Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Perform in Oneonta, NY
A major highlight of the Sat. March 13 Catskill Symphony Cabaret Concert will be a return engagement of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, American folklorists, musical virtuosi, and composers. This concert will offer a variety of selections from the wide repertoire of these extraordinary musicians, who have become one of the most celebrated duos on the American and international acoustic music scene.
Ungar and Mason are noted not only for their work with Ken Burns in the PBS Grammy-winning feature, The Civil War, and their soundtrack “Ashokan Farewell,” which was nominated for an Emmy, but also for their many other network TV spots. Their appearances on A Prairie Home Companion and on soundtracks for Brother’s Keeper and Legends of the Fall have added to their fame and popularity. Garrison Keillor, host and creator of A Prairie Home Companion says their music is “simple and overwhelming . . . joyful and full of feeling . . . an apotheosis of American traditional music.”
The Symphony will open this Concert with selections from The Andalucia Suite (including the well-known “Malaguena”) by the Spanish-Cuban composer Ernesto Lucuona. This concert will be offered in the “Cabaret” style, with the audience seated at tables. Light snacks will be served and beverages will be available.
A second highlight of this concert is the now-traditional Conductors’ Raffle. One of this year’s four candidates, after brief instruction by Music Director Charles Schneider, will have an opportunity to lead the Orchestra in a performance of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The winner is determined by the amount donated by supporters of each candidate. Senator James Seward will serve as Master of Ceremonies. This year’s hopeful conductors are:
DOUG DECKER: Well known in the area as Member Service and Marketing Director at HealthLinks, as well as a local radio personality for 22 years, member of various local bands, Orpheus theatre performer, and former Eagle Scout. His TV appearances include “According To Jim” with Jim Belushi, “Suddenly Susan” with Brooke Shields and “The Norm Show” with Norm McDonald.
SAM GOODYEAR: Born in Cooperstown, raised, educated and lived in Morocco, Zurich, Washington, Turkey, Ankara, Paris, Greece, Swaziland, and Alabama, and has a Degree in French and Music from Yale University. Known as actor, pianist, singer, stand-up comic, radio announcer and cartoonist, he portrayed John Adams in an Emmy-nominated television adaptation of Jefferson & Adams.
DR. MICHAEL LEVENSTEIN: Claims medicine only as a hobby, with his future goals to be determined, depending upon conducting opportunities (he has no conducting experience, but is willing to learn). Musical experience includes clarinet, percussion and guitar lessons in public schoolsm, as well as Ashoken Fiddle and Dance Camp at Ashoken, N.Y. References are available upon request
JIM MULLEN: His memoir of moving from Greenwich Village to a village in the Catskills, called It Takes A Village Idiot, was a finalist for the 2001 Thurber Prize for American Humor. In his 2002 spoof of baby memory books, spaces for ‘Baby’s First Tooth’ and ‘Baby’s First Haircut’ are replaced by spaces for things like ‘Baby’s First Ritalin Prescription’ and ‘Baby’s First Lawyer.’ His freelance work has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, and many other outlets.
As a continuing feature, an anonymous donor makes it possible for any one or two adults to bring any number of students to this concert without charge. For more information, or for reservations, call 607-436-2670
