CITY March 2025 by CITY Magazine

ROCHESTER'S

BY SEAN O'HARE

BY VERONICA VOLK

280 State Street Rochester, New York 14614

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Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, Chris Hastings, chairman

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EDITORIAL

Editor: Leah Stacy

Arts reporter: Patrick Hosken

Multimedia reporter: Roberto Felipe Lagares

Editorial intern: Alyssa Koh

Contributors: Sydney Burrows, Charlotte Fogle, Rob Houppert, Daniel J. Kushner, Johanna Lester, Tim Ludwig, Megan Mack, Justin Murphy, Sean O'Hare, Abby Quatro, Louis Ressel, Mona Seghatoleslami, Julia Smith, Racquel Stephen, Jordan Taylor, Veronica Volk, Pete Wayner, Ryan Yarmel

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CITY (ISSN 1551-3262) is published monthly 12 times per year by Rochester Area Media Partners, a subsidiary of WXXI Public Broadcasting. Periodical postage paid at Rochester, NY (USPS 022-138). Address changes: CITY, 280 State Street, Rochester, NY 14614. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the New York Press Association. Copyright by Rochester Area Media Partners LLC, 2025 - all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner.

Photo by Roberto F. Lagares

What’s luck got to do with it?

EDITOR'S LETTER

BY LEAH STACY LEAH@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

The Blarney Stone was wet. Which maybe makes sense when you’re kissing something — but on a 75-degree day in Ireland, I wasn’t expecting moisture to meet my lips. The whole experience was a lot less romantic than I expected. To get there, I climbed enough winding stairs and corridors of the Blarney Castle to fully activate my fear of heights (but one does not simply go all the way to Cork just to leave without the gift of gab). Then, standing in line, only to lie down very fast while an attendant held my legs and I hoisted myself up to plant one on the Blarney Stone. (Wet, because they were sanitizing between smackers.) At the end of this whirlwind liaison, kissers can buy a photo of themselves laying it on. A sort of Disney-fication of Irish lore, if you will.

As a (partial) Irish American, I spent a lot of time researching and identifying with the culture. DNA results have given me ancestral percentages and potential family names. Two trips to the Emerald Isle felt like visiting a second home. I wept while touring EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum, in Dublin, proud to be part of such a poetic, creative heritage. And I’ve worn a Claddagh ring most of my life.

This issue’s theme, “Irish heart,” is a nod to the Claddagh design: two hands, holding a crowned heart to symbolize love (heart), friendship (hands) and loyalty (crown). Rochester has a fair bit of Irish history, which you’ll read more about in the following pages, and our team had a bloody good time putting this together.

Given the current state of the world, I don’t think this issue could be more well-timed. Now, more than ever, we need what the Irish do best: craic, poetry, music, whimsy, comfort, hospitality and hard work. (Also, potatoes.)

And when things feel especially heavy, let us recall the words of the old Irish proverb: “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”

Erin go bragh. L

Irish stuff you should know:

St. Patrick was British. At roughly 16, he was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He escaped six years later, returned to Great Britain to become a cleric and went back to Ireland to spread Christianity.

The abbreviation is St. Paddy’s, not St. Patty’s.

A three-leaf clover, also known as a shamrock, was used by St. Patrick to teach the Holy Trinity — father, son, and holy spirit — to the Irish.

A four-leaf clover is simply that (not a shamrock), and symbolizes luck. If it’s Irish, it’s whiskey (not whisky).

The editor with her sister, Joanna Hackett, in Galway PHOTO BY ELI HACKETT

R.E.P.O.R.T.S.

(R)EADING, (E)ATING, (P)LAYING, (O)BSESSING OVER, (R)ECOMMENDING, (T)REATING, (S)HOUTING OUT.

REPORTER: Kate McBride, organizer, with input from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee (ages 21 to 78!)

SOCIAL: rochesterparade.com; Tops Rochester St. Patrick's Day (Facebook)

HOMETOWN: Rochester

READING: “History of Ireland” by Malachy McCourt, “Long Island” by Colm Toibin (a great audio book), “Guests of the Nation” by Frank O'Connor, “Blessed are the Cheese Makers” by Sarah-Kate Lynch, “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius, “A Week in Winter” by Maeve Binchy, “The Irish Echo” (for

the latest news here and from across the pond) and, of course, “CITY Magazine.”

EATING: Irish soda bread from Tops (delicious and only on sale in March), fried chicken and fish at Chick’n Out, Guinness at Salinger’s, corned beef sliders at Drifter’s at the Hilton Garden Inn, Powers Whiskey, Marty O’Keefe’s brown bread with buttermilk and raisins, Big Ditch Hayburner IPA at Axes & Ales, pizza at the bar at Veneto, Irish nachos at Shamrock Jack’s and any homemade soup at Temple Bar and Grille.

PLAYING: So many great Irish movies to watch this month: “Brooklyn,” “Belfast,” “The Quiet Man,” “Waking Ned Devine” and "The Job of Songs Doolin/Music.” For TV: “Derry Girls,” “Peaky Blinders,” “Blue Lights” and “All Creatures Great and Small” (not in Ireland, but pretty close.) For music: Irish music every Sunday night at the Temple Bar and Grille. (Be sure to check out the local band Connemara Social Club.) Traditional Irish music sessions the first Sunday of the month at the American Hotel in Lima and the last Sunday of the month with the Comhaltas at Johnny’s.

OBSESSING OVER: Kristin’s delicious corned beef at Johnny’s Irish Pub on Parade Day and St. Patrick’s Day. She makes 500 pounds of it herself—and her daughters will serve you.

RECOMMENDING: The Tops St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 15. It’s the biggest single-day event in the City of Rochester with nine bands, six Irish dance schools, 2,000 marchers, fire trucks, floats and more. It steps off at 12:30 p.m. at the corner of East Ave. and Alexander St. And, don’t miss the Celtic Family Faire from 1-4 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 155 E. Main St., with the Upguys Comedy variety show, Irish dancers, the Zoomobile, photo booth and more.

TREATING MYSELF TO: A day trip on the Erie Canal walking, biking or boating to celebrate its 200th anniversary. This monumental feat, right in our backyard, played an important role in developing the economic and cultural landscape of New York, as well as the entire United States— and the Irish helped build it!

SHOUTING OUT: The Irish American Heritage Memorial in the planning stages by the Col. Patrick O’Rorke Society. The memorial will be a reflection park that displays what America meant to the immigrating Irish as well as how the Irish contributed to the building and enrichment of America.

Interested in being a CITY R.E.P.O.R.T.S. interviewee? Send an email to leah@rochester-citynews.com.

PHOTO BY QUINTON MARCHAND

CITY Social

from the 2024 St. Paddy's Day Parade.

Scenes

PHOTOS BY LOUIS RESSEL

A rhythmic revolution

BY SYDNEY BURROWS

Rochester has long embraced Irish dance, a tradition that flourishes through its many competitive studios and frequent performances across the city. Against the background of traditional Irish dance, ROCeltic offers an experimental lens that combines classical Irish with concert dance. By blending styles and collaborating with local artists while staying true to the core of Irish dance technique, ROCeltic presents unique works that appeal to audiences of all interests.

At the heart of this creative evolution is Rochester native and ROCeltic founder Briana Blair Kelly, whose early passion for Irish dance set the stage for her later explorations into dance fusion. Kelly teaches contemporary, ballet, jazz, and tap as an adjunct lecturer at the State University of New York at Fredonia, but Irish dance is her first love. She was fully embedded in the Rochester dance community throughout her childhood, studying Irish dance at Drumcliffe (now part of Rince Na Tiarna School of Irish Dance) and ballet at Draper School of Ballet.

Kelly’s studies at Drumcliffe and Draper led her to question how these traditionally separate dance techniques might intertwine. As part of her master’s thesis in choreography and performance at SUNY Brockport, Kelly began exploring the application of various dance styles to a base of Irish technique.

“What happens if I change an element of the physicality of Irish dance?” she said.

ROCeltic steps forward with Irish dance fusion.

ROCeltic company members performing "The Tides Between Us" in ROCeltic's 2024 Rochester Fringe Festival show "ROCeltic: Slaínte, Raise A Glass to 5 Years!" PHOTOS

Her finished product was a piece that kept the core elements of Irish dance—the intricate footwork, rhythm, musicality and energy—but replaced the traditional rigidness of the upper posture with contemporary movements using the upper body.

Her experimentation at Brockport laid the groundwork for what Kelly defines as ‘Irish fusion’—a blend of styles that characterizes ROCeltic’s performances. ROCeltic’s progressive choreography draws inspiration from tap, contemporary, Irish hardshoe, hip-hop and ballet.

“A lot of dance forms are created through the intermingling of cultures, and our goal is to unearth the choreographic potential of Irish dance by finding connections with other styles,” Kelly said.

ROCeltic pushes the boundaries of Irish dance to uncover new possibilities of the style while respecting and celebrating Irish culture. For this reason, most company members, like original member Fiona Kier, have extensive training in traditional Irish dance.

elly’s vision of merging diverse dance styles resonated with Kier, who danced competitively starting at a young age. In contrast to the rigid structure often found in competitive Irish dance, Kier appreciates the collaborative process of ROCeltic, which encourages its members to both perform and choreograph.

This dynamic allows for a creative, cohesive performance that’s always fresh and inspired.

“We create and perform for audiences, often people who may be more interested in modern or ballet,

and give them a taste of Irish culture,” Kier said.

In ROCeltic’s performances, ‘Irish fusion’ isn’t limited to choreography alone—the exchange between dance and music is equally essential.

“Jazz dance and music evolve together, you can’t separate the two, and it’s the same with Irish dance and Irish music,” said Kelly. “You can’t separate them.”

ROCeltic regularly brings a splash of concert dance to the Irish festival space by collaborating with local musicians. One of their frequent musical collaborators is The Irish Lassies, a six-piece Celtic folk band based in the Finger Lakes. The band accompanies ROCeltic

in performances around the region, including the Honeoye Celtic Festival (founded by The Irish Lassies and Birdhouse Brewing Company).

Irish Lassies member Caleb Cotter feels ROCeltic’s strength lies in their energy and connection with the audience. Irish dance is a social dance and the company keeps this element of the style front and center.

“I was immediately drawn to them because a lot of Irish dance is very strict and structured—in their uniforms, timing, and precise movements,” Cotter said. “Whereas watching ROCeltic is like going to a party with your friends, and they all just so happen to be dancers.” roceltic.com

Briana Blair Kelly (right) and Fiona Kier (left) performing "Rhythmic Conversation" in ROCeltic's 2024 Rochester Fringe Festival show "ROCeltic: Slaínte, Raise A Glass to 5 Years!"

Briana Blair Kelly performing "Reverence for Éire: Expanding the Tradition" in ROCeltic's 2023 Rochester Fringe Festival show "ROCeltic: Hybridity, Identity, and Roving Irishness."

John Dady’s Irish-American

John Dady has been a staple of the Irish-American folk music scene since the 1970s.

PHOTOS BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES

The Irish Rover

BY PATRICK HOSKEN PATRICK@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

John Dady has seen “A Complete Unknown,” the Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, three times. So far.

“It’s fantastic,” said Dady, the Rochester musician who, with his late brother Joe, became a local institution for blending traditional Irish music with American folk and bluegrass.

As they began playing in the 1970s, the Dady Brothers found plenty of influence in Dylan’s electrified blues and the songcraft of The Beatles, plus the Irish musical legacies of acts like The Chieftains and The Emigrants.

D ady was primed to love the new Dylan film. But he’s got one qualm.

“That scene where Dylan goes into the pub, and [musicians] are singing ‘The Irish Rover’ more in a ‘90s Irish punk version,” Dady said. “That song wouldn't have been sung that way in 1962.”

He ought to know. Granted, he only turned seven that year, but Dady was a keen pupil.

His time at Charlotte’s Irish Inn with Joe the following decade helped make the Dady Brothers

fixtures of the local music scene, essential voices of Irish-American music and eventual Rochester Music Hall of Fame inductees.

It’s why historian Christopher Shannon used the pair to anchor his new book, “Singing From the Heart: The Dady Brothers, Irish Music, and Ethnic Endurance in an American City,” published in December 2024 on local press Starry Night Publishing.

The document weaves the Dadys’ musical contributions into a larger patchwork of the post-World War II experience of Irish Americans in Rochester’s old Tenth Ward neighborhood, where Shannon and the Dadys grew up.

“Originally, they were going to maybe be a chapter,” Shannon said. “But it seemed to me that they needed to be the focus of the story because they bring it all together, the bigger story of the neighborhood and Irish-American culture. They endured.”

Multi-instrumentalist Joe died of leukemia in 2019, ending a decadeslong run that spanned several albums, regular treks to Ireland and a network of community that spans continents. It was a blow.

At his home near Lake Ontario, John Dady’s instrument collection spans banjos, vintage mandolins, mountain dulcimers and more.

“Joe and I were so connected, I knew what he was going to play before he did,” Dady said.

But as Shannon noted, John endures.

He still leads an annual Ireland tour. He performs at memory-care facilities for older adults. He writes.

At his home near Lake Ontario in Hamlin, Dady and his wife, Carol, live well, surrounded by string instruments and an affectionate adopted cat named Banjo. (It was, in fact, Carol who helped spark his interest in Irish music.) Their five children and seven grandchildren gather for ice skating on the frozen pond out back.

He plays gigs, too. On a winter Tuesday, Dady readied for an upcoming pre-St. Patrick’s Day show at 75 Stutson Street in Charlotte, a half-mile from the former Irish Inn. Also on the program? Irish dancing courtesy of his granddaughter, and fiddle from his grandson.

“I watch him play and I see flashes of Joe,” Dady said. “He’d stick his tongue out, a little bit like the Michael Jordan thing. Whenever Joe got intense, the tongue would come out.”

B ackdropped by a mountain dulcimer, a 10-string Brazilian tiple

made by the storied C.F. Martin & Company and “the oldest Gibson mandolin you'll ever see,” Dady can tell stories. About the provenance of his instruments. About his and Carol’s wedding in 1975. About leaving the Aquinas Institute of Rochester after two years due to its strict men’s hair guidelines (and finishing up at Edison Tech).

One of the best stories involves playing with folk hero Pete Seeger, which John and Joe did in 2011 in Beacon, New York, where Seeger lived. After, John walked Seeger, then 92, down a steep alleyway to the parking lot.

“ We got to his car, and he pulled out a banjo and goes, ‘John, can I sing you a song?’” Dady recalled. Seeger performed “When I Was Most Beautiful,” begun as a poem inspired by the liberation of women in Japan after World War II.

“It slayed me. I had tears in my eyes,” Dady said. “It was a very ethereal kind of ballad. I was paralyzed.”

Along with Seeger’s influence, the young Dadys also found models in Tommy Makem, an Irish folk singer who regularly hit the New York City club circuit with countrymen The Clancy Brothers in the ‘60s.

One of their stops was on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on March 12, 1961 — a slot that, Shannon writes, helped them become “overnight sensations” and contributed to the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene. Dady has since befriended and performed with Makem’s son Rory, as well as Liam Clancy’s son Donald.

Just as the Dadys had their idols, a new generation of Irish-American musicians looks up to them. One is John Ryan, chair of Rochester’s branch of the Irish Musician’s Association, who now plays squeeze box, flute and penny whistle in Dady’s band.

“The Dady Brothers, to us, were the Clancy Brothers of Rochester,” Ryan said. “I listened to them when I was growing up and I sort of played the music that they played. But I never quite did it the way they did it. While they were an influence on me before, now it's a renewed interest as I learn their music more closely.”

Above: “This is the oldest Gibson mandolin you’ll ever see,” John Dady said, holding one from 1898.

Below: A left-handed guitarist, John Dady learned to play upside down instead of re-stringing his instruments.

Dady spoke with graciousness about every opportunity he’s had, though he was admittedly reluctant to assume the mantle of an elder statesman. He mentioned playing a festival in Livingston County in the mid-2010s with several younger acts on the bill.

