CITY February 2022 by CITY Magazine

NEWS. ARTS. LIFE. | FEBRUARY 2022 | FREE | SINCE 1971 HOLIDAY SPIRIT

MUSIC

WINTER OASES

WHEN VALENTINE’S DAY MEANT TELLING THE ONE YOU HATE TO GO TO HELL

R. NATHANIEL DETT: REDISCOVERING EASTMAN’S FIRST BLACK GRADUATE

ROCHESTER’S INDOOR TROPICAL PARADISES TO WARM THE SOUL

AT THE CORNER OF SORROW AND DESPAIR

A small group of dedicated faithful pray for the city’s homicide victims, one senseless death at a time.

INBOX WANNA SAY SOMETHING? CITY wants to hear you rant and rave. Your feedback must . . . . . . be no more than 250 words . . . respond to CITY content . . . be engaging CITY reserves the right to edit for accuracy, length, and readability.

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CITY, 280 State St., Rochester, NY 14614 (ATTN: Feedback)

TONY’S TRIBUTE WAS A BLESSING Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful article on Anthony “Tony” Lovett (“Editor’s Notebook: A Tribute to Tony,” January 2022). Whenever I come back to Rochester to visit, I always looked him up, and most days he would be at the Lake Avenue Mini Market. Tony was colorful, humorous, and just plain “loud” sometimes, but that was Tony. I remember we used to play Little League baseball and Pop Warner football and went to MCC sports camps in the summer when we were kids. Tony loved sports. He was a good baseball catcher when we were young. He could really catch a fastball. I’m going to miss him. You see, he wasn’t just “Tony” to me, he was my brother. My brothers — once four but now two — are all disabled veterans. They served in the Navy, while I served in the Marine Corps. When I heard that he had died, I drove from Georgia to Rochester the very next day. Myself, family, and friends stayed at that little corner store three nights straight. We loved 2 CITY

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Tony. It was a blessing to read how he touched the lives of many people in the city. I want to give a warm and much appreciated shout out to Mark, the owner of the store. Tony was like family to him and Mark has a great heart. He opened up his store and accommodated our family members during our three-day vigil. I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you. In a time when there are so many senseless killings in the city, thank you for bringing some humanity to such a tragedy. I will miss my brother and his colorful spirit. Duane Burton, Hinesville, Georgia RE: ROCHESTER REGGAE It was great to see the article “Is Rochester’s lily-white reggae scene a pale imitation, or the real deal?” in January’s edition. It was a good subject matter that has been circumvented by other publications. Kudos to CITY for taking it on. But there was a part of the article that left members of my band, Noble Vibes, and our fan base, confused. I’m speaking of the phrase “racially bigoted” being used as one reason for the break-up of Positive Crisis, a band that included myself and another Nobles Vibes member. By the time the two of us left that band in 2007, there were constant levels of attrition with personnel, but not because of anything related to perceived issues of race. There was some disagreement as to musical direction, which is common in bands. We have a deep commitment to reggae and respect the cultural traditions associated with it. Furthermore, almost four years passed between the breakup of Positive Crisis and the forming of Noble Vibes. Western New York definitely has a Black and white reggae scene, but our band always drew a mixed crowd, including people of every race and background, because of our adherence to the music of Jamaica. Divisions occur mostly from the kind of music that bands play and their stylistic differences. Some accusations

have surfaced about cultural appropriateness and favoritism in past years. Noble Vibes has never been about culture appropriation. When the band was formed there wasn’t a hyper-focused issue concerning the race of our members. With Noble Vibes there is something for everyone. Jason Muskopf of Noble Vibes, Rochester AND THANK YOU FOR READING I’m writing to offer my feedback and sincerest thanks for your wonderful publication. I moved to Rochester last year, and knowing few people or places in the area, struggled to find things to do around town. After learning that I was interested in music, a colleague recommended I pick up CITY; since then, finding your magazine has become my monthly ritual, something I do without fail. CITY has opened many doors for me and my fiancée, and is a conduit to the marvelous town we now call home. We enjoy marking up the paper copy, highlighting concerts or shows we hope to attend, as well as working our way through the crossword! In the last few months, we have enjoyed several inimitable experiences — piano-accompanied silent films at the Dryden, tuba concerts, kombucha on tap — all thanks to your stories. We also appreciate the coverage given to local news and the emphasis on community politics. Occasionally, a naive acquaintance will say to me that there’s “nothing fun to do” in Rochester. I quickly disabuse them of this wholly misguided notion by handing over a copy of CITY magazine. Thanks for doing what you do. Arjun Byju, Rochester

CORRECTING OURSELVES The print version of “Is Rochester’s lily-white reggae scene a pale imitation, or the real deal?” incorrectly stated the year that Noble Vibes was founded and the year it began its weekly concerts at Milestones. This article has been updated online to correct these dates.

NEWS. ARTS. LIFE. FEBRUARY, 2022 Vol 50 No 6 On the cover: Photograph by Max Schulte 280 State Street Rochester, New York 14614 feedback@rochester-citynews.com phone (585) 244-3329 roccitynews.org PUBLISHER Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, Norm Silverstein, chairman FOUNDERS Bill and Mary Anna Towler EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT themail@rochester-citynews.com Editor: David Andreatta News editor: Jeremy Moule Staff writer: Gino Fanelli Arts editor: Daniel J. Kushner Life editor: Rebecca Rafferty Calendar editor: Katherine Stathis Contributing writers: Patrick Hosken, Geary Ann Lewin, Mona Seghatoleslami, Jeff Spevak, Katherine Varga CREATIVE DEPARTMENT artdept@rochester-citynews.com Creative director: Ryan Williamson Designer/Photographer: Jacob Walsh ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT ads@rochester-citynews.com Sales manager: Alison Zero Jones Advertising consultant/ Project manager: David White OPERATIONS/CIRCULATION Operations manager: Ryan Williamson Circulation manager: Katherine Stathis kstathis@rochester-citynews.com CITY is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased by calling 585-784-3503. CITY may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of CITY, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. CITY (ISSN 1551-3262) is published monthly 12 times per year by Rochester Area Media Partners, a subsidiary of WXXI Public Broadcasting. Periodical postage paid at Rochester, NY (USPS 022-138). Address changes: CITY, 280 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the New York Press Association. Copyright by Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, 2021 - all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner. WXXI Members may inquire about free home delivery of CITY including monthly TV listings by calling 585-258-0200.

@ROCCITYNEWS

IN THIS ISSUE OPENING SHOT

The Dutch Connection goes on display every February at The George Eastman Museum. See page 38. PHOTO BY ERICH CAMPING

NEWS

4 8

DEAR VALENTINE, YOU’RE UGLY, AND I WISH YOU WERE DEAD

ARTS

LIFE

A look back at a time when Valentine’s Day meant telling the one you hate to go to hell.

Now in its eighth season, the Bronze Collective Theatre Festival puts plays by Black artists front and center.

BY DAVID ANDREATTA

BY KATHERINE VARGA

ON THE COVER

PRAYING AT THE CORNER OF SORROW AND DESPAIR

A small group of dedicated faithful pray for the city’s homicide victims, one senseless death at a time.

FORGING A FESTIVAL FOR BLACK THEATER

A ‘COLLABORATOR’ LEADS CITY COUNCIL

Twenty minutes after being sworn in to his first full term on City Council, Miguel Melendez was elected president. BY GINO FANELLI

What’s here, what’s hot, what’s coming, and what’s news on the local arts scene. BY CITY STAFF

BY DAVID ANDREATTA

PUBLIC LIVES

THE ROUNDUP OF ROUNDUPS

A SIT-DOWN WITH ROCHESTER’S TASTEMAKERS

You’ve gone to galleries, film festivals, plays, and concerts. Meet the curators who make them possible. BY REBBECA RAFFERTY

VALENTINE’S DAY TAKEOUT FOR TWO

Five great places to get takeout for Valentine’s Day dinner. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

ESCAPE FROM (WINTER IN) NY

Local indoor tropical paradises to keep you warm this season. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

WHAT ALES ME

ALDASKELLER WELCOMES NATURAL WINE

A pop-up affair settles in the South Wedge with a focus on “hands-off, low intervention” natural wines. BY GINO FANELLI

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NEWS

LOVE-ME-NOT LETTERS

Happy Valentine’s Day! You’re ugly, I hate you, and I wish you were dead.

They were known by many names — “hit-’em-hards” and “poison darts” among them — but it was the “vinegar valentine” label that stuck because of the way their sour tones could sting. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

Naughty Cupid was 150 years ahead of the Twitter troll when it came to anonymous social mockery. BY DAVID ANDREATTA

@DAVID_ANDREATTA

ochester, East Avenue, February 1885. A young woman lounges on her fainting couch in the sitting room, perhaps reading about the dedication of the Washington Monument in the newspaper, when she notices a letter being slipped through the mail slot of her front door. She dashes to it as quickly as her corset will allow, hoping for a valentine from a secret admirer. 4 CITY

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DANDREATTA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

Her heart aflutter, she slices open the seal to find not a love missive, but an unsigned so-called “vinegar valentine” depicting a caricature of a hideous woman over a caustic rhyme titled “Simpering Miss.” The smile on your face appears / Stretching your mouth to meet your ears / You think, no doubt, as sweet as honey / Whereas, dear girl, it’s only funny. We associate anonymous social mockery with the internet. But mischievous Cupid was about 150

years ahead of the Twitter troll. Such mean-spirited valentines were all the rage in the Victorian era, accounting for as many as half of the valentines sold in the United States in some years, according to news reports of the day. They were known by many names — “hit-’em-hards” and “poison darts” among them — but it was the “vinegar valentine” label that stuck because of the way their sour tones could sting.

“Today we do it every day online, flaming people, saying whatever nasty stuff we want to say,” said Chris Bensch, the vice president for collections and chief curator at The

Strong National Museum of Play. “But Valentine’s Day, for some misguided reason, people saw that as the day to really zing people they disliked for any number of reasons.” Many examples of vinegar valentines were lost to time. Not only did they tend to be printed on cheap paper, but who keeps a “valentine” that says they have a face only their mother could love? But the museum has scores of these depraved valentines in their collection, stored in gray filing cabinets in a cool, dry paper storage room in the bowels of the building. They were amassed by the museum’s benefactor, Margaret Woodbury Strong, although curators assume she collected them like she collected toys, and wasn’t necessarily on the receiving end of them. But who knows? At the height of their popularity, around the turn of the last century, vinegar valentines could be found for people of all classes and walks of life. Despise the haughty saleswoman at the dry goods store? There was this: As you wait upon the women / With disgust upon your face / The way you snap and bark at them / One would think you owned the place. Have suspicions about your mechanic? Send him this not-so-subtle message: You’re always working on some car / Its parts you’re always mixing / Instead of the car, we think your head / Quite badly needs a fixing. “It’s a little more articulate, I’ll say, rather than the all-purpose ‘screw you’ kind of insults we give,” Bensch said. “Somebody was paid to write these rhymes.” Vinegar valentines were in vogue for about 100 years, and sold for anywhere from a penny to 5 cents, before falling out of fashion in the 1940s. Scholars trace the origin of the practice to the 1830s, but none seems to have been able to pinpoint why the novelty ever began. The New York Times speculated on the reason in an article in February 1871 on the history of Valentine’s Day: “Printed valentines are about 140 years old, though it is difficult to discover the exact period when the gentle love words became changed

Chris Bensch, vice president for collections and chief curator at The Strong National Museum of Play, oversees a collection of about 100 “vinegar valentines.” PHOTOS BY MAX SCHULTE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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into rather spiteful pasquinades. We suppose some swain was jilted; during the interval of a whole year the fair maid changed her mind, and so he took revenge by sending a biting epigram.” How biting? “I think this was pretty bad,” Bensch said as he thumbed through a stack of vicious valentines that targeted everyone and everything, from women thought to wear too much makeup to men who had lost their hair. Your bright shining pate is seen at all shows / And invariably down in the bald-headed rows / Where you make conspicuous by your tender care / Your true ardent love for that one lonesome hair. Many of them sought to keep people in check for deviating from social mores of the times. For instance, several in the collection poke fun at men for shouldering their share of child care, deriding them as “hen-pecked” and effeminate. Others were vicious in their descriptions of women’s physical appearances. You’ve got more curves than a roller coaster / Your clothes fit like a glove / There’s one thing wrong, Glamorpuss / You’ve a face only a mother could love. “Some of these, if I got it, it would not just ruin my Valentine’s Day, it would ruin my whole next year to think that this is what people thought of me,” Bensch said. “They’re just downright mean. There’s no other word for it.” Vinegar valentines did more than ruin days and years. They ruined lives. They were linked to suicides, assaults, and murders in their day. Consider the fate of Margaret Craig, a house servant on Broadway in New York City, documented by several New York newspapers in February 1847. So stung was she at having received a nasty valentine from a man she believed to be her love interest that she fatally overdosed on laudanum, a tincture of opium 6 CITY

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PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

commonly used then to treat pain. In February 1900, the Associated Press carried a story about the death of C.W. Stewart, a grocer in Charleston, West Virginia, who was shot and killed by his 19-yearold son. The son told police he was protecting his mother from his father, who had accused his wife of sending

him an offensive valentine. Perusing the collection at The Strong, one wonders whether Stewart had gotten this missive: Behold the grocer, the wicked old fraud / We know you’re a fake by your leering / On Sunday in church, you’re pious, oh, Lord / But on weekdays you’re still profiteering / There’s sand in your sugar, you give us light weight, and your jam is adulterated / You don’t sell a thing that is really first grade, like a regular scamp you are rated. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in February 1880 told of a case in criminal court involving two women: “Mrs. Kirchold received two highly offensive valentines, both describing her as a hypocrite, ill-natured, double-faced, and one of them declaring her to be a ‘sure recruit of the devil.’” Mrs. Kirchold suspected the sender was a Mrs. Crawford, whom she subsequently bopped on the nose. “Whether Mrs. Crawford sent the offensive valentines or not does not

appear (in the court papers),” The Eagle reported before editorializing on the subject. “If she did she was guilty of a very vulgar and despicable action,” the piece went on. “The transmission of insulting and unkind valentines through the mail is, we hope, confined exclusively to the most detestable elements of society. The Eagle sincerely cautions its readers not to degrade themselves by sending these coarse missives and wounding people in the dark.” It would be 60 more years before the public would heed the advice of The Eagle and the fad came to an end. Of course, it would be another 60 years before people forgot their history and began anonymously slamming each other again, this time on the internet. “This was that opportunity at that time,” Bensch said. “Thank goodness it was only one day a year rather than every day, 24 hours, like it is now.” 

