Huntington Summer Arts Festival Week #5 – July 23 – July 28

2019 Marks the 54th anniversary of the Huntington Summer Arts Festival with a new season of music, dance and entertainment. From June 25 – August 11, 6 days a week, Tuesday through Sunday touring artists and ensembles will be featured on the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park for the annual summer FREE performance festival. The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. Additional support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the County of Suffolk and Canon U.S.A., Inc.

All regularly scheduled performances take place at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park and start at 8PM. The exception is Tuesday Family Night which begins at 7PM. We also have a FREE fun craft available on Tuesdays for children at the HAC Craft table starting at 6PM.  All performances are rain or shine. The weekly performance schedule is detailed below, images can be found in this link 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ig2o1ud5vk3orsp/AADbyHr3boIwIaUJh3ZfDD9xa?dl=0

Tuesday, July 23 – Family Show – “The Little Mermaid” – BroadHollow Theatre Company – Journey “under the sea” with Ariel and her aquatic friends in a magical underwater kingdom, the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home – and her fins – behind and live in the world above. But first she’ll have to defy her father King Triton, make a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula, and convince the handsome Prince Eric that she’s the girl whose enchanting voice he’s been seeking.

Wednesday, July 24 – Huntington Community Band – Pre-concert @ 7:00 (TBA) – 8:00PM HCB Downbeat “WOODSTOCK +50” will feature a celebration of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary with musical tributes galore! Tonight’s special guest conductor: TBA. *A special PRE-CONCERT (TBA) of musical entertainment begins at 7:00PM! HCB concert downbeat is at 8:00PM, weather permitting.

Thursday, July 25 – L.I. Spotlight Concert – Gathering Time & Christine Sweeney & The Dirty Stayouts – Sweeney opens at 8:00pm followed by Gathering Time at 9:15pm. 

We kick off a Folk/Roots/Americana Weekend with two superb examples of L.I.’s tremendous home-grown talent. Rained out last summer, Gathering Time (Stuart Markus, Hillary Foxsong and Gerry McKeveny), perform with a vocal blend oft-described as seamless, inspired guitar playing and precise percussion. Their music has deep roots in ’60s folk-rock, with a healthy dash of traditional folk in the mix. Their stage chemistry and infectious energy wins over even fans who never considered themselves folkies. Christine Sweeney is a young bluesy pop musician and singer-songwriter who has been active on the Long Island music scene for a decade. With a voice as powerful as it is sweet, she deftly handles poppy and playful without sacrificing genuine emotion. 

Northport Community Band “American Variations”

For 61 years, The Northport Community Band has been delighting Northport residents and music lovers from all over Long Island. The band performs under the direction of Don Sherman. This year’s theme – “Tunes at Twilight” – will feature a blend of marches, overtures, classics and popular favorites drawn from the band’s 61-year history, plus new surprises.

All concerts begin at 8:30 at the Robert W. Krueger Bandstand in Northport Village Park at the foot of Main Street, Northport. Rain Site: Northport High School, Laurel Hill Road in the Robert W. Krueger Center for the Performing Arts.

Friday, July 26 – Crys Matthews Trio– Pre-concert interview 7:15pm. Crys Matthews is nothing if not ambitious. In August 2017, she simultaneously released both a new full-length album, The Imagineers and an EP, Battle Hymn For An Army Of Lovers. These collections showcase two sides of Matthews’ dynamic songwriting; The Imagineers is a selection of thoughtful songs about love and life while Battle Hymn For An Army Of Lovers tackles social justice themes. Songs from both projects have already won her recognition and awards. She was one of ten finalists (from a pool of 5,000) in this year’s NewSong Music Competition and, after performing at Lincoln Center on November 30th, she was named grand-prize winner. Matthews also won the People Music Network’s Social Justice Songs contest at the 2017 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance. A southeastern North Carolina native who now calls Herndon, Virginia home, Matthews blends Americana, folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass and funk into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies and punctuated by honest, original lyrics. Equally at home in an acoustic listening room as she is on stage at large music festivals, Matthews has quickly gathered a loyal following. Thoughtful, realistic and emotional, Matthews’ songs speak to the voice of our generation and remind us why music indeed soothes the soul.

Saturday, July 27 – 14th Huntington Folk Festival (in collaboration with Folk Music Society of Huntington) – Loudon Wainwright III – Few songwriters have laid out their lives in song as graphically as Loudon Wainwright III. By chronicling his years from post-adolescence to senior citizenry in real time, he’s not only pushed the boundaries of confessional songwriting but allowed those with somewhat more stable lives to live vicariously through his trysts, marriages, divorces, inebriated episodes, quest for success, and bad-dad issues. 2010 GRAMMY Winner (Best Traditional Folk Album) for High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (with two previous GRAMMY nominations: I’m Alright, 1985 and More Love Songs, 1986). “Mr. Wainwright has proved to be far and away the most candid diarist among the singer-songwriters who… brought confessional poetry into popular song… [he] wrings more human truth out of his contradiction than any other songwriter of his generation.” – New York Times, Stephen Holden. 

Daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche, will open. Born with music in her genes, Lucy has been perfecting her craft for as long as she can remember. With a niche for wry lyrics and gift of mysteriously beautiful vocals, Lucy leaves fans with no doubts that her music is her own, regardless of her family’s legacy.

Noon to 6:00 PM daytime unplugged song swaps and showcases hosted bywww.AcousticMusicScene.com and Radio Nowhere. Full schedule is listed here and posted on www.huntingtonarts.org & www.fmsh.org.

11:00 Open Mic – Song Circle

12:00 LI Guys of Note: Roger Street Friedman, Scott Krokoff, Toby Tobias

12:30 Emerging Talents: Genevieve, Marion Halliday, Kate Mills, Anne O’Rourke

1:30 A Musical Mix: Christian Diana, Annie Mark, Lois Morton

2:00 NJ Songsters: Sharon Goldman, Loretta Hagen, Jonathan Tea

2:30 Terry Kitchen, Mara Levine, Eugene Ruffolo

3:00 Kerrville New Folk Winners 2019: Lisa Bastoni, D.B. Rielly

3:30 Tribes Hill – Hudson Valley Songsters: Susan Kane, Judy Kass, Lipkin & Hitt

4:00 A Trio of Duos: Belle of the Fall, The Levins, Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale

4:30 Women of Note: Melanie Brulée, Grace Morrison, Claudia Nygaard, Siobhan O’Brien

5:30 FMSH Members Song Swap: Joe Iadanza, Nico Padden, Hank Stone

6:00 Dinner Break

8:00 Lucy Wainwright Roche

8:30 Loudon Wainwright III

Show is sponsored by the Folk Music Society of Huntington.

Sunday, July 28 – Americana Pop & Country – Crystal Bowersox, a northwest Ohio native currently calling Nashville home, is a rising star who has built her life around music. Crystal draws on her various influences – across folk-pop, classic rock, soul, blues and country – to make the kind of music that resonates. It is both tender and tough, rough yet polished, and it encompasses many genres without falling neatly into one category. As one of her songwriting partners describes it, Crystal has “a voice like dirt and diamonds.” Her music is intended to bring a positive message of love and light to the world – things that folks will be able to take with them on their own journey, so that they, too, can feel truly alive. Since her introduction to the world through television, Crystal has toured widely and released two LP’s, two EPs, and several singles. Additionally, she has used her talents to benefit several causes close to her heart, and has become an advocate and inspiration for people living with Type 1 Diabetes.