All Events

Saturday, March 15 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25 (seniors & students, $20)

About the Nocturno Project

Inspired by the beauty and emotion of Western European Art music, the Nocturno Project reimagines 19th and early 20th-century classical music by steeping it in the rhythmic traditions of the Americas. Offering sparkling exchanges among diverse genres and forms, their musical conversation takes the intricate harmonies of romantic classical music and imbues them with the sensibilities of jazz, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music whose rhythms are rooted in a myriad of ancient West African musical traditions.

Nicki Denner
piano

Composer, pianist and arranger Nicki Denner has released three critically acclaimed CDs under her own name. She is the Musical Director of the Jersey Tap Ensemble and is the Musical Director and co-founder of the band Cocomama. In addition to being a band leader, she has also performed with Sheila E., Michele Lee, Doc Severinsen and Savion Glover. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the United Nations, Studio 54, the Apollo Theatre, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York City Marathon, the Guatemala City International Jazz Festival and as a musical ambassador for the State Department in Central America. As a composer, she has written music for award-winning animation. As an educator, she has served on the faculty of the Stanford University Summer Jazz Workshop, Campamento Internacional de Jazz in Guatemala, the JazzCabaret Festival in Ketchikan Alaska, Jazzhouse Kids, the New York City Tap Festival and the New Jersey Tap Festival. She is also a contributor to Keyboard Magazine.

Anton Denner
saxophones and flutes

Anton Denner has performed with entertainment luminaries like Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Rita Moreno, Carol Channing, and an A-list of jazz artists including Clifford Jordan, Mel Lewis, Al Foster, Terrel Stafford, Bill Stewart, and Rufus Reid.  He has been a featured soloist at the Napa Valley, Istanbul, and LaVillette (Paris) jazz festivals as well as  NYC venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland and The Blue Note. Anton also can be heard annually in Ann Phillips’ “Bending Toward the Light, a Jazz Nativity”. His recent recorded work includes Matt King’s "Monk In Brazil", and Diane Moser's critically acclaimed "Birdsongs". As an educator, he has taught at Seton Hall University, The Stanford Jazz Workshop, Temple University and Jazz House Kids, an organization devoted to teaching and mentoring young people through music.

Mayra Casales
percussion

Mayra Casales is considered to be one of the most versatile percussionists of her generation. Born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, Mayra studied with Carlos "Patato" Valdez. Before long she was performing with some of the biggest names in Latin music such as Celia Cruz, Machito, Joe Cuba, Miguelito Valdez and Tito Puente. Mayra moved to New York City where she worked with such legendary artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, Ray Barretto, Angela Bofil, Walter Bishop Jr., Jon Lucien, Phyllis Hyman, Carmen Lundy, Tania Maria, David Amram, Regina Carter and Grady Tate. She has also toured with Sophie B. Hawkins, Phyllis Hyman, Regina Carter, Carmen Lundy, Women of the Calabash, Mauricio Smith, Tania Maria and The Ojays. "Woman on Fire/Mujer Ardiente", Mayra’s first album as a leader, made it to #19 on the World Charts  on the Afrasia Label.

Jennifer Vincent
bass and cello

Jennifer Vincent has been an active force on the jazz and Latin scenes in NYC for the past two decades. She plays, tours, and records with the likes of Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, KD Lang, Fantasia, Vanessa Williams, and Patti LaBelle. From 2003 to 2011, she held the bass chair for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, touring the world over while carrying on the tradition of the longest-running and most legendary band in American history. Jennifer is the bassist of Wynton Marsalis' Jazz At Lincoln center All-Stars which was featured in the hit musical revue "After Midnight" on Broadway and is currently on Broadway playing in Girl from the North Country.

Honoring the Wonder and Beauty of the Spoken Word through a Diverse Group of Poets in Recognition of National Poetry Month.

Leah Kogen-Elimeliah originally from Moscow, is a poet & writer based in New York. An Adjunct Assistant Professor at The City College of New York & John Jay College, Leah is also the founder & director of WordShedNYC Reading Series & an Editorial Associate for Fiction literary magazine. She has collaborated on various poetry/visual/dance projects with independent artists, experimenting with cross genres, multimedia and poetry, and has performed her work on The Red Stage organized by Creative Time, The NYC Poetry Festival, The Higher Ground Arts Festival, and was selected as a Public Humanities/Arts Graduate Fellow for the Zip Code Memory Project supported by Columbia, CCNY, NYU, Yale and the Social Science & Humanities Research Council. Currently, Leah is crafting her debut poetry collection, working on an art project "Notes from Daughters" & a film, "Good Girl." Her writing focuses on identity, language, immigration, intergenerational trauma, sexuality and culture. Leah lives in Nyack, NY with her husband and their children.

Bryan Roessel is a poet/event organizer/science teacher in New York's Lower Hudson Valley. Bryan is one of the founders and organizers of Rockland Poets, which has held poetry open mics, slams, and workshops in and around Rockland County NY since March 2011. Bryan's been featured at a variety of poetry events, including at the Utah Arts Festival. Bryan also has exactly one poem on Button Poetry. Their poetry is mostly about science, mental health, relationships, existentialism, and gender.

Ari Mack is an actor, dance/fight choreographer, and writer. He served as the choreographer for the Ramapo High School Players in Spring Valley, NY, from 2014 to 2021, having been affiliated with the group for 16 years. He was also the choreographer for the Cultural Arts Theatre at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY, and for the Rockland Shakespeare Company (2016–2024). In addition to his choreography work, Ari is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. He devotes himself to various forms of writing, including poetry, playwriting, and podcasting. YouTube: @AriumX, @TheAriHour. IG and TikTok: @ari_mack027

Judith Rose remains curious. She writes, she teaches, she creates, she choreographs,  she dances, she listens, she learns. She is  the director of  Vital Movement™, the wellness practice she founded, which is based in Nyack, NY. She collaborates regularly with artists in various media to create new works addressing crucial themes in contemporary life. Her belief in the healing power of the arts and the beauty of shared study salons,  continue to inspire her work, as does her ever-deepening reverence for the mystery of life.  www.judithroseVM.com

Litany Burns is a world-renowned medium, clairvoyant, lecturer, screenwriter, poet and author of Develop Your Psychic Abilities, The Sixth Sense of Children, and her new novel Goddess.Com all available on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play and featured in The 100 Top Psychics & Astrologers In America. Her poetry has been in the International Women’s Year Poetry Anthology and read at: New York University, Amnesty International Fundraiser, Hopper House Prison Art Program, Lehman College, The Nuyorican Poets Café. Having worked on the infamous ‘Son of Sam’ case she has also been featured on national and international TV, in Goop.com, New Yorker Radio Hour, popular magazines/social media and lectured nationally and internationally. Having sold a TV story to NBC and a feature film HK/LA she has several books, film/ TV projects in development. www.litanyburns.com 

Artists’ Talk & Walk Through
Taking Form: Contemporary Sculpture
Thursday, May 16 at 7:00pm

A survey of Hudson Valley artists exploring new ideas through traditional materials. Taking Form exemplifies the array of processes, styles, and media used in creating three-dimensional art forms.

Exhibit on view through May 24, 2024