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NEWS

A CITY ON ITS KNEES

AT THE CORNER OF SORROW AND DESPAIR A small group of dedicated faithful pray for the city’s homicide victims, one senseless death at a time.

onna Ecker was in tears when she clasped her hands and bowed her head in prayer with her two friends outside the Gold More Mini Mart on a frigid day in January. “A mother should never bury her child, God,” she whispered. “We pray to you for peace on our streets.” Five days earlier, Julius Greer Jr. had stumbled into the store at the corner of North and Herald streets with a single gunshot wound in his back. He was 14 years old, the eldest of four siblings, and the city’s first homicide victim of the year. Ecker and her friends, Catholic deacons John Crego and Ed Knauf, were there to answer their ministry’s calling to visit the sites of slayings in the city and pray for the victims and their families. When they arrived at the corner that day, there was plenty to cry about. The collection of votive candles on the sidewalk slick with ice. The black and red balloons fluttering from a no parking sign. The leftover yellow police tape clinging to a utility pole. But what caused Ecker to well up were the words of a broken woman who had pulled her car to the curb to affix a bouquet of artificial flowers to the no parking sign with a twist tie. “I wanted to come here and post something for this young man because I lost my son, too,” the woman said, her voice shaking. “I just feel so pained for the family because I know how it feels.” Her name was Hyo Jin and her son 8 CITY

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Julius Greer Jr., 14, was shot and killed on Jan. 2. His death was the city’s first homicide of 2022. PHOTO PROVIDED

was Tywan Harper. He was 22 when he was shot and killed in a stairwell in an apartment building on Chestnut Street in November. The people in the prayer group nodded. They remembered Tywan. They had prayed for him and another man who died with him in that stairwell, Malakai Smith, who was 19. “No mother . . .” Jin continued before trailing off. “Losing a son, that pain is different.” Then she broke down and got back in her car and drove off. Joining the prayer group, she said before closing the door, was too much for her.

Ecker, Crego, and Knauf are part of a small ministry of Catholic faithful who hold vigils for homicide victims. Their ministry dates back more than 20 years, but has been more active than ever with violence in Rochester at record levels and showing few signs of slowing. Homicides hit an all-time high last year with 81. The 420 people who were shot within the city limits in 2021 was a 25-percent jump over the previous year and a nearly 150-percent increase over 2019, according to Rochester Police Department data. Those in the ministry prayed for all the dead — and their families, and their perpetrators, and their neighborhoods. They learn about the slayings from the news, then schedule a gathering at the site to pray for grace and peace. Each time, they hope the vigil will be their last. But lately, word of another killing reaches them every few days. “The idea is to reconsecrate the ground and give presence in the neighborhood to let the neighbors know that there are those who support them, who worry about them, and are concerned with the violence,” Ecker said. The ministry was launched in 1999 by William Coffey, then a deacon at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. The initiative grew out of an interfaith group called Beyond Racism, and was more adept in its early days than now at drawing support from wide circles of people. CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Ed Knauf, the deacon of Southeast Rochester Catholic Community, is part of a ministry of faithful who pray for homicide victims at the site of their slaying. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

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Inset: Days after his son was slain outside a corner store, Julius Greer Sr. was at a loss to explain how it could have happened. No arrests have been made in the case. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

News reports from that time chronicled vigils that hosted anywhere from 20 to 200 people. These days, due in part to the pandemic and in part to an aging organization, the prayer vigils are frequently attended by no more than a few people. Coffey, now 85, described himself as an occasional participant. In December, Ecker and Knauf went to the corner of North Clinton Avenue and Norton Street to pray at the site of the shooting of Christopher Porchea, 51. Police found him wounded in the parking lot of a liquor store at the intersection. He died three days later. They prayed alone as passersby went about their lives. They asked God to have mercy on the city and its neighborhoods touched by violence. Across the street stood a billboard seeking information in the killing of Jonathan Delgado, 27, who was shot to 10 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

death on Portland Avenue in 2015. “When you’re at the site, it brings it home in a tangible way that doesn’t really happen when I read about it in the paper or see it on the news,” Knauf said. “If I go to the site, it becomes real. It’s not somebody else. You start feeling like it’s all of us who are hurt.” Most of the locations of the crimes are in neighborhoods whose residents are predominantly Black and Hispanic and poor. Members of the ministry are older and white. While they do not live in most of

Above: Hyo Jin leaves artificial flowers at the corner of North and Herald streets, the site of the slaying of Julius Greer Jr., 14. Her son, Tywan Harper, 22, was killed in November 2021. “I just feel so pained for the family because I know how it feels,” she said. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

the neighborhoods they visit, they have worked for or with many of their residents in some capacity. Ecker, 77, ran the Bethany House, a shelter on Joseph Avenue for women who are homeless or victims of domestic violence, for 32 years. She choked back tears upon recalling the names of residents whose violent deaths came to the attention of the ministry. Knauf, 62, is the deacon for the Southeast Rochester Catholic Community, a partnership of three Catholic parishes — Blessed Sacrament, St. Boniface, and St. Mary’s — with a variety of ministries aimed at helping people living on the margins of society. Still, they said that sometimes during their prayers they’re told by passersby to “get lost” or that they “don’t belong here.”

But they persevere, they said, because they believe their work is important and that they are more often than not welcomed by residents. They said they frequently attempt to coordinate their prayers with relatives of the deceased and that they sometimes join them. “I think an important message is that we’re all part of this community and it’s important for people who are stuck because people living in a lot of these neighborhoods are stuck,” Ecker said. “The sense of violence that’s going on now is very frightening and it’s very frightening for people who live in the neighborhoods,” she went on. “They’re not even comfortable walking to the store. Think about young mothers with small children. You can’t let your children outside to play because it’s not safe.”

That was the sense in the neighborhood around North and Herald streets after Julius Greer Jr. was shot and killed on a quiet Sunday evening outside the Gold More Mini Mart, where the ministry had gathered to pray. No one seems to know how or why he was shot — not his parents, not his neighbors, not the police. The best anyone can tell is he was struck by a random bullet. His parents caught the tail end of the prayer vigil after getting word from relatives who had stopped in the store that the ministry was under way. As the prayers wound down, Julius Greer Sr. stood shaking his head and staring helplessly at the ground. “I just don’t understand this,” he kept saying. “I really don’t understand.” Greer explained that he was in the store five minutes before his son was shot. He said he had made small talk with a customer and the manager and left, forgetting to buy a package of pasta elbows for a goulash he had planned to make for dinner. “When I got home I asked him to run to the store real quick to get it and he said, ‘OK, Daddy,’” Greer, 32, recalled. “And it literally happened within a couple of seconds.” Greer said the police told him the cameras outside the store weren’t working that night. He pointed across the street, not far from where he and his family live. “The only hope I even got around here are the cameras across the street at that house over there,” he said. “The only thing the police said they got on camera was my son running in the store and collapsing.” Ecker and Crego and Knauf offered their condolences and hugged Greer and the boy’s mother, Monique Bunton, both of whom thanked them for their prayers. “I can’t believe somebody really did this to my baby because he didn’t deserve this,” Bunton said. “He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” She laid a hand on her stomach. She was pregnant with twins. “It’s fucked up because it’s like you can’t even see your kids to the store now,” she said. “They can’t play in the front yard. Nothing. The city’s crazy, and I hate it.”

From left to right, Ed Knauf, Donna Ecker, and John Crego pray outside Gold More Mini Mart on Jan. 7, 2022, five days after 14-year-old Julius Greer Jr. was shot to death in front of the store. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

Ed Knauf prays at the corner of North Clinton Avenue and Norton Street in December 2021 for homicide victim Christopher Porchea, 51. Across the street stood a billboard seeking information in the killing of Jonathan Delgado, who was murdered in 2015. PHOTO BY MAX SCHULTE

roccitynews.com CITY 11

NEWS

Miguel Meléndez is the new president of Rochester City Council. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

12 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

PUBLIC LIVES BY GINO FANELLI

@GINOFANELLI

GFANELLI@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

Miguel Meléndez takes the helm of City Council A proven ‘collaborator’hopes to hold lawmakers together.

oughly 20 minutes after Miguel Meléndez was sworn in for his first full-term on City Council, he was elected by his colleagues as the body’s president. Typically, the post goes to an experienced Council member. For example, Meléndez’s predecessor, Loretta Scott, began her term as president in 2014 as she entered her second term. Before she became mayor, Lovely Warren assumed the president post after holding her Council seat for three years. But Meléndez has cultivated a reputation as a collaborator in his capacity as the chief community engagement officer for Ibero-American Action League and a longtime advocate for the neighborhoods around North Clinton Avenue. The other eight members of the Council, who are sometimes sharply divided on major issues, unanimously elected him their leader. Keeping in step with their divisions, however, the Council named their vice president, Mary Lupien, in a 5-4 vote. “I probably wasn’t 100 percent in until around September or October, and then I started making my rounds to Councilmembers,” Meléndez said. “I wanted to share with everyone that my feeling is that I would be one to help unite the body.” Meléndez, 35, was appointed to Council in September 2020 to fill the seat left vacant by Jackie Ortiz when she was appointed Monroe County Democratic elections commissioner. He assumed office amidst turmoil that would only worsen over time. Three weeks before he was sworn in, news of the death of Daniel Prude at the hands of Rochester police had touched off near daily protests around the city. A month later, Warren was indicted on felony campaign finance charges. In the ensuing months, an outside investigation commissioned by Council into the city’s handling of Prude’s death concluded the mayor and former

Police Chief La’Ron Singletary had attempted to cover up Prude’s death, again resulting in harsh criticism of city government. On top of that, Warren faced gun and child endangerment charges related to her estranged husband’s alleged involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring. She would ultimately agree to resign a month early to resolve all the charges against her. The succession of scandals rocked public faith in City Hall. When asked how he might help rebuild that trust, Meléndez let out a brief sigh before responding. “There’s a lot of things, and there’s going to be a commingling of approaches to fixing them as well,” he said. “How do we make ourselves, and some of the things we vote on, more accessible? How do we get more public engagement on legislation that might be controversial? What more can we be doing from a communications standpoint?” Meléndez’s ascension to president happened as former Councilmember Malik Evans assumed the Mayor’s Office. Each framed their campaigns last year around the concept of “building bridges.”

Meléndez grew up in the city’s northeast and attended East High School. At the age of 15, his father, who he looks to as a profound influence on his life, died. From a young age, Meléndez was drawn to work in community service, a drive which brought him to Ibero upon graduating from St. John Fisher College with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in philosophy. Evans, who served on Council with Meléndez, called him “humble” and “a collaborator,” two traits he said will serve the president well. “ Going forward, Meléndez will have to bridge some deep divisions. For example, two new Council members, Kim Smith and Stanley Martin, have been vocal critics of the Police Department while members Willie Lightfoot and Jose Peo are avowed supporters of law enforcement. “It’s going to take a lot of work, and it’s always tough,” Evans said. “I’ve been in that position before where you have to bridge the gap, it’s easier said than done. You have to keep working at it, and he strikes me as the type that really wants to do that.” Those who know Meléndez, including Ibero-American Action

League President Angelica PerezDelgado, believe he’s up to the task. “One of the first things I noticed about Miguel is he’s a great listener,” said Perez-Delgado, who has known him for six years. “His ability to bring people together, to really work towards solving problems, is just amazing. And he did that between the neighborhood and the city, between the neighborhood and police. There’s always tension between them, and Miguel is just a great convener.” In 2012, Meléndez launched Project HOPE, an acronym for Healthy Outcomes through Participation, Education and Empowerment. It was a plan to address marijuana dealing in the Clifford and Conkey neighborhood. The goal was to guide young pot dealers into legal employment. He later launched a second program, Community, Law Enforcement & Assistance Network (Project CLEAN), which aims to combat opioid abuse. As president, he said he is prioritizing addressing the opioid epidemic and overdose rates in the city. He’s also focused on public safety following a year of record violence and on housing issues. He is particularly concerned about displacement driven by the pandemic and the end of the state’s eviction moratorium. Meléndez, who has three children, plans to continue to work at Ibero while president. The Council president has a fixed salary of just shy of $47,000, roughly $10,000 more than Council members. Despite the heavy workload, he feels capable of finding a balance. “I think it’s just recalibrating, because I’m a workaholic,” Meléndez said. “I spend, I probably shouldn’t be admitting this, but 70 to 80 hours working or thinking about stuff related to City Council or Ibero. Sometimes more. And so my commitment and my flexibility on both sides of the house allows me to be present in both spaces.”

roccitynews.com roccitynews.org CITY 13

ARTS

DETT FULFILLMENT

REDISCOVERING THE GENIUS OF R. NATHANIEL DETT Who was Eastman School of Music’s first Black graduate? BY MONA SEGHATOLESLAMI

@MONA_S

MSEGHATOLESLAMI@WXXI.ORG

n 1937, radio listeners across the country heard a live performance of “The Ordering of Moses,” the defining composition of R. Nathaniel Dett, the first Black graduate of Eastman School of Music, over the NBC Radio Network. But 40 minutes into what was to be an historic hour-long broadcast — one of the first new compositions by a Black classical composer to be aired nationally — an announcer broke in: We are sorry indeed, ladies and gentlemen, but due to previous commitments, we are unable to remain for the closing moments of this excellent performance. No other explanation was given, but the prevailing theory was that NBC caved to complaints from listeners who objected to the broadcasting of music by a Black composer. Eighty-five years later, Dett’s music and the story behind it are poised to be heard like never before thanks to the research of Jeannie Guerrero, a Rochester-based music theorist who has spent more than a year painstakingly updating “The Ordering of Moses” with more than 1,000 edits, including restoring orchestral interludes that she says are key to experiencing the full expressive power of the work. She has filled in areas that Dett had left in shorthand, addressed parts that conflicted, and used notation software to create a piece more easily readable than the handwritten sheet music that has been used in previous performances. This music is scheduled to be performed in October by the Rochester Oratorio Society, Roberts Wesleyan Chorale, and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale from Toronto. “No one owns his narrative,” 14 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

R. Nathaniel Dett was already a world-renowned choral conductor, composer, and arranger when he came to Eastman School of Music in 1931. He became its first Black graduate. PHOTO COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Guerrero says of Dett. “He owned his narrative. He’s gone now. We don’t know what’s in his head. We can only try to make the most

informed decisions that we can about performing his music, about telling his story, honoring his legacy. That’s all we can do.”

