Press Release

Herring Run ArtsFest 2006
For Immediate Release

For more information, contact
Susan Becker
508-947-5323
nisbeck@verizon.net

Herring Run ArtsFest Weekend offers Music, Visual Arts, Poetry, Drama and Film

MIDDLEBOROUGH – The seventh annual Herring Run ArtsFest celebrates new works by talented artists in music, theater, poetry, film and the visual arts.  Performances and exhibits begin at 6:00 PM Friday, September 8th and continue throughout the weekend.  The Middleboro Public Library, 102 North Main Street (Route 105), transformed into an art gallery and intimate performing spaces, hosts the celebration.

Throughout the weekend visual artists from Southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston area will display their works in an arts and flowers exhibit.  Selected pieces are interpreted by imaginative floral arrangements created by Lakeville Garden Club members. This year’s exhibit includes the work of 18 artists and represents an interesting variety of media, including pencil, ink, oil, photography, pottery, sculpture, fabric, jewelry, and more. A separate exhibit of works by local Art Teachers will also be on display.  A Meet the Artists event is scheduled for 5:30 PM on Saturday, September 9.  The visual artists will be on hand to answer questions about their work.

The curtain rises on the Herring Run ArtsFest theatre Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m. September 8 and 9 for 90-minute programs.  Friday evening will feature multiple, short staged readings ranging from comedy to dramas.  Saturday evening’s performance will include Richard Cambridge’s performance of “The Cigarette Papers,” an hour-long piece that vividly captures the emotional, physical and psychological struggles of nicotine withdrawal.
Concerts lead off Friday at 9:00 PM with the vibrant Boston based Gramercy Trio performing the Mozart Trio in E Major, Brahams C Major Trio, Opus 87 and the contemporary composer Sonia Possetti’s Tango, “Buenos Aires En La Sangre.”  Randall Hodgkinson piano, Sharan Leventhal violin and Jonathan Miller cello are recording artists  performing individually and together in venues that include Tanglewood, Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, and The Museum of Fine Arts.  The 9:00 PM Saturday evening concert presents the Phill Argyris Quintet with special guests Bill Pierce on tenor and alto sax, Phil Grenedier on trumpet, Ron Savage bass and Ron Mahdi percussion.  Living regionally in Acton and the Boston area these musicians perform their red, hot mainstream bop and post bop standards and original compositions locally, nationally and internationally.  Completing the concert program on Sunday will be The Mosaic Ensemble, Mike Gregian on doumbek, Fred Elias on violin and Costa Maniatakos on oud, with special guest belly dancer, Bahijha, performing Middle Eastern traditional folk and classical pieces with a contemporary twist.

A screening of The Best of Boston 2006 48-Hour Film Festival featuring a special panel of filmmakers hosted by the Boston project organizer, Ben Guaraldi, will be the highlight of ArtFest’s film segment running from 12:00 noon until 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 9th.  Beginning this exclusive film program will be “Shoe”, The Burt Wood School of Performing Arts’ entry directed by Andrew Osborne for this year’s 48-Hour Film Contest.

Boston-based Midnight Chimes Productions under the leadership of Kevin Anderton will show several of their short comic films poking fun at everything from ninja movies to national politics.

On Saturday, September 9, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM the entire family will be delighted by the truly unique and immensely popular children’s group, The Toe Jam Puppet Band, who will present their special interactive entertainment of original songs, masterful shadow puppetry and storytelling to the ArtsFest audience for the first time. Founders Tom Portras and Vinnie Lovegrove have years of experience entertaining children and they encourage everyone to sing and dance during the show.

Poetry will be presented Sunday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM following the concert and will be coordinated this year by Vicki Murray of East Bridgewater.  Featured will be poet Reggie Gibson, an African-American poet from the Bridgewater-Brockton area.  There will be an Open Mike and a Sudden Death Poetry Competition.

Complimentary receptions welcome festival-goers Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:30 PM and Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM.

Directions to ArtsFest: take Exit 4 off Route 495. Head north on Route 105. The library is located at 102 North Main Street (Route 105) and is handicap accessible.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information visit the festival’s website at http://herringrunartsfest.org or call (508) 947-5323.

Herring Run ArtsFest is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Councils of Middleboro, Lakeville, Bridgewater and Brockton and by the generosity of individual donors and corporate sponsors including the Mayflower Bank and the Middleboro Rotary.  Donations at the door are welcome.

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