Friends Performing Arts Series

Beginning in the 1960’s, under the leadership of John E. Clark, the Friends of the Library was established and continues over 50 years later bringing distinguished artists and musicians to our community. Join the Library Friends’ group and support upcoming performances!

All performances are free to attend and take place in the Owen Johnson Auditorium at the Library.  

The History of Rock n Roll

Sunday, October 22, 2023 @ 2:00PM

The History of Rock n Roll brings the decades of Rock n Roll to life!  Complete with costumes, video and of course the music that defines each decade.  Music is the soundtrack of people’s lives so what better way to represent each decade than to wear the fashions.  

The Clusters

Sunday, November 19, 2023 @ 2:00PM 

The Fabulous Clusters are a legendary Rock and Roll oldies group featuring original 1958 member, Joe Gugliotta.  The Clusters top hit “Darling Can’t You Tell” along with “Pardon My Heart” and “Forecast of Love” are still being played today.  

The Rusty Spur Band

Sunday, December 10, 2023 @ 2:00PM

Based in NYC, the band features seasoned musicians and is fronted by female sensation Nicole Case and the dynamic, powerful voice of Pete Francescon.  This country music tribute band presents a unique blend of modern songs and traditional classics.  

CANCELLED-
New Year's Eve Gala

New York Exceptions

Sunday, December 31, 2023

A blast from the past!  Travel back in time with the New York Exceptions as they play popular music from the 50s, 60s and 70s.  The members of this six-man doo-wop will have you singing and dancing to your favorite oldies songs.

*FREE but you must have a ticket to attend*

Rhonda Denet's Silver Fox Songs Showcase Series

Saturday, February 3, 2024 @ 7:00PM

Celebrate Black History Month with Rhonda Denet.  Rhonda will be singing songs from the 1960s and 70s.  Rhonda has a spirit that will warm your heart and a voice that will touch your soul.

*FREE but you must have ticket to attend*

Evan & James

Sunday, March 10, 2024 @ 2:00PM

Evan & James, two young guys from Long Island looking to make a difference in the music industry.  Evan & James draw inspiration from The Beatles and other groups of the 50s, 60s and 70s.  They believe many elements of older music have been lost in the modern world.  Their goal is to bring back those elements with a modern twist. 

4 Ways From Sunday

Sunday, April 7, 2024 @ 2:00PM

4 Ways From Sunday present a lively program of time-tested, classic hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s.  Clap, dance and sing along as they recreate many memorable tunes.   

Notable Past Performances

new york ballet
maya angelou
andre watts
essential graham
preservation hall jazz band
alex haley
russian ballet
ailey

All Past Performances

2022-23

  • Four Hands Over Paumanok
  • Shtrykov-Tanaka Duo
  • The Clusters All Star Revue
  • New Vintage Orchestra
  • Sugar and Spice
  • B.D. Lenz & The All Stars
  • Solid 70s

2021-22

  • B.D. Lenz & The All Stars
  • New York Exceptions
  • Serenade Duo
  • Rusty Spur Band
  • Daniela Liebman, Piano

2019-20

  • Summer Breeze
  • Maxim Anikushin, piano
  • Steel Silk Band

2018-19

  • Shtrykov-Tanaka Duo
  • Lady Blue Saxophone Quartet
  • Brandon Ridenour, trumpet
  • Terry Nigrelli Jazz Band 
  • Master of Soul
  • Island Symphony Orchestra
  • Gleb Ivanov, piano

2017-18

  • Gemini Journey
  • Maxim Anikushin, piano
  • Donald Sinta Quartet
  • New York Exceptions
  • Harlem Blues & Jazz Band
  • Cross Island
  • The Neave Trio

2016-17

  • N2K Duo
  • Cross Island
  • Steel Silk Band
  • Leon Bates, Piano
  • Anton del Forno, Classical Guitar

2015-16

  • Richard Kastle, Piano
  • The Neave Trio
  • Terry Nigrelli Jazz Group
  • We Are!
  • Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble

