music

For John and Joseph Irrera, it all started with an owl who liked to play the saxophone and a little boy who signed up to play the violin without telling his parents.

Joseph and John graduated from Batavia High School in 2000 and 2003, respectively, and since then they have had a quite successful run as a piano-violin duo. On Sunday, they will kick off the "Irrera Brothers Chamber Music Series" at GCC.

The piano is Joseph's instrument of choice. He has been playing since he was 5 years old, and his love for the piano began with, of all things, the saxophone.

"I always watched 'Sesame Street,' " he said, "and there was an owl character who played the saxophone. So I wanted to play the saxophone, too."

Joseph's parents took him to Roxy's Music Store for lessons, only to learn that he was too young for wind instrument lessons.

"(The teachers at Roxy's) suggested starting with the piano," Joseph said. "I wasn't interested. But my parents -- especially my dad -- convinced me. They said that if I started with the piano I would have a good foundation, learn how to read music and get to know rhythm. And then when I actually started to learn the saxophone, it would be much easier."

And he never looked back.

"I started to play the saxophone in fourth grade and continued through high school," he said, "but it never felt like the piano did to me."

Five years later, his little brother John, a first-grader at John Kennedy Elementary School, signed up to play a string instrument.

"(He did it) on his own," Joseph said.

After Christmas, John's mother got a surprise call from string instructor Cindy Baldwin, who said that a spot had opened up for the violin.

And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Joseph and John are both currently studying for their doctorates in Piano Performance and Violin Performance, respectively, at the Eastman School of Music.

They have an impressive repertoire as a performing piano-violin duo that includes frequent performances on the radio station WXXI 91.5 (they will be featured in a noon performance on Wednesday), two performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City (one in 2009, the other in March 2012) and a 10-day tour in Costa Rica in August.

According to Joseph, the piano and violin are "the best pair you can have."

"The great thing about the piano is that it can provide both melody and harmony underneath," he said. "And then the violin is one of the most vocal instruments. It can emote a lot. So they complement each other very nicely. It has been a very popular arrangement to compose for over the centuries and has an extensive repertoire."

More after the jump (click on the headline):

The public is invited to watch the Irreras perform at GCC's Stuart Steiner Theatre, at 1 College Road in Batavia, on Sunday at 4 p.m. Cost of admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students, and tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Genesee Symphony Orchestra's Web site, Roxy's Music Store or GoArt! Seating capacity for the theatre is 328 people.

In its first year, the "Irrera Brothers Chamber Music Series" is a branch of the Genesee Symphony Orchestra that offers "a more intimate and sociable setting" for concertgoers.

"It's not just 'listen and leave,' " Joseph said. "The whole idea is that people get to interact with the performers."

Sunday's performance is the first of five bi-monthly concerts, each featuring performers who are in some way associated with either the Genesee Symphony Orchestra or the Eastman School of Music.

Each concert will last about an hour and a half, and this time frame will include the performances themselves, an intermission with refreshments and beverages available, and a "meet the artists" session at the end.

For the first half of their performance on Sunday, the Irreras will play two pieces -- one by Robert Schumann and one by his wife, Clara Schumann.

"We chose these because two brothers started this series," Joseph said, "and that family relationship parallels nicely with the husband/wife relationship."

In the second half, they will perform "Chaconne in G minor" by Vitali and "Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Opus 94A" by Prokofiev.

Listeners are in for a treat, because the Irrera brothers' talents were years in the making.

They began studying at Eastman's pre-college division as children. Joseph was 11, John was 8.

Before even making it to college, they received coaching from such prestigious performers as the Ying Quartet -- a world-famous, Grammy-winning string quartet.

Joseph and John both stayed at Eastman for their undergraduate degrees. John earned his master's there as well; Joseph went to the Peabody Institute in Baltimore for his master's before returning to Eastman for his doctorate.

Among John's violin instructors was hugely renowned violinist Zvi Zeitlin, who passed away in May at age 90.

"He wasn't your typical 90-year-old," Joseph said. "He was very agile, very with it. John was very fortunate to have studied with him for all three degrees."

If you were to ask the Irrera brothers what has most contributed to their success, they would probably both attribute it to two things:

• Dedication to their craft; and
• The support of their parents.

"Our parents never pushed or forced us," Joseph said. "They just wanted us to enjoy it and have fun. The hours of practice came from John and me."

"But we still did all the normal things kids do -- sports, after-school activities, etc. We found our way through positive reinforcement from our parents."

