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(2004 News)

The Milford Music Festival Promises a Weekend Filled With Sweet Sounds

MILFORD—The Milford Music Festival this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 4, 5, and 6, will be packed with live music for every taste: jazz, blues, Latin, classical, rock, big band and gospel.

All the headline performances in Milford’s Ann Street Park on Saturday and Sunday are free. The Festival’s installing a big tent in the park this week to assure that the show goes on rain or shine.

Saturday in the park, performances in the big tent start at 11 a.m with Latin pop vocalist Devi Rosado. A Milford resident, Ms. Rosado recently recorded her new CD, “Take Me Along.” At noon, there’s 90 minutes of Chicago Blues from Carlos Colina & Straight-Up.

At 2 p.m., the 17-piece Russ Kassoff Big Band begins a three-hour rehearsal and instructional clinic. Kassoff, a distinguished pianist, arranger and composer, toured with Frank Sinatra for 11 years and has recorded with a long list of jazz and vocal greats. During the rehearsal/clinic, he and members of the band will discuss their instruments and how the group interacts.

At 6 p.m., the internationally renowned jazz pianist Bill Mays, who lives in Shohola and tours internationally, takes the stage. The day ends with the Russ Kassoff Big Band returning with a special guest, vocalist Martha Lorin, co-chair of the Festival, performing from 7-8:30 p.m. A music critic said of Ms. Lorin’s recent performance in Manhattan that she is “not only one of the best, but also one of the most interesting jazz singers on the scene.”

Elsewhere in and around Milford on Saturday, some 17 groups and soloists will be performing during the day and in the evening at public buildings, businesses, cafes and restaurants. (Details of these performances are in the Festival schedule available in many locations in the area. The complete schedule is posted on the Festival Website: www.milfordmusic.org.)

Sunday, performances in the Ann Street Park tent start at 1 p.m. with separate performances by three gifted groups at Delaware Valley High School: the DVHS orchestra, choir, and jazz band. At 2:30, classical violinist Eugene Feigelson and cellist Ryan terMeulen (cq), both of Milford, perform.

Then at 3:30, headliner and Latin Grammy Award winning jazz flutist Nestor Torres performs with the Jerry Vivino Quartet. An accomplished saxophonist, Vivino has been a member of the Max Weinberg 7 since 1993, when the band started playing nightly for NBC TV’s Late Night with Conan O’Brian. Torres has worked with numerous top artists including Tito Puente, Gloria Estefan, and many contemporary jazz greats. His latest recording is “Sin Palabras” (“Without Words”).

At 5 p.m. The City choir, previously called the New York City Interdenominational Gospel Choir, begins the last performance of the Festival. The 28-member choir has performed with Garth Brooks on Good Morning America, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the Rosie O’Donnell Show. Last year, the choir won the McDonald’s Gospelfest Adult Choir competition.

All these terrific performances are free, but there is a charge to attend the opening-night reception and cocktail party Friday, 6-8 p.m., at the Tom Quick Inn. Admission is $35 per person or with a Maestro Pass. To make reservations for the reception, or to purchase a $100 Maestro Pass, which offers additional privileges, call 570-296-1232.

The Milford Music Festival is made possible by the generosity of Altec Lansing, the Presenting Sponsor, and its cosponsors: GABE Construction, Chant Realtors, Milford Chrysler, the Milford Music Center, Orange and Rockland, a Con Edison Inc. company; and Target Select Cable Advertising. Altec Lansing is a leading manufacturer and marketer of high quality computer and home entertainment sound systems, and a line of headsets and headphones for personal digital media.