Connecticut Postings

Javier Colon signs autographs during a welcome home celebration at his alma mater, Bunnell High School, in July 2011.

Stratford’s Javier Colon, winner of NBC’s The Voice, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday at Ridgefield Playhouse.

For information about the show or to purchase tickets, visit ridgefieldplayhouse.com.

Press release:

Are you interested in Stratford’s vibrant theatre and arts community?

If you want to know more about Festival! Stratford 2012, get involved in the early stages and become part of Stratford’s grand cultural legacy, join festival organizers at an informational volunteer meeting on February 9, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at Stratford’s Town Hall, 2725 Main Street.

Thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of the 2011 volunteers, last year’s great success numbers and audience feedback will be shared at the February 9^th meeting in addition to committee descriptions and needs.

The committee is seeking volunteers for the mid-August event to assist with communications, volunteer coordination, staffing, vending, ushering, parking management, donations/raffle and main stage support.

Based on the success of the 2011 festival, organizers are expecting an increased need for community and volunteer involvement. The 2-week festival will include theatre and music performances, art exhibits, children’s shows and so much more on the grounds of the American Festival (Shakespeare) Theatre.

To volunteer, please contact festivalstratfordct@gmail.com or visit www.festivalstratford.org for more information on the Festival.

Connecticut Against Violence, an anti-violence group founded by DJ Kingsley Osei and Bridgeport Police Lt. David Daniels, will bring a squad of DJs to Bassick High School tonight for a men’s basketball game against Harding High School.

The disc jockeys will host special guests DJ Buck from Hot 93.7 and former NBA player Wesley Matthews. Matthews, 52, is a Bridgeport native and former Harding High School President.

CAV uses music to inspire youth to stand in unity against gun violence. The group will dedicate its music show tonight to victims of gun violence in Connecticut.

The Bassick-Harding game starts at 7 p.m. tonight at the Bassick High School gymnasium.

The launch of the nonprofit Discovery Museum’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration, canceled because of Saturday’s snowstorm, has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., the museum announced today.

Donna M. Curran, director of communications, said that along with free admission, the open house will feature a reception and announcements regarding 2012 special events.

Several local and state officials also are expected to attend, she added.

The museum, which now focuses on science and technology, was opened on Jan. 21, 1962, as the Museum of Art, Science and Industry.

The Discovery Museum and Planetarium is at 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport. For additional information, call 203-372-3521 or visit www.discoverymuseum.org

In a unanimous vote, the Stratford Town Council adopted the John Benjamin House, more commonly known as the White House, into the historic district at its meeting Monday night.

The house, which is condemned due to structural problems, sits at the forefront of the Shakespeare Theater property on Elm Street.

The White House on the National Register of Historic Places, but until Monday, it did not have any local historical protections. The new designation protects the building from demolition and makes it eligible for historic preservation grant money.

Bridgeport’s Holiday Inn today announced that the celebration honoring Maestro Gustav Meier’s 40th anniversary at the artistic helm of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony will include a Nov. 12 dinner prior to the orchestra’s “Gustav and Mozart” concert.

An Austrian-themed buffet will be offered in honor of Meier’s favorite composer: Mozart. Cost is $35 (reduced from $40), including tax, with a portion of each ticket benefiting the GBS.

Seatings will take place from 5 until 6:30 p.m. so that diners will be able to travel the short distance between the 1070 Main St. hotel and the 8 p.m. concert at the Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Avenue.

The buffet, say hotel officials, will include such Austrian specialties as potato pancakes, spaetzle, Wiener schnitzel with lingonberries, beef goulash with paprika, bratwurst, broiled salmon and sauteed cabbage. Desserts will include apple strudel and Linzer cookies. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate will be included. For reservations, call 203.334.1234, extension 5181.

The 8 p.m. concert, “Gustav and Mozart,” will feature violinist Elena Urioste performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish. Tickets for the concert, $20 to $50, may be purchased by calling 203.576.0263 or visiting www.GBS.org.
The concert will be repeated at a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 13, also at the Klein.
Urioste and GBS Executive Director Benjamin Loeb, a noted pianist, will be featured at the inaugural event in the Guest Artist Recital Series on Monday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Road, in Fairfield. Tickets, available at the door, are $40.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch will present awards to the winners of the Fall 2011 Mayor’s Neighborhood Arts & Heritage Grant Program during a reception Thursday, Nov. 10, beginning at 4 p.m.

The public is invited to attend ceremonies at the offices of the Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council in the historic Arcade Mall, 1001 Main Street.

The program is funded by the city of Bridgeport and administered by the BACC.

Marianne Brunson Frisch, BACC executive director, points out that the program supports creative arts and heritage projects of individual artists and organizations throughout the City of Bridgeport.

Mayor Bill Finch will present award letters and checks to the following individual artists:
Andrea Asprelli, Maralyn Adlin-Donovan, J. Eve Liptak and Jodiann Strimiska.
Organizations receiving awards are: Bridge Academy, Bridgeport Theatre Company, Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program (GBAPP), Slant of Light Theatre and WPKN RADIO.

According to the grant guidelines, individual artists, artisans, craft makers and musicians who reside or work in Bridgeport are invited to apply for grants up to $250. Bridgeport visual, performing or heritage groups and non-profit educational, faith-based or social service organizations offering cultural programming may apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000.

The city has provided $10,000 and the United Illuminating $1,000 for the program. Half the monies were distributed in the inaugural spring round and half now. Additional information may be obtained from Frisch at the council at 203-522-4154 or mbfrisch@BridgeportArts.org.

BACC visitor center at the Arcade, 1001-12 Main St., Bridgeport, is open regularly Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

From the arts desk:

The Fairfield Museum and History Center announced this morning that it will extend the run of its current exhibit in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000.

The exhibition was to have closed on Sunday, Sept. 18, but museum officials said today that the show is “not coming down now until after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, because “is has been so well attended and received.”

Admission to the museum is free during the run of the exhibit. Featured in the show are several photographs taken at Ground Zero by the renowned Westport photographer Stephen Wilkes shortly after two commercial airliners were crashed by terrorists into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, destroying them both.   

The museum presents exhibitions on the history of the Greater Bridgeport area, as well as topics of general interest to the region. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends noon to 4 p.m. For additional information: www.fairfieldhs.org; 203-259-1598.