Eastman faculty were also hugely influential to them -- especially Alla Kuznetsod, with whom Joseph studied from age 11 to 18, and Boris Zapesochny, with whom John studied from age eight to 18.

For more information on the Irrera brothers, visit www.irrerabrothers.com or Joseph's personal Web site, www.josephirrera.com.

For more information on the "Irrera Brothers Chamber Music Series," e-mail Patricia Hawley at pfhawley@gmail.com.

Note: John was unavailable for an interview, which is why Joseph alone is quoted in the article.

Photos courtesy of www.irrerabrothers.com.

"It isn't often that someone makes it big in the music business, nor for the number of years that John Dittrich (second from left in picture) has."

So says Greg Luetticke, co-owner of Frost Ridge Campground in Le Roy, which will host the Grammy-nominated country music band "Restless Heart" at a concert on Friday, Aug. 17.

Dittrich, a native of Batavia and a 1970 Batavia High School graduate, has been with "Restless Heart" for more than 20 years as a drummer and vocalist. The other band members are, from left, Paul Gregg, Larry Stewart, Greg Jennings and Dave Innis.

"It's amazing to still be able to do what I do," Dittrich said.

He embarked on a profession in music in 1975, and has enjoyed a long and successful career that owes itself, in large part, to a Batavia City School District teacher.

"My most important influence and probably the guy I would credit with helping me in this direction was Neil Hartwick," Dittrich said.

Hartwick was the Batavia Middle School band director and the director of the jazz workshop at the high school.

"He brought in Ed Shaughnessy (of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson") to do a concert," Dittrich said. "And when I found out that Mr. Hartwick had invited him specifically for me, that blew me away."

As a college student, Dittrich went to New York City once a month for two years to study under Shaughnessy.

"And he remembered me," he said.

As an original member of "Restless Heart," Dittrich was part of what he calls a "crossover" period in the history of country music.

"Our producer (Tim Dubois) had written some songs that were kind of in a gray area as far as the market was concerned," he said. "They were too pop for country, but not pop enough for pop."

Part of the band's success, Dittrich said, was due to the willingness of RCA Records to take a chance on them.

"There was a strong push in traditional country music at the time," he said. "But some groups did have more edgy music and enjoyed some success. RCA liked the direction of our music and they were willing to make the investment."

In addition to four Grammy nominations, "Restless Heart" has had six #1 hits and seven Country Music Association nominations. They have also been lucky to see 26 of their singles make the Billboard Country Charts. Their numerous crossover hits include the 1992 song "When She Cries."

A good 15-20 years have passed since Dittrich last returned to Genesee County. He said it will be "pretty nice" to be back for the concert, especially since some old friends and 10 family members will be in attendance.

"I hope somebody gives me a beef on weck!" he added.

The concert is part of the three-day "Jam at the Ridge." Gates will open at 4 p.m. Friday, with the concert itself starting at 4:30.

"Restless Heart" will go on at 8:30 p.m. for a performance of about 75-90 minutes. Singers Worthy Duncan and Johnny Bauer will open the show.

Here are the ticket prices:

Regular seating: $15 in advance, $20 at the gate.

Preferred seating: $22 in advance, $29 at the gate.

Preferred Plus seating: $42 in advance, $55 at the gate.

VIP seating: $79 in advance, $99 at the gate.

VIP seating includes front row seats, a private meet-and-greet dinner with "Restless Heart," a poster for autographing and a picture with the band.

Frost Ridge Campground is located at 8101 Conlon Road in Le Roy. For more information, call 768-4883 or go to www.frostridge.com.

Photo submitted by Greg Luetticke

The music industry has apparently found a new source of revenue: taxpayers.

ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is, according to County Attorney Chuck Zambito, asking local governments to sign a licensing agreement for public performances of music and pay an annual fee for the privilege.

The fee varies based on population.

Legislator Ray Cianfrini called the fee "shakedown money" in the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

The committee voted 4-1 (Cianfrini voted no) to sign the agreement and pay ASCAP an annual fee of $637.

The license agreement will protect the county from an ASCAP-initiated lawsuit over any public performances of music on county property, but also limits what the county can allow without additional licenses.

For example, the county can't host a community orchestra or band on its property without paying an additional licensing fee.

The license agreement also requires regular reporting of any events on county property -- such as the Holland Land Office Museum or the nursing home -- where music is played along with a copy of any program that goes with the event. If a band or DJ performs, the county must disclose the performer, provide contact information, and disclose whether the performer is licensed by ASCAP to perform ASCAP-licensed music.

