Artscene With Erika Funke

Dr. Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, speaking about the 2023 Gala Anniversary Concert on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at Packer Memorial Church at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. PA, at 3:00, to mark the group's 125th anniversary. Performing will be the Bach Choir & Bach Festival Orchestra & national soloists, all under Dr. Jackson's direction. Featured will be the world premiere of a new scholarly edition of the Bach St. Matthew Passion in the version by Felix Mendelssohn. The concert will be recorded for general release. There will be a reception and dinner to follow as a benefit for the Choir. www.bach.org/

Conor Kelly O'Brien, Executive Director; Elizabeth Bohan, Managing Director--Co-Founders of the Scranton Fringe Festival, speaking about the 2023 Scranton Fringe taking place from September 28 through October 7 in and around Scranton. For more information: www.scrantonfringe.org/

Cheryl Boga, Director of Performance Music at the University of Scranton, speaking about a reunion jazz concert featuring trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and pianist Eric Reed on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at 7:30 pm in the Houlihan McClean Center. Admission is free. www.scranton.edu/music

Neil Prisco, Director of Marketing at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Wilkes-Barre, speaking about the Fall 2023 Season and the wide-ranging events. For more information: www.kirbycenter.org/

Maureen McGuigan, Poet, Playwright, & Deputy Director of Arts & Culture for Lackawanna County, speaking about her new one-person theatre piece, "Remember You Must Die: A Comedy" to be presented at the 2023 Scranton Fringe Festival with shows October 5, 6 & 7 at 8:30 each night & also a matinee at 4:00 on the 7th, all in the Junior Ballroom of the Scranton Cultural Center. For more information: www.scrantonfringe.org/

Jon White-Spunner, Managing Director, & Aaron White, Member of the Resident Acting Company, speaking about the mortgage burning for the Alvina Krause Theatre in Bloomsburg and the opening of the 2023-24 Season of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble with a production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" in the Bloomsburg Town Park September 7 & 8 at 6 pm and September 9 at 4 pm. Admission is free. BTE will tour with the production to the Community Theatre League in Williamsport and to the River Stage Community Theatre in Lewisburg in the weeks to follow. For more information: www.bte.org/

Dana Feigenblatt, Director, and Larry Vojtko, Musical Director, speaking about the production of "Cinderella" by Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse, 196 Hughes Street in Swoyersville, PA. The show runs from September 8 to September 24, 2023. Curtain time Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sundays at 3:00 pm. For the dinner option, the meals begin at 6:30 Fridays & Saturdays; at 1:30 on Sundays, www.musicbox.org/

Kathryn Maguet, Executive Director of the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, speaking with WVIA's Fiona Powell about the Fall 2023 Season that begins on September 7th on the Weis Center Plaza.  For more information:   www.bucknell.edu/WeisCenter

Reverend Bill Carter, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit, PA, and jazz pianist and band leader, speaking about a tradition that is over 30 years old--the annual Labor Day weekend jazz service at the church at 300 School Street. This year the Presbybop Jazz Ensemble will perform music by the esteemed jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan. The service begins at 10:00 am and the public is invited. The event is also available online for viewing in real time or at a later date. For more information: www.fpccs.org/

Beth Burkhauser, Executive Director & Founder of the Interdependence Hexagon Project; Elizabeth Hughes, Director of Communications at The Earth Conservancy in Luzerne County; and Nancy Petalver, Art Educator in the Scranton School System, speaking about the Hexagon Project and its annual art exhibition to celebrate Interdependence Month. The show will open on September 1, 2023, and run through the month at ArtWorks, 236 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton. Throughout September, a series of free hands-on environmentally-themed workshops will be offered. Registration is required. For more information: www.HexagonProject.org/

Kat Bolus, Community Reporter with the WVIA News Department, sharing a story from Honesdale in Wayne County, PA, about a public art project involving a street piano for the public to enjoy. www.wvia.org/news/local www.waynecountyartsalliance.org/

George Aulisio, Dean of the Weinberg Memorial Library and Director of the Schemel Forum at the University of Scranton, speaking about the Fall 2023 season offerings of the Schemel Forum, featuring 3 six-week courses, the World Affairs Luncheon Seminars, two collaborative programs and a bus trip on September 30 to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum. For more information: www.scranton.edu/schemelforum

Nancy Sanderson, Executive Director of the Northeastern PA Philharmonic, speaking about the 2023-2024 season that will get underway on September 29 with the first of the PNC Pops series and will conclude with a Masterworks concert on June 1. Melisse Brunet is the music director and conductor. For more information: www.nepaphil.org/

Rudy Caporaso & Rosey Hay, Co-Artistic Directors of REV Theatre Company, speaking about their return to Scranton to work with a multigenerational cast at United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA on a production of REV's "Lil' Ol' Rodeo Show" to be presented on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at UNC's Oppenheim Center, 1004 Jackson Street on Scranton's West Side. Doors open at 5:30 & the show starts at 6:00 pm. Admission is free. For more information: www.uncnepa.org/

Carl Achhammer and James Gavern of the NEPA Bonsai Society, speaking about the group's 2023 Open House on Saturday, August 26, from 10 am to 4 pm at Keller's Garden Center, 7 Kern Street in Exeter, PA. There will be demonstrations, a display of 78 trees, a contest to judge the finest specimens, music, pottery displays and more. For information: www.nepabonsai.com/

Richard Rinehart, Director of the Samek Art Museum at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, speaking with WVIA's Fiona Powell about the exhibition, "Facing the Giant--3 Decades of Dissent: Shepard Fairey," opening on August 22 at the Samek Museum and running through December 3, 2023. There will be a reception on August 24 at 7:00 pm in the campus gallery on the top floor of the ELC. https://museum.bucknell.edu/

Dr. Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director & Conductor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, speaking about the 125th Anniversary Season--2023-2024. The ensemble will present the world premiere of Mendelssohn's completed version of Bach's Saint Matthew Passion, with a live recording of the concert on November 4. For complete details on the season: www.bach.org/

Ronald Demkee, long-time conductor of the Allentown Band, speaking about a benefit titled, "For Ukraine: A Concert of Hope and Remembrance," on Sunday, August 20, 2023, at 3:00 pm, at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown. Special guests include: Patricia Risley, mezzo-soprano; The Bel Canto Youth Chorus; organist Rudy Lucente, and Johan de Meij, composer & conductor. There will be music of Ukraine, Sibelius, Mahler, Beethoven & others. www.allentownband.com/

Dennis Corrigan, artist and educator, speaking about his work in anticipation of his solo show at the Circle Center for the Arts of the Wyoming Valley Art League, 130 Rear South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. The exhibition opens with a reception on August 18, 2023, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, and continues through September 29th www.wyomingvalleyartleague.org/

Dr. Caroline Payne, Political Science Professor, & Lynn Estomin, Professor Emerita of Art & Digital Design at Lycoming College in Williamsport, speaking about the Lycoming College Interdisciplinary Dominican Republic Project and the Warrior Coffee project, in connection with the exhibition, "Dominican Republic: 1975/2023--Photographs by Lynn (Zimmerman) Estomin & Bob Zimmerman," at the Lycoming College Art Gallery, 25 W. Fourth Street in Williamsport, PA. The show will run from August 18 through September 16, 2023. There will be a reception and coffee tasting on September 15 from 5:00 to 9:00 pm, with a gallery talk at 5:30. Admission is free. www.lycoming.edu/coffee