2014-15

  • Ashu, Saxophonist
  • Anton Del Forno, Classical Guitarist
  • The Waterfront Six
  • Alive! …and Kickin’
  • The Kende Trio

2013-14

  • Linden String Quartet
  • Hye-Jin Kim, Violin
  • Joao Luiz, Guitar
  • Sebastian Baverstam, Cello
  • Harlem Gospel Choir
  • Maxim Anikushin, Piano

2012-13

  • New York Chamber Soloists
  • Sebastian Baverstam, cello
  • Maxim Anikushin, piano
  • Swingtime Big Band
  • Vy Higginson Gospel
  • Amphion String Quartet
  • Richard Kastle, piano

2011-12

  • John Davis / Mark Twain Birthday Celebration
  • New York Woodwind Quintet
  • Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble
  • Hye-Jin Kim, violinist
  • Gleb Ivanov, pianist
  • Soul Rebels brass band
  • Jose Franch-Ballester
  • Linden String Quartet

2010-11

  • Afiara String Quartet
  • Emmanuel Ceysson, harp
  • Aulos Ensemble
  • Swingtime Big Band
  • Imani Winds
  • Calmus Ensemble, Leipzig
  • Gleb Ivanov, pianist

2009-10

  • Barynya Russian Folk Dance & Music
  • Carducci String Quartet
  • Gleb Ivanov, pianist
  • Jorge Avila, violinist
  • Shades of Harlem
  • Kende Trio
  • The Brasil Guitar Duo
  • Afiara String Quartet
  • Aulos Ensemble
  • Emmanuel Ceysson, harpist
  • Swingtime Big Band
  • Imani Winds
  • Calmus Vocal Ensemble
  • Gleb Ivanov, pianist

2008-09

  • Bridget Kibbey, harpist
  • Carducci String Quartet
  • Phyllis Chen, piano
  • Swingtime Big Band
  • Harlem Gospel Choir
  • Darrah Carr Irish Dance
  • Alexandre Bouzlov, cellist
  • Gleb Ivanov, pianist

2007-08

  • Essential Graham
  • Brasil Guitar Duo
  • Celebrations
  • Sacred Music Sacred Dance
  • Svetoslav

2005-06

  • Dracula
  • Shangri-la Chinese Acrobats
  • Philadanco
  • Tamburitzans
  • Taming of the Shrew
  • Paul Taylor 2
  • Vassily Primakov, pianist
  • Soo Bae, cellist
  • Ailey II
  • NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players / “Wand’ring Minstrels”

2004-05

  • Murderers, Madmen & Kings
  • NY Ballet Theatre
  • Leon Bates, piano
  • St. Petersburg Ballet
  • Bill Warfield Jazz Quintet

2003-04

  • Shangri-la Chinese Acrobats
  • Ballet Folklorico “Quetzalli”
  • Harlem Blues & Jazz Band
  • Winner of 2003 Concert Artist Guild Asmira Woodward-Page, violin
  • Mina & Brian

2002-03

  • Ailey II
  • Flamenco Vivo / Carlotta Santana
  • Feigin Duo
  • Alpin Hong, pianist
  • Swing Dance America

2001-02

  • American Ballet Theatre Studio Company
  • Ballet Los Pampas
  • Steward Goodyear, pianist
  • National Acrobats of China
  • Ballet Concierto De Puerto Rico

2000-01

  • North Carolina Dance Theatre
  • Gran Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
  • Kevin Maynor, bass-baritone
  • James Lent, piano
  • Cinderella
  • Andrew Kohji-Taylor, violin

1999-00

  • Tamburitzans
  • Russian Ballet Theatre
  • Duke Ellington Tribute
  • Dance Through Time
  • New York Theatre Ballet

1998-99

  • Viva Brazil Dance Company
  • Ballet Stars of Moscow
  • Liang Chai, violin
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • Peter Orth, piano
  • Katona Twins, guitars
  • American Repertory Ballet

1997-98

  • St. Petersburg Ballet
  • Dichterliebe
  • Tziganka
  • Ain’t Misbehavin’
  • Jose Greco II
  • Laurel Trio
  • Pacifica Quartet

