DENSMORE 2017
June 26th - We open the season an old friend, Rodger Hicks performing with a new group, Rajah. They are a collection of artists who explore hybrid music to include jazz, blues, classical, folk and country. Rajah considers music an auditory art. “lose your mind and come to your senses”. Many songs they perform are easily recognized and others are creative amalgrams of a variety of genres. Performers include Rodger Hicks, Sarah Shallow, Arthur Campbell IV, Liam Zaffora-Reeder, Tom Contino, Ashley Goff and Mary Goff.
 
July 2nd - For Heavens Sake
Lorie Autone-tenor, Lynn Blakeney-lead, Katie Taylor-bass and Mary Ann Wert-baritone combine their musical talents to form the barbershop quartet "For Heavens Sake". The quartet has been performing together since 1995 and won the Harmony, Inc. Gold Metals in 1996 in Saint John, New Brunswick. They love to perform in Chapter shows, local concerts and fundraisers. The group are also coaches for YOUTH at Harmony Explosion Camps in the northeastern part of the USA. The quartet has a vast repertoire of barbershop uptunes, ballads, inspirational, Broadway, pop and more.

July 9th - Dave, Win and Meredith
Our local Thousand Island Park and Murray Island talent; Dave Knapp, Win Price and Meredith Gould will once again perform a mix of original and popular songs combined with their wit and charm! This tremendously talented trio has entertained in the series for many years and we always look forward to their show.

July 16th - Hutch, Greene and Pennington
Three retirees/semi-retirees that simply enjoy making music are the heart of Hutch, Greene and Pennington. What began as informal musical gatherings upstairs at the Clayton Opera House several years ago eventually turned into regular gigs at the Thousand Islands Arts Center's (TIAC) raku pottery firings and, for two years, as the main entertainment at TIAC's annual Antique Show and Sale preview event.
Guitarist Alan Hutchinson's background is in accounting. He lives in Clayton with his wife, Marilyn. Erin Greene, vocals, is a retired English teacher who now is an editor at the Thousand Islands Sun newspaper. She and her husband, Richard, live in Thousand Island Park, Wellesley Island. Phil Pennington, harmonica, is a retired health care administrator. He and his wife, Kate, live in Clayton in the summer on their trawler, Amy B, and in Pennsylvania in the winter.
The music they perform includes pop, country, bluegrass and traditional blues, plus a few original tunes written by Alan Hutchinson. They are often joined by guest musicians, such as Jim Rooney on bass, banjo and mandolin, and Peter LaGrow on guitar.

July 23rd Kathy Sommer and The Buskers
With the kitchen sink of instruments and influences from jug band and jazz to roots rock, The Buskers mix deep respect for the crafts of songwriting and arranging with a passion for the inventive possibilities of improvisation. From opera house to roadhouse, house concert to folk festival stage, they radiate warmth, wit, impressive musicianship, and a level of intimacy and musical maturity that come from having enjoyed playing together for over 20 years. The Buskers have produced four albums including Every Day We Play a New Song (2013), Spank That Tambourine! (2009) and Ray’s Vacation (2004).