Guerrero has also been tracing Dett’s life in Rochester, through archives, old newspapers, and other historical records to re-introduce Dett to Rochester and fill in the scattered historic record of the man and his legacy. By the time Dett came to Rochester in 1931 to study at the Eastman School of Music, he was already an accomplished musician with some international celebrity. He had toured Europe as a conductor, received honorary degrees from Howard University and Oberlin College, and studied under the foremost teacher of 20th-century American composers, Nadia Boulanger. Indeed, his enrollment at Eastman was enough to make headlines in the Democrat and Chronicle, which reported his arrival with qualified praise: “He is one of the most promising Negro composers of the day.” Dett had also earned this reputation with compositions that incorporated Black spirituals. He described in a 1918 profile in the magazine Musical America: “We have this wonderful store of folk music, the melodies of an enslaved people, who pour out their longings, their griefs, and their inspirations in one great universal language. But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such a manner that it can be presented in choral form, lyric and operatic works, concertos and suites and salon music — unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music that will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long.”

of people around the world aware of him, including some of my American brothers and sisters,” Blyden-Taylor says.

Guerrero believes being a minority in a predominantly white field heavily influenced Dett’s decision to earn a degree from Eastman. “I have to speak as a woman of color — and even a woman of not even much color — you always are striving to be better,” she says. “Because you never feel that you will be good enough to be accepted. And so having many, many degrees is really a minimum requirement to get anywhere.”

MARRYING TWO TRADITIONS

‘THE ORDERING OF MOSES’ Dett wrote the beginnings of what would become his magnum opus, the oratorio “The Ordering of Moses,” for his master’s thesis. Written for orchestra, chorus, and soloists, the piece is a poetic, expressive retelling of Moses receiving a message from God and leading the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and into the promised land. The vocalists sing of prophecy and vision, struggle and freedom. This music was performed in its initial form at Eastman in June 1932. After finishing his degree, Dett stayed in Rochester, becoming involved in the city’s musical and civic life while expanding “The Ordering of Moses.” He wove in elements of the spiritual “Go Down Moses” and references to George Frederic Handel’s “Messiah,” going beyond combining genres to express mystical, universalist ideas about the shared human experience. When Dett died at the age of 60 in October 1943, while on tour with a U.S.O. Women’s Army Corps chorus in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Democrat and Chronicle reported his death, praising his accomplishments,

Dr. Jeannie Guerrero and Eric Townell study the score for Dett’s magnum opus, “The Ordering of Moses.” PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

international recognition, and influence. As with the reporting of his arrival in Rochester, though, both the obituary writer and his teacher, Eastman School of Music Director Howard Hanson, qualified their admiration in terms of Dett’s race: “I think, without question, that oratorio is the greatest chorus for Negro voice yet written,” Hanson was quoted as saying of “The Ordering of Moses.” “In my estimation, he was one of the greatest composers of Negro music.” Guerrero and local historian Arlene Vanderlinde are scheduled to present details of Dett’s life in Rochester in a talk at the Pittsford Community Library on Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m., accompanied by performances of several of Dett’s shorter choral works.

Dett with fellow students, pictured in Eastman School of Music's 1932 yearbook. PHOTO COURTESY 'SCORE', 1932, RUTH T. WATANABE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, SIBLEY MUSIC LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

SINGING DETT’S LEGACY With the piece newly edited by Guerrero in hand, the Rochester Oratorio Society, Roberts Wesleyan Chorale, and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale are preparing to perform “The Ordering of Moses.” “It can be surprisingly simple on the page, but it does lift you to some other plateau that you didn’t really know you had when you started working on the thing,” Rochester Oratorio Society Artistic Director Eric Townell says. Townell had first encountered Dett’s music in the 1990s in the archives of the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago, starting with the short choral piece, “Listen to the Lambs.” But only recently has Townell felt ready to take on the emotionally and technically complex “The Ordering of Moses,” accompanied by a choir named for the composer. Having seen so few people of color represented in the world of Canadian choral music, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor founded the Nathaniel Dett Chorale 24 years ago with a focus on performing Afrocentric music. “The burden started to be laid more and more in my heart to do something,” he says. But he needed a name that would represent Black Canadian history. A friend compiling an encyclopedia of Canadian musicians brought R. Nathaniel Dett to his attention. “The more I learned, the more he seemed the perfect person to honor and to make Canadians aware of, and — I guess now almost 24 years later, by extension — to make a lot

Dett was born and spent most of his early childhood in Drummondville, Ontario, a historic refuge for people who fled slavery that is now part of Niagara Falls. He and his family moved over the border into the United States when he was 11. As a youngster, he heard his grandmother sing spirituals and took piano lessons, studying Beethoven and other European classics. But it was not until he was a student at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio that he first had the idea of blending these musical worlds. “He seems to honor both traditions,” Blyden-Taylor says of Dett’s music. “He’s married them quite well in my estimation.” Emmett Tross, the New York Citybased tenor who is preparing to sing the title role of Moses, described the piece as “a refreshing scent of home mixed with some beautiful eccentric and other-worldly experiences in a musical sense.” Tross grew up in Rochester, where he was a student at School of the Arts, and studied music through the Eastman Community Music School. Ever since he was a young student, he’s felt a kinship with Dett as a Black classical musician. “He kind of bridges that gap between the European artistic style of writing and the African-American influence in music in America,” Tross says. “Being able to put that on paper was extremely important for the advancement of said music being seen as non-barbaric or overzealous or bombastic, but allowing for it to be seen as what it was, which was absolutely gorgeously beautiful music that was created out of such a struggle — and happy times and terrible times and beauty and the many faces of the African American experience in America — which bleeds into everyone else’s experience.”

roccitynews.com CITY 15

ARTS

OPENING DOORS

Bronze Collective Theater Festival was created to provide opportunities for Black theater artists. PHOTO PROVIDED

FORGING A FESTIVAL FOR BLACK THEATER The Bronze Collective Theatre Festival puts plays by Black artists front and center. BY KATHERINE VARGA

aking theater isn’t easy in the age of COVID, but giving up isn’t an option for the Bronze Collective Theatre Festival. Now in its eighth year, the festival was created to take on challenges. 16 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

“Artists are like superheroes,” says Reuben Tapp, one of the founders and curators. “They don’t succumb to issues, they transform them. They find the beauty in them.” The Bronze Collective Theatre Festival, scheduled to perform at

the Multi-use Cultural Community Center on Atlantic Ave., from Feb. 16 to 19, began as a handful of Black theater artists meeting up over snacks. As co-founder David Shakes puts it, they were looking to “promote and solidify the identity of Black theater.”

Long before Shakes connected with Rapp and local playwright Robert Djed Snead about a new venture, Shakes had worked with legendary Black writers and artists, including Amiri Baraka, James CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

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Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, and Samuel L. Jackson. When he and Rapp met at Mood Makers bookstore in Village Gate with the bookstore’s owner and Sankofa Festival producer, Curtis Rivers, their initial goal was to share resources and knowledge among Black theater artists in Rochester. At first, not much came of it. But as Tapp says, “When you don’t know what to do, think about it and put some action to it.” In this case, action meant mounting a theater festival by seeking out Black producers, directors, and writers eager for an audience. The festival would provide support, including rehearsal spaces, artistic feedback, and publicity. But first it needed a name. Tapp was inspired by Antonio Maceo, the Cuban general known as “the Bronze Titan” who led independence fighters in their struggle against Spain. He was also drawn to the word “bronze” because it covers a spectrum of Black people, from fair skinned to dark. 18 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

As the name suggests, the Bronze Collective doesn’t shy away from the political power of art. “Art is not just for art’s sake,” Shakes says. “It’s to inspire, to educate, to uplift, to represent perspectives. There’s much to be said about utilizing art as a shield and as a weapon to defend oneself, protect oneself, and hopefully inspire and educate others.” Guided by this philosophy, the festival has featured an impressive range of artists and works, including cross-disciplinary theater pieces involving film, visual arts, dance, spoken word, and gospel.

TAKING A CHANCE One artist who has grown with the help of the festival is Karen Culley. A sixth-grade science teacher at Rochester Academy Charter School, she is also a frequently produced playwright and publicity photographer. Culley honed her plays for years, but struggled to find a venue willing to take a chance on an emerging Black playwright. “I was trying to figure out:

Kesha Hartzog and Ashona Pulliam perform in “Dividing Line,” as part of Bronze Collective Theatre Festival. PHOTO BY KAREN CULLEY

Columbia Care

How do you do this?” she says. “How do you get your work out?” None of her submissions led to opportunities until director Gary DeWitt Marshall heard an excerpt from her locally-inspired play “Monologues on Clarissa Street” at an open mic and approached her about doing a staged reading with the Bronze Collective. “When I found out my play was accepted, I could have pushed my car home,” she says. “I was just that happy.” Since then, the piece has been presented several times, which has inspired her to continue writing. The Bronze Collective has introduced her to several local Black actors and playwrights, whom she now follows and supports. “It’s a pretty close-knit community,” she says. Culley has used her background as a mental health counselor to write about Black mental health, featuring characters with depression and personality disorders. She has also written about teenagers in 1960s Birmingham, Alabama, and is

currently writing about the schoolto-prison pipeline. “Nobody can tell our story like we can,” she says of Black artists. “There are things that need to be said and discussed.” For this year’s festival she’s presenting something a bit different. “The Legend of Double Ax Max” is a horror story performed as a 1940s-style radio play, with sound effects made by Foley artists. The play tells the tale of an enslaved woodcutter who gets separated from his sweetheart, who is also enslaved, when she is sold. He exacts revenge by going on a killing spree with his ax. After he is hung for his crimes, he comes back to life. “My daughter said, ‘I can’t believe you wrote this. Mom, you don’t even like horror,’” Culley says with a laugh. “I love a challenge.” The play has already been presented virtually twice — once at the 2020 Rochester Fringe Festival and once on Halloween. The Bronze Collective Theatre Festival performance on Feb. 19 will be the first time it will have been performed in person. The other pieces this year are “Mr. Soul!” a staged reading by Laura Thomas on Feb. 17, a youth theater piece using puppets and masks called “Anansi Tales REDUX” on Feb. 18, and “Spotlight on Jonah” by Almeta Whitis on Feb. 19. For more details on the 2022 Bronze Collective Theatre Festival at the MuCCC, including performance times and ticket information, go to muccc.org. Proof of vaccination and masks are required to attend.

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MUSIC CALENDAR For up-to-date information on protocols, vaccination and mask requirements, and performance cancellations, consult the websites of individual venues.

AMERICANA

Brett Miller, pipe organ. Auditorium

Theatre, 885 E. Main St. rtosonline.org. Sun., Feb. 6, 2:30 p.m. The Rochester Theater Organ Society. $15. The Ruckus Juice Jug Stompers. Abilene, 153 Liberty Pole Way. 232-3230. Fri., Feb. 25, 9 p.m. $8.

BLUES

Deep Blue Band. 75 Stutson, 75 Stutson St. 75stutsonstreet.com. Fri., Feb. 18, 8 p.m. $15.

Gabe Stillman Band, Anson Funderburgh. Abilene, 153 Liberty Pole

Way. 232-3230. Wed., Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. $25/$30.

Gracie Curran & The High Falutin’ Band. Fanatics, 7281 W Main St. Lima.

fanaticspub.com. Thu., Feb. 10, 7 p.m. $20/$25. Pete Griffith Group. Fanatics, 7281 W Main St. Lima. fanaticspub.com. Sat., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. Tommy Brunett Band. Iron Smoke Distillery, 111 Parce Ave. Fairport. 3887584. Fri., Feb. 11, 8:30 p.m. $5. Vanessa Collier. Fanatics, 7281 W Main St. Lima. fanaticspub.com. Sun., Feb. 6, 5 p.m. and Mon., Feb. 7, 7 p.m. $30/$35.

CLASSICAL

Benjamin Hopkins, piano. Nazareth

College Wilmot Recital Hall, 4245 East Ave. 389-2700. Sun., Feb. 20, 2 p.m. Works by Clara Schumann & Robert Schumann. Don Quixote. Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs St. Thu., Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m. and Sat., Feb. 12, 8 p.m. $30 & up. Eastman Chorale. Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs. Sun., Feb. 27, 3 p.m. Eastman Piano Series. Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St. 274-3000. Thu., Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. Boris Giltburg. $23 & up. Eastman-Ranlet Series. Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St. 274-3000. Sun., Feb. 27, 3 p.m. Cuarteto Casals. $29-$43. Ginastera, Gershwin, & Frank. Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs St. Thu., March 3, 7:30 p.m. Lina GonzálezGranados, conductor. Pre-concert talk: 1 hour earlier.

La Calisto. Eastman Opera Theatre

Scene Shop, 1344 University Ave., Suite 5000. Wed., Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., Thu., Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m., Tue., Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m. and Wed., Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m. $20. Nicholas Susi, piano. Nazareth College Glazer Music Performance Center, 4245 East Ave. Sun., Feb. 27, 3 p.m. Works by Liszt, Coleridge-Taylor, Scriabin, & Ligeti. Piano Trio. Nazareth College Wilmot Recital Hall, 4245 East Avenue. 3892700. Sun., Feb. 13, 3 p.m. Sarah Rhee, piano; Tigran Vardanyan, violin; Zachary Sweet, cello. In Love & War: Works by Octavio Vazquez and Astor Piazzolla. Schola Cantorum: Compline. Christ Church, 141 East Ave. 454-3878. Sundays, 9 p.m. Candlelight concert every first Sunday at 8:30pm. Symphor!a. Smith Opera House, 82 Seneca St. Geneva. thesmith.org. Sun., Feb. 20, 3 p.m. Jon Nakamatsu, piano. $10/$30. Winding Around the World. Nazareth College Glazer Music Performance Center, 4245 East Ave. chambermusicrochester.org. Sun., Feb. 20, 4 p.m. $35.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL

AWS/OSSIA. Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St. 274-3000. Wed., Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.

JAZZ

Bob Sneider Trio. Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd. jazz901.org/events. Thu., Feb. 24, 7 p.m. Hassan Zaman Quartet. Jackrabbit Club, 40 Anderson Avenue. 340-6161. Fri., Feb. 4, 7 p.m. $10. Laura Dubin Trio. Tower Fine Arts Center, 180 Holley St. Brockport. 395-2787. Fri., Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m. $9/$17. Margaret Explosion. Little Cafe, 240 East Ave. 258-0400. Wed., Feb. 16, 6:30 p.m. Monday Night Jazz. UUU Art Collective, 153 State St. 434-2223. 8pm; Late-night sessions: 10:30pm. $5. Rita Collective. Nazareth College Wilmot Recital Hall, 4245 East Avenue. 3892700. Fri., Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m. Trio East. Little Cafe, 240 East Ave. 2580400. Fri., Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m. and Fri., Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m.

INDUSTRIAL

Komrads, I Ya Toyah, STCLVR, Sapphira Vee, DJ Dresden. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe

Ave. bugjar.com. Sun., Feb. 20, 9 p.m. $10/$12.