"This is being discussed in every county in the state and most of them are saying they're just going to do it because it's not that much money and they don't want to fight it," Zambito said. "If we don't sign it, they're going to come around and see us."

According to Zambito, local governments that have refused to sign the agreement have already received visits from ASCAP auditors.

The penalty, according to a brochure published by ASCAP, for performing copyrighted music without permission is from $750 to $30,000 per song.

According to the brochure, a public performance of music is:

The Copyright Law defines a public performance as one “in a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gath- ered.”

The law requires a license for all public performances, whether from a recording or by a live musician. 

ASCAP is only one licensing agency and doesn't own licensing rights to all of the songs currently under copyright. There's also BMI, for example, and Zambito said so far BMI hasn't started contacting local governments.

The license fee is some formula created by ASCAP, Zambito said, based on population and other factors.

"The bottom line is they just came up with some artificial number just to get money out of you," Zambito said.

The Ghost Riders played Jackson Square on Friday night -- both bands.

The Ghost Riders country band shared the venue with the Ghost Riders Drum and Bugle Corps, which is also based in Batavia.

If it's ever possible to say Jackson Square is SRO, then last night was one of those nights. The square was nearly wall-to-wall music fans.

More than 40 bands and solo performers congregated downtown Saturday, the rain stayed away, and a good time was had by all at the annual Ramble & Arts Fest in Jackson Square.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

The Ramble Music and Arts Festival is known as a celebration of the musical culture of Genesee County—but to many of the musicians participating, it means so much more.

“I think it’s a very popular event because all the people get to reminisce about the old times,” says Andy Hare, who will participate in the 7th annual festival for the third time this Saturday. “It’s almost like a class reunion for many of the musicians and the people who follow them—the old guys like us, chasing the Sixties.”

The “us” Hare is referring to are the members of the Moonshine Valley Band, his former group that will be reunited Saturday night. The band is one of several from the good old days that is coming together specifically for this occasion.  

“It’s a chance for guys like me to get out and show they’ve got a few kicks left in them,” Hare jokes.

Founder Bill McDonald says that the festival was started to serve that very purpose — to take a walk down memory lane by reuniting all those local musicians who had played together years ago. It has since grown from its humble beginnings — this year’s event will feature 37 acts, several artists, and “many ramblin’ revelers.”

“The purpose has always been to get the current community and folks who once called our area home involved, to share in the fun and keep the music and friendships vibrant,” he explains.

The Ramble is not strictly geared toward the middle-aged crowd — the event attracts people of all ages and generations.

“The festival day and the weeks pre and post have brought many friends, young and old, musical mates, and people in general, together for some fun,” says McDonald.

The festival-goers falling under the “young” category give the Ramble its charm, as the majority are the receivers of a passed torch.

“It shows the young people what’s coming, because many of them are offspring of the performers,” says Hare. “It’s generational entertainment.”

The Ramble Music and Arts Festival will take place from noon to 8 p.m. this Saturday, July 7, in Downtown Batavia. The 37 participating acts will perform on two different stages: the electric acts in Jackson Square, and the acoustic acts on Center Street. A remembrance of past musicians will take place at 4 pm. Admission is free.

Press release:

The Batavia Business Improvement District (BID) has released its Summer 2012 line-up for the “Friday Night in the Square” Jackson Square concerts. For more than 12 years, the BID has provided free concerts downtown to make our community a fun and active place to play. 

The "Friday Night in the Square" concert series begins June 29 and ends Aug. 31. Time is 7 to 9 p.m. The square is located in the alleyway of Jackson or Center streets. Bring your own seating. Food and refreshments will be available for sale. If it's raining, venue changes to Batavia City Centre, inside the mall.

The following is the concert schedule for “Friday Night in the Square”:

Friday, June 29 --  Penny Whiskey (Celtic/Folk)
Friday, July 6 – Bonnie & Collide ( R & B)
Friday, July 13  -- Skiffle Minstrels (Country/Cajun)
Friday, July 20  – Ghost Riders (Country)
Friday, July 27 -- 78 RPM (Big Band)
Friday, Aug. 3 – Kelly’s Old Timers (Country)
Friday, Aug. 10 – OHMS Band (Rock)
Friday, Aug. 17 – John Cole Blues Band (Blues)
Friday, Aug. 24 --  Jack Civiletto “Sinatra” (Sinatra)
Friday, Aug. 31  – Craig Wilkins (Country)

***Also, the Ramble Music & Art Fest will take place from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, at Jackson Square.

For more information contact the BID office at 585-344-0900 or visit our Web site at www.downtownbataviany.com. Be sure to like us on our Facebook page – Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District -- so that you can keep up with events and updates.

