the piano at the late age of 13, teaching himself by ear to play the styles of music he was most attracted to. His approach quickly evolved into a highly original language.
Mason’s unique voice in jazz is steeped in the sounds of the South, allowing an extended time for groove, while also displaying a vocabulary far beyond his years. He leads the Sean Mason Quartet, a band assembled to play his original music, which has been described as highly melodic and infectious.
TICKETS
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $15 for youth 18 and under, $15 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $15 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Oct 20, 2024 | Music, News, Regional Arts Events
The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome award-winning jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and her Quartet on Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center.
There will be a pre-performance talk with the artist from 6:45-7:15 p.m. in the Weis Center Atrium.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by the Centre Daily Times.
One of the most sought-after and revered saxophonists in the world, Lakecia Benjamin was voted 2020 DownBeat Critics Poll’s Rising Star, alto saxophone, and Up and Coming Artist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Known for her charisma and dynamism as a player and as a composer, she has an inimitable skill of fusing traditional conceptions of jazz, hip-hop and soul.
She’s performed alongside Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Macy Gray and many more. Her latest album, Phoenix, was nominated for three Grammy awards.
Phoenix is the highly anticipated, expansive new album in Benjamin’s musical evolution as an alto saxophonist and composer. The album was produced by the multi-Grammy-award winning Terri Lyne Carrington and features a star-studded line up of specially curated guests, including Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis and Wayne Shorter.
-The New Yorker said, “The alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin plays jazz that is sprinkled with the rich flavors of funk and soul—she’s a crafty traditionalist who remains in step with the rhythms of the young generation.”
Her newest project, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) released on July 12, 2024 is a transcendent performance that boasts three new songs, including the title track featuring John Scofield, Randy Brecker and Jeff “Tain” Watts.
Phoenix Reimagined focuses on the music from her acclaimed Phoenix project and adds three new songs. It was captured live-in-studio at Brooklyn’s the Bunker — a great-sounding space whose alumni include everyone from Brad Mehldau to Bang on a Can to the Black Keys. Combining the spontaneous magic of a live LP with the crisp, crystalline audio that only a world-class studio can deliver, Phoenix Reimagined illustrates that vibrant togetherness between Benjamin and her live listeners.
TICKETS
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $15 for youth 18 and under, $15 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $15 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