JAM BAND

Personal Blend, Eli Flynn & Friends, Alex Vine. Flour City Station, 170 East Ave. 413-5745. Sat., Feb. 12, 9 p.m. $7/$10.

METAL

Cannibal Corpse, White Chapel, Revocation, Shadow of Intent. Anthology, 336 East Ave. 484-1964. Sat., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. $27.50.

20 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut St. 232-1520. Sun., Feb. 27, 7 p.m. $15/$17.

Starjuice, So Today, Junk Experiment, OmgImJoe. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave.

Music Hall, 543 Atlantic Ave. 451-0047. Fri., Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. $13/$15.

Divinex, Shepherd Of Rot, Hellebore, Praun. Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut

POPS/STANDARDS

St. 232-1520. Fri., Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. $10/$12.

Obituary, Municipal Waste, Gatecreeper, Enforced, Spiritworld. Anthology, 336

East Ave. 484-1964. Thu., Feb. 17, 7 p.m. $25.

POP/ROCK

ABBBA Mania. Kodak Center, 200 W. Ridge Rd. kodakcenter.com/events. Thu., Feb. 10, 8 p.m. $21 & up. Calicoco, Pony Hand, Gold Koa. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave. bugjar.com. Sat., Feb. 12, 9 p.m. $10/$12. Dead Letter Office (REM Tribute). Fairport Brewing Co., 1044 University Ave. 481-2237. Sat., Feb. 19, 8 p.m. Dropkick Murphys. Main Street Armory, 900 E. Main St. 232-3221. Tue., Feb. 22, 7 p.m. $39.50/$45. Hall Pass. Buntsy’s Neighborhood Food & Drink, 2235 Empire Blvd. Webster. 347-6749. Fri., Feb. 25, 9 p.m. The Last Of The Duke Street Kings, Blue Envy, Tedesco Knows Best. Montage,

50 Chestnut St. 232-1520. Sat., Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m. Bruce Springsteen & E-Street Band Tribute. $15. Liar’s Moon. Iron Smoke Distillery, 111 Parce Ave Suite 5b. Fairport. 388-7584. Wed., Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m. $5.

in Matching Design

getcakedroc.com (585) 319-4314 274 N. Goodman Street

Sarah & The Safe Word, Dog Park Dissidents, V is for Villain, & GILT.

bugjar.com. Wed., Feb. 16, 9 p.m. $10/$12. Stavo. Three Heads Brewing, 186 Atlantic Ave. 244-1224. Fri., Feb. 11, 8 p.m. $10.

Death Before Dishonor, Ringworm, Borrowed Time, The Weight We Carry, Wrong Move, Leaking Head. Photo City

His & Her Rings

Divine Treats For You & Yours!

Music with a Mission. Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut St. 232-1520. Feb. 11-12, 6:30 p.m. Benefits Open Door Mission. Feb 11: Invictra, White Tides, Coalition, Spit Nickels, Cactus Cathedral, & Katspo; Feb 12: Somber Coffin, Hey Mabel, Influenza13, Route 5150, Two Top, & Letters From NY. $10. The Neal Morse Band. Anthology, 336 East Ave. 484-1964. Sat., Feb. 12, 8 p.m. $30 & up.

700 Park Ave. • Rochester, NY (585) 442-2260 northfieldgoldsmiths.com Tue-Fri: Noon-6pm Sat: Noon-4pm Sunday/Monday Closed

Happy Birthday, John Williams!. Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs St. Feb. 18-19, 8 p.m. $30 & up.

A Time for Legends: Valentines Spectacular. OFC Creations Theater

Center, 3450 Winton Pl. ofccreations. com. Sat., Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m. $30/$40.

PUNK/HARDCORE

The Spits, Danny’s Favorites. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave. bugjar.com. Mon., Feb. 14, 9 p.m. $16/$18.

R&B/ SOUL

The Mr. Ric Experience. 75 Stutson, 75 Stutson St. 75stutsonstreet.com. Sun., Feb. 13, 5 & 8 p.m. $35/$40.

VARIOUS

Cupid is Stupid Anti-Valentine’s Day Silent Disco. Mon., Feb. 14, 7 p.m. Flour City Station, 170 East Ave $10/$15. 4135745.

VOCALS

An Evening of a Capella. Cobblestone Arts Center, 1622 NY 332. 398-0220. Sat., Feb. 19, 7 p.m. $18.

INSIDE WXXI PUBLIC MEDIA | WXXI-TV PBS AM 1370/FM 107.5 NPR l WXXI CLASSICAL WRUR-FM 88.5 l THE LITTLE THEATRE

Thursdays at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Joan Lunden Photos by Max Schulte

Joan Lunden is back with a whole new season of Second Opinion, where she’s offering up a healthy dose of honest, in-depth discussions between medical professionals and laypeople on topics ranging from racial disparities in maternal health to lung cancer to vaccine hesitancy.

Dr. Lou Papa

Produced by WXXI Public Media in partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center, ten new episodes were taped in September 2021 at WXXI’s studios on State Street in downtown Rochester. Joining Joan on every episode is primary care physician Louis J. Papa, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Geriatrician Roger Oskvig, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, has been the chief medical adviser since the inception of the series. Also, the physicians of the Rochester-based Larry Kohn Journal Club serve as medical advisers, along with Dr. Michael Apostolakos from URMC.

Second Opinion with Joan Lunden is a national multimedia health initiative that reaches an engaged audience through television, web, social media, and community and national outreach. The series hosts a comprehensive web site, SecondOpinion-tv.org, where you can watch full episodes of the series and access medical information through searchable video, resources, and transcripts. You can also follow the series on Facebook at: secondopiniontv and YouTube at: youtube.com/secondopiniontv. Second Opinion with Joan Lunden is made possible with support from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. roccitynews.com CITY 21

WXXI TV • THIS MONTH Samantha Brown’s Places to Love “Genesee River Valley, NY” Saturday, February 5 at 3:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV As part of her trip to Genesee River Valley, Samantha visits Rochester Artist Shawn Dunwoody on his Community Paint Day, where they join volunteers of all ages to paint a public mural that Shawn designed. In this episode, Samantha also visits the Letchworth State Park and the Autism Nature Trail, as well as the Genesee Country Village & Museum. Photo: Shawn Dunwoody + Samantha Brown, Courtesy of Places to Love

Miss Scarlet and the Duke 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Before Marple and Tennison, there was Scarlet—Miss Eliza Scarlet, a private detective. Kate Phillips (Wolf Hall) stars as Victorian London’s brilliant, beautiful, and first-ever female sleuth, with Stuart Martin (Jamestown) as her friend and associate, Detective Inspector William “The Duke” Wellington. Enjoy all six episodes, back-to-back!

The Child in Time 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Stephen Lewis, a noted children’s book author, and Kelly Macdonald plays his wife, Julie, a professional musician. One day, their four-year-old daughter mysteriously disappears during a shopping outing with Stephen — upending Stephen and Julie’s lives in extraordinary ways.

American Experience “Riveted: The History of Jeans” Monday, February 7 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV This film takes a look at the fascinating and surprising story of the ultimate American garment. Worn by everyone from presidents to supermodels, farmers to rock stars, they’re more than just a pair of pants — America’s tangled past is woven deeply into the indigo fabric.

Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts Saturdays at 1 p.m. on WXXI-TV, beginning February 12 Mary Berry of The Great British Baking Show braves the elements to discover and cook the most heartwarming dishes in the UK and abroad.

Around the World in 80 Days 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. This Sunday night series, a thrilling adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel, continues with episode 7. David Tennant stars as literature’s greatest explorer, Phileas Fogg. If you missed the first six episodes you can catch up online at: to.pbs.org/31K0BzL.

All Creatures Great and Small Frontline “American Reckoning” Tuesday, February 15 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV An unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. With Retro Report, the film draws on rarely seen footage filmed more than 50 years ago in Natchez, MS, and follows one family’s search for justice. 22 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

9 p.m. to 10 p.m. This Sunday evening favorite continues with episode 6. Based on best-selling author James Herriot’s iconic collection of stories, season two continues to follow the heartwarming and humorous adventures of Herriot, a young vet from Glasgow working in the stunningly beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

Vienna Blood 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. This regularly scheduled Sunday night series continues with episode 6. The cerebral crime drama set in glittering 1900s Vienna stars Matthew Beard as Max and Austrian actor Juergen Maurer as Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH Conversations in African American Music: Spirituals Revisited Tuesday, February 8 at 2 p.m. on WXXI Classical Dr. Louise Toppin, noted soprano and professor of voice at the University of Michigan, takes us on a tour of African-American folk music: the spiritual. We’ll hear works by Harry Burleigh, William Grant Still, Undine Smith Moore, Moses Hogan, and more. See the next page for more specials like this on WXXI Classical and AM 1370.

American Experience “Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands” Tuesday, February 8 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America. Watch rare archival footage and hear audio recordings exploring her life and career from the Metropolitan Opera to the State Department.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi an IGI Special Presentation Friday, February 11 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV Taped in September 2019, this special presentation features an interview with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, one of America’s foremost historians and leading antiracist voices. Kendi is also the New York Times best selling author and the Founding Director of The Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University in Washington, DC. Photo: Dr. Kendi on set, Credit: IGI

The Groveland Four Monday, February 14 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV In 1949, when a white farmwife allegedly accused four black men of assaulting her on the rural roads of Lake County, FLA, town Sheriff Willis McCall identified the suspects as Samuel Shepherd, Walter Irvin, Earnest Thomas, and Charles Greenlee. This documentary chronicles the injustices faced by these defendants at the hands of the Jim Crow-era U.S. criminal justice and court systems. Photo: Railroad depot – Groveland, FL, Courtesy State Archives of Florida

In honor of Black History Month, WXXI presents these specials and more throughout the month. For a complete list of programs, this month and throughout the year, visit our Black Heritage and Culture web page at: WXXI.org/bh.

Graceful Voices Friday, February 18 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV In the 1920s, real estate developer George Merrick launched America’s first fully planned community, Coral Gables, which included the MacFarlane Homestead Historic District, developed as a Black residential neighborhood by Merrick. This documentary captures the stories and experiences of the Bahamian and African American women who were born there, forged lifelong friendships, and developed a passion for their community. Photo: Francina Berry, Courtesy LT Creative, Inc.

The 86th Annual AnisfieldWolf Book Awards Sunday, February 20 at 7 p.m. on WXXI-TV Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this program highlights the 2021 winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, the only national juried prize recognizing literature that has made important contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. Photo: Vincent Brown, Courtesy American Public Television

Through the Banks of Red Cedar Monday, February 21 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV This film follows the 50-year legacy of Gene Washington, the legendary wide receiver for the Vikings. Shared through the eyes of the filmmaker, Maya Washington, Gene’s youngest daughter, it uncovers her father’s journey and the impact of this legacy on the present generation. Maya traces her father’s footsteps from the segregated south to the north, over the course of a modern football season. Photo: Gene Washington, Provided.

William Warfield: Cast in History Friday, February 25 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV The grandson of African-American slaves, William Warfield grew up in Rochester, where he became an iconic soloist, recitalist, actor, narrator and activist. Rochester Institute of Technology joined the William Warfield Scholarship Fund, The Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, and the City of Rochester in a collective celebration honoring Warfield’s legacy with the creation of a bronze sculpture. Learn more about his incredible journey and the behind-the-scenes creation of the sculpture.

Support for Black History Month programming is provided by

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This Week from China’s Center for the Performing Arts

Ebony Classics — A Beautiful Flower

Mondays at 8 p.m., beginning February 21 on WXXI Classical This new series showcases the best-in-class musicianship of the orchestra of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and its affiliated programs in choral music, traditional Chinese forms, opera, and more.

Thursday, February 17 at 3 p.m. on WXXI Classical This special shares Classical music by notable women of color, who are composers, conductors, educators, instrumentalists, and singers. Artists include Dorothy Maynor, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Tania Leon, Louise Toppin, Leontyne Price (pictured), and Florence Price.

The Metropolitan Opera Saturdays at 1 p.m. on WXXI Classical Join us at the Met every Saturday for the following matinee broadcasts:

Deep River: The African-American Choral Spiritual Wednesday, February 23 at 12 p.m. on WXXI Classical From the days of slavery 150 years ago, to the concert venues of today, the African-American spiritual grew throughout the world. We’ll hear the music and learn how deep the meaning and history run beneath the surface, with commentary from Dr. James Mumford and host Ross Gay. Photo: Dr. James Mumford, Credit: indiana.edu

• 2/5 The Met’s First Decade on the Air Highlights from historic Met broadcasts • 2/12 Verdi: Requiem Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Ailyn Pérez, Michelle DeYoung, Matthew Polenzani, Eric Owens • 2/19 Mussorgsky: Boris Gudunov (pictured) Sebastian Weigle; René Pape (Boris), David Butt Philip (Grigory), Ain Anger (Pimen), Maxim Paster (Shuisky), Aleksey Bogdanov (Shchelkalov), Ryan Speedo Green (Varlaam) • 2/26 The Met Celebrates Black History Month: Groundbreaking Artists on the Air Broadcast highlights from some of the Met’s most revered African American stars

AM 1370, YOUR NPR NEWS STATION + WRUR-FM 88.5, DIFFERENT RADIO

Witness: Black History Month Sunday, February 6 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM 107.5 Witness History from the BBC World Service brings together some incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring. Segments include: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, American new pioneer Dorothy Butler Gilliam, NASA’s pioneering black women, and more.

Dating While Gray: Older Bodies and Brains in Love Sunday, February 13 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM 107.5 Young adults don’t have exclusive rights to romance and sexual desire. But the brains and bodies of older people remain under-represented in narratives about love, so it’s easy to forget that intimacy doesn’t end after 50. Hear from single 50 year olds who share their thoughts, as well as experts including noted anthropologist Helen Fisher; sex journalist Michael Castleman, author of “Sizzling Sex for Life: Everything You Need to Know to Maximize Erotic Pleasure at Any Age”; and Dr. Arthur Burnett, whose original research helped lead to the development of Viagra.

