Jon Irabagon Jazz Quartet

April 29, 2022 • 7:30 PM

Foothills Performing Arts Center – Main Stage
24 Market St.
Oneonta, NY, 13820

2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition winner and 2012 New York City Jazz Record’s Musician of the Year, Jon Irabagon combines honoring jazz music’s history with a bold, unique vision for its future direction. Nate Chinen of The New York Times calls him “a musician of intense concentration who wants nothing more than to indulge a spirit of play, emphatic and unreserved,” and Paul Acquaro of the Free Jazz Blog raves, “Saxophonist Jon Irabagon’s playing is a treat. His sax work is restrained and searching at times and scorching and scathing at others throughout this focused program. 5 stars.”

Visit Jon’s website: www.jonirabagon.com

Sponsored by New York Central Mutual Insurance

Pegasus: The Orchestra

September 16, 2022 • 7:30 PM

Foothills Performing Arts Center – Main Stage
24 Market St.
Oneonta, NY 13820

Pegasus: the Orchestra is a nonprofit professional orchestra with a mission to empower rising musicians with artistic freedom and promote innovative repertoire in an environment of creative thought and expression. Founded by Karén Hakobyan in late 2017, the orchestra brings together musicians and audiences of diverse backgrounds and cultural heritages by harnessing the power of music. Their program for us will be “Eight Seasons”: a delightful contrast of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

More information is available at www.karenhakobyan.com/pegasus.html

Sponsored by Rotary International

Sten & Maria Z Ensemble

October 7, 2022 • 7:30 PM

SUNY Oneonta
Hunt Union, Waterfront Room
Oneonta, NY 13820

Guitarist/mandolinist Sten Isachsen and guitarist/composer Maria Zemantauski have delighted audiences around the globe as soloists and in various ensembles for decades. Together, this dynamic string duo celebrate their eclectic musical tastes — fiery flamenco, classical, Latin, roots and bluegrass — to create a vibrant, rich and refreshing sound. Their rhythmically driven repertoire takes the listener on a journey of traditional classics, innovative arrangements, and stunning original compositions. Spanish and flamenco dancer La Nina and percussionist Brian Melick round out the ensemble for an exciting evening of music and dance.

Visit Maria’s website at www.mariazguitar.com

Sponsored by SUNY Oneonta and New York Skin & Vein Center

Arjun Verma, Sitar

November 4, 2022 • 7:30 PM

First United Methodist Church
66 Chestnut Street
Oneonta, NY 13820

Arjun has spent his entire life steeped in the tradition of North Indian Classical Music. The son of internationally performing but Oneonta-based sitarist Roop Verma, who was a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar, Arjun began learning sitar from his father at age five. Having studied the Maihar Gharana style of Hindustani classical music, and influenced by innovative sitar techniques inspired by the Maestro as well as by sitarist Nikhil Banerjee, Arjun performs in a style encompassing the deeply contemplative as well as the exhilarating elements of Indian music.

Arjun will be accompanied by Naren Budhakar on tabla.

Visit Arjun’s website at www.arjun-verma.com

Sponsored by Community Bank and Endwell Rug & Floor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plus FREE!  SPECIAL PRESENTATION:  On Wednesday, November 2,  7:00 to 8:30 pm, Arjun Verma and Naren Budhakar will give a free public lecture/demonstration on “North Indian Classical Music: The Spontaneity of Creation” at SUNY Oneonta Music Department, Fine Arts Bldg., Room 212 (chorus room).  This experiential workshop, in preparation for the concert, will offer an inside look at one of the great classical music traditions of the world, delving into the building blocks of the music as well as its traditional teaching methods — an opportunity to understand and experience this powerful approach to music.  Sponsored by The Catskill Conservatory, the SUNY Oneonta Music Department, and the Oneonta Concert Association.  For more information contact Carleton Clay, carleton.clay@oneonta.edu, or call the SUNY Music Department at (607) 436-3415.

