The race track in Saratoga Springs may be quiet on Tuesdays, but Saratoga Battlefield will be alive with music. Friends of Saratoga Battlefield will sponsor four free lunchtime concerts at Saratoga National Historical Park’s visitor center located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater. Bring a lunch and listen to a different program each week: folk, classical and martial music.
August 2 Rich Bala – Find out how waterways and canals shaped New York’s history from colonial times to the end of the 19th century on a musical tour by acclaimed folk singer Rich Bala.
August 9 Elizabeth Huntley – How much more elegant can things get? Sublime music of the 18th century performed on the harp, sublime views of the Saratoga Battlefield from the Visitor Center lawn. Enjoy classical pieces played upon the Queen of Instruments performed by harpist Elizabeth Huntley.
August 16 Dave Ruch – Dave Ruch presents Traditional and Historical Songs of New York. Lively presentations of songs and ditties from all corners of the Empire State. These are the songs of real-life “Yorkers” from the past – farmers, lumbermen, immigrants, children,Native Americans, canallers, lake sailors and more – collected through considerable research, and interpreted for all to enjoy with banjo, guitar, mandolin, bones, spoons and more. (This Speakers in the Humanities event is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the New York State Legislature.)
August 23 Fort Ticonderoga Fife and Drum Corps – Martial music at its best. The Fort Ticonderoga Fife and Drum Corps performs tunes that may have wafted over the landscape mingled with the gun smoke during the Battles of Saratoga.
Saratoga National Historical Park offers a variety of programs. For additional information call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or visit www.nps.gov/sara
Photo: Fort Ticonderoga Fife & Drum Corps (Provided).
Wow, I’d like to see all of these. If only I could get all those days off work…