“I looked around and said, ‘Joe, what's going on? We’re the oldest ones here,’” Dady recalled. “He goes, ‘John, we're the old dudes now.’ From being the Dady Brothers, the young up-and-comers, to all of a sudden we're the seniors? That seemed to happen so fast.”

On stage, musicians called Dady a selfless collaborator who knows how to give his all to a crowd.

“He leaves blood on the stage, meaning he pours everything out,” said mandolin player Perry Cleaveland. “Despite how many

people are there, despite the context of the show, whatever the particulars are — he doesn't leave anything left when he's done.”

“He’ll listen to what everyone puts in,” said bassist Gary Holt. “We can rely on each other, and I can trust him.”

Perhaps most crucially, the Dadys managed to stay local even as they expanded their reach across the ocean.

Shannon writes of the brothers’ intentions of forgoing an itinerant life of music — and perhaps being complete unknowns themselves — in favor of planting local roots.

“ When most other people like me are going to college, they didn't follow that path toward upward mobility,” he said, “but at the same time, didn't reject it all in the name of Bohemian rebellion. What they do is the dream.”

The cover of Christopher Shannon's December 2024 book about the Dady Brothers

Opening the circle

BY ALYSSA KOH ALYSSA@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

When Jake Kwiatkowski teaches bagpipes at the Hochstein School, he does so across the room from his younger self. Two decades ago, Kwiatkowski was a jazz saxophone student in the same basement where he teaches — now, a photo of him from that era is tacked up on one of the walls.

“I swear, the guy who teaches in this room, he was my old teacher,” he said. “I think he put it up there after I started teaching just to mess with me.”

This intersectionality between historic and modern is one Kwiatkowski straddles regularly as a bagpiper. He teaches students across greater Rochester, from nine years old to past retirement, both at his home studio in Irondequoit and downtown at Hochstein. He gigs at Irish and Scottish events alike, including festivals, birthday parties and weddings. But his favorite gig is one that, unlike the majority of his work, addresses something more somber.

“A funeral brings back to everyone what’s actually important,” he said. “It strips everything away, and people are their true selves.”

Kwiatkowski’s true self is tied to the bagpipes, which he picked up at the precocious age of four. He started taking lessons from Scottish

For centuries, bagpiping was something kept within family lines — now, it just takes a Google

MUSIC

“I just think it is the most beautiful, lilting type of music, and there’s so much expression.”

pipe band Feadán Òr founder Kevin Angus in Penfield. Throughout high school, he traveled from Spencerport to Toronto to play with one of the four professional pipe bands in North America. This intense commitment led Kwiatkowski to set the pipes aside for 15 years, only returning seriously to the instrument after being laid off in 2022. He is now the only full-time piper in the area, which makes him a monolith and pioneer for Celtic musicians in Rochester.

“I just think it is the most beautiful, lilting type of music, and there’s so much expression,” said McKayla Jenkins, a fifth-year student at Nazareth University, which is also Kwiatkowski’s alma mater. A music education major, Jenkins decided to pick up the bagpipes a couple months ago for a needed break from classical Western music. She encountered Kwiatkowski speaking at a TEDx talk at Nazareth, and was glued to his 15-minute presentation. Jenkins is looking forward to improving her skills enough to play with other students; Kwiatkowski hosts a circle every other Friday for his students to play informally and get to know other musicians.

As a young boy, seeing a female bagpiper was rare — but now, Kwiatkowski is an agent of change in the diversity of the bagpiping scene. Now, with the help of Irish and Scottish musicians alike, he hopes to make the craft more accessible for those without familial knowledge that goes back for generations.

“I’m teaching a Tolomeo, and my last name’s Kwiatkowski,” he said.

“Most of my students found their way into the bagpipe scene through Google — and then, me.”

Because bagpipes only play in one key and have a buzzing, unmistakable timbre, they do not mix well with other instruments. Bagpipers play while marching (which dates back to the British military influence on Scotland) or in a circle with other pipers. This is very different from the Irish “sessions,” where anyone is welcome to join and jam (or, at least, dance). Kwiatkowski has been invited many times to join in on the fun. This sociability, he said, is reflective of the Rochester Celtic music scene overall. In the future, Kwiatkowski plans to pop in on an Irish pub session or two and continue bringing the Celtic music community together, leading by example. He currently teaches the bassist of the local band the Irish Lassies the bagpipes. In the future, Kwiatkowski wants to set up a youth pipe band in Rochester — the kind he would have benefited from in high school. Maybe in another 20 years, one of his students will have their photo on the wall of the Hochstein basement, next to his.

“The next generation is starting to take the mantle, and we’re bringing this Celtic culture into the 21st century,” he said. “We’re all just starting to, kind of organically, lift all ships because we realize that we’re two sides of the same coin here.”

Left: Jake Kwiatkowski sporting "full dress" featuring a kilt, bagpipes, and leather sporran.

Above: Double exposure of Kwiatkowski playing & at rest with his bagpipes.

PHOTOS BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES

See me down the road

BY PETE WAYNER

Afather and two young sons drive north, as they do every year, for Christmas in Rochester. Inside the car, the dad slowly rotates the radio’s tuner, seeking the strongest of patchwork and far-flung radio signals. The oldest son snoozes in the passenger seat. The youngest watches from the back, wrappers of twin Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers at his feet (always the same Wendy’s on this journey, always the same order), flashlight and road atlas ready for action.

“Even now my dad doesn’t drive with GPS,” said Devin Kelly, the young navigator in this tableau. “He’s wildly savvy. He’s the kind of

guy who, it’s like the moment we would hit traffic, he would take the next exit and he’d be like, ‘Alright, open the atlas. Where are we?’” They were in Irondequoit, or would be. In the final hour of this trip, every year, The Chieftains 1991 Christmas album, “The Bells of Dublin,” skated into the CD player and ferried them over the last leg to join the rest of this extensive Irish family. Into view would come a house that magically expanded to accommodate an influx of uncles, aunts and cousins drawn by the matriarchal magnetism of a small (in stature only) grandmother.

Brooklyn resident Devin Kelly grew up visiting the Finger Lakes area. PHOTO PROVIDED

“That drive shows up in so much of my work because my dad is not the most outgoing with his love, but that drive to me was such a symbol of his love for his children — my brother and I — but mostly for his mom,” said Kelly.

Devin Kelly is a writer. The work he alluded to has appeared in “Longreads,” “The Guardian,” “LitHub,” “DIAGRAM,” “Hobart,” “Redivider,” and “The Year’s Best Sportswriting,” among others. Two books of his poetry have been published and his first novel, “Pilgrims,” partially set in the Rochester area, will hit shelves late this summer.

Kelly described the book as a story of two brothers. One is a monk at the Abbey of the Genesee, a monastery near Geneseo (and, incidentally, the provenance of Monks’ Bread) and the other is an athlete who runs away from home during a cross country race. The monk leaves the confines of his abbey to find the wayward brother with no

information on his whereabouts, and the story unfolds as each brother meets people and collects experiences in their respective journeys.

“I see myself in every character, to be honest,” said Kelly. “The two brothers resemble less my relationship with my brother and more my relationship with myself.”

One he described as withdrawn and wary of the ever-increasing speed of the world, while the other immerses himself in language amid an at-times angry struggle with family dynamics.

“One of the most beautiful things about writing a novel is you can pour anything into a character,” said Kelly. “They’re like a mold, and they don’t have to resemble the people you know … You can be like, ‘Oh, I want to use this character to explore my past self.’”

In a separate non-fiction piece, “Something About the Present,” Kelly opens a window for readers to see another bit of his past self:

We walked back inside [the church] and left after mass — it was midnight on Christmas Eve — to sit at my grandmother’s small kitchen table in her small kitchen two blocks from the shore of Lake Ontario, where we ate Entenmann’s coffee cake with our dad before we went to bed. Before my grandmother died, I sat with her at that same kitchen table, watching her refuse to eat a spoonful of peas. My dad asked her to eat them, in what was perhaps the gentlest act I’d ever seen him perform. I’d never heard him whisper until that moment. He asked her softly, and she refused. She was small then, just barely taller than four feet. Life had made her stubborn, then tender, then stubborn again. That is my last memory of seeing her alive. Her face, just above the table’s edge. Like a moon gone down to earth.

Interior of the Abbey of the Genesee.

PHOTO BY PATRICK WALSH

His ability to reflect on and draw meaning from a scene shows itself again and again in Kelly’s writing, to great effect. It also likely explains why, in his role as a high school English teacher at Comp Sci High in the Bronx, students write poetry in his classroom during the lunch period, and why a senior’s mom spent two weeks knitting him a sweater.

“I really love working with kids,” he said. “They are surprising, they are hopeful, they are not hopeful, they are everything. When I go to work, I get to experience the whole myriad complexity of what it means to be human.”

Somewhere between the very present, active transformation Kelly sees in his students and the reflection on his own past in his writing, a realization took shape about the nature of our pasts and the meaning we reap from our own stories.

“That lesson has shaped my life, where it’s like, these things that happen to us aren’t static, and the way we feel about them isn’t static either,” he said.

“When I was in the car with my dad driving to Rochester, I wasn’t always smiling and saying, ‘What a beautiful show of love.’ Sometimes, I was really bored. Sometimes, I was annoyed. But it took distance. And it took me wondering about it, and it took some of those memories coming back in ways that I hadn’t seen when I was present in them for me to realize how beautiful all of that was.”

“Pilgrims” by Devin Kelly will be available for preorder in the coming months from Great Place Books at greatplacebooks.com, and on sale everywhere later this year.

Kelly at a poetry reading in New York City. PHOTO PROVIDED

Bottling the craic

CULTURE

BY JUSTIN MURPHY

Danny Barry’s coffee must be cold by now.

I’ve asked him one question since we sat down in this cafe. A simple yes-or-no: Is he by any chance a descendant of Rochester’s original Barrys, an illustrious Irish lineage beginning with Ellwanger and Barry founder Patrick Barry and continuing through former Mayor Peter Barry in the mid-20th century?

The short answer is no. But Danny Barry — once proprietor of a popular Irish pub, and now a fastgrowing brand of Irish cream liqueur and a thronging Irish festival — isn’t known for short answers.

Instead, as the steam wafts off his paper coffee cup like fog off the Kerry coast, he starts the story with his grandfather sitting at a bar in 1965.

That bar is at the Crescent Beach Hotel in Greece, where Joe Barry has worked since coming home from World War II. It’s for sale, and his dream is to buy it and make it his own. The only problem is that he can’t quite put the money together.

Another man sidles up to him at the bar and asks: Are you Joe Barry, and are you trying to buy Crescent Beach?

Yes to both.

You might not remember me, the man says, but you saved me from drowning when we were children. The money will be in your account in the morning.

Left: Danny and Jessica Barry with Genesee Brewmaster Dean Jones. PHOTO BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES Right: The extended Barry family at a product launch. PHOTO PROVIDED

“It gives me chills just thinking about it,” Danny said.

So began a 40-year run at Crescent Beach, interrupted but not defeated by a catastrophic fire in 1973. Joe Barry also ran Barry’s Party House in Greece as well as Atlantic Recreation Bowling Hall on Atlantic Avenue.

The spirit of friendliness and generosity that imbued those establishments entranced his grandson.

“I’d just be set up at the bar with a plate of cheese and crackers and a Shirley Temple, feeling like I was a king,” he said.

In fifth grade, he told his class that his life’s dream was to open his own Irish pub. Not what his teacher was hoping to hear, perhaps, but he meant it.

That segues smoothly –everything seems to be segueing smoothly, though the coffee’s still undrunk – to the opening of Barry’s Old School Irish in Webster in 2011.

That same year Danny and his wife, Jessica, have just gotten married and are on the plane to their honeymoon in (where else?)

Ireland. Mid-air, they sign legal documents making them the owners of a small brick building in downtown Webster, where Danny’s fifth-grade promise will come to life.

They spend the honeymoon touring pubs throughout the country, taking note of what the traditional pubs have in common — the layout, the brand of vinegar, the way customers are greeted — to bring back to their own place, putting those special touches together with Joe Barry’s conviviality.

ust like the old man, they launch the business with plenty of green in the Irish sense and

precious little in the financial sense. On opening day, the bank account shows a negative balance.

“Our kitchen was basically a George Foreman grill and an EasyBake Oven, and I’m really not exaggerating by much,” Danny said. “If no one had come the first few days, we’d have been done.”

But people did come.

“Day one, we knew it was beyond just us,” he said. “We’re lucky to have our name over the door, but it’s really the community that built it.”

Over 12 years, the corner pub grew into more than they’d ever hoped. It became a favorite hangout for locals and an attraction for travelers from the region and even Ireland, all while maintaining Joe Barry’s quintessential camaraderie.

“People would come into the pub, like, 80 years old, and say, ‘I used to set pins for your grandpa [at his bowling alley],’ Jessica said.

We’ve arrived at a major turning point in the story. At this point in the interview, it’s safe to say that Danny Barry won’t be having so much as a sip of his coffee, but you can’t blame him because he’s about to say something very interesting.

In January 2020, he receives a call out of the blue from the manager of Conor McGregor, the famous Irish mixed martial artist. McGregor has heard about the Barrys, their pub and their general love for all things Irish, and would like to invite them to Las Vegas that weekend to see him fight.

They arrange bab ysitters and make the trip, sitting ringside with his entourage and joining them for the afterparty. Jessica takes the opportunity to bring up their new line of Irish cream and gets connected to a manufacturer in Ireland.

Then came the pandemic. The barroom was closed, but to-go orders were open, and the whole operation found itself — here’s an image —

precariously afloat in a sea of that very same Irish cream, selling a quart at a time out the pub’s front door.

It had always been on the menu, and when an order came in, Jessica would go back and mix it up by hand. Now, she was spending 12 hours a day in the kitchen filling to-go orders; the need to scale up was obvious. They closed a deal McGregor’s team had helped arrange, adding an extra pinch of vanilla to the recipe as a homage to a family chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Barry’s Irish Cream is now available at liquor stores and bars throughout upstate New York, with plans to expand to other states as well. This month, they’re doing a limited run Barry’s Irish Cream Stout collaboration with Genesee Brewing Company Brewmaster Dean Jones, and they’ll turn the Brew House into an unofficial Parade Day headquarters on Saturday, March 15. They’re also thinking of a whiskey to complement the Irish Cream.

With the family’s energy pointed toward manufacturing and retail, the pub closed in 2023. The Barrys are looking now for a larger, permanent location. In the meantime, they’re channeling their people-gathering energy into Barry’s Irish Festival, which drew more than 8,000 people to the Fireman’s Field in Webster last September.

“It’s like taking the walls off the pub for a day,” Danny said.

And the Barry empire stretches even further than that. Danny’s sister owns Barry’s Yoga Studio in Fairport, while his father, David Barry, was a longtime judge in Greece. Several other family members are educators in the Greece Central School District.

I’d hoped to get into all that. The interview has already run over, though, and the coffee needs freshening. thebarrybrand.com

Ancient ties

BY ROB HOUPPERT

“Rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen, soccer is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans … hurling is a hooligan’s game played by hooligans.” Roc City Gaelic Coach Scott Fry says this jokingly, tossing a sliotar (a hard leather ball used for hurling, pronounced ‘slid-uhr’) from hand to hand.

The quote alludes to a longstanding rivalry that exists between the respective groups of sporting fandoms, but in the case of hurling, there is greater historical and cultural context to be provided — one that places the Gaelic sport as a pillar of Irish culture and identity maintained despite countless attempts to erase it. The game represents a foundational piece of the stories, art and communities that trace their collective identity to the Atlantic Island of Saints and Scholars.

Though hurling is one of Ireland’s most beloved sports, in the United States it is not as commonly discussed around the dinner table. (Not yet, that is.) Before getting too much further into the origin of hurling and how a Rochester sports club is promoting the game locally, a brief rundown is in order.