       

Naren Budhakar

 

Julie Licata and Friends, Percussion

March 31, 2023 • 7:30 PM

Anderson Theater
Anderson Center for the Arts, Hartwick College
Oneonta, NY 13820

From marimba to drumset, this concert of solo and chamber ensemble music will feature driving rhythms, lyrical melodies and organ-like chorales, quiet contemplative minimalism, extended playing techniques, fixed instruments, and audience-directed improvisations… What more could you ask for!?

Visit Julie’s website at www.julielicata.com

Sponsored by Future for Oneonta Foundation and other local foundations and donors.

Catalyst Quartet

April 28, 2023 • 7:30 PM

First United Methodist Church
66 Chestnut Street
Oneonta, NY 13820

Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The ensemble (Karla Donehew Perez, violin; Abi Fayette, violin; Paul Laraia, viola; and Karlos Rodriguez, cello) believes in the unity that can be achieved through music and imagine their programs and projects with this in mind, redefining and reimagining the classical music experience, and bringing the OCA’s 94th season to a forward-looking close.

Visit their website at www.catalystquartet.com

Sponsored by New York Central Mutual Insurance


P.O. Box 244
Oneonta, NY 13820
(607) 376-7283

 

 

NoteOur apologies to our patrons:  Our voice-message phone number seems not to be working currently.  We are working to resolve the problem and appreciate your patience!  Meanwhile, please use our email address to contact us, oneonta_concert_association@yahoo.com.

 

 

COMMITTED TO LIVE PERFORMANCE! 

The Oneonta Concert Association is delighted to be back to live performances for live audiences in our 94th season, including Pegasus: The Orchestra, whose initially postponed concert we were fortunately able to reschedule as our 94th season’s hit opener, followed by outstanding performances by Sten & Maria Z Ensemble with versatile percussionist Brian Melick and Spanish & flamenco dancer La Nina; and by Arjun Verma on traditional improvisatory sitar with Naren Budhakar on tabla. Several programs of educational outreach were an additional treat for various audiences and age groups; and individual Young Artists continue to grace the start of each concert with a 10-minute opening performance..

Still to come, as shown above, are Julie Licata & Friends on a variety of percussion; and a forward-looking finish to Season 94 with the innovative Catalyst Quartet. And see below for a quick glance at our varied 95th season, which starts in September. As usual, we offer our final concert of the current season as a free bonus for new subscribers to our next upcoming season. Watch for our 2023-2024 brochure coming soon, with the subscription form, which will also be available on this website and at these two final concerts of Season 94.

Preview of OCA’s 95th season, 2023-2024.  All concerts are on Friday at 7:30 pm:

      9/29/23 – Terry Barber, Countertenor: “Around the World in 80 Minutes”

    10/27/23 – Adam Kent, Piano: Hyde Hall recent discoveries

    11/17/23 – The Vanaver Caravan: “EarthBeat!” World Music, Dance, Rhythm, Spirit

        3/1/24 – PROJECT Trio: High-energy chamber combo, flute, sax, double bass

      4/19/24 – Zodiac Trio: Eclectic selections on clarinet, violin, & piano


The Oneonta Concert Association (OCA), founded in 1928, is the area’s oldest cultural organization. Our mission is to present diverse, audience-engaging, world-class cultural offerings of live music and dance at an affordable price to the Western Catskills region. Over the decades we’ve presented some amazing performers, including: Grammy winners Ron Carter and Mark O’Connor; the Vienna Boys Choir; Count Basie Orchestra; Scotland’s Battlefield Band; the Trapp Family Singers; Cantus; Manhattan Brass; Boston Chamber Music Society; Alvin Ailey dance; the Senegal ballet, and other artists celebrated the world over.

OCA programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of New York State’s Governor and Legislature. OCA is also supported by the Dewar Foundation, Eggleston Foundation, and other foundations. For more information about events in Otsego County, call (800) 843-3394.  Visit NYSCA at www.nysca.org