The Update | Jazz Concert Series at Playhouse; Handel’s Offers St. Pat’s Flavor
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A new monthly concert series will bring smooth jazz artists to The Youngstown Playhouse this summer.
The series, titled Smooth Summer Sessions, is being produced by Youngstown native Sharon Rae North, who is also a jazz singer, and her business partner, Fritz Germain.
Here is the schedule:
- May 25: Saxophonist Kim Waters.
- June 28: Guitarist Paul Brown, featuring Sharon Rae North.
- July 12: Bassist Christian de Mesones.
- Aug. 30: Keyboardist James Lloyd and flutist Alexander Zonjic.
To purchase tickets, go to touchofclassva.com. Tickets are also available at the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office, downtown.
In addition to general seating, VIP tickets and season tickets are available. Both give access to a catered VIP reception with the artists after each show.
It’s been nearly 30 years since North left Youngstown, where she was a reporter for WYTV. She said she has always wanted to do something special in her hometown.
“Pulling all this together has been exciting,” she said. “We’ve got Grammy winners, Billboard charters – just amazing performers. These musicians are my friends, and they’re coming to my hometown for a project that means the world to me.”
Handel’s Offers Flavor for St. Patrick’s Day
CANFIELD, Ohio – Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream has tinkered with one of its most popular flavors to create a limited-time St. Patrick’s Day special.
The fan-favorite Blue Monster has been recreated as the Green Monster ice cream. It will be sold through March at all locations.
Green Monster features green vanilla ice cream with Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookie bits blended in.
Exhibition to Open at The Butler
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An exhibition by Cleveland-based artist Amy Casey will open March 17 at The Butler Institute of American Art and run through May 12.
Casey, who is a painter and printmaker, was earlier selected for the Collective Arts Network Triennial Exhibition in Cleveland, which focuses on northeastern Ohio artists.
The Butler is a collaborator in the Triennial exhibition and offers an exhibition of its own to one of the artists. Casey is this year’s selection. Her exhibition is in the Davis Gallery, where an artist’s reception will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. March 17.
Using images of buildings as stand-ins for human action and endeavor, Casey has made a series of paintings that explore and expose various mechanisms of catastrophe. In some images, piles of buildings are stacked so high, they begin to topple under their own weight. In others, they explode into the sky, or lie wrecked and shattered.
In some of her recent work, Casey has introduced images of nature, usually in the form of forest settings. In these pictures, her buildings engage in various ways with a world of tree stumps and rich foliage. The man-made structures are sometimes supported by nature, sometimes protected and sometimes overwhelmed.
Special Bunny Event for Autistic Children
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Autism Society of Mahoning Valley will present Special Bunny
from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday, March 17, in the Eastwood Mall concourse.
Every sensory trigger will be turned off to create a comforting environment.
Families must register at AutismMV.org for this private event, which was created to allow families with children with special needs to enjoy seasonal traditions. Now in its 10th year, the event will include arts and crafts, games, train rides, an egg hunt and therapy bunnies.
This year, the Cafaro Foundation and Cafaro family will sponsor family photos. Each family will receive a free 5-by-7 family photo.
Pianist to Perform at The Butler
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A piano recital by Victor Radko-Shlyakhtenko will take place at noon Wednesday, March 20, at The Butler Institute of American Art.
Originally from Los Angeles, Radko-Shlyakhtenko earned second place in the 2019 Waring International Piano Competition and first prize in the 2018 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition.
After making his orchestral debut at age 12, he collaborated with over a dozen orchestras.
He received the U.S. National Chopin Foundation Scholarship from 2016-2019 and was a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation from 2018-2020.
Since 2017, he has also been pursuing studies in orchestral conducting, making his debut in 2019 with the South Coast Symphony. Most recently, he led the Oberlin Arts & Sciences Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in December 2023.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