Afropop Worldwide Saturdays at 2 p.m. on WRUR-FM 88.5 This Peabody award-winning radio program is dedicated to music from Africa and the African diaspora. Hosted by George Collinet, the weekly radio show takes you to dynamic music capitals to meet the leading stars as well as emerging artists. Live concert recordings of world-class artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Cesaria Evora, Gilberto Gil, Baaba Maal, Kanda Bongo Man, and others are also featured on the program. Photo: Host George Collinet, Credit: afropop.org

Selected Shorts: Celebrating Toni Morrison Sunday, February 20 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM 107.5 Guest host New York Times bestselling author Tayari Jones celebrates Toni Morrison, the American master who died in 2019. Morrison’s novels have become an indelible part of the American canon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also an editor, advocate, teacher, and mother. Photo: Toni Morrison, Credit: Michael Lionstar

Support public media. Become a WXXI Member! Whether it’s television, radio, online, or on screen, WXXI is there with the programs, news, and information — where you want it and when you want it. If you value PBS, NPR, PBS Kids, WXXI News, WXXI Classical, and so much more, consider becoming a member. Visit WXXI.org/support to choose the membership that works for you. There are many membership levels with their own special benefits, including becoming a sustaining member.

y a D s ’ e n i t Valen creening S

Apart

6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7 • FREE screening

XOXO

Punch Drunk Love: 20-year anniversary screening 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14 “I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.” A socially awkward and volatile small business owner (Adam Sandler) meets the love of his life (Emily Watson) after being threatened by a gang of scammers. It’s a story of love, passion, and pudding. Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002 masterpiece also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman in an electrifying performance.

Black Cinema Series

Three unforgettable formerly incarcerated mothers, jailed for drug-related charges, fight to overcome alienation—and a society that labels them “felons”—to readjust to life with their families.

Teenage M utant Nin 7:30 p.m. Sa turday, Feb . 12

ja Turtles (1990)

The Black Cinema Series — a collaboration between the Rochester Association of Black Journalists (RABJ) — honors the late icon and trailblazing Oscar winner, Sidney Poitier.

A WARM DECEMBER 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11 About the movie: On a trip to London with his daughter (Yvette Curtis) for some dirtbike races, Dr. Matt Younger (Sidney Poitier) meets beautiful dignitary Catherine Oswandu (Esther Anderson) and quickly falls for her. But something is amiss -- strange men seem to be following her wherever she goes, and Younger assumes she’s at the center of some political intrigue. His heart sinks when he learns that she has sickle cell anemia, and the men are watchdogs in the employ of her anxious father (Earl Cameron).

Cowabunga! The Little’s Pizza-Popcorn Club concludes with a nostalgic blast of Turtle Power. Try The Little’s special pizzaflavored popcorn as you watch Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo battle their nemesis, Shredder. Tickets available at thelittle.org and the box office.

thelittle . org

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS CALENDAR For up-to-date information on protocols, vaccination and mask requirements, and performance cancellations, consult the websites of individual venues.

[ OPENING ] ART EXHIBITS Arts Center of Yates County, 127 Main St. Penn Yan. Pastel Society of Western New York. Feb. 14-March 26. Reception Feb 20, 3-5pm. (315) 5368226.

Cobblestone Arts Center, 1622 NY 332. Jason Dorofy. Feb. 25-April 11. Reception Mar 4, 5-7pm. 398-0220. The Dove, 465 Exchange St. Geneva. Emily Kenas: Fragments, Provincetown to Geneva, 1982-2022. Feb. 5-March 5. thedoveblockproject.org. Flower City Arts Center, 713 Monroe Ave. Ageless Foundations: Rocks | Gone Retro. Feb. 4-26. flowercityarts. org.

Hartnett Gallery, UR Wilson Commons, River Campus. Sandra Brewster: Precious Sense. Feb. 2-19. 275-4188.

International Art Acquisitions, 3300 Monroe Ave. Kaoru Mansour: Hikari to Shokubutsu. Feb. 1-March 31. 2641440. Main Street Arts, 20 W Main St. Clifton Springs. Jennifer Hecker & Juan Perdiguero: Relics of the Here and Now. Feb. 26-April 7. Reception Feb 26, 3pm. mainstreetartscs.org.

Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave. 276-8900. Sky Hopinka: Memories of Movement. Feb. 8-July 17.

RIT Bevier Gallery, 90 Lomb Memorial Dr., Booth Bldg 7A. Anna Ballarian Visiting Artist Series. Feb. 10-March 9. Fall 2021/Spring 2022: Letha Wilson. 475-2646. RIT City Art Space, 280 East Main St. BRINK: Photographs by David Butow. Feb. 4-20. cityartspace.rit.edu.

Rochester Contemporary Art Center, 137 East Ave. A Change is Coming | Come Out & Play | Erica Bryant: 40/40 Vision. Feb. 4-March 12, 6-9 p.m. $2. 461-2222.

[ CONTINUING ] ART EXHIBITS Anthony Mascioli Gallery, Central Library, 115 South Ave. Punjab: Land of Five Rivers. Through March 5.

Barnes & Noble, 3349 Monroe Ave. Penfield Art Association Winter Art Show & Sale. Through Feb. 26. 586-6020.

Geisel Gallery, Legacy Tower 2nd Floor Rotunda, One Bausch & Lomb Place. Ya’qub Shabazz Upendo Mkuu (A Love Supreme). Through Feb. 26. thegeiselgallery.com.

George Eastman Museum, 900 East Ave. eastman.org. Digitized Films from the Collection: Two-color Kodachrome (to Mar 27); James Tylor: From an Untouched Landscape (to Jun 5); Joshua Rashaad McFadden: I Believe I’ll Run On (to Jun 19). Ongoing. $7$18.

Image City Photography Gallery, 722 University Ave. Gil Maker & Don

DANCE EVENTS

Menges: Inside Out. Through Feb. 20. 271-2540.

Sat., March 5, 8 p.m. Theater at Innovation Square, 131 Chestnut St. rochestercityballet.org. Ignite: NTID Dance Performance. Fri., Feb. 11, 8 p.m., Sat., Feb. 12, 2 & 8 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 13, 2 p.m. Panara Theatre, 52 Lomb Memorial Dr. 4756254.

INeRT PReSS, 1115 East Main St., Suite 205. Selected Prints by Frederick Richardson from the online exhibit. Through Mar. 31. inertpress.com. Main Street Arts, 20 W Main St. Clifton Springs. Mirabo Press: Making Space. Through Feb. 17. mainstreetartscs.org.

Mercer Gallery, MCC, 1000 E. Henrietta Rd. Nate Hodge: Anarchitecture

Carmen. Fri., March 4, 8 p.m. and

Vision of Sound: New Music with Modern Dance. Nazareth College Linehan

Studies. Through Feb. 17. 292-2021.

Chapel, 4245 East Ave. 389-2700. Sun., Feb. 27, 2 p.m.

Nazareth College Arts Center Gallery, 4245 East Ave. Print Club of

THEATER

Rochester: 91st Annual Members Exhibition. Through March 6. www2. naz.edu/events.

Nazareth College Colacino Gallery, 4245 East Ave. Kelly Hanning & Talia Ryan: Panic and Projection. Through March 6. www2.naz.edu/arts-center.

Ontario County Historical Society Museum, 55 N. Main St., Canandaigua. Our Family Companions: The History of Pets in Ontario County. Through April 30. ocarts.org. Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery, 71 S Main St. Canandaigua. Emerging Artists & Their Mentors. Through March 1. prrgallery. com.

RIT University Gallery, Booth Hall, 166 Lomb Memorial Dr. Through a Contemporary Lens: Lella Vignelli’s Jewelry for San Lorenzo. Through March 4. 475-2866. Studio 402, 250 N Goodman St. Lost & Found: Self-Portraits 2022. Through Feb. 12.

FILM Little Theatre, 240 East Ave. Beyond the Fold: Journalism on Screen. Feb 10, 7 p.m.: “Shattered Glass” (2003). $7-$12. thelittle.org/beyond-the-fold. Smith Opera House, 82 Seneca St. Geneva. Geneva Downtown Film Festival. Fri., Feb. 11, 7 p.m. thesmith. org.

READINGS & SPOKEN WORD Blackstorytelling League of Rochester. Sat., Feb. 12, 10:30 a.m. Pittsford Community Library, 24 State St Pittsford 248-6275.

COMEDY Anthony Rodia. Feb. 25-26, 7 & 9 p.m. and Sat., Feb. 26, 5 p.m. Comedy @ the Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd $30/$40. 426-6339. Comedy Date Night. Fri., Feb. 11, 7 p.m. Cobblestone Arts Center, 1622 NY 332. $24 & up. Mrs. Kasha Davis, Madelein Smith, Rochester City Ballet. 398-0220 Marlon Wayans. Thu., Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 18-19, 7 & 9:30 p.m. Comedy @ the Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd $40/$52.50. 426-6339.

8th Bronze Collective Theatre Fest: Rising From The Muck & Mire. Feb. 17-19, 7:30 p.m. and Sat., Feb. 19, 2 p.m. MuCCC, 142 Atlantic Ave $5/$15. muccc.org. Betsy Carmichael’s Bingo Palace. Sun., Feb. 13, 2 p.m. OFC Creations Theater Center, 3450 Winton Pl $35/$50. ofccreations.com. Champions of Magic. Wed., Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. Auditorium Theatre, 885 E. Main St. $38-$78. rbtl.org. Company. March 3-4, 7:30 p.m. and March 5-6, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Century Club, 566 East Ave $35+. Constellations. Tuesdays-Sundays Geva Theatre, 75 Woodbury Blvd Feb 2-20 $35+. gevatheatre.org. Deaf Play Creators Festival. Feb. 25-27. NTID, 52 Lomb Mem. Dr. ntid.rit.edu. Hitmakers: Welcome to the 70s. Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays JCC Hart Theatre, 1200 Edgewood Ave. Feb 5-20. Live captioned Feb 20, 2pm $20-$35. 461-2000. How to Catch Creation. TuesdaysSundays Geva Theatre, 75 Woodbury Blvd Feb 22-Mar 20 $25+. gevatheatre.org. My Fair Lady. Feb. 22-24, 7:30-10 p.m., Fri., Feb. 25, 8 p.m., Sat., Feb. 26, 2 & 8 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 27, 1 & 6:30 p.m. Auditorium Theatre, 885 E. Main St. $38-$98. rbtl.org. Please Continue. Fridays, 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, 7:30 p.m., Sun., Feb. 6, 2 p.m. and Thu., Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m MuCCC, 142 Atlantic Ave Feb 4-12. Out of Pocket Inc $13-$20. muccc.org. Speech & Debate. Feb. 25-26, 7:30 p.m., Sun., Feb. 27, 2 p.m. and March 3-5, 7:30 p.m. Tower Fine Arts, 180 Holley St Brockport $9/$17. 395-2787.

That Golden Girls Show: A Puppet Parody. Sat., Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. Kodak Center, 200 W. Ridge Rd. $32-$42. kodakcenter.com/events.

Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. Thursdays-Sundays Blackfriars Theatre, 795 E. Main St Jan 28-Feb 13 $30.50-$36.50. 454-1260. The Vagina Monologues. Feb. 24-26, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 27, 2 p.m. MuCCC, 142 Atlantic Ave Aspie Works $10/$12. muccc.org.

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roccitynews.com CITY 27

ARTS

ROUNDUP

ACCUSED WOULD-BE MAG ART THIEF FACES NEW CHARGE The people have upped the stakes in their case against George Haag, the accused would-be art thief who is alleged to have tried to steal a photograph from an Andy Warhol exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery in January 2021. Haag, 38, last year refused a plea deal from Monroe County prosecutors to move his case to mental health court, which provides treatment for non-violent offenders living with mental illness, as an alternative to trial and potential incarceration. At the time, he stood accused of grand larceny in the second degree, a felony that carries a maximum seven-year prison term, for allegedly attempting to take a portrait of Warhol by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe valued at $60,000 out of the museum. After the plea deal fell apart, his case was presented to a grand jury, which tacked on an additional charge of third-degree burglary, a felony that also carries a potential seven years in prison. Prosecutors said during his arraignment in January that the new charge was related to Haag apparently not paying to enter the museum the day of his alleged crime. They sought to have him jailed pending the posting of $5,000 bail. State Supreme Court Justice Alex Renzi rejected the bail application and scheduled Haag to return to court on Feb. 23. In an interview with CITY last year, Haag acknowledged removing the Mapplethorpe portrait from the wall at the MAG, but explained that he set it down in another room of the exhibit before leaving the museum because he thought it would look better elsewhere. - DAVID ANDREATTA 28 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

Enveloped by ‘Beyond Van Gogh’

BY JEFF SPEVAK

@JEFFSPEVAK1

JSPEVAK@WXXI.ORG

ere was the big question for retired RIT professor Roy Berns, as he visited the “Beyond Van Gogh” exhibit last summer: Would this exhibit — housed in a giant, circus-like tent in a Buffalo mall parking lot — be a little corny? A carnival ride through the work of one of the major artists of the 19th century? “I was wondering if I would be kind of jaded about it,” Bern says. “Like, ‘Oh, you should see the real paintings, blah, blah, blah.’ “But no, I thought it was a great way to have people experience his art. And maybe with the world being so internet- and animation-driven, this would draw in people.” Here in Rochester, you can see one of Van Gogh’s actual prints at the Memorial Art Gallery: an 1890 etching, “Portrait of Dr. Gachet.” But when “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” opens Feb. 4 at The Dome Arena in Henrietta, it will be a different kind of Van Gogh

The immersive art exhibition “Beyond Van Gogh” is on view at The Dome Arena in Henrietta from Feb. 4 through March 20. PHOTOS PROVIDED

experience. Huge walls of projected color, with some of the works in his immediately recognizable style disassembled to demonstrate how Van Gogh created them. There are also interesting, computer-generated graphics, such as petals falling from a flowering tree,

that go beyond Van Gogh. Bern, who lives in Pittsford, held a title at Rochester Institute of Technology that would stress out any business card: the Richard S. Hunter Professor of Color Science, Appearance, and Technology. He recognizes the lesser-known, more-

A NEW DUNWOODY DISPLAYED AT MAG

traditional, early works of Van Gogh that are presented in the exhibit. Yet Bern also sees “Beyond Van Gogh” shedding new light on the familiar. “I knew ‘Starry Night’ would be kind of a big thing,” he says of Van Gogh’s best-known painting, “because it has so much movement in the painting.” Indeed, the piece works perfectly in this setting. We see that movement, with huge whorls of thick brush strokes seemingly caught in the gravitational pull of the stars. “Beyond Van Gogh” demonstrates the artist’s departure from the traditional dark palette of his fellow Dutch contemporaries. “When he moved to Paris and started hanging out with some of the Impressionists, that’s where he threw away the use of black,” Bern says. “So he stopped using black, and that’s where his palette started to get so much more vibrant.” Bern agrees that not every artist fits this format of exploding light and imagery. Norman Rockwell, no. But the paint-splash abstraction of Jackson Pollock, yes. And “Beyond Monet,” a similar exploration of the French Impressionist, has already opened in Toronto, and will be touring the United States this year. Some visitors to the Buffalo exhibit, Bern says, went through it like they were eating from a bag of potato chips. Others, he says, took their time, “really trying to soak it in.” Listening to the calming, New Age music, and allowing themselves to be drawn into Van Gogh’s world. Immersed in the immersive experience. “I kept going to different parts of the space and just sitting on one of those benches,” Bern says. “And just experiencing it.” “Beyond Van Gogh” runs through March 20 at The Dome Arena.