1996-97

  • Taylor 2
  • Russian Ballet Fireworks
  • William Wolfram, piano
  • Celebration of Dance
  • Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival
  • Jupiter Symphony / Stanley Drucker, clarinet
  • Winner of 1996 Concert Artist Guild Competition

1995-96

  • Jon Klibonoff
  • Tamburitzans
  • St. Petersburg Ballet
  • West Village String Quartet
  • Philadanco
  • 1995 Concert Artist Guild Winner
  • Jupiter Symphony / Ruth
  • Laredo, piano
  • William Kangeiser, classical guitar

1994-95

  • Bachmann-Klibonoff-Fridman Trio
  • Ayako Yoshida, violin
  • Miami String Quartet
  • Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers
  • Soloists from Opera Northeast
  • First Prize Winner of the 1994 Concert Artists’ Guild New York Competition
  • Bross Townsend, jazz pianist
  • The Bross Townsend Trio
  • The Bross Townsend Quintet

1993-94

  • Aman Folk Ensemble
  • Jeffrey Siegel, Keyboard Conversation
  • Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
  • Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble
  • La Traviata

1992-93

  • Ballet Chicago
  • Tamburitzans
  • Maya Angelou
  • Austrailian Chamber Orchestra
  • Die Fledermaus

1991-92

  • Kiss Me Kate
  • Tokyo Symphony / Reiko Watanabe, violin soloist
  • Mazowsze
  • This Joint is Jumpin’
  • Israel Chamber
  • Orchestra/ Shlomo Mintz, Conductor & soloist

1990-91

  • Thomas Lorango, pianist
  • Czech Philharmonic
  • North Carolina
  • Dance Theatre
  • Hanover Band
  • Pirin
  • Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble
  • Jose
  • Greco Spanish Dance
  • Tokyo Festival Ballet, Gen Horiuchi
  • South Pacific
  • Jupiter Symphony

1989-90

  • H.M.S. Pinafore
  • English Concert
  • Madama Butterfly
  • Tamburitzans
  • Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
  • National Theatre of the Deaf
  • Harlem Spiritual Ensemble
  • Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with John O’Conor, piano soloist
  • Ballet of Los Angeles
  • Christopher O’Riley, pianist
  • Kismet

1988-89

  • Slovak State Folk Ensemble
  • New Jersey Ballet Company
  • Berlin Symphony
  • Pirates of Penzance
  • Mazowsze
  • Harlem Blues & Jazz Band
  • Budapest Symphony Orchestra
  • Vladimir Feltsman
  • Carousel

1987-88

  • The Tamburitzans
  • Washington Ballet
  • Tosca
  • Oslo Philharmonic
  • Boys Choir of Harlem
  • Murray Perahia, pianist
  • Ballet of the Royal Finnish Opera
  • Bucket Dance Theatre
  • Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
  • Jerusalem Symphony
  • Showboat

1986-87

  • Helsinki Philharmonic
  • L.I. Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
  • Christopher Parkening, classical guitar
  • Klezmer Conservatory Band
  • Handel’s Messiah
  • Ballet De France
  • Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
  • Sweet Saturday Night
  • Chicago City Ballet
  • Salzburg Musici Chamber Orchestra
  • Nigel Kennedy, violinist
  • Richard Goode, pianist
  • Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Oklahoma!

1985-86

  • Heather Watts & Adam Luders with Joffrey II Ballet
  • L’Elisir D’Amore
  • Orchestre De La Suisse Romande, Horacio Guitierrez, pianist
  • National Folk Ballet of Yugoslavia
  • Boys Choir of Harlem
  • Washington Ballet
  • Nadja Salerno-Sonenberg, violinist
  • Once Upon a Time
  • Jean Pierre Rampal, flutist
  • Andras Schiff, pianist
  • Dresden Chamber Orchestra
  • The Mikado

