New Year’s Day Concert for Peace in Brewster
Start your new year at a gathering featuring music, poetry readings, camaraderie, and a collection of canned or dry food items to assist those in need, as the Cultural Arts Coalition presents a New Year’s Day “Concert for Peace” on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. at Studio Around the Corner, 67 Main St., Brewster.
Three of the featured performers met and became fast friends in “the pit” as part of the Broadway orchestra for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” which was the winner of the 2014 Tony Award for best musical.
Musical Director Paul Staroba on piano, Robert Zubrycki on violin and Shelagh Abate on French horn will be joined by vocalist and violinist Erica Spryes. Musical selections will include “Trio for Violin, French Horn and Piano” by Johannes Brahms, and “Journey” by L. Subramaniam.
In addition, selections from J. S. Bach’s “Goldberg” variations will be played in memory of Stefani Gosselink, there will be works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and some Broadway favorites and a sing-along of “Auld Lang Syne” will be performed.
Works by the poet Demetrios Trifiatis, a retired professor from Duke University, will be read by Judy Marano, Phyllis Polonkay and Alyson Denny.
Staroba is currently associate conductor of “A Christmas Carol” on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include “My Fair Lady, “War Paint, “Next to Normal,” “A Little Night Music” and “Grey Gardens.” Off-Broadway credits include “The Mad Ones,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Far From Heaven” and “Carrie.”
Spryes is an actor, singer and violinist who made her Broadway debut in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” For nearly two years, she toured the U.S., Canada and Japan with the Once First National Tour. For her work on stage, Spryes has received an Elliot Norton Award for “Tribes” and IRNE Awards for “Camelot,” “Avenue Q” and “The Light in the Piazza.”
Abate is one of New York’s most sought-after musicians. Known for her simultaneously warm and assertive sound, her versatility and musical intuition has earned her a place in the lexicon of NYC’s busiest performers. She has opened more than one dozen Broadway productions, including “Mary Poppins,” “South Pacific,” “Honeymoon in Vegas,” “Evita,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Anastasia” and – most currently – “Disney’s Frozen.”
Zubrycki is director of the Concerts Around the Corner series in Southeast. He is currently concertmaster for the New York City Chamber Orchestra and a member of the American Symphony Orchestra and Stamford Symphony. He has recently performed as concertmaster for the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, Encores! at City Center and Opera Orchestra of New York, and is acting concertmaster for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.
A veteran of dozens of Broadway shows, Zubrycki was recently a member of the orchestras for “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Carousel” and “She Loves Me.”
There is a suggested donation of $10 for the New Year’s Day “Concert for Peace,” and reservations are encouraged. For reservations, visit www.CulturalArtsCo.com, email info@culturalartsco.com or call 845-363-8330.