A new, massive painting by artist and community arts organizer Shawn Dunwoody is on display in the firstfloor Cameros Gallery at the Memorial Art Gallery. Departing from his usual brightly-hued and uplifting murals, the new four-panel piece, titled “Unfinished Business,” is stark and serious in tone. Energetic, black brushstrokes illustrate scenes drawn from photos from Rochester’s civil rights uprisings in 1964 and 2020. Those scenes flank a central self-portrait of Dunwoody painting his all-caps “ENOUGH” mural on Scio Street in 2020. Back then, Dunwoody tweeted a photo of it with the comment: “400+ years have been enough. Hopefully some can start to see the truth #blacklivesmatter.” “It’s really just trying to find those moments to tell the story of the same shit that’s still going on,” Dunwoody says of his new work. “Nothing’s really changed.” Completed in the early months of 2021, “Unfinished Business” is a reflection on the death of Daniel Prude at the hands of Rochester police, and the unrest that erupted when the details of his death came to light. The painting was originally displayed as part of “Black Lives Matter, a Sanctuary for Daniel Prude” at The Black House, an art space on Tremont Street, where MAG Director Jonathan Binstock saw it in May. He recommended that MAG curators take a look at the work. “Unfinished Business” shares the room with a portrait of the city’s namesake and slave owner, Nathaniel Rochester, the maquette for contemporary artist Alison Saar’s “Swing Low” sculpture of Harriett Tubman, and early paintings of the Genesee Valley region. Jessica Marten, the museum’s curator of American art, says placing the work amid the collections of 19th-century American art made sense because it depicts Rochester’s history. “This is an historic moment that he’s captured,” she says. “And it was his intention to look back at 1964 and at 2020, and reflect on what’s the same, what hasn’t changed over that time.” “Unfinished Business” will remain on view at the MAG through August. — BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

‘A CHANGE IS COMING’ AT ROCO There are two not-to-be-missed shows in February at Rochester Contemporary Art Center. In the main gallery is “A Change is Coming,” featuring three contemporary artists who use their print-based work to respond to concerns about equity and sustainability. St. Louis, Missouri-based artist Julia Curran’s experiences of dealing with an autoimmune disease has informed the vibrant, mixed-media compositions she makes, which often depict whole bodies — or just organs, bones, or other fragments — in natural environments. RoCo says her work serves as a way to process and communicate her “fascination with what it means to be in touch with one’s body in a disembodied culture, our presumption of agency over flesh, and the interconnectedness of our internal and shared environments.” Texas-based Philippine-American printmaker and muralist Kill Joy’s interests in mythology, nature, and memento mori symbolism blend in striking lino-cut explorations of reverence for the earth and calls for action in environmental and social justice. Her work is rooted in the aesthetics of traditional Mexican protest posters, and she’s a member of the pro-environment, pro-immigrant artist collective Just Seeds. South Korea-born artist and University of Rochester professor Mizin Shin is an internationally-renowned printmaker whose “network models” reflect the interdependency of manufacturing, production, and consumption systems. Her work is presented in various forms, from posters to video work, sculpture, and more immersive installations. The exhibition will include Shin’s current print campaign ‘Use Your Voice #StopAsianHate,’ which she began in response to rising hate crimes. The venue will host a screen print workshop on Feb. 12. in which participants can make and take home signs from the artist’s campaign collection to put up in their communities. Proceeds will be donated to Asian and Pacific Islander organizations. In RoCo’s LAB Space is “40/40 Vision,” a collection of collages that share the mid-life inner world of former Democrat and Chronicle journalist and artist Erica Bryant. Upon turning 40, Bryant began to create a series of 40 collages that document and explore 40 dreams, as a self-created rite-of-passage into the next stage of her life. The scenes are strange and engaging, and built with a keen blend of texture and depth. Both shows open Friday, Feb. 4, 6 to 9 p.m., and remain on view through March 12. — BY REBECCA RAFFERTY roccitynews.com roccitynews.org CITY 29

ARTS

TASTEMAKERS

Curators do much more than select the art that goes on the walls. It’s all in a day’s work for Bleu Cease, Almudena Escobar López, Amanda Chestnut, and Erich Lehman, who participated in interviews for the second season of CITY’s art/WORK series. Inset: One Take Film Festival Director Linda Moroney. PHOTO BY KATIE EPNER

THE PEOPLE WHO BRING ART TO THE PEOPLE What does it mean to curate art, and who’s doing it? BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

@RSRAFFERTY

ear to year, Rochester’s arts calendar is packed with gallery exhibitions, film festivals, concerts in every genre of music, and diverse seasons of theatrical performances by professional and community companies. But even the most ardent patron of the arts can be oblivious to what it took to bring the art to the fore and the people behind the curtain. “It’s very much that duck above the water that seems all calm and tranquil, but under the water there’s all this kicking around, splashing,” Linda Moroney, the festival director for the four-day One Take Film Festival, says of curating. 30 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

BECCA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

Moroney is one of more than a dozen curators — people who form the bridges between artists and audiences — who sat for interviews about what they do for the second season of CITY’s art/WORK series. The series is now available to stream at artworkroc.com. So, what does being a curator entail? The title brings to mind someone who strolls the hallowed halls of the academic ivory tower, removed from everyday people, hand-selecting cultural artifacts thought to represent them at one time or another. But the reality of the role today is much more immersed in personal artistic passion as well

as consideration for the audiences that curators share this passion with. “My life really revolves around film,” says Moroney, who is also a co-founder of the Rochester Teen Film Festival and screens documentaries monthly at The Little Theatre. “It’s kind of our family store, it’s what we discuss around the dinner table every evening with our kids — shot composition, sound, music. You can’t just have an opinion if it’s good or bad, you need to be able to come to the table and back up your reasoning.” Yes, curators have the privilege of choosing what paintings, theatrical productions, films, and musicians to present to audiences.

But that comes with administrative and logistical headaches. They secure the legal rights to plays or films and insurance to protect artwork and performers. They book flights and hotels for

visiting artists and filmmakers. They organize artist talkbacks and other events. They write programs. They make sure artists get paid. They have been known to shovel snow from the walkways before performances. Then, of course, there is the mad hustle to get audiences to show and the daunting responsibility of convincing them why they should care. Sure, art entertains. But it can also be an entry point to productive conversations about social and political matters. It can give voice to people and entire communities that have been disregarded as the “other.” It can bring adversaries to the same table. “Witness Palestine’s goal is to describe the human rights abuses in Israel-Palestine,” says Jim Tiefenthal, co-founder of the Witness Palestine Film Festival, which since 2012 has screened four to six documentary and narrative films each October. Tiefenthal has no background in cinema and fell into the role of being a curator from a sense of urgency to disseminate information about what he felt was an under-examined side of a conflict. Some curators followed an academic path to their career. Among them is the archivist and curator of media arts at the Memorial Art Gallery, Almudena Escobar López, who is a doctoral candidate in the Visual and Culture Studies program at the University of Rochester. In her work, López focuses on showcasing video art that strives to tell a more complete picture of human identity and experience than other types of exhibits. She was responsible for the MAG’s 2019 presentation of the video installation “Giverny

There are many paths to becoming a curator, including the self-forged path. Reenah Golden, founder and artistic director of The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, saw a need to create a space for marginalized voices. PHOTO BY KATIE EPNER

I (NÉGRESSE IMPÉRIALE)” by Ja’Tovia Gary, in which the artist explored belonging and safety for Black people in America. Many curators squeaked into their role because of a need in a particular area. Reenah Golden, founder and artistic director of The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, says she opened the theater in 2018 to create a venue that emphasizes the intersection of Black culture and queer identity, but also one that engages the Joseph Avenue neighborhood and its children. “It’s really a space where we are cultivating community using the arts and culture,” Golden says. “Our main mission here is to create space for the often marginalized voices that

come from those communities.” Crystal Smith, the founder and producer of the streamable performance and talk show, Rap Rhythm & News, created the show in November 2021 after noticing the dearth of places where young hip-hop and R&B artists in the region could perform. “The Rochester area has a hard time booking these types of acts,” she says, alluding to the largely unspoken, but in some cases loud, prejudice against rap shows that stems from a few scattered incidents of violence. Tom DeBlase, co-founder of “Sole Rehab,” works with a variety of venues to host underground queer dance parties. He says he wanted

to give emerging house and techno DJs a way to reach audiences, but also emphasized creating a space for people who identify as queer to express themselves together. “It’s obviously about music, but it’s also about the space,” De Blase says. “I use that term, ‘safe spaces,’ a lot. That’s something that I’m really honored and proud to curate.” He says the feedback he’s received — “This is the first time I danced with somebody of the same sex” and “This is the first time I wore something that made me feel sexy” — is what keeps him producing these events. “Getting to be part of that personal experience of growth,” he says, “there’s nothing better than that.”

CURATION + CONVERSATION + CULTURE =

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NEW MUSIC REVIEWS

the band presents is genuine, and how much is a put-on? Armbruster sounded sincere on the rock ballad “Like a Kennedy,” from the band’s 2020 record “Possession”: Are they gonna bomb us all? I don’t know/ Do you think they’ll build a wall? I don’t know/ Do you think they’ll take it all? I don’t know/ I just want to be fat and old — and happy.

“CLEANSE” BY JOYWAVE Irony is a difficult sword to wield, but Joywave — the hometown hero of indie rock — has been swinging it with a vengeance since its debut full-length album “How Do You Feel Now?” was released by Hollywood Records in 2005. Joywave songs are glossy, wellcrafted, and loaded with tasty ear candy. The music is undeniably catchy, but it’s also unsettling, especially if you’re paying attention to the lyrics, which often center on the struggle for connection and fulfillment in a disposable culture fraught with distractions and superficiality. On Joywave’s new album “Cleanse” — released digitally on Feb. 11 and on vinyl Feb. 25 via Cultco/Hollywood Records — the band settles more deeply into anthemic pop and takes the edge off its forked tongue, even while it’s still firmly planted in its collective cheek. The album’s fourth track, “Cyn City 2000,” with its space-synth hooks, is a clear indicator. As frontman Daniel Armbruster flatly states, “I don’t want to be cynical.” If that’s the case, he’s going against his own track record. Armbruster’s songwriting has always been an acknowledgement that pop music can dull the senses and lull listeners into a false sense of security and apathy. But Joywave’s music can also be effective at doing just that. And that irony seems fitting for a band that perpetually straddles the line between critiquing culture and being complicit in its shortcomings. Armbruster seems completely aware of this contradiction, however. On the title track from the 2017 album “Content,” he makes no distinction between insight and apathy, and he comes to a scary self-realization: I’m searching for the difference between what content and content can bring/ Maybe they’re no different ’cause they look the same/ Maybe I’m just an algorithm with a given name. Joywave is clearly skilled at satirical hipster schtick, but the music can be bloodless at times. How much of what 32 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

That sentiment seems to have lingered with Armbruster, guitarist Joseph Morinelli, and drummer Paul Brenner as they made “Cleanse,” and shed some of their deadpanned, dark humor in favor of a resilient optimism. This shift in attitude shows up in the music, too. “Cleanse” embraces danceable pop drenched in electronic keyboards and upbeat guitar rhythms. The band’s indebtedness to ’80s soft rock is obvious on songs such as “Pray for the Reboot” and “Buy American,” which set the tone for the rest of the album. In tender moments, Armbruster’s singing possesses a delicate beauty akin to that of Tom Chaplin’s vocals for Britpop-piano rockers Keane. But Joywave’s deceptively skilled singer also has fleeting moments of pop bombast, bringing to mind the ecstatic, Queeninspired singer-songwriter Mika. At times, even Joywave’s guitar riffs seem like twice-removed cousins of Brian May’s solos. But if there’s one band in whose footsteps Armbruster and company seems to be following, however inadvertent it may be, it’s The Killers. Joywave’s penchant for arena rock is nothing new, but the band has streamlined its sound with leaner arrangements and less angular guitar licks, especially on such tunes as “Every Window Is a Mirror” and “The Inversion.” The resulting music smoothes out Joywave’s purposefully jagged edges from previous albums, opting for straight-ahead drum rhythms and sing-along choruses begging to be shouted by large crowds. With “Cleanse,” Joywave has absolved itself of its biggest sin: selfindulgent cleverness. In the past, Armbruster’s addiction to sardonic wit came at the expense of emotional honesty. He and the band might finally be kicking the habit. — BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER

“LBMA PT. 2,” “RARE,” AND “MEANT NOTHING” BY ISAIAH There seems to be a typical format for the majority of the songs gracing the Billboard Hot 100 chart. From country

to hip-hop to rock ‘n’ roll, popular songs tend to overdo the auto-tune, have a monotonous delivery, and little to separate one artist from the next. It can be hard to find artists who still focus on organic vocal sounds and somewhat unorthodox structures, while still meeting the industry standards. Rochester singer-songwriter and producer Isaiah Franchuk, aka Isaiah, has managed to keep up with the times by infusing his own distinct flavor into his music. It’s obvious that there are some ear-catching vocal enhancements in his songs, but they’re artfully done. Hints of faint echo and reverb can be heard in songs such as “LBMA pt.2,” “Rare,” and “Meant nothing,” which were all released on major streaming platforms in 2021. Isaiah’s lyrics depict an openhearted, if vulnerable man who falls in love effortlessly, but tends to be indecisive with his emotions at times. He self-produces his songs, laying down more live instrumentation as opposed to digitally produced beats, and relying less on technologically-enhanced vocal tuning. Isaiah’s 2021 singles demonstrate he isn’t afraid to take risks and to buck standard pop song convention when it comes to studio production, and if the music is any indication, it should pay off for him moving forward. — BY GEARY ANN LEWIN

“SELFISH PROPHECIES” BY FALSE POCKETS The six songs on Rochester math-rock band False Pockets’s debut EP in 2019 contained a mere 50 words. But the music was no less potent for it, with intricate rhythms and processed guitar lines filling the space typically occupied by vocal melodies.

at all,” he breathlessly sings on the opening track, “No Multiple of Mine.” Call it making up for lost time. To that end, “Selfish Prophecies” surges with urgency. Happ is aided by bassist (and mixing engineer) Zack Parker and drummer Ben Chesnes, who do much more than just create a solid foundation for Happ’s guitar explorations. Their interlocking, stuttering rhythms are essential in making “You WANT It Crusty?” in particular so memorable. Try tapping along with your foot and you might get dizzy. Each piece of this power trio feels integral to its whole sound, and all three members’ synchronized movements and shifting time signatures make the tempo change-ups on songs like “Quarter Life Crisis Diapers” and “Goldfish That I Won at Carnivals” hit like caffeine jolts. Math rock can occasionally be too clever for its own good. Thankfully, False Pockets roots every song in tensionand-release instead of showy musical equations. Chunkier passages on the excellently titled “Maybe If My Name Were Raymond More People Would Love Me,” for example, follow gentler breakdowns that allow the band’s energy to build. The band’s reliance on dynamics finds the music dipping into progressive rock just as often as it takes cues from the limber, twinkling guitar work of 1990s Midwestern emo bands. But broadly, “Selfish Prophecies” doesn’t quite sound like anything else. Near the blistering end of “Shellfish Profits, Lee,” Happ’s throat-shredding yells almost become an additional layer of distortion. “What did I do to deserve such a treatment?” he suddenly roars. It must be the price to pay for finally being heard. — BY PATRICK HOSKEN

But “Selfish Prophecies,” the trio’s new album due out Feb. 18, finds guitarist and vocalist Erik Happ getting downright verbose, even if he does so reluctantly. “I don’t like to feel like I’m bragging or even talk about myself roccitynews.org CITY 33

ABOUT TOWN For up-to-date information on protocols, vaccination and mask requirements, and performance cancellations, consult the websites of individual venues.