Tonight, the Batavia Concert Band kicked off its series of free concerts at Centennial Park with a show of a collection of British melodies, marches and concert favorites conducted by Brad Meholick.

One of the annual features of the Ramble Music and Arts Festival in Batavia is the community ramble story -- it's built one paragraph at a time by whomever wants to jot down a few words.

The story has no clear plot and nobody knows how it's going to end.

At the 2011 Ramble, Ken and Jeannie Veltz realized maybe it was time to write there own ramble tale. With nothing holding them down or holding them back, they decided to sell nearly everything and hit the road with no way to make a buck except to find places to play their music.

"There was no one really who depended on us having a house or having anything, so we just said, 'let's roll the dice,' " Jeannie said.

The journey has carried them from their former home in Cold Spring to NYC, and through Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, D.C., and even Batavia and Medina.

"It's been 278 days and literally we don't know what's next," Ken said.

One thing they lack that traveling musicians need to supplement their income is a CD to sell.

To help them get a CD recorded, properly mastered and pressed, the singer-songwriting duo figures they need to raise $7,500.

To accomplish that, they're working through a site called Kickstarter, which exists to help artists find funding for projects by soliciting donations from friends, fans and strangers intrigued by the project.

Kickstarters are all or nothing efforts -- if an artist can't get enough people to pledge the bankroll, the site collects nothing from the potential donors and the project isn't funded.

So far, the Veltz project has 17 backers and has raised 22 percent of its goal, which Ken said is generally considered a pretty good start. (To check out the Veltz Kickstarter project, click here.)

The musical journey for Ken Veltz began in Batavia.

Name Batavia musicians from the 1960s, from Bill McDonald to Jim Palumbo, and Veltz knew them or played with them.

"I coined the phrase that you can't throw a pizza across Main Street without hitting a musician, or visa versa," Ken said. "We had so many of both."

In the mid-1960s, Veltz was a member of the Squires, but when he graduated from high school all he wanted of Batavia was its skyline in his rear view mirror.

He moved to New York City and started a music career, and typical of musicians of the 1970s, there was plenty of drugs and booze to go with the gigs and good times.

It wasn't long before a major record label took an interest in his music, and Ken figured he had it made.

"People told me I was a good songwriter," Ken said. "I thought I was a good songwriter. I was respected there and I know I have a gift. What I didn't count on was the many setbacks that have come along the way."

Veltz said drugs and alcohol and just screwed-up living killed his first shot at a major label contract, and record label politics would dampen future opportunities.

He moved back to Western New York, joining the house band at the Murray Hotel, where Veltz also tended bar.

Some friends introduced him to a Literature major at SUNY Brockport, Jeannie Eagan.

Ken remembers her as shy and quiet, delicate and refined.

Nothing much happened between them until somebody told him Jeannie had written a song for a mutual friend's wedding, but she needed help finishing it.

"'Little Jeannie wrote a song?' I said. 'I didn't even know she could talk.' "

Ken went over to her place, helped her finish the song -- the last one they would write together until just recently -- and a 38-year-long journey together began.

Once married, they moved back to NYC area.

Another record deal came Ken's way, but internal strife at the company sabatoged it.

The Veltz family grew. They had three children -- Andrew, Laura and Allison. As the children grew up, they became musicians. The children formed a band and performed Ken's songs. When Ken and Jeannie joined the band, it became Cecilia, and the band was signed by Atlantic Records.

The deal came just as Atlantic was going through a shake-up following the AOL-Time Warner merger, and the band's career stalled.

There were also some medical issues for the family, so Cecillia stopped touring.

Amidst these life-changing events, Ken was having a bad day, and the weather was terrible. He was sitting outside, looking at the dark, heavy clouds above, and a bit of sunlight and blue sky poked through.

He said he realized, that's life -- the storm clouds are temporary, the blue sky is permanent.

The lyrics flowed from there.

Making peace with a life unraveled
Weightlessness is the way to travel

The song became "Flying," and will be the title track of the CD Ken and Jeannie hope to record through their Kickstarter project.

Jeannie said getting rid of their home and most of their possessions wasn't scary at all, but liberating.

"It's an amazingly free feeling, gathering what is essential and gathering up what means something to you," Jeannie said. "Most of what we sold was stuff that we would go to other people's garage sales and buy, stuff that didn't really mean anything to us."

Part of what enabled Ken and Jeannie to live the life of musical ramblers is that their children have grown and moved onto successful careers of their own. 