The basic rules, scoring, and structure work as follows: Traditionally, each side is made up of 15 players attempting to score by striking the sliotar either through a

Rochester’s Irish sports club, Roc City Gaelic, celebrates a decade here — and centuries before.

A hurling game at Roc City Gaelic PHOTOS BY ROB HOUPPERT

set of uprights for one point, or into the net for three points. Players can strike, kick, hand pass, catch and run with the ball but can only take four steps before releasing possession. Players cannot throw or pick up directly with their hands. To restart play after going out of bounds, the ball will be played “in” via a ground pass. Teams compete over 30-minute halves on a field that ranges from 80 to 90 meters wide and 130 to 145 meters long, about twice the area of a standard soccer field.

“There are not many rules, but there are plenty of infractions,” says Fry, highlighting the balance between structure and chaos. Though a full side consists of 15 players, indoor adaptations of seven per side are also played, and the focus of this training session is exactly that; preparation for a local box seven’s tournament that will host clubs from across the Northeast.

To pinpoint hurling’s official origin proves difficult. Around 3,000 years ago, before the recorded history of Ireland itself, the locals were ‘out back’ playing significantly more brutal iterations of the game featured in legends still told today. One of the more prominent characters in Irish lore is that of Cú Chulainn, a teenage warrior renowned for his hurling abilities who singlehandedly fended off a band of invaders to protect his people's prized possession, the brown bull of Cooley.

Hurling, in this context, was not just limited to recreation, nor was it in the real living cultures that embodied this lore. It was a game played from youth through adulthood meant to hone in the skills required for battle. Cú Chulainn gained his name by using his hurly and sliotar to defeat a giant hound he was otherwise defenseless against if he hadn’t been out playing prior to this beastly encounter.

As the wheel of time turned, the importance of hurling as an anchor for cultural preservation grew.

Ireland has seen multiple waves of invasion, occupation and struggles for liberation. In the 12th century, Normans banned the game of hurling,

simultaneously preventing large gatherings and separating a people from their tradition. While existing under British occupation, Irish identity faced erasure and, once again, hurling would be made an illegal practice — even down to the possession of a hurly. But from the cattle raid of Cooley and fights for independence to the modern day, hurling has withstood the test of both sport and heritage.

So how is it that hurling, which dates back through the ages, is now being played in Rochester?

A native of Milwaukee, Tim Russell is one of three founding members — all brothers-in-law — of Roc City Gaelic. When he relocated to Rochester with his family in the mid-aughts, Russell left behind his hurling club in Wisconsin and knew he had to find a community here.

“I thought, if there is a club, I'm playing and if there isn’t one, I am going to start one,” he said.

In 2014, Roc City Gaelic was born. Beyond hurling, RCG has both a men’s and women’s football team, with sessions, workshops and games throughout the entire year. They welcome anyone with the desire to play, with a particular focus around bolstering women’s numbers to add a competitive camogie (women’s hurling) team, carrying the ancient game into the modern age.

RCG’s mission is to uphold the value of Irish culture in sport and celebrate important post-game gatherings. Nearly every one mentioned this notion, in particular — the communal element. Hurling is distinctly a game where you leave it on the pitch, then share a pint after. That’s what Roc City Gaelic creates through their club and membership offerings. A community.

“Going out to the pub is part of the game too, ya know? There is real camaraderie there,” said RCG Chairman Shawn Milligan. “Of course, it is an Irish sport and we are proud of that, but we also want to bring a sport we love to people here and see it embraced like any other sport.” rochestergaelic.com

CITY visits seven of the area’s coziest Irish pubs

CULTURE

In the mid-19th century, traditional Irish pubs began to create “snugs,” a small booth or table located near the bar that allowed women (or often, the wealthy) to drink in a less conspicuous, private way. When it comes to Irish pubs these days, you might hear more about “splitting the G” — a clever marketing ploy by Guinness that challenges consumers to down enough in one gulp that the beer line is mid-G on the glass — than finding a snug.

But one thing always rings true about the Irish (or, Irish Americans): They've nailed hospitality, especially when it comes to cozy bar spaces and comfort food. If you’re lucky (pun intended), you’ll find a bit of craic at an Irish pub as well — from live music and perfect Guinness pours to a wood-burning fireplace and someone wit’ a wee accent.

Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day (season), CITY visited seven of the area’s Irish pubs, from Batavia to Penfield.

Timothy Patrick's (TP's)

Irish Restaurant and Sports Pub

My first visit to TP’s was on a frigid Tuesday night, the kind that’s so cold your fingers hurt when they hit warm air again. My friend Thera and I had been talking about an Irish pub crawl of sorts to celebrate our mutual celtic roots, so did she want to meet me? Yes, grand! Before that, she texted her criteria for a solid pub experience — among my favorites were: Someone knows someone you know (or thinks they do) from your family’s hometown in Ireland; at least one guy no one likes that won’t stop talking that the bartender has to cut off (but he’ll be back in an hour); music or poetry; a fireplace is a bonus.

With its white cottage exterior trimmed in green and a luminous neon shamrock in each window, TP’s cosplays a stereotypical countryside pub nicely and could be plopped anywhere in the Dingle Peninsula without a sidelong glance. Inside, wooden booths along the outside walls offer almost as much privacy as snugs, but those willing to sit out on the open floor are rewarded with the warmth of a crackling fireplace (obviously, Thera and I end up here). Tacked up on the walls and soaring ceiling are the

26 county flags of Ireland — for the uninitiated, Irish folk identify heavily by family name and county (Sheridan, O’Connor, County Cork for me).

Like most Irish American pubs, TP’s wisely relies on the greatest hits: reuben, fish fry, shepherd’s (lamb) or cottage (beef) pie, perhaps a Guinness cake or cheese sauce. Corned beef and cabbage is usually reserved for St. Paddy’s (and hilariously, isn’t something the Irish really eat, much less for a holiday). To please very American palates, there are burgers, salads and steaks at TP’s as well. The standout during our visit was the Irish coffee — strong, piping hot and topped with a dollop of thick, sweet whipped cream.

Because TP’s also identifies as a sports bar (a more recent branding decision by new-ish owner Philip Fiorella, the nephew of founder Timothy Patrick Baumer), there are TVs around the bar area, but they’re divided from the dining room in a way that doesn’t detract from the hominess. In the words of my friend Thera, if “this weather has me craving” a pint and a reason to exercise the gift o’ gab with a mate, I’m quite likely to return to TP’s. —LEAH STACY

PHOTO BY LEAH STACY

O’Lacy’s Irish Pub

There was a time my newly minted 21-year-old self and my partner couldn’t resist sauntering the mile from Bank Street to School Street in Batavia to “a humble scene in a backward place,” as the poet Patrick Kavanagh wrote.

Here, in the middle of this humble little docking station town between Rochester and Buffalo, is a fully realized Irish pub: O’Lacy’s.

The first time we visited, we were seated at an awkward wooden table and uncomfortable wooden chairs positioned essentially in the walkway between the bar, bathroom and kitchen. We ordered the reuben and shepherd's pie. Cracked into the toasted bread, Thousand Island dressing, corned beef. Succulent. Spooned deep past the mashed potatoes to the lamb, carrots, peas. Exploding. And the house chips with the “secret” dipping sauce? Start with them. End with them. Always get them.

Cheers, MacLarens — O’Lacy’s holds up to any famous watering hole depiction. Music and dancing. Laughing and fighting. Plotting and celebration. Rheumy-eyed patrons stuck to bar stools and bushy-tailed townies trying to warm up to the bar. It isn’t where life unfolds, it’s where life thrives.

The bartenders entertain like twothirds of the Three Stooges, roping patrons in to make up the other third, all while pouring Guinness and finishing each with a clover in the foam. Servers dance the floor between each guest with the proper amount of sass, disdain, heart and humor — delivering everything you’d want, sometimes before you knew it.

The decor is the clutter of Irish iconography: flags, bottle caps, framed quotes and hymns and Irish drinking songs. Maps. Batavian city history. Classic pre-WWII Guinness propaganda. Residuals of ruckus from St. Paddy’s of yore. It’s all etched into the grain of the wood, just waiting.

It’s easy to feel completely overwhelmed but also welcomed, transported. Back then, my 21-yearold brain was filled with the reality of rent, bills and sprawling uncertainty. Going there now, 12 years later, one would think it would feel like coming back to a childhood home and experiencing that sense of disorientation, loss, jealousy at how strangers were able to create a whole new life here, with all new stories — erasing what you had cherished. But cuddled up with my partner at that same awkward wooden table, reuben in one hand and a freshly poured Guinness in the other, as someone hums an Irish drinking song under their breath — it’s just like coming home. Coming back to life.

—JORDAN TAYLOR

Carroll's Bar & Restaurant

Carroll’s isn’t just the oldest Irish bar in Rochester—it’s the kind of place that sinks into your bones. The floors groan under the weight of a thousand nights well spent, the Guinness is poured slow and proper, and the bartenders—hell, they’ll walk you to your car at night, not because they have to, but because that’s just how things are done here.

Patrick Dunne, straight outta Drimnagh, Dublin, landed in the U.S. in 1971. By ’89, he found his spot behind Carroll’s bar and stayed put for three decades. Thirty years slinging drinks in the same place? That’s the stuff of legends. He just hung up his apron, but Carroll’s keeps rolling along like a well-worn secret, the kind of bar that doesn’t just survive, it outlives.

This isn’t some corporate chain with a soulless owner. Carroll’s is a family, passed down from parents to

kids, each generation adding their own chapter to its storied history. It’s a living, breathing testament to what a neighborhood bar should be.

And then there’s Monday nights. If you know, you know. For years, musicians have packed into a corner of the bar, elbow to elbow, tuning fiddles, plucking banjos, passing around old songs like a shared pint. No stage, no ego—just the music of their people, raw and unpolished, the way it was meant to be played. It started with fiddler Lynn Pilaroscia, and even though she’s gone, her rhythm still lingers, carried in every reel and jig that shakes the dust from the floorboards.

Carroll’s isn’t a theme park version of an Irish bar. It’s not trying to sell you some watered-down version of tradition. It just is. A bar where the past and present blur, where time slows, where the music never really stops. —ABBY QUATRO

Musicians L-R: Nick Tiberio (fiddle), John Ryan (accordion), Ben Hockenberry (tenor banjo).

PHOTO BY ABBY QUATRO

PHOTO PROVIDED

Mulconry's Irish Pub and Restaurant

Alongside the clinking of glasses and twinkling candlelight, the first thing one notices when they walk into Mulconry's — the popular Irish pub located in the heart of the Village of Fairport — is a wooden sign in the entryway that reads “céad míle fáilte,” a Gaelic phrase that roughly translates to “a thousand welcomes.” Based on the scores of guests that walk past it every night to grab a drink, watch a game with friends and share a meal with family, it couldn’t be anymore indicative of the Irish hospitality owner Damien Mulconry has spearheaded day in and day out since the pub opened nearly 20 years ago.

The Carrigaline, Ireland native first opened his namesake bar in April 2008 in hopes of bringing “a little piece of Ireland” to Rochester’s east side. From Guinness memorabilia to Buffalo Bills

gear, Mulconry’s is as proud of its Western New York heritage as it is of its deep connection to the Emerald Isle. Mulconry’s logo — a silhouette of Damien’s grandfather — is proudly emblazoned atop each menu, which features scores of traditional Irish fare like bangers and mash and shepherd’s pie as well as regional favorites like Chicken French. Not in the mood for a Guinness? Other options include Smithwick’s, Harp Lager, and Mulconry’s Blueberry Ale.

The menu also features a culinary ode to “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon in the form of his very own sandwich, The Jimmy Fallon Patty Melt, described as “a little toasted and a little cheesy.” The “Saturday Night Live” veteran has made several visits to the two-story hideaway in Fairport, most recently surprising patrons with a live musical performance to ring in

St. Patrick’s Day 2023. Mulconry and Fallon struck up a friendship years ago, when Mulconry served as a bartender at The Gaf West, an Irish pub in Hell’s Kitchen frequented by Fallon. Mulconry’s has a jam-packed lineup in store for St. Patrick’s Day weekend

O’Callaghan’s

Born from RIT alumnus Tom O’Callaghan and Kevin Barton, Monroe Ave. staple O’Callaghans (or O’Cal’s) has stood the test of time. As it comes up on its 20-year anniversary this year, it’s survived in an area of the city historically unkind to keeping bars in business.

With all the trappings of a casual pub and eatery, O’Callaghan’s has an expansive menu and bar. In a world where chicken wing prices have run afoul, the 24-hour smoked wings are 25% off during a Sunday football game (or any other Sunday). In addition, daily food and drink specials heavily discount a selection already priced lower than most other area pubs.

O’Callaghan’s hosts some of the most raucous St. Patrick’s Day parties — it’s a rite of passage to cram into the pub on Paddy’s Day weekend for a pint of the black stuff and their holiday

menu. Shuffle in at 8 a.m. for corned beef hash and eggs, chased with an Irish breakfast: whiskey, butterscotch Schnapps, OJ. Return later for house shepherd’s pie, corned beef and cabbage and Guinness beef stew to fortify the alcohol-soaking foundation needed to survive the day.

Open until 2 a.m. 365 days per year (with some modified holiday hours), O’Callaghan’s is the perfect place to wash away tenuous family time or meet up with your found family — because it’s the people there who make O’Callaghan’s special. The pub is staffed by a crew that’s jovial, kind and more than a little witty. They’ll vehemently defend each other and their patrons; tolerance for disrespect is non-existent. In 2024, Tom and Kevin transferred ownership to longtime friend and bar manager Scottie McKay, who unexpectedly passed away last November, leaving a gaping hole in

the hearts of those connected to the pub. Together, the regulars and staff continue to heal and honor his memory.

Walk into the pub and find a picture of Scottie’s smiling face with a shot of Tullamore D.E.W. poured out in front of it. Should you stop in, toss one back with a cheer to Scottie, a pub that became a family and the indomitable human spirit that drives O’Callaghan’s forward, even when it’s toughest. Sláinte!

—TIM LUDWIG

2025, with performances from Open G, Rince Na Tianna Irish Dancers, The Living Room Session and Irish natives The Galtee Mountain Boys. Whether Fallon will return to serenade pubgoers this year remains under wraps.

—JULIA SMITH

PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE FOGLE

Nestled right on the main strip in the village of Spencerport, McColley’s checks many of the “quintessential Irish pub experience” boxes, with a few added bonuses. The cozy atmosphere greets you immediately upon entering the single paned wood door: exposed beams insulated with straw canopy over the L-shaped bar. Aside from the bar counter are sets of snug wood barrel table tops, a configuration ideal to rub elbows with fellow patrons and, inevitably, blur the line between regulars, strangers and friends.

With a full bar and food menu, McColley’s ace up the sleeve is its seemingly magic-hat-like expansive space. Beyond the front dining area, past the Guinness-branded dart room, is a second bar and dining area that opens up to a back patio during warmer months. This allows McColley’s to keep the intimate warmth of a pub up front and a spacious dine-in experience in back — a sort of

Irish mullet, if you will. Designated as The Root Cellar, the back area is often used for private events and live music nights, which spans many genres aside from Irish. (However, the Dropkick Murphys, The Dubliners and other essential Irish pub classics are on constant rotation at the bar.)

The food and drink, too, live up to the golden standard of a comforting Irish meal. Highlights on the menu include the corned beef reuben with your choice of side (some form of potato, if you have any respect for the culture) and the classic bangers & mash served atop a bed of colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes) and topped with a Guinness gravy. Speaking of the amber liquid, for the Guinness guild out there, the iconic stout is poured at McColley’s with care and technique — as the Emerald Isle intended.

—ROBERTO FELIPE LAGARES

Johnny’s Irish Pub

Culver Road is home to plenty of bars, but none are as quintessentially Irish as Johnny’s Pub. Established in 1997, Johnny’s is everything a brain would conjure on command when asked to think of an Irish pub: A shamrock hangs on the front door, a sign reading, “This Way for a Guinness” beckons guests inside.

