Reinterpreting traditional Music West Kortright Centre at the

BY CHELSEA FRISBEE JOHNSON

Nestled between rolling hills and valley farmland at 49 West Kortright Church Road, East Meredith, the West Kortright Centre offers the local community and out-of-town visitors diverse, re-interpreted traditional music from around the world.

Since 1975, the West Kortright Centre has been a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in the arts, featuring a blend of world-class concerts, workshops, art exhibits and community events. This summer, through an array of events, the center seeks to bring high-quality performances, learning opportunities and visual arts to the beautiful northwestern Catskills.

This season, the West Kortright Centre is focusing on bringing music from around the world so audiences can experience cultures to which they might not have access.

“We try to think about artists who are reinterpreting traditional music in new and exciting ways,” Saira McLaren, center executive director, said. “For instance, Mali, who is performing in September, will be reinterpreting jazz music from a First Nations perspective.”

Saira shared additional highlights for the summer season, saying: “We’re thrilled to have Meredith Monk back again this year, performing with John Hollenbeck on Saturday, July 22. Meredith is a longtime supporter of the West Kortright Centre, and a next-door neighbor. We’ll be celebrating her 50-plus years of music-making. We’re also looking forward to the Medicine Singers, who will be collaborating with Yonatan Gat and Lee

Ranaldo around traditional pow-wow music. It’s still coming together, but we’re anticipating a transcendental set and then a big, loud, raucous punk-rock pow-wow show!”

Saira called the lineup “pretty exciting.”

“The underpinning of our summer season is reinterpreting traditional music, from First Nations traditions to rural traditions in America and around the world,” she said. “There aren’t many musicians from Mauritania that come to upstate New York, so we’re especially excited to have Noura Mint, who was recently featured in the 2021 film, The Mauritanian, come here in September.”

Something For Everyone

While many of the performances attract people of all ages, Saira noted, the West Kortright Centre is also intentionally creating spaces for young people to enjoy the arts.

“We’re really interested in developing a lifelong appreciation of the arts,” she said. “This summer, we’re hosting Kidstock, which is in its second year. We had about 300 families last year, and it’s a great addition to our summer. We’re trying to introduce children to lots of different types of music, and it’s kind of like a music festival for kids.”

Kidstock will take place Saturday, July 1, featuring live music, face painting, a petal collage station for flower paintings, food and more. The event is by donation and will host Brasskill, a party brass band from Hudson, New York, and Roly Poly Guacamole, an indie rock band from Brooklyn geared toward kids.

For kids 13 to 19, the West Kortright Centre offers “Shakespeare in the Valley,” a series of young people’s theatre arts workshops focused on acting, music, costumes and tech, all culminating in outdoor performances Aug. 4 and 5. This year’s production will be Julius Caesar. looking ahead

The West Kortright Centre is gearing up for its 50th anniversary, happening in 2025, and is working to reconceptualize its physical space for the next 50 years.

“We hope to reimagine the space to make it more flexible for workshops (and) different kinds of performances,” Saira said. “We’re working with an artist duo out of New Orleans to do a large-scale outdoor performance installation, which will be based on the history of East Meredith. We’re also working with a few First Nation partners to make sure we include what was left out of the history.”

For summer season information and tickets, visit westkc.org. +