06/01/24 Music and Dance Excursions Concert

Saturday, June 1st  3:00pm

Seligmann Center, 23 White Oak Drive (Sugar Loaf), Chester, NY. 

This venue is ADA Accessible.

Hilary Brown-Istrefi is a Canadian-American director, choreographer, performer, and educator. She is a graduate of École de danse contemporaine de Montréal, and over the last decade has performed in the works of Melissa Riker, Judi Silvano, Bouchra Ouizguen, Jillian Peña, Doug Elkins, Linda Tegg, and Candice Breitz. In 2013, she co-founded the award-winning performance collective, Same As Sister (S.A.S.), with her twin sister Briana Brown-Tipley. Their interdisciplinary commissions have been presented internationally in the US, Canada, Italy, Greece, and France. Hilary initiated HB² PROJECTS in 2017, as a choreographic platform to expand her collaborations in performance.

Lamy Istrefi is a NYC-based drummer, percussionist, and composer originally from Mitrovice, Kosovo. Istrefi attended the University of Music and Dramatic Arts Graz (KUG) in Austria before moving to the US. He is currently a member of Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano’s Trio/Quartet, and has performed and toured internationally with renowned musical artists Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Dennis Irwin, Butch Morris, Juini Booth, Jay Clayton, Greg Tardy, James Hurt, Judi Silvano and Leo Genovese, among others.

Teri Roiger is a jazz vocalist, pianist, and lyricist. Her five albums have all met with critical acclaim, as have her performances at festivals and top New York jazz spots. Her recordings show her uncommon knowledge, appreciation, and deep love for the artistry of Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, and Thelonious Monk. Teri has an intuitive laid back sense of time reminiscent of Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter but with her own uniqueness. JACK DEJOHNETTE (legendary jazz drummer).

John Menegon is a Bassist & Composer who began his career in Montreal. After moving to New York City, he spent 10 years playing for legendary tenor players Dewey Redman and David Fathead Newman. Since then, his recordings as a bandleader have all met with critical acclaim, and his latest project showcases his brilliant compositions. New York bassist JOHN MENEGON is in the line of George Mraz and Michael Moore; a harmonically sophisticated bassist with technical facility who swings hard when it’s called for. Downbeat

This concert, entitled “Music and Dance Excursions” is a premiere performance of a unique program created expressly by these Collaborative Artists, engaged for this afternoons’ concert.    Their collective skills and experiences in creative and improvisational Dance and Music idioms shine a light on their communication skills with each other as well as with the audience.  

We are thrilled to present this outstanding ensemble in the studio where Karl Seligmann, the Swiss American painter, lived and painted for many years here in Orange County.  The open space and beautiful light that streams into his studio is a “blank canvas” for these artists to create a special moment in time for you, as audience, to enjoy!

You will see Contemporary Dance movement in varied styles and hear the Music Stylings ranging from songs by Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday and other 20th Century composers in addition to spontaneous Compositions that arise from the Structured Scores giving this concert it’s framework.  

This concert is produced by Wallkill River Center for the Arts’ Board Member and Music Curator Judi Silvano.  Her background in both Dance and Music has led her to seek out opportunities to create collaborative events of  artists of many media while interfacing with venues & audiences in the Mid-Hudson Valley.  

Today’s concert is Free, with Donations gratefully accepted to support the continued work of the WRCA in many communities within Orange County.  www.Wallkill.art

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This concert is generously sponsored by