LECTURES

African American Abstract Art in New York during the 1960s & 1970s. Mon.,

Feb. 28, 6 p.m. Virtual Central Library, roccitylibrary.org Cynthia Hawkins, Ph.D, Director & Curator, Lederer Gallery, SUNY Geneseo.

The Douglass Women: Another Look at Anna Murray & Rosetta. Thu., Feb. 10, 5

p.m. 540WMain, 540westmain.org .

Elsa Von Blumen: Bicyclist & Suffragette. Sun., Feb. 20, 2 p.m.

Pittsford Community Library, 24 State St Pittsford 248-6275.

Migration, Passage, Displacement: Black & Native Cultural Production in Relation. Wed., Feb. 9, noon. UR Rush

Rhees Library, 755 Library Rd Sawyer Seminar series. Humanities Center Conference Room D 275-5804.

Monroe County Bicentennial Reflections. Tue., Feb. 8, 7 p.m. Greece

Public Library, 2 Vince Tofany Blvd. Greece Historical Society.

Needle & Thread: From Sustenance to Activism. Wed., Feb. 9, 6 p.m. Virtual

Central Library, roccitylibrary.org Marjorie Crum, Assoc. Professor of Design, MCC.

Outside Voices: Our Journey, The 46 Unsupported Thru-Hike by Bethany Garretson & Katie Rhodes. Wed., Feb. 9,

7:30 p.m. Online. adk-gvc.org.

Rev Thomas James: The Most WellKnown Abolitionist Preacher in 19th Century America. Sat., Feb. 19, 1 p.m.

Virtual Central Library, roccitylibrary.org . Science on the Edge. Rochester Museum & Science Center, 657 East Ave. (rmsc.org) Dr. Albert Uy, Survival of the Fittest & Sexiest $3-$15. science-on-theedge-lectures.

Seldens Seldom Remembered: An Illustrious Family of Groundbreakers & Innovators. Sat., Feb. 12, 10:30 a.m.

Virtual Central Library, roccitylibrary.org .

Tuesday Topics. Tuesdays, noon.

Virtual Central Library, ffrpl.libraryweb. org/programs/tuesday-topics. Feb 8: Children’s Literacy (Tonia Burton, Children's Services Library Consultant); Feb 15: Jobs & the Economy (Jennifer Byrnes, Business Insight Center Director); Feb 22: Repairing the Historical Record through Community Collaboration (Christine Ridarsky, City Historian). Registration required. Winter Walking Tour. Sat., Feb. 26, 11 a.m. Mount Hope Cemetery, 1133 Mt Hope Ave. $12. fomh.org.

KIDS EVENTS

13 the Musical. Fri., Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m., Sat., Feb. 12, 2 & 7:30 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 13, 2 p.m. A Magical Journey Thru Stages, 875 E Main St $12. mjtstages. com. Beauty & the Beast. Fri., Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Sat., Feb. 19, 3 & 7 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 20, 3 p.m. OFC Creations Theater Center, 3450 Winton Pl $15. ofccreations.com. Charlotte’s Web. Fridays, 7 p.m., Saturdays, 3 & 7 p.m. and Sundays, 3 p.m OFC Creations Theater Center, 3450 Winton Pl Jan 28-Feb 6 $10/$20. ofccreations.com. 34 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

Curiosity Campout. Sat., Feb. 5, 9-11:30

a.m. Strasenburgh Planetarium, 657 East Ave $25. rmsc.org. Edgerton Model Railroad Open House. Last Saturday of every month, 11 a.m.2 p.m Edgerton Community Center, 41 Backus St 428-6769. Fairy Tale Forest. Feb. 12-13, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Strong National Museum of Play, 1 Manhattan Sq. (museumofplay.org) W/ museum admission: $18/$23. Harlem Globetrotters. Sat., Feb. 5, 2 p.m. Blue Cross Arena, One War Memorial Sq $22+. bluecrossarena.com.

Pirates! The Quest for Blackbeard's Treasure. Sun., Feb. 20, 2 p.m.

Hochstein Performance Hall, 50 N. Plymouth Ave. Rocheester Philharmonic Orchestra. $10/$20. Scooby-Doo & The Lost City of Gold. Sat., Feb. 19, 7 p.m. Kodak Center, 200 W. Ridge Rd. $36.50 & up. kodakcenter. com/events. Stuffed Animal Pet Show. Wed., Feb. 23, 11 a.m. Penfield Public Library, 1985 Baird Rd. Ages 3-8 340-8720.

RECREATION

The 37th Lakeside Winterfest Celebration & Polar Plunge. Sat., Feb.

5, 12-4 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 6, noon. Ontario Beach Park, 4799 Lake Ave cityofrochester.gov/wintercelebration. Coffee & Stargazing. Sat., Feb. 5, 6:30-9 p.m. Tinker Nature Park, 1525 Calkins Rd 359-7044. Full Moon Ski. Sat., Feb. 12, 5-7:30 p.m. Cumming Nature Center, 6472 Gulick Rd. rmsc.org. Nature Sundays. Sundays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m Genesee Country Nature Center, 1410 Flint Hill Rd Mumford $5/$10. gcv.org. NordicFest. Sat., Feb. 12, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cumming Nature Center, 6472 Gulick Rd. $5. rmsc.org. Owl Moon. Fridays, Saturdays Genesee Country Village & Museum, 1410 Flint Hill Rd Mumford Hikes every 15 minutes, 6-7:45pm $15. gcv.org. Weekend Wild Walks. Saturdays, Sundays, 10:30 a.m Cumming Nature Center, 6472 Gulick Rd. $4. rmsc.org.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Dutch Connection. Feb. 4-27. In Focus: Behind the Scenes, Feb 12, noon George Eastman Museum, 900 East Ave. eastman.org Annual floral display $7-$18.

1972

2022

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Let’s celebrate another year in the books! Saturday, Feb. 26th 10am to 6pm

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EAT IN

If you don’t feel like getting gussied and heading out into the winter — and crowds — with your valentine, but don’t want to cook, either, consider these take-out options. Pictured: chicken enchiladas from Silver Iguana. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMSON

VALENTINE’S DAY TAKEOUT FOR TWO With the cooking off your plate, all you have to do is create the romance. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

alentine’s Day is notoriously busy for restaurants, with tables booked weeks in advance and dining rooms packed tight. If you can’t get a table or are looking for an alternative, consider staying in and having an intimate dinner courtesy of the take-out options many restaurants offer on or around the holiday. With cooking off your plate, all you have to do is create the romance. 36 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

@RSRAFFERTY

BECCA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

This year, Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday, a day of the week when many restaurants are closed. We’re spotlighting places that are open. So clear off the dining room table (which you may or may not be using as a home office), light some candles, and pretend you never saw those takeout containers. If you’re not coupled up, call your bestie or treat yourself to dinner and delicious leftovers.

FOR SEAFOOD LOVERS For some people, romantic occasions and seafood are a natural mate — there’s that whole widely-accepted yet unproven assertion that some shellfish, particularly oysters, act as aphrodisiacs. It almost doesn’t matter whether that’s true — placebo effect can be a hell of a thing. The winter menu at Redd (24 Winthrop St., reddrochester.com) has you covered through multiple courses, featuring meaty treats from the sea paired with delectable earthy

flavors that will brighten up a dull winter night. To start, choose between the flavorful tuna tartare with apple mustard vinaigrette, avocado, Asian pear, and fried rice ($16) or Maine lobster risotto with lemon, truffle oil, and watercress ($21). The seafood mains include the tantalizing caramelized scallops served with cauliflower, capers, raisins, and almonds ($18/$36 shared) or a hearty, warming salmon dish with farro,

turnip, shiitake mushrooms, and ginger-garlic broth ($34). Redd’s eclectic menu also includes a variety of wood-fired pizzas, duck leg confit, mesquite-grilled steak, pasta dishes, hearty sides, and more. TACO MONDAY There aren’t a lot of non-chain places in Rochester where you can get a taco on a Monday, which is why we’re giving you a couple of openon-Mondays options to keep in mind (information that’s useful beyond the day of your amorous feast). And yes, this fare is known to make the gut gurgle, but if you and your partner can’t stand a little gas between you, are you really that close? The takeout menu at Silver Iguana (663 N. Winton Rd., silveriguanacantina.com) has something for everyone, including tacos filled with old-school ground beef tacos, seafood, portobello mushrooms, or Brussels sprouts. The restaurant also offers salads, chicken wings, and daily specials. For the sweetest of days, we recommend the Cowboy Candy, which includes carne asada, pico de gallo, house-made chimichurri, shredded jack cheese, and tequila candied jalapeños ($6 each). All tacos are made with flour tortillas, and range from $4 to $6 a piece. For dessert, don’t miss the cinnamon-y, chocolatey, caramelly churros ($7), and consider the variety of margaritas on the cocktails-to-go menu, because what is a meal of tacos without a margarita, anyway? Ox and Stone (282 Alexander St., oxandstone.com) has an impressive take-out menu worthy of any special occasion. Kick things off with the smoked trout dip, accompanied by chives, dill, and lemon, and served with salt and vinegar chips ($13). The tacos come family-style with either corn or flour tortillas, meat, and fixings. A highlight of that menu is the al pastor tacos, featuring spitroasted pork shoulder, pineapple, and jalapeños ($24). For entrees, you can get burgers, oxtail ragu, and classic paella, but the menu also features some pretty unique flavor pairings, such as the chicken masala enchiladas with jungle curry, cashew crema, herbs, and lime rice ($23).

MEAT ME AT THE KITCHEN TABLE When it comes to dinner on a cozy winter’s night at home, there are few things better than hearty comfort food. You’ve got to place your to-go order at the bar at Lucky’s (628 N. Winton Rd., luckys628.com), but it’s worth stopping in for a cocktail while you wait. (Try the rum, apricot, and lime delight Knock on Wood, $10). Take away the savory lamb kebab, which comes with winter vegetables, hummus, harissa, roasted chickpeas, yogurt, and cilantro ($10); the English sage and onion soup (Lucky’s herby take on a winter classic, served with cheddar cheese, $8); the lemony brick-roasted half chicken with salsa verde ($24); or the divine pork chop paillard, served with root vegetables and mustard vinaigrette ($25). Lighter fare, like salads and sandwiches, are also available. THE WHOLE MEAL, SORTED The special Valentine’s Day takeout menu offered by catering and events business Green Zebra (609 Culver Rd., greenzebracatering.com) is, as owner-chef Lindsay McGrail calls it, “high brow bougie and low-brow yummy.” Couples can pick from three complete-meal options, which will each serve two generously. The beef short rib bourguignon comes with a crispy potato croquette, French green beans, a mini charcuterie box, and a chocolate pot de crème ($120 plus tax). There’s a vegan eggplant bourguignon option for $85. Or choose the boursin stuffed colossal shrimp wrapped in crispy prosciutto with fresh pasta and sautéed broccoli, a mini charcuterie box, and a lemon mousse with berries ($120 plus tax). The third option is a “tricked out” nacho kit with all of the toppings — fresh chips, queso, pico, tomatillo salsa, pickled jalapenos, sour cream, cilantro, and black beans, with your choice of steak, chicken, or vegetarian ($75 plus tax). Order by Feb. 10 through the website; pick up hours on Valentine’s Day are 3 to 5 p.m. 

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SCAN TO LEARN MORE OR VISIT PCHO.ORG

roccitynews.com CITY 37

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QUICK THAW

The vegetation inside The Strong National Museum of Play's Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden makes it easy to forget about the snowdrifts and icy air outside. PHOTO PROVIDED

ESCAPE FROM (WINTER IN) NEW YORK Tropical paradises: These indoor hot spots will keep you warm this winter. BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

@RSRAFFERTY

here’s a Japanese concept called shinrin-yoku that translates in English to mean “forest bathing,” or “taking in the forest atmosphere.” The general idea is that periodically immersing oneself in nature has its benefits, physically and spiritually. Missing from the exercise this time of year, of course, are those dazzling shades of green and the golden warmth that relax the body and mind. While the cold can be invigorating and pretty, it doesn’t evoke visions of paradise. But there are a few oases-like spaces around town that simulate the forest — or jungle, or garden — environment 38 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

BECCA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

in the middle of the winter. Experience colorful blooms, humidity, and signs of life right now. BUTTERFLIES, TURTLES, AND WEE BIRDS, OH MY! The first time I visited The Strong National Museum of Play’s Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden, it was a midwinter day almost a decade ago, and I recall feeling transported from the gross, slushy sidewalks of downtown to a rainforest retreat. The gray skies outside melted away behind the towering greenery climbing the windowed walls of the 1,800-square foot garden and the

condensation caused by the high humidity running down the glass. “The environment is meant to replicate Costa Rica, or the southern tip of Florida,” says Anna BeckerSimpson, supervisor of life collections at The Strong. The temperature is kept between 75 and 80 degrees to make the tropical species of butterflies — the vibrant blue morphos, the paper kites, and the disguise-master owl butterfly — feel at home. But it offers the perfect respite from the frigid winter for people, too. While trying to spot the hundreds of butterflies that dwell in the garden on any given day, look up and around

at the lush greenery. Footpaths guide visitors through trees and ferns that provide nectar for the butterflies, which have been known to alight on the gentlest of visitors. But tread carefully. Sharing the paths are turtles, button quail, and a tortoise, which are all part of the ecosystem, meaning the clean-up crew for any expired butterflies. A chameleon is on site in a sequestered enclosure, and there’s a wall-mounted case filled with various jewel-like, live crysali, the transformative pod stage between caterpillar and butterfly (for those who need to brush up on elementary science).