Like most Irish (or Irish-claiming) bars, Guinness reigns supreme when it comes to decor — a Guinness logo adorns a small stage used for live music, and it’s just one of the myriad promotional signs and lights representing the stout. There is not one, not two, but three Guinness taps at the bar, and on ‘Irish Wednesdays,’ guests can order a perfect pour from one of the taps (or an Irish whiskey) for only $4.

Johnny’s was the area’s first smokefree pub — “all the fun without all the smoke,” according to old posters on the back wall — and carving out a niche

is commonplace for the establishment. Rohrbach Brewing Company made a beer for the pub called “Red Couch,” based on the signature red couch; and a litany of local bands like bluegrass quartet String Theory got their start jamming out at Johnny’s. Traditional Irish music sessions, which take place on the last Sunday of each month at 5 p.m., are one of the most family friendly offerings.

A commitment to the comfort of a neighborhood pub is apparent at Johnny’s. Dedication to Irish culture can be found all over, from the certificate of merit from the Ancient Order of Hibernians to the hanging shamrocks guests can purchase to support the Hibernians. During Paddy’s Day weekend, the pub will be filled with friends new and old, gathered to sing a Celtic tune or enjoy some of the 500 pounds of fresh corned beef and cabbage.

—ALYSSA KOH

1382 CULVER RD., ROCHESTER | JOHNNYSLIVEMUSIC.COM

PHOTO BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES

PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE FOGLE

The revolution was not televised

HISTORY

BY SEAN O’HARE

With trailblazing figures like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass and a homegrown company as influential as Kodak, it seems Rochester often punches above its weight when it comes to historical impact. And for the IrishAmerican — or those curious about Irish history — it seems the city’s connection with Ireland consists mostly of tracing family ancestries to sleepy Emerald Isle villages.

But Ireland has changed immensely within the last century or so, and Rochester’s links to those seismic shifts in Irish life trace to Éamon de Valera, a polarizing leader in Ireland who “bestrode Irish politics like a colossus for over fifty years,” as Ronan Fanning wrote in his 2015 biography “Éamon de Valera: A Will to Power.” It was through de Valera and his ties to Rochester that the revolutionary efforts playing out in Ireland spilled onto the Flower City’s own streets.

The American Revolution is a distant memory at this point, so it’s jarring to recall that Ireland underwent its own revolutionary struggle against the British Empire quite recently. Those who have visited Dublin or read W.B. Yeats’ commemorative poem “Easter, 1916” may be familiar with the

How Rochester played a role in Ireland’s independence.

Éamon de Valera addresses a crowd in Rochester, circa 1920.

PHOTOS COURTESY UCD ARCHIVES, JAMES JOYCE LIBRARY

Yourmatters.story

It’s time to tell it.

Easter Rising that kicked it all off, when Irish rebels battled British forces on the streets of Dublin. What often gets far less press in America is that the ill-fated —but galvanizing— Easter Rising was only the prelude to a revolutionary period in Irish history which included the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922-1923). Although he was a minor character in the Easter Rising, de Valera rose to prominence soon afterward and became a central figure in the political and military confrontation brewing with Britain.

The core of this story touches on something so fundamentally true about the best of Rochester: an identification with and mobilization on behalf of the oppressed.

for family dinners, either. Professor Marion Casey, a leading IrishAmerican historian and author of the 2024 book “The Green Space: The Transformation of the Irish Image,” said the city was one stop in a “pretty well-worn tour circuit for anyone advocating for Irish causes.”

De Valera quickly recognized the activist spirit of Rochester, where suffrage and abolitionism had flourished. He anticipated the city would similarly be fertile soil for his advocacy of Irish independence. When asked on one occasion what he thought of Rochester, the first thing he cited was the city’s early and extensive role in the radical Land League movement a few decades earlier, which involved resisting unjust rents in Ireland and brought about extensive social and economic reforms in Irish society.

As tensions rose and Ireland was on the verge of widespread armed rebellion in 1919, de Valera knew the support of the massive Irish immigrant population in America would be key to the revolution’s success. In June, he made an Atlantic crossing to begin a whirlwind speaking tour of the country, raising money and seeking political recognition for the newly asserted Irish Republic. One of de Valera’s first stops was Rochester, where he reunited with his mother, Catherine Wheelwright.

Over the next year and a half or so, de Valera would repeatedly return to Rochester. This wasn’t exclusively

So for de Valera, Rochester offered a respite, but also a place to gain real political, social and financial progress for the cause. On a Christmas visit to the city in 1919, between receiving well-wishers and conducting interviews with local journalists, de Valera cabled a national message to the Irish people, who were still locked in a bitter struggle with British forces. “Endure yet a little while,” he wrote to them from his mother’s home on Brighton Street. “The year 1920 may see the republic of Ireland officially recognized by the United States— and then final victory after 750

years.” At such a desperate moment in the war, the passion and curiosity of Rochester supporters — a spirit still recognizable in the city today — may have helped to inspire the hopeful tone he struck for the Irish people back home.

That same enthusiasm spurred local organizers in the IrishAmerican community to arrange a massive meeting downtown at the Convention Hall (now Geva Theatre) a few months later, on Feb. 22, 1920. If there’s one thing Rochester is good at, it’s throwing a party — and when the night arrived, there was an impressive turnout.

The “Democrat and Chronicle” reported that de Valera was “cheered for deafening minutes by more than 4,000 people who packed Convention Hall to hear him speak last night,” while the “Times-Union”

remarked that his reception “attests the keen interest and generous sympathy of the large numbers of Americans in the cause of Ireland.”

A resolution was read out and adopted, petitioning the United States government “to acknowledge the independence of the republic established by the Irish people.”

That evening is a remarkable, and representative, instance of Rochester’s committed efforts in supporting the Irish fight for independence and the direct contact with one of the Irish Revolution’s key players. De Valera — through his mother but also through the wider community that came forward to receive him so enthusiastically on so many occasions — encountered a solidarity against injustice that persists in Rochester, even after all these years.

Additional reading/listening:

+ “The Irish in Rochester: an Historical Retrospective,” a 1957 article published in “Rochester History” by city historian Blake McKelvey.

+ “De Valera in America: The Rebel President and the Making of Irish Independence” (St. Martin’s Press, 2010) by Dave Hannigan

+ “The Irish Revolution” lecture series by Irish historian Michael Laffan, available on the History Hub podcast.

A cop, a priest, a soldier for the IRA

HISTORY

BY VERONICA VOLK VVOLK@WXXI.ORG

I“’ll tell you a quick story,” said Gary Craig, and I leaned forward.

Craig and I sat at the same hightop table in Starbucks where we’ve met dozens of times. His digressions are thrilling — juicy anecdotes about infamous local crimes and the ways in which Craig finds himself entangled with their instigators.

About a decade ago, Craig and I worked on a project about a cold case that became the podcast “Finding Tammy Jo.” Since then, we sporadically meet for coffee — or in his case, green tea — and swap stories.

The 65-year-old North Carolina native is many things: a husband and father of two daughters, an avid runner, a Rochester International Jazz Festival enthusiast. But he’s also one of the most respected journalists in town. Often, our coffee meetings are interrupted by prosecutors, judges and all kinds of other somebodies in Rochester eager to shake Craig's hand and feed him a scoop.

As an investigative reporter for the “Democrat and Chronicle,” Craig has amassed a trove of stories about crimes, court cases and, recently, country club drama. He coauthored a book about the Attica

Investigative journalist Gary Craig. PHOTOS BY LOUIS RESSEL

prison rebellion, and his reporting on wrongful convictions helped exonerate an innocent woman. But one story stands out, and that’s the subject of his book: “Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink’s Heist.”

Craig had been living and working in Rochester almost three years when $7.4 million dollars was stolen from a Brink’s depot on South Avenue. On a cold night in January 1993, masked robbers broke into the facility, held up the guards and made off with the cash.

The cop was Thomas O’Connor, a retired Rochester police officer-turned-Brink's guard. The priest: Rev. Patrick Moloney, who worked with homeless kids and other vagrants in Manhattan. The solider: Samuel Millar of Belfast, Ireland, who served time in a prison for Irish rebels before being smuggled into the United States.

“A screenwriter couldn’t craft a tale with a more unlikely group of bandits than the men accused of the nation’s fifth largest armored carcompany robbery,” Craig wrote after the arrests in November 1993.

In his book, Craig tells the histories of this “cast of characters,” as he would come to call them. He recreates the night of the heist and the events that followed in vivid detail, a testament to his meticulous research.

But it wasn’t the men, the missing money or the supposed ties to the Irish Republican Army that compelled Craig to keep revisiting the case. It was the boxer: a man who did not make the title of the book but who nonetheless looms large over its author.

Joseph “Ronnie” Gibbons was a prizefighter who lived in New York. He was Irish, like the others, and was originally in on the robbery. As one version of the story goes, Gibbons backed out when he heard there would be guns involved.

“He was a piece of work, a strange character, entertaining as heck,” Craig said. “I almost feel like I know him.”

Two years after the heist, Gibbons headed to Rochester looking for his cut and was never heard from again. Police assumed he was dead.

“Since 1996, when I first learned of Gibbons’s disappearance, I have gone down more dead ends, tumbled down more rabbit holes, rammed into more brick walls and chased more wild geese than I care to remember,” Craig wrote in a December 2011 blog post.

Maybe it was Gibbons’s wide smile that captivated Craig. Or maybe it was the friendship he developed with Gibbons’s mother, Rita, who longed for a proper burial for her son.

More likely, it was Craig’s own humanity. Decades of covering crimes could turn a man misanthropic, but Craig remains friendly and curious about people. They open up to him and, he thinks, that’s probably because he treats them all — cops and killers — with respect.

“I like people,” he said, adding, “and, of course, you never know where the story is going to come from.”

That attitude and Craig’s style of gumshoe journalism shows up in his earliest reporting on the heist. While investigators held a press conference about the case in New York City in November 1993, Craig was in Queens talking to neighborhood kids about Millar’s comic book shop. While another journalist was chased away from the youth shelter Moloney headed, Craig persuaded residents to talk.

In 2004, when an inmate at Clinton Correctional Facility claimed to know where Gibbons was buried, Craig talked to him. First, he sent him letters, then eventually visited him in prison, hoping to persuade the inmate to reveal the location of the body.

“ We started talking and developed this weird kind of closeness,” Craig said. “It was weird, sort of, (knowing) where the lines were that whole time.”

In the end, it was a wild goose chase. But Craig chased down every lead, no matter how wild.

Gibbons was eventually found. In 2010, a forensics investigator revisiting unsolved cases connected Gibbons to human remains that had washed ashore in Cape Vincent, a small town along the St. Lawrence River, in 1999.

Gibbons was put to rest, and Craig set out to write his book.

Along the way, he dug into Rochester’s Irish roots, stories about the first Irish families who settled here. About the area’s sympathies for Northern Ireland, and the Irishmen connected to organized crime in New York. About the Irish Americans that dominated the political structure in Monroe County for a time.

For a man steeped in Irish history, Craig’s own ancestry is an outlier.

“I’m more Scottish,” he said, though he has never done a DNA test to confirm it. But ‘Craig’ is Gaelic, and the Scots and Irish share ancient Celtic roots that predate borders, politics and other such distinctions.

The crime was adjudicated decades ago O’Connor was acquitted; Moloney and Millar served their time. Craig has answers for some of the mysteries behind the robbery (was the IRA involved in the planning? Probably not.) but not others (where are the missing millions? No idea). The mystery of what happened to Gibbons is now mostly understood, though Craig hopes someday his killers will be identified.

So, what now?

The heydays of armored truck robberies are over. The IRA has disbanded, and Irish political influence has splintered. Some of the case's prominent figures have passed away.

“Maybe it’s time to move on,” he said.

Unlikely.

The “Democrat and Chronicle” employs a fraction of the staff they did even a decade ago. The media landscape in Rochester shifts beneath our feet, and yet, Craig continues to tell stories: through books and blogs, documentaries and YouTube videos.

The story of the Brink’s heist endures. And, for Craig, there are always more stories to tell.

A headline from the crime that Craig followed.

todo DAILY

Full calendar of events online at roccitynews.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 7

ART

Explore Rochester @ 10: A Decade of People and Places

Rochester Contemporary Art Center, rochestercontemporary.org/exhibitions

One contributor every week. That’s what one of Rochester's most significant Instagram accounts, @explorerochester, founded by Steve Carter and Justin Dusett, set out to do more than a decade ago — and it worked. This local exhibition will celebrate the first 10 years with an immersive environment, giving form to the community-driven, social media project that has showcased Rochester's people and stories through thousands of photos. Featuring a curated selection of one image from each contributor from the last decade, the display of over 500 photographs is a reflection of the city’s changing identity, captured through a wide range of diverse perspectives. The opening reception takes place on First Friday, Mar. 7, from 6-9 p.m. and will feature a panel discussion with the creators; the exhibit runs through May 10. LEAH STACY

SATURDAY, MARCH 8 DANCE

Ukraine Odesa National Ballet: “Don Quixote”

Rochester Broadway Theatre League, rbtl.org

The man of La Mancha transcended Western literature to grace Russian stages as a ballet in the 1890s, and now it comes to Rochester performed by one of Ukraine’s oldest cultural institutions. “This is more than a ballet,” the RBTL website states. “It’s a celebration of resilience, unity and the transformative power of art.” Doors at 6 p.m. and showtime at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $53 to $102. ALYSSA KOH

MUSIC

Bellwether Breaks

Three Heads Brewing, threeheadsbrewing.com

To listen to the soulful rock band Bellwether Breaks is to give thanks to the Nord C2D 61-key dual manual combo organ. The instrument powers so much of the group’s output, including the soulful tune “Prove It to Me,” which debuted on WAYO 104.3 FM earlier this year. Now arrives the full LP of the same name; as such, a record release show is in order. Support from Ben Morey and the Eyes and Chaz and the Dazzlers. Doors at 7 p.m. $10. PATRICK HOSKEN

THEATER/FOOD

“Take a Gamble on Murder: A Murder Mystery Dinner Show”

ARTISANworks, artisanworks.net/event-list

It’s 1860 Wyoming, and the mayor backs a riverboat he says will make everyone rich. The townspeople have their reasons to reject this proposal — perhaps even to the point of murder. The Mystery Company stages this bit of dinner theater that leans on audience participation to solve the whodunit. Madeline’s Catering provides a full dinner buffet and drinks, with cash bar available. (Saloon) doors open at 5 p.m. Show 6-10 p.m. $65. PH

SUNDAY, MARCH 9

SPORTS

2025 Big ShamROC

Rochester Curling Club, rochestercurling.org

Did you know that a curling tournament is called a bonspiel? This particular bonspiel is themed around St. Patrick’s Day, with costumes welcome all weekend, Irish whiskey tastings and a traditional Irish dinner to boot. Grab a besom (the antiquated broom used on the ice, largely replaced by brushes nowadays) and a (non-Blarney) stone and meet at the Rochester Curling Club. Mar. 7-9. $420 registration fee per team. PH

ART

“Resurfacing: Nancy Wiley”

The Little Theatre Cafe, nancywiley.com

Nancy Wiley’s oil paintings often depict people in their natural habitats: in cafes, sharing a meal, experiencing community at shops around Rochester. The artist’s portraits fuse vibrant colors with a knack for capturing the direct gaze of the subjects. Selections from the last three years of Wiley’s work are on display in this show, which runs through the end of March with an opening reception on Mar. 9 from 2-4 p.m. PH

MONDAY, MARCH 10

MUSIC

The Music of Hans Zimmer performed by Lords of the Sound

Kodak Center, kodakcenter.com

Ukrainian orchestra Lords of the Sound brings a program of cinematic grandeur to Rochester. The show is billed as a celebration of all things Hans Zimmer, the highly decorated film score composer, but of course, saying Zimmer merely scores films undersells his true contributions. (Try to imagine “Inception” without its signature bwomp — a digital manipulation of the French song “Non, je ne regrette rien.”) The group performs compositions from that film, plus other standouts like “Man of Steel,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Dark Knight” and more. 7:30 p.m. $40-$120. PH

Dear Friends,

Chris Hastings

Message from WXXI President & CEO

Chris Hastings

Message from WXXI President & CEO

PUBLIC MEDIA IS AT RISK – YOUR VOICE STILL MATTERS

Recently, I shared the growing pressures facing public media in regards to federal funding. Since then, the situation in Washington has only intensified, and the challenges we face are becoming even clearer.

