Big Tasty and the Sass is a jazz trio from Hamilton, NY performing sophisticated jazz standards and more. Featuring Maren Meyer-Wendt on vocals, Bob Ford on piano, and Brian McDowell on bass. This performance will feature special guest Pete Ruben on saxophone and clarinet. Bob will perform using the arts center Steinway grand piano!
Maren Meyer-Wendt has performed with a number of local area musicians in a variety of musical categories. She started out in musical performance with Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate” during high school, progressed to folk/classic rock and was also a member of a blues/R&B band. Having been introduced to jazz by her parents, who were avid fans of the greats of the 40’s and 50’s, she gained admiration and appreciation of this genre at a very young age. She very much enjoys actively participating and interpreting jazz songs with this trio. Maren grew up in Hamilton, NY. She has degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica.
Bob Ford grew up in Rhode Island and began his musical journey in Nantucket where he was active in choirs, local theater productions, and music ensembles. He played with a bluegrass group and later in a number of American Songbook duos. He has continued to play jazz in Central NY with several area jazz groups and vocalists. He plays regularly for high school and college musicals and at local churches. He shares his enthusiasm for music by teaching piano at his studio in New Hartford. Bob thinks that playing with this current trio is the cat’s pajamas. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College and studied music at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.
Brian McDowell has been playing bass since his early teens, beginning with the urging of his Cazenovia school music teacher. His first love was jazz. He has played with several jazz combos and orchestras plus a southern rock band. He has played in numerous pit orchestras for a variety of musical theater productions, often with Bob Ford. He has been dedicated to the trio since he and Bob first performed with Maren at a Utica church service. Brian has degrees from SUNY Potsdam and Empire State College.
Pete Ruben plays saxophone and clarinet. He has performed with bands at various venues around the Mohawk Valley for over twenty years. He’s a graduate of the Naval School of Music in Washington, D.C. He spent two years in Orleans, France performing with the Navy Band. Pete has played with numerous groups in the Utica-Rome area, among them: the Rome Civic Band; the Utica Civic Band; and the Sal Alberico Big Band.
Proceeds from the events will benefit the Remsen Arts Center. This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts. Plus membership and community support.
Christmas in the Village Weekend
Friday December 9, 2022 to Sunday December 11, 2022
Free admission with donations accepted
Friday:
5:15pm Lighting of the Christmas Tree
5:25pm Hot Chocolate and Cookies
5:45-6:15pm Christmas Caroling with accompaniment by Dominic Fiacco on the Steinway piano. Bring your families with their singing voices and get into the Christmas Spirit!
Saturday:
7:00pm Remsen Community Band performing a Traditional Christmas program with two audience sing along’s and Sleigh Ride song. The band consists of players from the Central NY region. F. Peter Billard, Director.
Sunday:
7:00pm Remsen Community Choir preforming many well-known carols, highlights from the Messiah, and a carol sing along. Kym Johnson Fox, Director; Susan Bartholomew, accompanist.
Chesapeake Chamber Group Holiday Concert
Saturday, December 17, 2022
At the door prices: $10 General Admission, $8 Members, $5 Students.
Chesapeake Chamber Group Holiday concert features favorite carols, hymns and songs performed by the three musicians in the group.
Darlene Vandewater has been an oboist since grade school, and studied for a degree in Music Education at Towson University. Her oboe teachers included Paul Covey, Lloyd Shorter and Leslie Starr. Darlene was a member of the Graceful Occasions wind trio and has performed in the Susquehanna Symphony, the Newark Symphony and the Immaculata Symphony. She performed in a chamber group for a Baltimore Symphony board meeting, and in a woodwind quintet at the Meyerhoff with BSO members. She has coached at Vermont Music & Arts Center, performs in pit orchestras for musicals and operas and in small ensembles, solos at area churches and other freelance work. She teaches oboe privately.
Matt White is a graduate of the Ithaca College School of Music, and has studied with Stanley Hasty, Robert Marcellus, and Richard MacDowell. A programmer by day, Matt performs with several chamber groups including Kuro Winds, the CSMA clarinet ensemble, and the Trio that’s playing today. Other groups that Matt has played in are the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra.
David Resig is a native of Central NY. He studied bassoon with Tim Emerson, Greg Quick, and Lee Goodhew. He earned his Bachelors of Music at Ithaca College. In the classical world he plays with The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Colgate University Orchestra, Alliance Classical Players, The Grassroots Festival Orchestra, The Janus Quintet, The Lake Effect Winds, and i-venti di-menti (an octet). Past ensembles include: the Ithaca Community Orchestra, Ithaca Community Orchestra Woodwind Quintet, the Onondaga Civic Symphony, and the Cortland Community Orchestra. David is one of the founding members of BRIAN!, an experimental band incorporating amplified bassoon, guitar, bass, percussion, electronics, and vocals. BRIAN! developed as a collaboration in the spirit.