Andrew -- whom Ken said is one of the best guitarists he's ever played with -- has two children and is a successful videographer.

Laura and Allison both live in Nashville now and are making waves in Music City.

Allison Veltz got a publishing contract with a divison of Sony Music after her song "Mr. Taxi" (English verson sung by Allison) reached number one in Japan.

Laura Veltz was signed by Warner Records and her songs have been recored by several established country artists (you can listen to several of her songs on her website).

Ken thinks he and Jeannie will be watching their daughters on the Grammy Awards some time soon.

The New York Post did a story about Ken and Jeannie's ramble adventure, Ken said, and the writer made it sound like the duo was still chasing -- at ages 60 and 61 -- the Pop Star Dream, but that isn't right at all, Ken said.

"A lot of people think, what are you thinking, you think there’s going to be a line outside of Tower Records?" Ken said. "No we don’t. That’s not what we’re about at all. We just want to make a living doing what we do."

What Ken doesn't want to do is give up on a career that still has a chance to continue and maybe find new areas of success.

"I just can't stop fighting for it," Ken said. "A lot of people give up their dreams. It’s like escaping from prison. You’re in the tunnel and digging with your fingernails and the dirt looks, taste and smells just as it did when you started digging, just as it does when you’re four inches from freedom. A lot of people let their dreams die in the tunnel."

After another week in Batavia, Ken and Jeannie head to NYC for a month where they will play some shows and try to raise more money for their project.

From there, who knows -- Nashville, maybe Austin, maybe Gatlinburg, Tenn. They'll just ramble until they get to where ever they're going.

"We don’t know exactly what the destination is at this point, but I think we’ll know when we get there," Jeannie said.

Photos: Top and bottom photo by Howard Owens. Bottom inset photo by Howard Owens, taken at the 2011 Ramble. Top inset photo, of the Squires, from the official Ramble Music and Art Fest website.

Music students from nearly a dozen communities were in Batavia today for a strings workshop sponsored by the Genesee Symphony Orchestra.

The goal of the workshop was to prepare students to play in a concert April 29 at Elba Central School alongside members of the GSO.

Maestro Raffaele Ponti led the workshop assisted by string teachers Jonathan Jaeger, Andrea Meier, Annie Wright and Claudia Diebold.

While most of the students were children, adult students were also welcome.

Students attended from Perry, Pavilion, Elba, Batavia, Albion, Brockport, Pittsford, Wyoming, Middleport, Le Roy and Corfu.

The two pieces practiced today were "Dance of the Tumblers" from the "Snow Maiden" by Rimsky-Korsakov and "Barcarolle" from "Tales of Hoffman" by Offenbach.

The move from San Diego to Le Roy has been a good one for David Luetticke and Greg Luetticke.

More than four years ago, they bought the Frost Ridge Campground and have been slowly making improvements, all the while, feeling they made the right choice in moving to Genesee County.

"I think it's beautiful," Greg said. "I like the people, the scenery, the change of seasons. It's everything I wanted."

While David and Greg have made changes in the campground -- upgrading infrastructure, adding an annual pumpkin patch and a summertime slippery slide on one of the hills, for example -- the biggest change has been booking more than a half-dozen big-name music acts into their outdoor amphitheater.

The summer concert season kicks off June 9 with one of the biggest names in country music, Aaron Tippin.

The line up (all shows and dates -- and tickets purchased -- can be found on frostridge.com) includes the Little River Band, Restless Heart, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blackberry Smoke, James Wesley and Connie Smith.

It's the third year of concerts -- one of the highlights last summer was Marty Stuart -- and besides the seven name acts coming to Frost Ridge, 45 bands from throughout Western New York will perform there is summer.

Greg admitted he never heard of Blackberry Smoke before (neither had I, videos embedded below), but he said it's been the fastest selling show so far and after selling out of VIP tickets, they pulled back the promo VIP tickets given to radio stations and have just six left to offer to the public.

The current arrangement of the amphitheater accommodates 5,000 people, but three's a high hill behind the seating area and maybe, just maybe, that offers some expansion room. The sound of the music on the hill is every bit as good as down lower, Greg and David agreed.

As Greg and David get settled into Le Roy, they're getting more involved in the community. For a couple of years now, Frost Ridge has hosted a fundraiser for the Le Roy Volunteer Fire Department.  This year, some of the proceeds of the Aaron Tippin concert will be donated to the VA facility in Batavia.

"We see it as good business when when you're involved in the community and everybody supports one another, and that's how we would like to live our lives," David said.

I'm looking forward to the The Dirt Band in August.