The future of public media is being debated, and the voices that value and rely on WXXI need to be heard—now more than ever.

We are a trusted source of fact-based journalism, a hub for lifelong learning, and a space where the arts, culture, and civic discourse thrive. We provide essential services to our community—from early childhood education to in-depth local news, from emergency broadcasts to programs that uplift diverse voices. This work is vital, but it cannot continue without public support.

That’s why we need you to speak up.

If WXXI and public media matter to you, take a moment to let your representatives know. Share your story. Tell them why a strong, independent public media system is essential to democracy and to our communities.

Take Action Now! Visit wxxi.org/ProtectWXXI or scan the code below!

Every message sent, every story shared, and every show of support makes a difference. Decisions made in the coming weeks could impact public media for years to come. Let’s make sure our community’s voice is heard loud and clear.

You can also tell your friends what WXXI means to you and to the community by posting on your social media accounts. Tag WXXI. Use #ProtectWXXI.

Thank you for being part of WXXI. Your support and advocacy matter more than ever.

With appreciation,

Chris Hastings WXXI President and CEO

WXXI PUBLIC MEDIA THE LITTLE THEATRE CITY MAGAZINE

Born after the year 2000, Gen Z takes a new approach to everything by default. But how does this contrast against the long-established canon of music history? In the Key of Z: Classical explores this question through the eyes of five students whose devotion to their craft defies generational trends. Through captivating live performances and insightful interviews, the series introduces audiences to the next generation of classical performers. These talented artists share their musical foundations and aspirations for the future with series host Steve Johnson, Ph.D., WXXI Classical mid-day host/announcer.

Benji Watson

Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra member Benji Wilson plays both the piano and French horn. A Classical music fan since he was an infant, rumor has it he was heard singing “Ode to Joy” as an infant in his crib.

Payton CroneyAshley Park

Eastman Community Music School student Peyton Croney shares how she came to pick the viola.

Helena Dixon

Helena Dixon, who studies under Kathy Kemp of the Hochstein School, loves the sound of the cello and the musical range it has.

Violinist Ashley Park has been playing her instrument for the last 10 years. She believes the violin is another way to express emotion and describes it as “another voice.”

Erica Liu

Erica Liu is a violinist who studies under Marcos Kreutzer at the Hochstein School. She started piano at the age of 5, and violin at the age of 6.

Shaking It Up:

The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter

Monday, March 17 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Journalist, White House official, author, humorist, political activist, and feminist leader, Liz Carpenter was often front and center where history was unfolding, leaving her own indelible mark on events and people. Hers is an inspiring story of blazing professional trails while pushing forward an agenda for women’s rights, the environment, and political engagement that is highly relevant today.

Photo: Liz on Air Force One/Credit: Collection of Christy Carpenter

The Philadelphia Eleven

Tuesday, March 18 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Meet the trailblazers who challenged the very essence of patriarchy within Christendom and successfully created a blueprint for lasting institutional change. The film chronicles how a group of women in the Episcopal Church shared a call to become priests. After two legislative votes to make it possible for women to be ordained failed, they organized their own ordination as priests in defiance of church norms.

Credit: Nikki Bramley, courtesy of Time Travel Productions

American Experience “Change, Not Charity: The Americans Disability Act”

Tuesday, March 25 at 9 p.m.

on WXXI-TV

The emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long fight for equality and accessibility and the determined people who put their bodies on the line to achieve their goal to change the lives of 43 million Americans. This film is presented as part of Move to Include™, a WXXI and Golisano Foundation initiative to promote disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media.

Going Your Way

Monday, March 31 at 10:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Going Your Way focuses on the personal, medical, and spiritual issues surrounding end-of-life care, the options available, and steps that can be taken to put those wishes to practical use. This broadcast is made possible with support from Rochester Oasis.

Chip Kids Watch on Demand on WXXI.org/chipkids

Chip Kids is an educational digital series for young learners, introducing them to the world of microchips & semiconductors and fostering their enthusiasm for science and engineering. Featuring a variety of exciting concepts, eye-catching animations, and engaging experiments that can be performed at home or in the classroom, every episode is a step towards sparking new passions and curiosity. Perfect for middle school age students. Sponsored by: East Tennessee PBS

RANDY GORBMAN, 40+ YEARS IN NEWS

Fondly referred to by many as the quintessential newsman, Randy Gorbman retires as WXXI’s Director of News and Public Affairs after 12 years, and more than four decades in the industry.

What initially drew him to journalism was a class he took as a high school student. While attending Brooklyn Tech High School, Randy enrolled in an “over-theair” English class that was tied to the school’s educational radio station operated by the New York City Department of Education. “That class gave me a ‘taste’ for radio,” he explains. “Around that same time, the Watergate scandal broke, and the news coverage of that really got me interested in journalism as a potential career.”

The rest is history.

Randy would go on to earn his bachelor’s degree in communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and his master’s degree in liberal arts from SUNY Empire State College. He worked in newsrooms at radio stations across New York and Connecticut, as well as working as an editor at the NBC Radio

Network. He joined WXXI in 2013 after serving 17 years as WHAM Radio’s news director.

Over his career, Randy has written and reported thousands of stories. When asked if there has been a particular story that he is most proud of, he said “I think I was proud of not just what I was able to do, but our entire crew here at WXXI did during both the COVID-19 pandemic and the calls for social change in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Daniel Prude. I was in the office pretty much every working day and many ‘non-working’ days during that period, and I was very proud of the hundreds of stories our reporters were able to put out, even when they had to file remotely due to the pandemic.”

When you have been in the industry for more than four decades, you see a lot of change. Randy admits the biggest change has been the technology. “The development of personal computing and the internet was a huge boon to

news organizations, in terms of the amount of time it takes us to do research as well as the ease in editing material.”

He follows that up with the development of social media.

“That has had a big impact, both good and bad in terms of journalism. The good part includes the ability for more citizens to be involved in gathering information and finding out what’s going on in their communities. The bad part is the very large amount of misinformation that populates social media, and how a lot of people may sometimes just accept those details as ‘facts’ when they aren’t true.”

As one of his co-workers notes, Randy is a man who never sleeps, who knows how to get a story and get it out quickly, who answers every single email that enters his inbox, whose work ethic is beyond compare, and who treats everyone with respect.

“I have strived for our

newsroom to be accurate, transparent about our processes, and provide context especially when stories are complex. I hope that our reports have been useful to those in our community,” said Randy. “I really can’t imagine having

WXXI hosts two Indie Lens Pop-Up screenings in March!

Home Court

Monday, March 10

from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The Little Theatre (240 East Ave., Rochester)

Cambodian American basketball prodigy Ashley Chea’s life intensifies amid college recruitment, injury, and triumph. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.

We Want the Funk

Monday, March 31

from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The Little Theatre (240 East Ave., Rochester)

pursued any other career with the same passion.”

With news in his blood, this won’t be the last we hear from him. While “retired,” Randy hopes to produce content in a freelance capacity. His last day at WXXI is March 28th

A syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots to its rise into the public consciousness. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together for FREE film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics and social issues to family and community relationships.

Photo credit: John Schlia Photography

Take 5 with Kelsey Delmotte

Have you had a chance to catch Kelsey Delmotte’s new show Wednesday nights from 6p.m. to 8p.m. on The Route?

We asked five questions of the new host and here’s what she had to say.

Q. Tell us about yourself.

A. I grew up in Webster and after college came back to Rochester for work. When I’m not at the station, I am an Associate Real Estate Broker at TruAgent in Pittsford (@kelseydelmottehomes). I live in Brighton with my husband Eric, our two children and our dog. I am forever chasing a green thumb, so I’ve been spending time planning very ambitious gardens. You can find me at The Little Theatre with an enormous bag of popcorn, hiking, grabbing a drink and sharing a table pizza with my girlfriends or tackling the never-ending laundry pile with a podcast (Armchair Expert forever).

Maurice Ravel: Artist and Man – An Anniversary Portrait

Friday, March 7 at 3 p.m. on WXXI Classical

To mark the 150th birthday of the great French composer Maurice Ravel, WXXI Classical presents a special program produced and hosted by Jon Tolansky. Tolansky brings Ravel’s genius and quirky personality to life in a mix of musical highlights and commentary from acclaimed artists with unique interpretations of Ravel’s music. This insightful and beautifully crafted new two-hour program gives a unique perspective on one of our most important creative giants.

New Day: A Choral Anthem for a New Era

Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m. on WXXI Classical

Q. What inspired you to become a radio host, and how did you land this role?

A. Growing up, the local radio DJs were my celebrities. I loved listening to the morning shows on the bus on the way to school and calling in with my friends to request songs. In eighth grade, I got to announce a song for the ‘High Five at 9’ on 98PXY and it was the highlight of my year. I got my start through 90.5FM WBER in the radio club as a senior in high school. I could not believe they were going to let us on the air, and I loved it. I had found my place. I joined the radio station in college and had a show all four years at SUNY Cortland, and when I graduated, I came back and rejoined WBER for several years. I took a bit of time away to work on other related projects (Sofar Sounds Rochester), but I missed the energy of radio and when I saw that WRUR was looking for new hosts, the timing was perfect. It felt like coming home.

Q. What do you hope listeners take away from your show, and how do you want to connect with them?

A. Being on-air is musical hospitality. I want you to feel welcomed into this space, and for you to feel just how happy I am to be here with you. So much of what we do in life is predetermined by the boxes we have to check to get through the day, so to have this moment where something that lights me up may also light you up is very special to me. We have such a dedicated community of listeners who love and support public radio, and I take that seriously.

Q. What’s one song or album that’s been a game-changer for you, and why?

A: Can I do three? Khruangbin ‘Evan Finds the Third Room’ gets into my soul, if my life had a soundtrack this is Track 1. Sleater Kinney ‘Oh!’ is the perfect song. Kate Bush The Red Shoes album from start to finish. She is magic. And Talking Heads, everything they’ve ever done, but definitely True Stories. Ok that’s four.

Q. Name three things you can’t live without.

A. A bold lipstick, sunroof in my car, drawings from my kids.

This special features Jocelyn Hagen’s acclaimed work, Here I Am, performed with a chamber orchestra, members of the nationally recognized Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs – Treble Singers under the direction of Philip Brown, and Grammy Award-winning soprano soloist, Sarah Brailey.

Photo: Jocelyn Hagen/Provided by: jocelynhagen.com

Live From Hochstein

Wednesdays at 12:10 p.m. starting March 19 on WXXI Classical

Hosted by WXXI Classical’s Mona Seghatoleslami, Live from Hochstein, broadcast live from the Hochstein Performance Hall (50 North Plymouth Ave. in Rochester) presents performances by some of the finest artists from the Rochester area’s musical community. Each concert runs from 12:10-12:50 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Join us in person or listen to WXXI Classical every Wednesday. Performances in March include musicians from Nazareth University’s Women in Music Festival (3/19) and cellist Annie Jacobs Perkins (3/26). You can hear an encore broadcast of Live from Hochstein later the same day at 10 p.m. on WXXI Classical.

Photo: Annie Jacobs-Perkins/Provided by The Hochstein School

East Ave

Author events at The Little

The Substance

Screening & Discussion with best-selling author Rachel Harrison

Friday, March 7, 2025 | 7:00pm

Demi Moore gives a career-best performance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister past her prime and suddenly fired from her fitness TV show. Drawn to the opportunity presented by a mysterious new drug — THE SUBSTANCE — all it takes is one injection and she is reborn, temporarily, as the gorgeous, twenty-something Sue (Margaret Qualley).

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay, and Makeup Ampersand Books will be on-site selling a selection of books.

S St. Patrick’s Day

Mickey 17

Opens March 7, with a special Q&A with best-selling author Edward Ashton March 9 at 6:30pm

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joonho (Parasite) returns with a zany sci-fi adventure based on the novel, Mickey7, by Edward Ashton.

Mickey 17, a disposable employee known as an “expendable,” is sent on a human expedition to colonize the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.

Lift Bridge Book Shop will be on-site selling a selection of books.

St. Patrick’s Day Screenings

The Secret of Kells

Sunday, March 16 at 7:00pm WORLD OF ANIMATION FILM SERIES

A young boy in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids is beckoned to adventure when a celebrated master illuminator arrives with an ancient book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers.

Screenings

Leprechaun

Monday, March 17 at 7:30pm

CULT SCREENING ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY

An evil, sadistic Leprechaun goes on a killing rampage in search of his beloved pot of gold in this 1993 horror-comedy with Warwick Davis and

Also at The Little this month

Twilight: New Moon

LITTLE CRAFT NIGHT: Friday, March 21

TRADITIONAL SCREENING: Thursday, March 27

Bella Swan is on the cusp of her 18th birthday and blissfully happy with her undead beau Edward Cullen. While celebrating her birthday with Edward’s family of `vegetarian’ vampires, a frightening incident convinces Edward that he’s simply too dangerous to be around his sweetheart. He decides to leave the town of Forks in order to ensure her safety – leaving her behind, angry and depressed.

Note: Watching this on the big screen with all your friends is an ICONIC experience.

Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19 AND SUNDAY, MARCH 23

A filmed live performance of a selection of Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer’s most revered musical melodies, including Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar, The Lion King, and many more.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11

RECREATION

Trivia Night

Knucklehead Craft Brewing, facebook. com/events/3958333651046972

You may feel like a knucklehead at trivia, but even if you lose, you can drown your sorrows in beer cheese and buffalo wing dip at Webster’s first microbrewery every Tuesday evening. If you win, use that freshly earned gift card to get a sandwich with some Asian macaroni salad or Irish pub fries and relish in your victory. Trivia starts at 7 p.m., and teams can have up to six players. AK

ART

“RED”

Image City Photography Gallery, imagecityphotographygallery.com

Following a focus on black-andwhite images, the gallery hones in on crimson hues for “RED,” featuring work from 77 photographers. Not every scene is awash in red. Sometimes it’s a pop of lipstick or the gleaming hood of a hot rod. But all speak to the shade’s enduring power in a still. The exhibition runs through Mar. 16 and can be viewed at the gallery from noon to 6 p.m. with no admission fee. PH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12

MUSIC

New Horizons Spring Fling

Hatch Recital Hall, rocnewhorizons.org

Since 1991, New Horizons has offered adults the chance to be part of a musical community whether they’re beginners or have been playing for many years. The group’s Spring Fling offers a showcase of that fellowship (and musicianship). 1:30 p.m. Free admission, with a livestream available as well. PH

THURSDAY, MARCH 13

MUSIC

An Evening with Annie JacobsPerkins and Katelyn Vahala

Glazer Music Performance Center, naz.edu/artscenter/tickets

Cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins is an Eastman School of Music grad known for her dynamic musical expression as well as her work as a striking visual artist. Katelyn Vahala, meanwhile, is a celebrated pianist who also cofounded the traveling outdoor concert series Insert Music Here. Together, they’ll perform onstage at Nazareth University as part of the school’s Changemaker series. 7:30 p.m. $20$40. Complimentary tickets available to Naz students on a first-come, firstserved basis. PH

FRIDAY, MARCH 14

MUSIC

Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay

Temple Theater, feverup.com/m/199777

There’s a moment during Coldplay arena concerts where tens of thousands in the crowd begin to glow, thanks to light-up wristbands. Absent that kind of grandeur in Rochester, you can still experience a decidedly more muted version: the Listeso String Quartet performing the tunes of the band in a candlelit theater. Close enough? 7 p.m. show. $34-$54.50 plus fees. PH

FOOD + BEV 2025 Hosmer’s Inn

Historic Dining Experience

Genesee Country Village & Museum, gcv.org

What would’ve been a banging meal in pioneer times? What was the 19thcentury equivalent of the New York Happy Meal? Hosmer’s Inn at the Genesee Country Village & Museum may hold the answer. A family-style seven-course meal awaits (boasting pounded cheese and pork lion), along with parlor games and, as ever, an eye to the past. Bring a bottle of wine of your choice. Four dinners, Mar. 7-15. 6-8:30 p.m. Members $110, nonmembers $120. PH

SATURDAY, MARCH 15

ST. PATRICK’S

DAY/RUNNING Runnin’ of the Green

Mercantile on Main, runninofthegreen com

The greenest race in Rochester? That’s the goal of organizers for this SPD run, with added waste bins along the route, a discount for waiving medals and t-shirts and a post-race community course clean-up. Five miles out and back from downtown along the Genesee River, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Virtual participation available. $40 plus fees until race day; $50 that morning. PH

PARADE

Rochester St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Downtown Rochester, rochesterparade.com

The annual St. Paddy’s Parade

sponsored by Tops Friendly Markets returns to center city, this year with the theme “Erie Canal,” specifically focused on the Irish immigrants who helped build the canal. Featuring Irish dancers, musicians, descendants and organizations, this sea of emerald green is a fun way to spend Saturday afternoon (here’s hoping the weather cooperates). Festivities will begin at 12:30 p.m., and the parade will follow the traditional routes, beginning at East and Alexander and heading west to end at the corner of Fitzhugh Street. Most downtown garages will offer free parking for the entire day or until 4 p.m. Free for all ages. LS

SUNDAY, MARCH 16

MUSIC

John Dady

75 Stutson Street, dadybros.com

A pre-St. Patrick’s Day concert in Charlotte, near the site of the former Irish Inn and led by Irish-American folk troubadour John Dady feels appropriate. The beloved singersongwriter appears with his band: Perry Cleaveland on mandolin, multiinstrumentalist John Ryan, bassist Gary Holt and Jimmy McAvaney on drums. The gig boasts special guests, and given the track record of all parties involved, it could be just about anyone. The all-ages daytime show runs 3-5 p.m. Doors at 2. General admission tickets $23.18. PH

MONDAY, MARCH 17

MUSIC

Dream Theater

Kodak Center, kodakcenter.com

Chief architects of the progressive metal sound, the members of Dream Theater have been at it for 40 years, honing and evolving its musicality along the way. The group released a brand-new album “Parasomnia,” its 16th, last month; it brings a refreshed touch with the return of longtime drummer Mike Portnoy, who rejoined the band in 2023. They’ll rock Kodak Center beginning at 7:30 p.m. $55$195.50 plus fees. PH

FILM

“Leprechaun”

The Little Theatre, thelittle.org

For some, an annual viewing of campy 1993 horror film “Leprechaun” may well be a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. Surely offensive but also completely in good fun, the movie chronicles the mythical creature as he avenges his wrongfully stolen pot of gold. Pre-“Friends” Jennifer Aniston stars, along with Warwick Davis — best known for his work in Harry Potter and Star Wars roles — who is an absolute delight in the title role. 7:30 p.m. showtime. $8-$12; cheaper for members. PH

TUESDAY, MARCH 18

MUSIC

Tuesday Pipes

Christ Church, esm.rochester.edu/ organ/events/tuesday-pipes Christ Church on East Avenue boasts two notable instruments: the Craighead-Saunders Organ, a copy of the historic original in Lithuania, and the 19th-century Hook and Hastings Organ. Each Tuesday, they help the sacred space become an ornate music hall thanks to 12:10 p.m. lunchtime performances by Eastman School of Music students, faculty and alumni. These 25 minutes of sheer organ bliss are free. PH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

MUSIC

Songwriters in the Round

Abilene Bar & Lounge, abilenebarandlounge.com Tyler Westcott, Adrianna Noone, Candy Montgomery and Brian Thomas anchor this celebration of regional singer-songwriting talent.

There’s never a bad show to see at the cozy Abilene, but with four rootsy, hardworking musical craftspeople giving a de facto masterclass, the gig feels especially can’t-miss. Doors at 4 p.m., music at 7 p.m.. $10 cover. PH

CRAFTS/BEV

Wine Down

Wednesday & Fiber Night

Flight Wine Bar, winebarflight.com

Struggling to get through yet another hump day? Well, quit it with the whining — and start wining (for half off a bottle). While you’re at it, bring that crochet project you’ve been slowly getting through at work without your boss noticing, and lament to your new bottle about the problems with the American capitalist five-day work week. Half-off pricing runs from 4-9 p.m., and Fiber Night meets from 6-8 p.m. AK

THURSDAY, MARCH 20

THEATER

“Every Brilliant Thing”

Blackfriars Theatre, blackfriars.org Ice cream. Kung-fu movies. Family time. Billed as “a play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love,” Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s work delves into the titular joys of being alive and what family means to us. Blackfriars’s production stars Daniel Mejak and is directed by Patricia Lewis Browne. Eight performances through Mar. 30. $36.50 on weeknights, $39.50 for Saturday and Sunday. PH

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

MUSIC

“Misatango”

Fort Hill Performing Art Center, forthillpac.com

A work of fusion, “Misa a Buenos Aires” blends the Latin text of the mass with composer Martín Palmeri’s forays into tango music. Here, presented by the Rochester Oratorio Society, it’s paired with William Grant Still’s “Psalm for the Living,” featuring Alicia Esmeralda Barry as a special mezzo-soprano soloist. Show’s at 7 p.m. Pre-sale tickets $29-$40.56; day of $34-$45.76. PH

SATURDAY, MARCH 22

MUSIC

The Joey Stempien Big Band

Bop Shop Records, bopshop.com

Big band thrives in 2025, thanks in part to Joey Stempien. While studying at the University of Rochester, the young composer has assembled his own Big Band and released music as varied as “Green Bushes” (a throwback number) and “Rampart House” (which ramps up the tempo after an extended, more contemporary saxophone solo). Stempien’s band will be captured live by Dan Gross’s Stereo Field Recordings. Doors at 7 p.m. ahead of the recording at 8 p.m. $20. Free with student ID. PH

FESTIVAL/BEV Rochester Wine Festival

The Rochester Dome, empirestatewineevents.com/rochesterwine-festival

Keeping warm out here is much easier to do with a drink in your system — and after the successes of Empire State Wine Festivals in Albany, Syracuse and Saratoga, Rochester is following suit. Enjoy food trucks and unlimited samples from winery and distillery vendors from all over upstate New York. You can even celebrate your visit with a permanent tattoo (or, if you’re not that committed, a commemorative wine glass) to take home. Tickets are $30-40, with designated driver tickets at just $10. AK

Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus: Divas of Empowerment

Hochstein School, thergmc.org

Quick! Name your favorite diva. Odds are she’s well represented in this special showcase courtesy of the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus, currently celebrating its 42nd season. Selections from contemporary top dogs like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga mingle with that of the old guard, like Cher, Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston. There’s even a splash of Melissa Etheridge in the mix. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $12-$30. PH

MUSIC

SUNDAY, MARCH 23

FESTIVAL/ART

Tora-Con 2025

Rochester Institute of Technology, toracon.org

The largest anime convention in upstate New York is run entirely by RIT student volunteers — and they do everything from coordinating artist vendors and panelists to setting up cosplay contests. Go Tigers, or in this case, Tora. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pre-registration is required to attend. Tickets $30-$40. AK

FOOD/NATURE

Maple Sugaring Weekends

Cumming Nature Center, rmsc.org/events

The grit that speckles a jar of freshly tapped maple syrup is called “sugar sand,” which frankly sounds like the grains at my kind of beach. But it’s a long journey from tree to plate. Experience the process Mar. 22-23 (and the following weekend) with a locally sourced pancake breakfast, tapping tutorials on the trails and a visit to the sugar shack. Breakfast begins at 9 a.m., with trail demos starting at 9:30 a.m. $5 for trail tickets; food tix $9-$14. PH

MUSIC

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Kilbourn Hall, events.rochester.edu

From a killer one-liner in “Mean Girls” to ongoing musical significance via Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo endures. Five years out from the death of founder Joseph Shabalala, LBM continues to travel and perform, including four stops in New York State this winter. The last of these is a daytime gig at Kilbourn Hall. 3 p.m. show, so bring the little ones if you can. $38-$57. PH

MONDAY, MARCH 24

LITERATURE

Author Reading: Zeeva Bukai

Bookeater, bookeaterbooks.com

Zeeva Bukai’s debut novel, “The Anatomy of Exile,” has been likened to “a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story between a Palestinian and a Jew.” But that’s just the start of the story. What follows is a tale of relocation and further turmoil weaved together by Bukai. The author will be at Bookeater for this reading, which begins at 7 p.m. and is followed by an audience Q&A led by SUNY Geneseo professor Rachell Hall. The $5 entry fee includes a glass of wine or a nonalcoholic drink. PH

TUESDAY, MARCH 25

THEATRE

“Dirty Dancing In Concert”

Kodak Center, kodakcenter.com

It’s a movie! It’s a concert! No matter what it is, it certainly isn’t putting Baby in a corner. This showing of iconic 1987 romance film has a twist: all the music is performed live by a full band, complete with lifts and dips just like the ones onscreen. Have the time of your life, and owe it all to the singalong encore party. Tickets $59$148. AK

DANCE “Riverdance”

Rochester Broadway Theatre League, rbtl.org

At its pop-culture zenith, “Riverdance” represented a broad takeover of Irish traditions, updated for contemporary audiences, coloring the mainstream. Now, 30 years later, the show’s potent blend of Irish and international dance and music marks a big milestone by showcasing performers who were not yet born at its 1995 premiere. Two nights at RBTL. 7:30 p.m. $48-$166. PH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26

FILM

“Little Women”

Penfield Public Library, calendar.libraryweb.org

Its stage run at Geva Theatre ends on Mar. 23, so for a suitable chaser, consider the 1994 film version of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless tale of love both familial and self-directed. A stacked cast (Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon and Claire Danes) buoys the movie, set to screen in the library’s Braman Room from 1:30-3 p.m. Free, but registration required. PH

THURSDAY, MARCH 27

THEATER “Pomona”

Multi-use Community Cultural Center, muccc.org

Two people engage in a role-playing game together, one-on-one. Two friends wax poetic about their balls. One girl desperately looks for her sister. All these disparate threads lead to “Pomona” — and to Crow City Theatre, a community theatre company that markets itself as “mindfully exploring the dark, the mysterious and the fantastical.” Mature audiences only. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $22-25. AK

DANCE

Bell Dance Basics Workshop

ARTISANworks, artisanworks.net

If you’ve ever wanted to try belly dancing, this workshop is for you. Desert Rhythms Belly Dance Troupe will teach you the fundamental movements of the art form while you explore different musical styles. Hip wraps are provided, but if you have your own, feel free to bring it along. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing since you’ll be shimmying and swaying! This workshop is open to all ages and abilities. 5:30-7 p.m. $25

MEGAN MACK

FRIDAY, MARCH 28

MUSIC

Ultra Fest 2025

The Bug Jar, bugjar.com

As a hub for must-see underground artists, the Bug Jar’s punk bookings are rocking out across one weekend. The bands playing are from all over the nation and range from “metal-punk spooky chaotic anarchy” to blends of new wave, techno and house. What makes it ultra? You’ll have to attend to find out. Doors 5:30 p.m. each night, with shows running until almost midnight. Tickets $34-$65. AK

SOCIAL

College Night

Rochester Museum & Science Center, rmsc.org

If you didn’t go to any science museums as a kid, it’s hard to explain the childlike wonder that comes from watching the curated wonders of nature and technology at work. At RMSC’s college night, you can relive that wonder through a show at the Planetarium or Electricity Theater — or just have a fun night out at the exhibits. 7-10 p.m. Tickets $10, with the Planetarium show as a $5 add-on. AK

SATURDAY, MARCH 29

FESTIVAL/ANIMALS REXPO

The Rochester Dome, rexpoevents.com Looking to adopt a new friend but would rather have a pet that is scaly, not furry? REXPO, New York’s largest reptile and amphibian convention, has over 125 herpetoculturists (the term for people who breed these creatures — look it up) with all the creepies and crawlies your heart could desire. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets $10-$30. AK

THEATER

“Rapunzel”

JCC Rochester, jccrochester.org/artsculture/tykes

To celebrate 20 years of JCC’s TYKEs program (Theatre Young Kids Enjoy), the group revisits its very first production: a witty, modern telling of the flowing-haired princess’ fairy tale. The show was penned by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, best known for creating the sitcom “Friends.” Seven performances from Mar. 29-Apr. 6. $20-$22. PH

COMEDY

“The

Christening: A Guilt & Mirrors Improv

Comedy Show”

Focus Theater, focus.theater

Everything is made up on the spot in this one-of-a-kind show. The cast of experienced improvisers promises quirky characters and laugh-out-loud moments as they navigate unexpected challenges and introduce a new member of the troupe. It’s a Saturday night of surprises! Doors at 6:30 p.m. Show at 7 p.m. $10. MM

SUNDAY, MARCH 30

MUSIC

Fivebyfive Presents: “Enduring Stories”

Rochester Academy of Medicine, flowercityarts.org

Following two printmaking workshops at Flower City Arts Center on Mar. 21-22, folk musician Emily Pinkerton and Rochester chamber group fivebyfive perform “Ephemera Ballads” as part of the program “Enduring Stories: ghost, murdery, & lost voices of the Appalachians and Catskills.” Its content sounds as its name suggests, just as Pinkerton describes her own art as “restoratively vintage.” Music occurs 4 p.m, with a pre-concert chat at 3:30 p.m. $23.18

MONDAY, MARCH 31

MUSIC

Eric Heveron-Smith

The Little Café, thelittle.org/music I used to watch violinist/guitarist Andrew Bird’s TED Talk, in which he uses a loop pedal to create hypnotic swirls of chamber pop, compulsively. Eric Heveron-Smith, sometimes known under the musical moniker Einstein’s Dreams, gives Bird a run for his money. Except he does it with a six-string bass guitar or a trombone (and sometimes alternating between both) and leans into jazz improv’s endless landscapes. He’ll paint The Little Café with it from 7-9 p.m. Free, with plenty of food and drink options on the menu. PH

TUESDAY, APRIL 1

LITERATURE

New Ground Poetry Night

Equal Grounds Coffee House, facebook.com/newgroundpoetry

Rochester is rife with poets — and to catch some of their work from the ground up, you can head to Equal Grounds for New Ground Poetry Night. Don’t worry, it isn’t a grind; all you have to do is sit and listen (but you’re more than welcome to bring a piece to share for the open mic). Feel the buzz every First Tuesday of the month. 7 p.m. AK

ART

Lindsay McIntyre:

“Ajjigiingiluktaaqtugut (We Are All Different)”

George Eastman Museum, eastman.org

Lindsay McIntyre’s 17-minute documentary spans several textures, stop-motion animation and handscratched film emulsion included. These combine for a statement about Indigenous identity made even more notable given the filmmaker’s output: more than 40 short films over the past 20 years. On display in the museum’s Multipurpose Hall through June 1. PH

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2

DANCE

Intro to Swing: Swingout!

