Community Performance Series Presents Fall 2024 Season with Solo Organist Anne Laver and American Patchwork Quartet

Community Performance Series to Present Concerts by Organist Anne Laver and Award-Winning American Patchwork Quartet at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music

Potsdam, NY (09/10/2024) — The Community Performance Series will mark its 35th season with two fall unique fall performances by award-winning artists at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music.

Concert organist Anne Laver will perform a solo recital on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 3 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall. In advance of the recital, Laver will give a free public pipe organ encounter on Saturday, Sept. 14, also at 3 p.m. on the Hosmer stage, to introduce the instrument and discuss Sunday's program, which is titled "Heroes and Saints."

American Patchwork Quartet (APQ) will be in residence at The Crane School of Music on Friday and Saturday, Oct 4 and 5. Featuring Grammy Award-winning artists, the quartet is on a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American roots music. Comprised of four highly acclaimed artists, APQ showcases the dynamic diversity of contemporary culture by reimagining timeless songs from America's past. The American Patchwork Quartet will lead guest artist classes for Crane students on Friday, Oct. 4, and will present a public concert on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m., in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

"Community Performance Series is proud to celebrate its 35th year of presenting world class performances on the SUNY Potsdam campus," shared Director Vanessa Vaverchak. "We look forward to welcoming new and veteran audience members alike this season and for many years to come. We're grateful for a wonderful community with which to share these experiences."

About the visiting artists:

Described by Fanfare magazine as a "complete musician, totally adept and utterly stylish in everything she plays," Anne Laver maintains an active career as concert organist, scholar and pedagogue. She has given organ concerts in Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and across the United States, and has been a featured recitalist at conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Organ Historical Society, the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, and the Goteborg International Organ Academy in Sweden. In 2010, she was awarded second prize in the American Guild of Organists' National Young Artist Competition in Organ Performance. Laver's debut recording, "Reflections of Light" (2019), received favorable reviews and has been aired on nationally syndicated radio programs, including WXXI FM's "With Heart and Voice" and American Public Media's "Pipedreams."

Laver is a versatile musician, equally at home on antique and modern organs. Her programs are tailored to the specific organ at hand, and center around themes ranging from the art of variation in 17th century Germany, to music of women composers, to organ music with live dance. As an advocate for new music and diversifying the organ repertoire, Laver has worked with composer Natalie Draper to offer programs for composers who want to write for the organ, and has given world premieres of works by Draper, Eric Heumann, Jordan Alexander Key and Ivan Bozicevic.

American Patchwork Quartet (APQ), led by the multi-Grammy Award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, binds timeless American folk songs with jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation. APQ's sound is a masterful confluence of tradition and innovation, transcending culture, politics and ideology.

A southern-born roots music aficionado, Ross is also the founder of the world-renowned Gullah group, Ranky Tanky. In APQ, Ross intertwines with other Grammy-winning artists, including: Falu (also known as Falguni Shah), an eleventh-generation Hindustani classical vocalist; Yasushi Nakamura, an internationally acclaimed Issei jazz bassist, and Clarence Penn, a drumming protegee of Ellis Marsalis, whose fibers were honed by African American church traditions.

Far from being a haphazard collection of musical scraps, APQ is a deliberately designed homage to America's past and a showcase of its dynamic present. It beckons listeners to meditate upon our shared identity and relish in the musical threads that bind us. Just as an intricately designed quilt becomes a cherished family heirloom, when the distinct patterns of APQ's music align in perfect harmony, the result is both a blanket of warmth and a timeless treasure.

Ticket discounts are available for advance ticket sales to APQ, along with regular discounts for youth and senior citizens for all CPS events.

To purchase tickets, visit www.cpspotsdam.org or contact the Community Performance Series Box Office, located in the Performing Arts Center lobby, by calling (315) 267-2277 or visiting in person, Tuesday through Friday, from noon to 3 p.m. Tickets are also available at the door one hour prior to showtime, pending availability.

About the Community Performance Series:

The Community Performance Series is a college-community partnership presenting distinctive and renowned performing artists and arts education opportunities in Northern New York. This rich mixture of programming links communities, classrooms and audiences of all ages and preserves access to the performing arts for future generations. For more information, visit www.cpspotsdam.org.

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