MAMARONECK ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR THE
FIRST
ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL ON THE SOUND
JUNE 16
– 19, 2011
On January
27, Mamaroneck Mayor Norman S. Rosenblum, Festival
Director Patrick Sciarratta and Artistic Director
Mark Morganelli and Festival Board Members Mark
Ettenger, Mike Hines, Peggy Jackson,
Laurence Krashes, Gerry Ryan will outline plans for
the 1st Mamaroneck International Jazz Festival on
the Sound at a Launch Cocktail Reception at Molly Spillane’s
Pub, 211 Mamaroneck Avenue, Mamaroneck, New York from 6pm to
9pm. Mr. Morganelli a world renowned trumpeter will perform
with the Jazz Forum All Stars.
The
Village Elected Board of Trustees of Mamaroneck in
Westchester County, New York recently approved the First
Annual Mamaroneck International Jazz Festival (MIJF). The
4-day event will take over Mamaroneck Avenue and its vibrant
Restaurant Row; snake into Harbor Island Park, The Pier and
Beach. There will be major concerts in the park; a high
profile opening event with major artists to be announced at
The Emelin Theatre and Molly Spillane’s; Parades, Workshops
and more each day and night from June 16 to June 19, 2011
The music
festival will highlight several well-known, major and
emerging jazz artists and ensembles. MIJF will include
workshops, jazz dance, musical theatre; Dixieland-style
Street Parades down Mamaroneck Avenue and a jazz-themed
Riverboat restaurant on the pier every day. There will even
be a special screening of “The Jazz Singer” on the beach.
In fact, the festival is actually the Mamaroneck Showcase
Festival – the village, as well as, the festival organizing
committee want the events to be a branding opportunity for
the new, invigorated downtown, beach community.
“This
festival will be developed over the next ten years,” stated
Mamaroneck Village Mayor, Norman S. Rosenbaum. “We
expect it to reposition Mamaroneck and be an extension of
the good press we have received since Mamaroneck Avenue
attracted all those well-respected restaurants and people
have discovered the Village as a friendly place to shop,
stroll, and enjoy.”
The
Village of Mamaroneck was recently named 5th Best
in a ranking of all Westchester communities. The June music
events will focus new attention on the spruced up and very
friendly community along the Sound. Now in its inception,
the Planning Committee is developing its structure, venues,
and daily events.
Festival
Director Patrick Sciarratta stated, “The MIJF Vision
is to increase public enjoyment and enrichment while also
raising funds for the Village to offset taxes – proving
that in tough economic times, local communities can find
creative ways to meet their local challenges”. As
Executive Director of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation,
Mr. Sciarratta brings a wealth of experience in presenting
performing arts internationally. He
has been the executive director of FAF since 1993. He has
spoken at conferences and universities throughout the world
on topics related to cultural exchange and global peace
building. His staff & he have opened and introduced American
performing arts groups to emerging destinations worldwide
with active, customized exchange opportunities.
He was lead faculty member for the Arts Management
Certificate Program for over a decade at Purchase College of
the State University of New York. Prior to his teaching at
SUNY, he taught at St. John’s University, Adelphi
University, C. W. Post College, and New York University. He
was also the Director for Performing Arts at Hunter College
of the City University of New York from 1987-1993, during
the reconstruction of the Danny Kaye Playhouse, and the
Resident Director of the Israel Festival in 1984.
Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Bond Street Theatre
Coalition, from 1976 - 1985, Mr. Sciarratta produced,
directed and co-wrote 12 plays with the ensemble; all of
which were presented in New York and in other national and
international venues. He is currently chair of the Board of
Directors of Bond Street Theatre.
Mr. Sciarratta has received many awards, including the
MacArthur award as the leader of the Palenville Interarts
Colony (1980-1992), the Governor’s Citation for Excellence
from Governor Rockefeller, the New York University’s
Gallatin Award for Achievement in the Arts, and is listed in
four Who’s Who internationally for contributions to culture
and community. Mr. Sciarratta is currently on the boards of
UNA/Westchester (NY) & Vanaver Caravan.
Mark
Morganelli
began presenting concerts in his first Jazz Forum loft at 50
Cooper Square in June 1979. By the time the second Jazz
Forum loft closed its doors in April 1983, recordings,
videos, films and radio broadcasts had documented
performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Wynton
Marsalis, Woody Shaw, Red Rodney, Carmen McRae, Barry
Harris, Philly Joe Jones and Max Roach. After brief
residencies at the Village Gate and the Entermedia Theater,
Morganelli established Jazz Forum Arts, a not-for-profit
arts presenting organization, and in 1985 started the
Riverside Park Arts Festival, which concluded on its 13th
anniversary in August 1997. Morganelli has produced over
fifty compact discs, most for Candid Records, twenty of
which were recorded "live" at NYC’s Birdland club, where he
was the music coordinator for five years.
Seventeen
years ago, Morganelli and his family moved to Westchester,
and shortly thereafter, he inaugurated the Jazz at the Music
Hall series in Tarrytown. Performers have included Ahmad
Jamal, Billy Taylor, Harry "Sweets" Edison, James Moody,
Lionel Hampton, Betty Carter, Gerry Mulligan, Herbie Mann,
Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson, Dave Brubeck,
Chuck Mangione, and the Count Basie and Duke Ellington
Orchestras. Morganelli produced the Sunnyside and Berkshire
Jazz Festivals and was executive producer of "Reckson Jazz
at Tilles", at C.W.Post College in Greenvale, Long Island
for nine years.
Other
productions have included the Tarrytown Arts Festival, and
concerts at Paramount Center in Peekskill, the Palace
Theatre in Stamford, CT, NJPAC, The John Harms Center in
Englewood, NJ, the Performing Arts Center at Purchase
College, SUNY, The Beacon Theatre and The Town Hall, NYC.
Morganelli also produced the Dizzy Gillespie 75th Birthday
concert at Carnegie Hall and co-produced the "Jazz Beats
Breast Cancer" concert at Avery Fisher Hall. In 2005, he
began presenting a new concert series at Jazz @ Lincoln
Center.
As a
trumpeter and flugelhornist, Morganelli performed at the
1976 Montreux Jazz Festival, the 1992 & 1994 Syracuse Jazz
Festivals, the Du Maurier Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival,
JVC/NY and Saratoga Jazz Festivals, several tours of Italy,
many concerts and festivals in Europe, Japan, Brazil and the
Caribbean, and hosted nightly jam sessions aboard QE2 to the
Newport Jazz Festival from 1996-99. He continues to perform
with his Jazz Forum All-Stars on Thursdays at Rainwater
Grill in Hastings, NY as well as around the region and has
released “My Romance,” his fourth CD as leader