July 30th - Kathryn Ingerson accompianed by Chris Hyde-Hall
This year we welcome back Kathryn Ingerson accompanied by Chris Hyde-Hall.
North Country native, Chris Hyde-Hall is a classical pianist and graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, holding Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Piano Performance and Music Education. As a 1980 recipient of a Rotary International Scholarship, she was afforded the opportunity to continue musical studies and performing at the Hochschule Fur Musik in Vienna, Austria.
Chris has spent her life in the world of music combining her talents as a pianist, musician and performer with a career in teaching, conducting, and training young musicians. Well recognized as a highly accomplished pianist and musical artist, she has performed over the past forty years as an accompanist and soloist for numerous artists and organizations. Recently she retired from a thirty two year teaching career as an instrumental music/ band instructor in the Watertown City School District. She continues to enjoy an active concert schedule as well as serving as a clinician/adjudicator for New York State School Music Association.
Kathryn grew up in East Northport, Long Island and now teaches middle school and high school classroom music, conducts all vocal performance ensembles, and serves as Coordinator of Music for the Thousand Islands Central School district in Clayton, New York. Kathryn holds a BM in Music Education and an MM in Vocal Performance from the Crane School of Music. Other graduate studies include Eastman School of Music and Westminster Choir College. As a young singer, Kathryn won the Huntington Arts Scholarship, singing for Eleanor Steber and Dr. Hugh Ross and decided at that point she would study voice in college. She was fortunate to have had the opportunity to perform two seasons at SPAC with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Robert Shaw, Eugene Ormandy, Erich Leinsdorf and Brock McElheran. Kathryn is a frequent solo performer in the North Country and a featured artist of the Clayton Opera House. She has been a cantor and choir director at St. Mary's Church for the past thirty two years.

August 6th - Hope, Rick and Tom
The PHENOMINAL trio of Hope Grietzer, Rick Manning and Tom Hodgson are back again and we could not be happier! Hope fell in love with fiddle music in college, playing for dances in the Geneseo String Band under the leadership of Jim Kimball. She studied with the New York State Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee Larry Downey. Hope was voted "Rocky Mountain Region Fiddler of the Year" by the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society. Rick Manning, a Rhode Island native, began playing music in college and has focused on contest fiddling, bluegrass and swing fiddle and mandolin as well as harmony singing, composing and song-writing. He has been a frequent contributor to the Ithaca music scene and has been involved in many recording projects including 3 albums produced in Nashville, TN with the bluegrass group Cornerstone. Tom Hodgson, originally from the Boston area, has been a longtime resident of the Finger Lakes region. Tom played folk guitar as a teenager and has gone on to accompany some of the great fiddlers of traditional music and dance scenes throughout the country. Tom plays and records regularly with Dan Duggan, an acclaimed North Country favorite.

August 13th - Paris Texas
Paris Texas performs a vintage repertoire of bluegrass, western and gypsy swing music. The music harkens from an era when brother harmonies were at the top of the country music charts, Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys were swinging the plains, and Django and Stephane were gracing the clubs of Paris. The band features the jaw-dropping guitar playing of Bobby Henrie who performs Doc Watson and Django Reinhardt with equal passion and precision. Bobby is joined by Rick Manning on fiddle, mandolin and vocals.

August 20th - Diane Dick
Diane Dick joins us again this year with her amazing solo hand bell performance. Diane began her involvement with hand bells as an ensemble musician in 1989 and has expended her scope as a solo ringer in 1994. Since that time, she has performed extensively throughout Western New York including performances as a featured soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at their Christmas Holiday community concerts. She directed three hand bell choirs at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Lockport, NY from 1995 to 2000, and has served as an instructor for hand bell clinics sponsored by the local chapter of the An=merican Guild of English Hand Bell Ringers. Currently, she also performs frequently with the Royalton Ringers, a hand bell quartet. Tim Socha, Diane's accompanist, currently teaches vocal music at Nichols School (grades 9-12) and is organist and choir director at St. Joseph (RC) Cathedral in Buffalo. A graduate of Colgate University, he a former dean of the Buffalo Chapter

August 27th - John and Cathy Cadley
John and Cathy Cadley are one of the most entertaining and popular duos. Following in the tradition of great male-female duets like Ian & Sylvia, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, they show how two voices blended in seamless harmony can produce one powerful sound. In concert you will hear The Cadleys perform everything from mountain ballads and bluegrass classics like “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”, to Alison Krauss’ “The Lucky One” to the Louvin Brother’s “Cash on the Barrellhead”. And just to add a few surprises, you’ll also hear new acoustic arrangements of some famous Beatle tunes, a generous sampling of John’s originals from his Nashville-produced solo CD, The Closer I Get, and his latest release, The Hard Years, and Cathy’s knockout version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.