Artist Patrick Bancel will present this painting, New Rochelle, as a gift to the city at the Bastille Day celebration in Hudson Park on Wednesday night.
Free Concert with French flair at Hudson Park Wednesday Night, July 14th at 7:30 pm
NEW ROCHELLE, NY, July 10, 2010 -- New Rochelle will celebrate Bastille Day on Wednesday night with a special concert at Hudson Park presented by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts in collaboration with the Sister City Initiative. “Remembering La Rochelle” will open with local musicians: Drummer Brian Carter will appear with the Zach Lipton Quartet. They’ll be followed by Bon Chic, Bon Genre performing “Souvenirs: 50 years of French and American Signature Songs.” The evening will include a presentation by artist Patrick Bancel, who will formally donate his gift to the city, a painting titled New Rochelle that will be installed at the city’s marina.
Bastille Day, the French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille – a prison that symbolized the absolute power of King Louis XVI -- which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The city’s French heritage can be traced to the French Protestant Huguenots who left La Rochelle to seek religious freedom and found refuge along the banks of the Long Island Sound. They named their new home New Rochelle. According to City Historian Barbara Davis many descendents of original Huguenot families still reside here.
The city has maintained ties with La Rochelle: In 1911, citizens of New Rochelle gifted to La Rochelle a statue of Jean Guiton, its mayor and a defender of the Huguenots in the 1600s. That 18-foot-high statue stands in the courtyard of the La Rochelle City Hall. Visits to New Rochelle took place in both 1938 and 1988, celebrating the 250th and 300th anniversaries of our city. More recently a delegation from New Rochelle received a warm welcome in La Rochelle in 1999 and the mayor of La Rochelle spent several days here as a guest in 2009. Today the Sister City Initiative, a municipal program, seeks to encourage exchanges in the cultural, educational, youth, business and athletics areas, and building links between New Rochelle institutions and those in La Rochelle, France. The Initiative has hosted and supported a variety of activities, including summer musical events and La Rochelle musicians, an art show, Bastille Day ceremonies, and the La Rochelle Mayor’s Cup race at Huguenot Yacht Club. Committee Convener Peter Korn has said, “Keeping history alive and building international friendship is the job City Council gave us. The Initiative has many opportunities and we’re only limited by our volunteer numbers. We invite interested persons to contact us to learn more or to express an interest in involvement.” For more information on the Sister City Committee and its programs, contact them at www.sistercitynr@gmail.com.
The Emil Paolucci Summer Sounds Concert Series – presented every Wednesday night at 7:30 pm at the Hudson Park Bandshell -- is produced by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts in partnership with the New Rochelle Department of Parks and Recreation, with support from Webster Bank.. (In addition Metro Med is underwriting the July 21st concert by New Rochelle Opera, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.)
The Summer Sounds Concert Series will continue with:
· July 21st : New Rochelle Opera in concert, sponsored by Metro Med
· July 28th : The annual Emil Paolucci concert featuring the “big band” sound of the Johnny Amoroso Band
· August 4th : Spotlight on New Rochelle High School Bands including Tambourine (Jimi Hendrix cover band), New Rochelle Voices 6 and Rochambros
· August 11th : The horn-driven swing sounds of The Jesters of Jive featuring New Rochelle’s own Joan Crowe
· August 18th : Danceable music by Silver Streaks Band
· August 25th : The “barbershop” harmonies of The Westchester Chordsmen
For more information about the Summer Sounds Concert Series visit the NRCA website at www.newrochellearts.org or telephone the Dept. of Parks and Recreation at 654-2087.
