BARD SUMMERSCAPE TO PRESENT AN EVENING WITH HUDSON VALLEY FRIENDS, FEATURING JACOB BRACKMAN, MINDY JOSTYN, ARTSONG NOUVEAU, AND CARLY SIMON

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. —Many know Carly Simon as the singer/songwriter of such hits as You’re So Vain, Anticipation, Let the River Run, and Haven’t Got Time for the Pain. Fewer know her as the composer of an opera. On Saturday, August 28, the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College is presenting a unique, one-time event showcasing the works of this multitalented star. The evening’s program, beginning at 8:00 p.m. in the Fisher Center’s acoustically superb Sosnoff Theater, will range from highlights from her opera Romulus Hunt to some of her best-known hits. Proceeds from this benefit concert will support the Fisher Center and its programming.
Romulus Hunt (named after its 12-year-old protagonist) is a family opera about divorce. Its characters—Rom’s straitlaced Park Avenue mother; his father, a narcissistic choreographer; his father’s performance artist girlfriend; and Rom’s discus coach, a Rasta shaman—will be not merely sung, but brought to life by members of the vocal ensemble ArtSong Nouveau, including David Blackburn, Tara Venditti, Amy Wagar, Lucy Yates, and Lawrence Cummings, with Joey Cannizzaro as Romulus.
The program opens with scenes and arias from the opera, followed by an informal discussion with Ms. Simon. She will be joined onstage by Jacob Brackman, her long-time collaborator and colibrettist of Romulus Hunt, and Jonathan Levi, Fisher Center director and dramaturg and coproducer of Romulus Hunt when it was originally presented to great acclaim, in 1993, by The Metropolitan Opera Guild and The Kennedy Center.
The second half of the program will be a one-of-a-kind pop/rock set, with Ms. Simon and an acoustic band featuring Peter Calo, guitar; Mindy Jostyn, violin, harmonica, and accordion; Paul Ossola, bass; Peter Valentine, piano and keyboards; and Sam Zucchini, drums and percussion, as well as singers from ArtSong Nouveau.
Hudson Valley Friends is a New Vaudeville Entertainment, Jacob Brackman, producing director; Mindy Jostyn, musical director; featuring ArtSong Nouveau: Emily Weiss-Upham, founding director; Ravi Rajan, Executive Director; Lucy Yates, musical director; and Chuck Maryan, stage director for Romulus Hunt.
Tickets are $40 and $75. Special $250 Patron tickets include an invitation to a private reception with Ms. Simon and the other artists following the show.
For information or to order tickets, call the box office at (845) 758-7900 or visit the website at summerscape.bard.edu.

This event was last updated on 05-24-2005

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