Groove Juice Swing, groovejuiceswing.com/classes

If your social media feeds are also inundated with swing dancing content, Groove Juice is here to start you off on your Lindy Hop journey. Swing on by (and bring a friend if you want a pre-established partner) and get ready for four weeks of fancy footwork and foundation building. 7:15-8:30 p.m. Pre-registration tickets $70, same-day tickets $80. AK

ART

Artists in

Conversation:

Liz Deschenes with curator Phil Taylor

George Eastman Museum, eastman.org

With Liz Deschenes’s “Frames per Second (Silent),” the relationship of film and motion is disconnected and rewired into thin silver strips that line the walls of Dryden Theatre. The piece will be the focus on Deschenes’s talk, as well as her research on the histories of photography and film. 6-7 p.m. Tickets $15 for non-members. AK

THURSDAY, APRIL 3

THEATER

Great Expectations

The Temple Theatre, thecompanytheatreroc.org

Poverty. Prison. Potentially fatal fights. You may expect to see all these things in “Great Expectations,” which follows seven-year-old orphan Pip’s journey through 19th century London. Donald Brenner’s adaptation, which will premiere with The Company Theatre, will reckon with “the consequences of ambition, the complexities of identity and the importance of personal integrity.” 7:30 p.m. $25 for students/seniors, $28 for general admission. AK

THEATER

“Anything Goes” OFC Creations, ofccreations.com Call it the Orange Soda Effect: Kel Mitchell’s 1990s sitcom-era catchphrase lingers. But Mitchell remains a talented comedic performer decades past his breakout on Nickelodeon’s “All That” and “Kenan & Kel,” able to wring madcap humor out of his physicality. That’s what he brings to OFC Creations’ local production of “Anything Goes,” Cole Porter’s 1930s musical that takes place aboard an ocean liner. Mitchell joins Broadway vet Keely Beirne for performances through Apr. 19. $47$53. PH

FRIDAY, APRIL 4

MUSIC

Bella’s Bartok, Arthur Buezo and PA Line

Photo City Music Hall, photocitymusichall.com

Fans of Gogol Bordello may find Massachusetts folk-punk group Bella’s Bartok right in their wheelhouse. The genre-spanning crew headlines this gig, with outlaw-folk troubadour Arthur Buezo and gritty Americana band PA Line. The 6:30 p.m. show offers early bird tickets for $25.07, general admission $30.40 and day-of $35.72. PH

6x6 Procrastination Party

Rochester Contemporary Art Center, rochestercontemporary.org

It’s that time again: 6x6 artwork is due on Apr. 12, ahead of the gallery opening later this year. If you’re the kind of creative who works well under a deadline (and who among us isn’t?), RoCo’s got you with this procrastination party. Two artists at the space will lead art-making exercises to get your own juices flowing — or to help you get across the finish line. 6-9 p.m. in the main gallery. Part of First Friday. PH

PHOTO ESSAY

Give it a lash

CITY SPENDS ST. PRACTICE DAY AT SHAMROCK JACK'S

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ROBERTO FELIPE LAGARES

On Monday, Feb. 17, I found myself nestled in a cozy wooden booth, surrounded by guests in green, air filled with the music coming from local band Celtic Cross. I was wearing a trio of shiny beaded shamrock necklaces and a Guinness crewneck I brought home from the Motherland two years ago — ready to experience my first St. Practice Day. No, that isn’t a typo, but a regular occurrence on the 17th of the month at Shamrock Jack’s, 4554 Culver Rd. A day where “people can look forward to fresh Irish specials (and festivities) every month,” said Mike Petzing, son of Shamrock Jack’s owner Cathy Petzing.

Cathy Petzing has owned and operated Shamrock Jack’s for 20 years, and the pub originally had more than 18 family members on staff. A mother of four and, now, grandmother of 12, Petzing’s maternal nature is embedded within every server, patron and pint. In just a four-minute span, three parties stopped to bid Petzing farewell on their way out, and a nine-year-old boy (her grandson) came over to show her his newly engraved Guinness pint glass, engraved with his name and birth year.

The building was originally two neighboring structures — a house and dance studio — creating an opportunity Petzing was not looking for, but one she couldn’t pass up. Throughout the main pub area and spilling into three separate dining areas are Irish mementos, sports memorabilia and family photos along the walls and shelves. It’s a theme that continues behind the bar at the newly opened Mary Wee Pub in Webster, which was opened in 2024 by Matt Petzing, Cathy’s son, after Barry’s Irish Pub vacated the space.

St. Practice Day at Shamrock Jack’s — especially in February, when the St. Patrick’s Day countdown really begins — is all about the food, music and, of course, pints of Guinness. Essential dishes like corned beef and cabbage are served fresh (and somewhat sparked the inception of this monthly celebration, since corned beef is labor intensive and has a short shelf life). Other popular Irish menu items include the reuben (try the sweet potato fries) and cottage pie (the pub’s take on shepherd’s pie, made with beef tips instead of lamb). It’s all washed down with a pint (or two) of Smithwick’s, Harp or Guinness — the holy trinity.

Set up proudly at the front of the pub is a live band — tonight, it’s just two members of Celtic Cross, Tom Keefer and Michael Miskuly — playing Irish classics. The pub folk sing along at the first stroke of a familiar tune, especially as the performance is brought to a nearby booth or a volunteer is asked to stand-in as the fair maid of “The Black Velvet Band.” Dancing Todd — a kind of local legend in the neighborhood — shows up to dance a few jigs while balancing his beverage. At the other end of the pub, Guinness reps engrave complementary glasses and hand out the aforementioned green beaded necklaces.

As the name suggests, this is practice after all — and for good reason. As one might expect, the last St. Practice Day before the “real deal” in March is the largest turnout. And the extra reps might be much-needed as Shamrock Jack’s prepares for their biggest St. Patrick's Day since they started hosting more than a decade ago. The holiday spans the entire weekend, from Friday to Monday, and historically, Parade Day (Saturday) is the busiest day of the four-day stretch. This year, Shamrock’s is working with the town of Irondequoit to shut down the adjacent side street and close off the back parking lot, doubling the size of previous years. A large tent will feature food and drink specials, VIP packages and seating areas and multiple live bands in rotation. shamrockjacks.com

MUSIC REVIEWS

“CHERRY TOWN” BY AGAAZE

Rochester native Agathya Visveswaran, AKA Agaaze, made his auspicious debut four years ago with the album “A Portal Inside.” For his third release “Cherry Town,” released Feb. 14, Visveswaran is back with more electronic-leaning grooves, this time mastered by Adam “Yukon” Harr — a Grammy-winning engineer whose credits include music by Pharrell and Bruno Mars.

Visveswaran’s greatest talent lies in his ability to establish moods the listener can drop into and live in before shifting to drastically different tempos and textures without losing a step. In other words, he makes musical non sequiturs appear as smooth transitions.

“Dear Mildred” has a laidback vibe, in which blurry rhythms create a tripped-out, slightly chaotic feel, particularly when the haziness gives way to a manic hip-hop beat. “Jewel Thief” combines stoner funk with boom-bap aesthetics and rap vocals.

The video game-inspired blips and bloops in the surf tune “Run Free” provide plenty of ‘90s nostalgia. The summertime ambiance, which drifts in and out of the collection, persists on “Token Clown,” with its floating vocal melody and delectable rhythm guitar hook.

As the tracks progress, the musical twists and turns become more unpredictable, even inconsistent on occasion. “Mrs. Buttercup” is pleasant, if nonsensical, but it doesn’t hold up to more robust ideas elsewhere. The conjoined “FreezeFall” and “Echoes,” which immediately follow, feature the tastiest guitar hooks on the album. And the transition from fuzzed-out funk to club music is a feast for the ears.

As a cohesive listen in one sitting, “Cherry Town” is incredibly effective as background music suitable for studying, a low-key party or comfy lounging. But, as ever, Agaaze rewards listeners who are paying close attention. The rich, kaleidoscopic timbres of the album's instrumentation are what make the excursion to “Cherry Town” so enjoyable. — DANIEL J. KUSHNER

“BURNED-OVER” BY THE DIPPER STOVE

The rapid and frightening growth of Spiritualism in the late 18th century earned Western New York one of its many nicknames. New ideas spread like wildfire, setting the region ablaze with religious fervor — hence, the “Burned-Over District” was born.

Experimental musician Jeff Fose titled his new collection “Burned-Over,” though the minimal noise compositions better embody the frigid conditions Rochester endures for half the year. The 12-minute EP found a home on Carbon Records in late January.

Fose releases music as The Dipper Stove, a phrase found on the first page of Cormac McCarthy’s grim novel “Blood Meridian.” As such, “Burned-Over” has every opportunity to sound dire.

Instead, Fose opts for small slivers of joy and whimsy in the literal noise. It’s Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” reinterpreted in a frozen Genesee Valley landscape.

Opener “The Seer Emerges” sets up a duality central to the EP: colorful hope in the face of an unrelenting abyss. Here, hope warbles as piano notes while guitar noise stands in for darkness. It sounds like R.E.M.’s “New Orleans Instrumental No. 1” done by Scandinavian doomers.

The title of “Table-Rapping” nods to the Fox sisters, breakout stars of the Spiritualist movement who communed with the dead via a cracking clamor that may have been their joints.

The last song, “Go Into A Superior Condition,” references 1800s hypnotism practitioner Andrew Jackson Davis, also known as the “Poughkeepsie Seer.” Musically, it mesmerizes. Snatches of a politically tinged broadcast are eventually drowned out by a single electric guitar note. One drone replaces another.

Notably, Davis helped define the concept of a “Summerland,” a nonreligious view of an afterlife. Here in the snow, Fose’s music likewise keeps the promise of warm life kicking amid cold stasis. “Burned-Over” sounds like sudden sunlight on an icy winter day.

— PATRICK HOSKEN

“DISCRETE STRUCTURES”

BY MARC MELLITS

“Music is the art that helps us make sense of time.”

Someone said that to me years ago. I never managed to track down the exact wording or the origin of the phrase, but it has stuck with me. And now perhaps you, like me, could use some help making sense of time, especially these times.

The world did seem to organize itself, however briefly, over 13-and-a-half minutes as I listened to the new recording of the piece “Discrete Structures” by Marc Mellits. Flutist Laura Lentz and pianist Tze-Wen (Julia) Lin premiered this music at Payton Violins (housed in the former CITY office on North Goodman Street) in fall 2024, and released this studio recording in February.

All the parts fit so well together, but I’m still finding it difficult to assign a single description to this music. As soon as I feel like I have it pinned down — as I hear it defined by a sort of motoric groove — the wheels come off and the phrases start to soar.

Or, if I think, “what sweet melodies,” suddenly it turns a bit punchy, starting with a kick in the piano, followed by some excellently chunky low textures in the flute. “What a dreamy piece,” I start to write, and then the brightest little phrase brings the lift of a smile to my face.

The composer wrote that serendipity is a central theme over the 10 sections of the piece, inspired by different chance experiences in his life. Those stories are interesting, but definitely not necessary to absorb these waves of music and revel in the sensitivity and connection in the excellent performances by Lentz and Lin.

Take the chance to allow yourself to be carried forward by this music. The time will be well spent.

— MONA SEGHATOLESLAMI

“PROVE

IT TO ME” BY BELLWETHER BREAKS

Beckoning entirely with sensuality, realhuman social communication and humor, Bellwether Breaks’s “Prove It To Me” (out Mar. 25) is as FM friendly as it is reason to blush, filled with oh-wows, modern love and E Street soul. It’s a wholehearted confirmation of Chris Coon (keys), Wade McClung (guitar), Eugene Bisdikian (bass), Dave Goebel (drums) and Elyse Coughlin (lead vocals).

The piano-driven power of opener “Balls and Chains,” a Carpenters-tinged driver sweetened with glockenspiel, asks now and forever, staring out the rainy window of a slowmoving car. Motown whimsy builds in the rolling R&B title track, showcasing the band’s tightness with Beefheart guest vocals from The Bat Sisters Katie Morey and Cammy Enaharo. A Southside Johnny-style doo-wop nods around heartfelt polyamory, exploring trust, openness and sharing, confronting fears and fruits in “Peaches”: Who do you think you are / Bringing home women in your fancy car / Tonight you’ll eat up the peaches / And I’ll clean up the juice.

Producer Ben Morey casts a piano-bar haze as “Mr. Stupid Shoes” begins, building fidelity with organ flourishes. The ensemble supports the vision with sirloin-low lead guitar as it deconstructs into a wax-cylinder finale.

Two (or three) wildly inventive cover songs are a taste of the live Bellwether Breaks experience: a garagey version of Nirvana’s “About A Girl” with laser-focused organ and quoted original guitar solo. And what happens when you sing “Baby Got Back” (Sir Mix-a-Lot) on top of “No Surprises” (Radiohead)? Anything from tearful nostalgia to cheek-hurting glee.

“Couldn’t Like to You” purports itself to be a soul ballad before a Hail Mary/ Hallelujah guitar solo drops into a slower Randy Newman testimonial: Better off this way, because I couldn’t lie to you. Bellwether Breaks’s epic powerhouse ending begs the question: Is there room for at least one more on the back of the tremendous white stallion on the album’s cover? —RYAN M. YARMEL

Horn of plenty

BY PATRICK HOSKEN PATRICK@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

Two songs on Sasami Ashworth’s new pop-music album heavily feature French horn. Nothing surprising for a classically trained musician who studied the instrument at Eastman School of Music.

But the artist, who releases music under her first name, embraced indie rock and other popular styles instead of entering the classical realm after she returned home to Los Angeles in 2012.

“ When I graduated from Eastman, I was really burned out on classical music,” Ashworth said. “I was much more interested in post-punk and garage rock, or whatever the heck was happening in L.A. at the time.”

She soon found her voice. Since 2019, she’s released two albums of vastly different music, one dreamy and one heavy. Her third, “Blood on the Silver Screen,” out Mar. 8 via London’s storied indie label Domino, swings another direction: toward mainstream pop.

Or, on two tracks, a pop of brass.

MUSIC

PHOTO BY BY ANDREW THOMAS HUANG

“Nothing But a Sad Face” and its preceding interlude mark Ashworth’s return to the French horn and thus, a return to her Rochester roots. The journey to reclaiming her instrument is complete.

“If I play French horn live on stage and I mess up notes, that would have totally wrecked me when I was in college,” Ashworth said. “Now I'm much more trying to bring the punk, rock and roll ethos of the other music I play into my French horn playing and not be so hard on myself.”

Ashwor th’s musical education on Gibbs Street was twofold. She spent six hours a day practicing classical compositions, both contemporary and hundred of years old. Then she’d clock in for her shift at Java’s and become immersed in indie groups like Dirty Projectors blaring over the cafe’s speakers.

The duality helped expand her palette, as did collaborations with friends like Ian Proper, formerly of the local band Sports, who called her “an inspiring figure in my life.”

“I remember her wanting me to play a benefit concert wherein I would be backed by classical musicians from Eastman,” he recalled. “This wasn’t the kind of thing I would usually feel comfortable doing, but her confidence is contagious, and now it’s a nice memory.”

Meanwhile, a Jazz 101 course at Eastman freed Ashworth to start improvising.

“It just completely lit a fire inside of my brain,” Ashworth said. “I had been playing all this classical music where you just read what’s on the page, but I’d never been required to make up my own sentences, to write my own poetry. Early on at Eastman, I knew that there was something beyond just classical performance for me.”

She explored further, leaning on synthesizers and guitar textures for her 2019 debut album. By

2022, Ashworth had pivoted again to heavy sounds inspired by metal and “my own kind of need for cathartic, raging music.” The end result was the album “Squeeze,” which she’s likened to a haunted house due to its unexpected pivots.

“Blood on the Silver Screen,” by contrast, is definitively a pop record. But for Ashworth, making a pop record is a very punk thing to do.

“It kind of pisses me off that being a POC woman, I have to always be cool and interesting and innovative, and god forbid I just make something for fun,” she said. “The punkest thing that I could do is whatever the fuck I want, even if it means making something that's kind of cheesy or painfully earnest or a little bit saccharine.”

To help fulfill the sonic vision of the new tunes she wrote, Ashworth teamed up with producer Jennifer Decilveo, a Grammy-winning studio maven for Miley Cyrus, Hozier and

Andra Day. The propulsive gloss of songs like “Honeycrash” and the horn showcase “Nothing But a Sad Face” comes from their partnership in the studio.

“Every single song, it was her vision,” Decilveo said. “I felt more like a shepherd. She's classically trained and a wizard at every single instrument. It’s almost like she gives me the coloring book and then I go color.”

