Seven-Time Blues Music Award-Winner Rory Block will kick off our new concert season! Reviews of her most recent album Ain’t Nobody Worried call it “an acoustic masterpiece,” and rave that Rory Block “is an important ‘Power Woman of the Blues.’ She is a strong contender for the most influential acoustic artist of our time.”

https://www.roryblock.com

Sponsored by: New York State Council on the Arts, & SUNY Oneonta

Carsie Blanton is a songwriter with hooks, chutzpah, and revolutionary optimism. With her unique mix of humor, soul, and political wit, and fifteen-plus years on the road, Blanton has amassed a dedicated fan base and a small menagerie of viral hits.

Inspired by artist-activists including Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, her catalog careens through American popular song from folk and swing to pop-punk protest anthems.

http://www.carsieblanton.com

Sponsored by: New York State Council on the Arts, & area businesses, foundations, and individual donors. Thank you!

The Castalia String Quartet of the Catskills was formed in 2019 by Uli Speth (violin I), Debrah Devine (violin II), Amy Tompkins (viola), and Ruth Berry (cello). The String quartet performs in our region of New York State, including a recent recital in Binghamton’s Phelps Mansion Museum Series. They perform a wide variety of chamber compositions, from Mozart and Dvorák, to Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Amy Beach, and others.

Sponsored by: New York State Council on the Arts

Our featured local artist this season will be trombonist Paul Blake, accompanied by Fideliz Sta. Brigida on the piano. Paul serves as an Artist-in-Residence at Hartwick College, where he teaches trombone, directs the trombone choir, and has taught methods courses in brass and percussion. Outside of Hartwick, he teaches instrumental music at Richfield Springs CSD, where he regularly mentors student teachers from Hartwick, and has also served as trombone instructor at the Hartwick Summer Music Festival and Institute.

Sponsored by: New York State Council on the Arts, & New York Central Mutual

The spectacular finale of OCA’s 96th season will be Latin GRAMMY winner Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet, a virtuoso quartet that brings the beauty and passion of the tango repertoire into the world of chamber music. With immense respect for its roots and rich musical past, the ensemble effectively serves as an active ambassador of tango and a proponent of its evolution. The quartet’s fervent and virtuosic musical style takes elements from Argentine tango, European classical music, and American jazz, and combines them gracefully and organically, bringing something new and exciting to the form while retaining all the lushness and beauty that characterizes the genre.

https://www.pedrogiraudo.com

Sponsored by: New York State Council on the Arts, & Rotary International