“It’s just a great chance to warm up and enjoy a piece of nature that we don’t get to see this time of year, especially in the Rochester area,” Becker-Simpson says. “You know, you got these big lamps overhead that are putting out sunlight, essentially. . . . And this gives people a chance to get back to nature, even when nature is currently a little…arctic.” Admission to the Dancing Wings Butterfly Gardens costs $24 for ages 2 and up, is free to kids under 2, and is $4 for museum members. The capacity is limited to 40 people. A MANSION FILLED WITH FLOWERS One of the best things about museums is the casual access they offer to the art and cultural collections of the dead elite — and in some special cases, their homes. An obvious local example is the George Eastman Museum, which showcases not only the institution’s vast and beautifully curated collection of photographic and film ephemera but also the historic mansion and its grounds. You can access the museum yearround, but there are certain times when the staff replicates how Eastman lived in his day. Each February, for instance, spring comes early as parts of the mansion are filled with scores of potted tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, amaryllis, freesias, and other blossoms during the annual “Dutch Connection” special event. Its vibrant hues and heady scents are a feast for the senses. Long before it became fashionable to turn your living quarters into a jungle of houseplants, Eastman understood the benefits of surrounding yourself with growing plants in the middle of winter. The museum explains that between 1905 and his death in 1932, Eastman ordered tens of thousands of bulbs from Holland every year. Inspired by the extensive fields of colorful flowers he noted on a trip to Holland in 1895, he ordered tulip, narcissus, and hyacinth bulbs for indoor forcing and display during the bitter months, as well as tulip bulbs for the outside beds. Eastman’s Landscape Manager Dan Bellavia, who designs the museum’s display of 67 varieties of plants, has even more to say about the event on an audio tour that can be listened to on

Each February the George Eastman Museum presents The Dutch Connection, featuring hundreds of potted blooms that fill the space with the sights and smells of springtime. PHOTO PROVIDED

site or at home. “The Dutch Connection, which began in 1995, is a representation of the volume of bulbs George Eastman would have forced and displayed during the whole winter season,” he says. The museum still sources the bulbs from one of the Dutch suppliers that Eastman used. The Dutch Connection will be displayed Feb. 4-27, accessible during museum hours with the purchase of a ticket. When you visit, you can buy tulip, hyacinth, daffodil, and other bulbs, and the museum has a handy set of video and PDF tutorials for planting them. THE GLASS HOUSE OF GREENERY The lush environments inside the different rooms of Lamberton Conservatory can be enjoyed year round, but it’s a treat to spend time there in the months that outdoor greenery is buried under blankets of snow. It’s a veritable oasis of warmth and life in the midst of a city in its grayscale months.

A scaly friend also enjoys a stroll at Lamberton Conservatory. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMSON

The ornate greenhouse at Highland Park is now more than 110 years old. Built in 1911 in the renowned arboretum designed by Frederic Law Olmstead, the conservatory is named for Alexander B. Lamberton, who served as president of the Monroe County parks board from 1902 to 1915. It was taken apart and rebuilt in 2007 for a complete restoration.

The space has hundreds of plant species growing from the ground, suspended from above, and in clusters of pots on tables that line the walls. An arid room boasts towering cacti and a monstrous agave plant. You’ll pass through curtains of Spanish moss, and catch sight of the fleet-footed button quail scurrying underfoot. There’s an outdoor koi pond in the central courtyard where curious fish will nibble at your fingers. You can rest on one of the many benches set up around the spot, and watch the turtles sunning themselves on logs in the streams and pools that run along the footpaths. Some days, artists occupy those benches, rendering the plants with pencil or watercolors in sketchbooks. Sitting or strolling at Lamberton always makes me feel like I’m in a Miyazaki film. The 1,800-square foot space can be booked for special events, but it’s also a highly accessible place for all ages to experience some warmth and tranquility. Admission is $3, $2 for seniors, and free to kids 5 and younger.

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WHAT ALES ME

Brandon Opalich, owner of Aldaskellar. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

Aldaskeller Wine Company plans to open in the South Wedge in March and offer an eclectic mix of natural wine. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

ALDASKELLER MAKES A HOME FOR NATURAL WINE IN ROCHESTER BY GINO FANELLI

@GINOFANELLI

ine to many everyday Americans has long been synonymous with snobbery. Oenophiles do nothing to soften that perception when they crow about their oaked cabernets emitting notes of leather and graphite and the lushness of the fruit in their cellaraged Burgundy. But great wine is not pretentious. There is nothing conceited about the soil or the rain or the dedicated craftsmen who work vineyards from sunrise to sunset during harvest when the weather turns that go into a bottle worth celebrating. Wine at its core is an agricultural product born of passion and the elements. For the last few years, Brandon Opalich, the owner of Aldaskeller Wine Company and a former longtime restaurant worker, has sought to 40 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

GFANELLI@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

introduce people to the passion and the elements through pop-up events that pair natural wines with food curated by his business partner, Tim Benedict. Natural wines, a trend that’s sweeping the wine world, are those made with organic grapes and fermented and aged without additives, like sulfites. They are what Opalich calls “hands-off, low-intervention” wines, unlike many mainstream wines that are produced like processed foods, with artificial ingredients to achieve a desired aroma and flavor. Beer-minded readers could think of natural wine like a wild ale. They eschew preservatives, cultured yeasts, and complex refining techniques in favor of two simple ingredients: grapes and time. Now, Aldaskeller is poised to open a brick-and-mortar shop on Gregory Street in the South Wedge that will focus exclusively on offering natural

wines. Opalich hopes to open in March, pending approval of a state license to sell wine. “Natural wines are a very good representation of terroir,” Opalich said. “It’s a concept in wine that essentially means the taste of the place — the soil, the environment, the climate, the yeast that’s being used — that all goes into making the final product.” Aldaskeller — a portmanteau of Opalich’s great-aunt’s name and the German word for cellar — aims to be as much of a wine shop as an educational forum. “I want people to come in and get the wines they love and what they’re familiar with,” Opalich said. “But I’m also bringing in really fun, unfamiliar wines that they’re not going to be able to get anywhere else.” The natural wine trend has been fueled by a cultural shift towards small

batch, artisanal beverages and the endorsement of trendsetters along the lines of Bon Appetit wine columnist Marissa Ross and rapper, chef, and foodie Action Bronson. Upon accepting her job in 2015, Ross vowed to only write about natural wines. Bronson is known as much for his verses as his show, “Fuck, That’s Delicious.” But the popularity of the style owes largely to its delicate layers of flavors, which winemakers have argued would be impossible to mass produce. Drinkers have also reported that the wines, which tend to be lower alcohol, don’t leave them with hangovers, although scant credible research has been done on the claim. To best understand the philosophy behind natural wine, a visit to a natural winery is a must. Bloomer Creek, a rustic hardwood winery a few hundred feet inland from the southeastern shore of Seneca Lake, is owned by husband and wife Kim Engle and Debra Bermingham. A former art professor at Cornell University, Bermingham’s dreamy still life paintings adorn the winery’s walls. Together, they churn out limited batches of spontaneously fermented wines. That means they leave the inoculation — the moment the yeast and bacteria come in contact with the liquid — up to whatever organisms happen to be in the air and on the grapes being fermented. Engle entered the wine world in

Bloomer Creek, a small mom-and-pop winery on the edge of Seneca Lake, has made a splash in the world of natural wine. From left, owners Kim Engle and Debra Bermingham. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

1978 working the vineyards surrounding Cayuga Lake during a frosty harvest. He and Bermingham opened Bloomer Creek in 1999. “I would say we started fooling with spontaneous fermentations in around 2006 or 2007,” Engle said. “There seemed to be interest around the industry at that time, but because when you first do it, there’s a lot of volatile compounds produced, it makes a lot of conventional winemakers nervous, and they all backed off.” For a two-person operation pumping out 2,000 cases per year, Bloomer Creek has made a splash. Last year, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov ranked the winery’s White Horse Red in the top 10 of New York wines. That same year, Times restaurant critic Pete Wells toted a bottle of Bloomer Creek’s 2018 Riesling to an annual pre-Thanksgiving food-and-drink writer meal. In 2014, The Village Voice heralded Bloomer Creek as “hallowed ground.” The accolades are deserved. Over samples of goat cheese from nearby Lively Run Dairy Farm, Engle and Bermingham poured tastes of three of their offerings. Their age-defying 2013 cabernet franc burst with a fresh, sweet cherry overtone ahead of a mild oakiness and a mouthdrying finish of tannins. The riesling and gewurztraminer blend “orange wine” balanced a pleasant funkiness atop a juicy, pithy blend of nuanced notes. The

Three offerings from Bloomer Creek. PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

riesling Pétillant Naturel, a light sparkling natural wine, offered a subtle sweetness undercut with notes of peach and nectarine against a backdrop of ethereal funk from the wild yeast. “This is how wine used to be made before everybody got involved with sort of interfering with it,” Bermingham said. At Aldaskeller, Opalich aims to capture some of that magic. “We want to cultivate an environment where people are coming in and learning as much as they can, and hopefully I learn something from them too,” Opalich said. “That’s really the beauty of it all.”

roccitynews.com CITY 41

LIFE

22 nd OF 27 Answers to this puzzle can be found on page 35

PUZZLE BY S.J. AUSTIN & J. REYNOLDS ACROSS 1. Main artery of the body 6. “_____ Theme” from “Doctor Zhivago” 11. 1940s computer dubbed “Giant Brain” 16. What you might use to write to a pal 19. Rhyming nickname given to NBA great Hakeem Olajuwon

19 23

34 40

100

35 41

26 29

33 39

16 22

27 32

20. “Put _____ in it!” 21. Pro golfer Vijay

22. Phrase in the middle of many metaphors

26. Prefix with 16-Across

27. “I’ve _____ Strings” (Pinocchio song)

28. Leno’s predecessor 29. Non-specific 31. Pouch 32. “The Burning Giraffe” painter 34. “Mr. Blue Sky” grp.

37. Word found on US currency

74 78

82 88 94

83 89

79 85

103

102

93 101

35. Word in a bubble over Batman’s fist 36. Common skin condition

23. ** Acid rock pioneers with the hit “Somebody to Love”

104

107

108

109

105 110

111

39. Fly, as on a ride at Epcot

106

41. Frequently

113

114

44. Civil rights icon Parks

119

120

45. ** 2011’s highest paid entertainer, according to “Forbes”

124

125

126

127

47. Place to conduct sci. experiments

128

129

130

131

115

116

117

112 118

43. Place 121

122

123

48. Acronym on the side of a shuttle 50. 19th century farm equipment manufacturer whose company still exists 51. Fruit group grown widely in Florida

the Billboard Hot 100 74. Make a snarling sound 75. Swim/bike/run event, familiarly

54. Papas’ counterparts

76. Cut back

57. Asian country that becomes an African capital if you add “G” in the middle

77. Shin bone

59. Violinist Zimbalist 62. Toronto’s prov. 63. Tempo indication meaning “at ease”

97. Denim pioneer Strauss 101. Recede 103. Biggie rival

78. Prominent feature of a robin

104. Google : Alphabet :: Facebook : _____

80. Musician Paul who inspired a famous Gibson guitar model

105. Those: Sp.

81. Actress Carter who portrayed Wonder Woman 83. Contraction in many hymns

65. “Spider-Man” director Sam

85. Queen _____ lace

68. Depend (on)

86. Washes away

69. “Shining” place in patriotic lyrics

88. Ocho preceder

70. Hub

91. Assist Danny Ocean, say

71. ** The first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on

93. S. Dak. neighbor

42 CITY FEBRUARY 2022

94. ** Common term for laryngeal prominence

106. “Whip It” rockers 107. Terminal academic deg. 108. Actress Gadot who portrayed Wonder Woman 110. Frantic Christmas Eve purchase, maybe 112. Guardians, on a scoreboard (starting in 2022) 113. The “A” in LGBTQIA (hint: it’s not ally!)

115. Revival preacher’s exhortation 117. Bosc alternative 119. Many a dad joke 120. Four-year political periods, or a way to understand the answers to the starred clues 124. Capote sobriquet 125. Prefix a medical student might “bone up” on 126. Famous Ford flop 127. Fragrant compound 128. Notice 129. Food, shelter, and water 130. Buffalo hockey player 131. Rene who played Thor’s mother on screen

DOWN 1. Descriptive pt. of speech 2. Herb from the mint family common in Italian cuisine 3. Get back to the meeting agenda, say

67. Like software still under development 72. “Prince Valiant” son 73. Quitting time for many shift workers 74. Tenderly careful

4. Roosevelt’s successor

76. Military academy newcomer

5. Update, as a constitution

79. HBO star Issa

6. Spanish article in many city names

82. Stat!

7. Not gregarious

84. 1945 conference site

8. Casual nickname for COVID-19

87. First stage in rehab

9. Without _____ in the world

89. X-rayed, e.g.

10. Where going downhill isn’t such a bad thing

90. Fugitives

11. Connecticut broadcast giant

92. “Aw c’mon, do me a favor” 94. Olympian

12. How much interest most Americans have in soccer

95. Firework that doesn’t go off

13. Tormented by pain

96. More spiteful

14. Nixon’s vice?

98. Some sex workers

15. Most common surname in Taiwan and Singapore

99. Cups and teaspoons, but not glasses

16. ** Fifth actor to play James Bond

100. British verb ending

17. Neighbor of Francia

101. Makes evolutionary changes

18. Fastened, like a 25-Down

102. Remove all doubt

24. Certain cuts of beef

107. Analyze grammatically

25. See 18-Down

109. _____ hand (help)

30. Vex

111. Go in

31. California’s Big _____

114. Atop

33. Trustworthy

115. _____ de las Amazonas

35. “As _____ my last email”

116. Federal agcy. responsible for tracking roadway accidents

38. Get by 40. Species of 42-Down from the genus Quercus 42. Shade source 43. Oscar’s pet worm on “Sesame Street”

118. Christ, to Bach 121. But: Lat. 122. Pub offering 123. Notice for a hot-ticket show

46. Refrain from, as temptation 49. “_____ Lay Dying” 51. Famous one, for short 52. Disquiet 53. Undertakes 54. Hall of Famer who famously hit “tape measure” home runs 55. Any of the magi, to Jesus 56. ** New York thoroughfare metonymous with the advertising industry 58. Took a parabolic path 60. Member of a monastic order 61. Fire (up), as an engine 64. “Love Train” band, with “The” 66. Miss Piggy’s self-referential pronoun roccitynews.com CITY 43

44 CITY FEBRUARY 2022