Ther e’s also the color of the wavy designs on the walls at the Bug Jar here in Rochester, of which Ashworth spoke fondly. She makes a point to swing through while on tour even without a scheduled gig. She mentioned one such side quest to get local apple cider donuts while in transit recently between Montreal and Boston.

“I feel very connected to Rochester,” Ashworth said. “It really feels like my second home.” sasamiashworth.com

Musician Sasami Ashworth calls Rochester her second home, even as she now makes records with big-time Los Angeles producers Rostam and Jenn Decilveo.

After she graduated from Eastman School of Music in 2012, “I was really burned out on classical music,” indie artist Sasami Ashworth said.

PHOTO BY MIRIAM MARLENE

A refreshing reprise

BY PATRICK HOSKEN PATRICK@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

When East End music venue Anthology closed its doors in July 2022, it did so without any major announcements. The last show staged there was Philadelphia band mewithoutYou, in town on a goodbye tour.

Anthology shows largely arrived courtesy of the concert promotion company After Dark Presents, headed up by Chris Ring, in conjunction with Phil Fitzsimmons, who owned and operated the venue.

When the lights went off, the venue itself sat empty. But the operations remained turnkey.

“The beers are still cold,” Ring told CITY in late 2024. “You could open tomorrow, and the venue's in better shape, having been closed for three years, than most venues that are operating on a day-to-day basis.”

Cold beverages will come in handy on Mar. 1, when Anthology officially reopens under the management of SCN Hospitality. The group runs several restaurants in town, including The Revelry and Branca Midtown, and previously ran the music venue Essex on University Avenue (they’ll transfer all operations and bookings to Anthology).

MUSIC

Josh Miles, SCN’s president and CEO, said he aims to build upon Anthology’s existing foundation.

“[Phil and Chris] always brought talent that was very high caliber,” Miles said. “What we're doing is we're blending in my hospitality, Chris Ring’s network, our new network and kind of creating a super group out of it.”

For the time being, Fitzsimmons still owns the Anthology building, located at 336 East Ave., and SCN Hospitality is his tenant.

Upcoming shows at the venue will be handled by the inhouse group Anthology Presents Booking, run by

Mack Hartman and Zack Mikida. They’ll be in partnership with Ring’s After Dark Presents, which also books at local venues Water Street Music Hall and Montage Music Hall.

Anthology’s reopening comes in tandem with the SCN’s closing of Essex. All scheduled shows at Essex after Feb. 28 will now be staged at Anthology.

First up? The slightly psychedelic Saranac Lake-based bluegrass act The Blind Owl Band with support from Buffalo rootsy quartet Folkfaces. That show takes place Mar. 8.

The new chapter for Anthology begins a few months after a test run: Two Joywave concerts in December, billed as “Joy 2 the World.”

“Everything was recently brought into really great working condition for the Joywave shows,” Miles said. “We'll double-stamp that and make sure that everything is where it needs to be.”

It’s a cause for celebration among Rochester music fans. Anthology holds just under 1,000 concertgoers, making it a bigger room than Essex, which maxed out around 800. Larger venues can mean a more appealing tour stop for national acts as well.

Anthology’s placement in the East and Alexander entertainment district also makes it a prime nightlife destination. Miles said

he’s already looking to expand Anthology’s footprint.

“There's space in the front and above that used to house Tonic [nightclub], and that area was once Rochester's most impactful destination in food and beverage,” Miles said. “We're looking to bring a form of that back.”

When Essex launched in October 2023, the crew behind the venue told CITY about their emphasis on hospitality in every facet of the operation, including the green room for the artists. For his part, Miles is ready to continue that approach.

“It's just a rounder experience in terms of the warmth and the interaction from the hospitality standpoint, and also it's our M.O. from the band side as well,” he said.

Past Anthology bookings have included indie heavyweights Father John Misty and Japanese Breakfast, emo stalwarts Thursday and Cursive, groove-pop acts Aqueous and Rubblebucket and metal legends Cannibal Corpse.

Ring said the musical diversity was key to the venue’s past success and ideally will contribute to its next chapter.

“It wasn't just pigeonholed as an all-ages kid venue, a jazz venue, a jam-band venue, an EDM venue,” he said. “It kind of housed everything, and it's important to have that.”

Above (left to right): Mack Hartman, Josh Miles and Zack Mikida.

PHOTO BY JACOB WALSH

Inset: Hollywood Undead performing at Anthology.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Yes, chef

BY RACQUEL STEPHEN RSTEPHEN@WXXI.ORG

With a grandiose bar at the center of a softly lit space and social chatter fueled by lavish cocktails and the melodies of a live band, Studio Lounge on Lawrence Street can be described as sort of a modern-day jazz club.

“Do you know what you’re having?”

A server appears, and tonight, your group decides on the crab cake and two orders of jerk chicken egg rolls with a mango chutney sauce — the chef’s specialty. Impressed with the presentation and flavor of the dishes, you ask to compliment the chef.

Chef Kayjona Rogers greets the table with a youthful spirit matched only by her beaming smile. It’s a persona that contrasts with the maturity of her cooking; at just 27 years old, Rogers has only been a professional chef for five years. In early 2025, her natural skillset and networking landed her the position of executive chef of Studio Lounge.

“This has happened really fast,” Rogers said. “I’m bringing that new spark in here; I think everyone is excited to see where it's going to go.”

Studio Lounge has cycled through three executive chefs since its opening in November 2022. Owner Chris

Fantuzzo said the restaurant struggled to find a solid kitchen crew before hiring Rogers.

“She is such a leader, and the way she commands the kitchen is something that we haven't had there yet,” Fantuzzo said, adding that her “young, creative and vibrant” energy fit perfectly to the mold of the team he was working to create.

Since Rogers took the helm, Studio Lounge has increased kitchen revenue by 200 percent.

“Her level of dedication to serving the best food (possible) is my favorite thing about her, she won't let a dish walk unless it's perfect,” he said. “The feel and vibe of the place is just different."

Rogers traces her love for cooking back to moments in the kitchen as a little girl, cooking with her Jamaican grandfather. Culture has a big influence on her dishes, but it wasn’t until Rogers was faced with some legal trouble that her passion was truly ignited.

A criminal class possession of marijuana was lowered to disorderly conduct, but she still faced difficulties finding work. Eventually, Rogers got accepted to the Foodlink Career Fellowship, a local culinary training

27-year-old Kayjona Rogers

DINING

Jerk chicken egg rolls. PHOTOS BY ROBERTO F. LAGARES

program prepares people for middleskills careers with a living wage in the food industry.

It was there she really honed the skills once instilled by her grandfather.

“I had Easy-Bake Ovens and cookbooks and stuff growing up, but that program motivated me,” Rogers said.

At the end of the fellowship those in the program could choose to work in a restaurant or at Wegmans, and Rogers chose to complete her apprenticeship at Black & Blue Steak and Crab in Pittsford.

“I really liked the environment, but I wanted something of my own,” she said.

That desire for independence jumpstarted Taste of Kay, a catering business that “soared fast.” As Taste of Kay was booked for multiple events, from private dinners to large parties, Rogers’s reputation as a great cook was building.

“My favorite dish is my Rasta Pasta,” Rogers said. The Jamaicaninspired dish is usually made with

chicken (or another protein) and colored bell peppers mixed in a creamy, spicy sauce. Rogers debuted her own “Rasta Pasta” sauce with Craft Cannery, a production facility in Bergen, Genesee County, last August.

“When I'm chopping things up, when I'm thinking of different ingredients and recipes it's a stress relief for me,” Rogers said. “I feel very grateful and honored to have that gift.”

Rogers aspires to open her own restaurant one day, with a broader goal of owning multiple restaurants nationwide; she said an appearance on Food Network would also be a dream come true.

But for now, Rogers marvels at how far she’s come.

“I don't regret anything,” she said. “I'm happy everything happened the way it did. It didn't make sense at first, but I’m a walking testimony.” studiobarlounge.com

Top: Spinach artichoke dip with house pita Bottom: Pan-seared lamb chops.

Kayjona Rogers, executive chef at Studio Lounge

The Dish

WHET YOUR PALATE

FOOD AND BEV NEWS, GOSSIP, AND GATHERINGS

CURATED BY LEAH STACY

The iconic Highland Park Diner reopened in mid-February after a monthlong overhaul. Manufactured by the Orleans Diner Company in Albion during the 1940s, the diner was due for an upgrade — though we’ll miss the green leather booths (OK, the red is kinda spiffy, too). Rocky’s, an Upper Falls neighborhood staple on Jay Street for 75 years, has been named one of USA Today’s 44 Best Restaurants. (We may have a little something fun up our sleeve with Rocky’s, too … Stay tuned!)

The much-anticipated Bonnie & Clyde opened to the public on Thursday, Feb. 13. Owners Greg and Jodi Johnson renovated a grand former bank building to create an upscale concept on S. Main Street in Fairport. The opening comes on the heels of the Johnsons' recent announcement that their decade-old restaurant in the South Wedge, The Cub Room, will close March 1.

Mullers Cider House on University Avenue won “Best Cider Focused Establishment” at CiderCon 2025, the premier national conference for cider professionals, which took place Feb. 4-7 in Chicago. The entire Peels on Wheels business is up for sale, including the brick and mortar “Pizza Garage” on Culver Road, as owner Luis Perez will relocate to Atlanta later this year. Those interested can reach out to the business directly: peelsonwheelspizza.com

FOR THE LOCAVORES

Trillium Health has opened a newly expanded food pantry and learning kitchen at 259 Monroe Ave. The pantry currently serves over 3,100 households and is open to anyone in need, while Trillium’s food pharmacy program, in which eligible patients are “prescribed” fresh food to help improve their health outcomes, has already distributed over 1,700 boxes of fresh produce to city residents.

The new learning kitchen will host classes on how to prepare the food. trilliumhealth.org/food

Barry's Irish Cream and Genesee Brewery collaborated to produce a limited-run Irish Cream Stout, which will be available at Genesee Brew House and select other local locations; Barry's also has an upcoming collaboration with New York City-based Tipsy Scoop for an Irish Cream liqueur-infused ice cream called "Shamrocked."

Finger Foods Farm, a family owned, certified organic farm operated by Alex and Sarah Cookfair in Bloomfield, now has a line of farmfresh frozen soups available in Wegmans stores across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Featuring New York-grown ingredients (sourced from Finger Foods Farm and select local partners) and free of artificial preservatives, the soups bring farm freshness to the freezer aisle for busy shoppers. fingerfoodsfarm.com

FOOD FÊTES

The Rochester Culinary Throwdown series that began at Jackrabbit Club, 40 Anderson Ave., last fall returns — and it’s down to the final chefs. On Sunday, Mar. 23, it’s between Ryan Simpson of Good Luck and Cruz Nieves of Shell; doors at 8 p.m., competition at 9 p.m. The final round on Sunday, April 27, will feature March’s winner head-to-head with February winner Andreas Petsos of Cure

On Wednesday, Mar. 12, Living Roots Wine & Co. is partnering with plant-based cheesemongers Spirit + Abundance for an in-depth pairing class on all things vegan cheese and wine! Join S+A owner/monger Ali Lawrence and wine educator Shomari Smoak for guided pairings while delving into the background of these locally made provisions. 7 p.m., tickets are $48 and include five tastings. livingrootswine.com

Avvino will host a Runnin' of The Green Eve Pasta Dinner on Friday, Mar. 14 at their downtown event space, The Duke, 240 E. Main St. (inside the Sibley Building). Load up on carbs before the big race, or just come for the pasta. Doors at 6 p.m., $55 ticket includes four pasta courses, with beverages a la carte, available at avvinorochester.com. On Thursday, Mar. 20, Restaurant Good Luck will explore the terroir behind Procera Gin, named after the only juniper species indigenous to the southern hemisphere. For $195, guests will enjoy five courses from Chefs Dan Martello and Ryan Simpson alongside neat pours and cocktails featuring Procera Gin. restaurantgoodluck.com

Paddy (Not Patty)

PUZZLE

BY S.J. AUSTIN & J. REYNOLDS

1 Tailless primate

4 Separate

9 Clumsy dope

12 Face-in-elbow celebratory gesture

15 Greenpeace, e.g.

18 Prohibit (entrance)

19 _____ Lama

20 Bio or chem

21 Cotton gin inventor Whitney

22 Bruins great who scored 270 goals (and has appeared in the NYT crossword 228 times!)

23 Seaside attractions of 131-Across that rise nearly 400 feet above the Atlantic Ocean

26 Ill-fated vessel built in 131-Across

28 Discharge

29 How to make an east couple hundred bucks?

31 Zippo

32 Flotsam or Jetsam, in "The Little Mermaid"

33 Making out on the street, for short

35 "Here's my number, stay in touch!"

38 Pelvic bones

41 Disney villain named after a Shakespearean villain

43 Immense

45 Temporary break

49 Historic "seat of kings" rising above the plains in 131-Across

52 Clover used as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, allegedly used in converting the people of 131-Across to Christianity

54 _____ Como Va (Santana hit)

55 Guided

56 Holler

58 Dori's brother in "The Hobbit"

59 1051 on monuments

60 Note on a Chinese menu

62 Write some Javascript, say

65 Road spread in short supply this sinter

67 Spick-and-span

69 Kagan and others

71 Sacrificial batting technique

73 Playground retort

75 Almost any character in "Hamlet"

76 Poetic name first given to 131-Across by the poet William Drennan

79 Descriptor for a shoppe

83 Point the finger

85 Saskatchewan native

86 Director's cry

88 Botch

91 Aspect of many nightmares about school

93 Abbr. before "regional manager" (or "to the regional manager")

95 What a good 93-Across can be, if they're capable (or if you add one letter)

96 Not just sit there

97 Airport code for that other Rochester

99 "The Pig in a Poke" or "The Melon Drop," e,g,

101 Nero, e.g., for short

103 Original publisher of the game D&D

104 Stout brewed in 131-Across since the 1800s

107 Limestone formation in 131-Across said to provide the "gift of the gab" to anyone who kisses it

111 Nation whose proclaimed capital is not recognized by the United Nations

112 Sword-wielding Stark daughter in "Game of Thrones"

114 Cooped (up)

115 Start the pot

116 Salty solution

118 Start of a Latin chant

119 Cartoonish laugh syllable

121 Country star who is so big, we're not even giving you her last name

124 Age, as firewood

127 Makes doubts disappear

131 Island nation in northwestern Europe with connections to the answers to the starred clues

134 ** March holiday celebrating the patron saint of 131-Across

137 "Monsieur," across la Manche

138 Whom Uncle Sam wants

139 Breakfast bit

140 Palindromic term of address

63 Having a body mass index over 30,

Coercion 66 Falls in defeat 68 Ransacks

70 Quick interval

72 '90s trio with the hits "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs" 74 Expanse 77 Mongrels

78 Film genre

80 Heavyweight champ who was the victim of one of 13-Down's knockouts

81 Fails to

82 Main dish

84 Transparent eye layer

87 Word on an key with a warning light

88 Star followers of the New Testament

89 Critical care hosp. areas

90 Recipe verb 92 Frozen desert chain

94 Many a baby-sitter

98 Post on eBay, say

100 In the style of 102 Adjective for YouTubers Rhett and Link 105 Like a congested voice

106 Of sound mind

108 Tachometer meas.

109 New: prefix 110 Weatherproofing layers

113 Justification

117 Should arrive any minute now 118 Actress de Armas

120 Words on an information desk

121 Word Maya Angelou rhymed with "eyes," "cries," and "thighs"

122 ** 131-Across, poetically

123 Bane of 26-Across

125 Remain

126 Chooses

127 Legendary queen and founder of Carthage

128 Stage name for U2's guitarist, with "The"

129 Fromage base

130 Keep matched up, as data

132 Affirmative voter's word

133 Right this instant!

135 Corp. logos, e.e.

136 Pride : lion :: mischief : _____