1984-85

  • Arms and the Man
  • Metropolitan Opera Ballet
  • Stockholm Philharmonic
  • Joffrey II Ballet Company with Patricia McBride & Sean Lavery
  • Klezmorim
  • A Christmas Carol
  • Clive Thompson Dance Company
  • Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia
  • Royal Ballet of Flanders
  • Peter Serkin, pianist
  • Ars Musica
  • Treger-Watts Duo
  • John Weaver
  • La Traviata
  • Trial by Jury

1983-84

  • Kibbutz Dance Company
  • New World Ballet of Caracas
  • Julie Harris / The Belle of Amherst
  • Cecile Licad, pianist
  • Shlomo Mintz, violinist
  • Dennis Wayne’s Dancers
  • Misalliance
  • Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  • La Boheme
  • Laussanne Symphony Orchestra
  • Jerry’s Girls
  • The Barber of Seville
  • Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist
  • Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
  • Kathleen Battle, soprano
  • The Dining Room
  • Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist
  • Fledermaus

1982-83

  • Panayis Lyras, pianist
  • Metropolitan Opera Ballet with Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson & Adam Luders
  • Zagreb Ballet
  • Pinchas Zukerman, violinist
  • Prague Chamber Orchestra
  • James Galway, flutist & New Irish Chamber Orchestra
  • Syracuse Stage in Ira Levin’s Deathtrap
  • Eastern Opera Theatre in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte
  • Manhattan Savoyards in Lehar’s The Merry Widow

1981-82

  • Joffrey II Ballet Co., with Helgi Tomasson & Yoko Ichino
  • Shura Cherkassky, pianist
  • American Ballet Theatre Repertory Co.
  • Lucia di Lammermoor
  • Ballet Fantasio of Romania
  • Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman and Lynn Harrell Trio
  • Winner of Van Cliburn Competition
  • H.M.S. Pinafore

1980-81

  • Rigoletto
  • Garrick Ohlsson, pianist
  • May O’Donnell Dance Company
  • Ballet Hispanico, with Heather Watts & Adam Luders of N.Y.C. Ballet
  • Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, guest solo pianist Richard Goode
  • Itzhak Perlman, violinist
  • Emanuel Ax & Friends (Yo Yo Ma, Young- Uck Kim, & Ida Kavafian)
  • The Gondoliers

1979-80

  • La Traviata
  • Philharmonia Virtuosi 
  • Andre Watts, PIanist and Charles Treger, Violinist
  • Naughty Marietta
  • Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble
  • Peter Serkin, Pianist
  • Candida

1978-79

  • Patricia McBride, Jean-Pierre Bonne-fous & Company from N.Y.C. Ballet
  • Frank Patterson, Tenor
  • La Boheme
  • Brandenburg Ensemble
  • Buffalo Philharmonic
  • L.I. Symphony, Guest Solo Clarinetist, Stanley Drucker
  • William Bolcom and Joan Morris
  • Pirates of Penzance

1977-78

  • Eleanor D’Antuono & Ted Kivitt with the Eglevsky Ballet
  • Shirley Berrett, Soprano
  • Marriage of Figaro
  • Eugene Fodor, Violinist
  • Winner of Van Cilburn Competition–Steven De Groote
  • The Mikado
  • Guarneri String Quartet with the L.I. Symphony 
  • Byron Janis, Pianist & the L.I. Symphony

1976-77

  • Lazar Berman, Pianist
  • Way of the World
  • El Capitan
  • Jose Limon Dance Company
  • Patience 
  • Madame Butterfly
  • Patricia McBride, Jean-Pierre Bonne-fous and Company
  • Lynn Harrell, Cellist with L.I. Symphony

1975-76

  • Violette Verdy / Helgi Tomasson & Co.
  • Alicia De Larrocha, pianist
  • Martha Graham Dance Company
  • Harvard Glee Club
  • Barber of Seville
  • Itzhak Perlman and the L.I. Symphony

1974-75

  • School for Wives
  • Helgi Tomasson / Kay Mazzo & Company 
  • Gary Graffman & Huntington Symphony
  • American Ballet TheatreII
  • Andre Watts

1973-74

  • Tartuffe
  • Pirates of Penzance
  • Joffrey II Ballet
  • Rudolf Serkin

1972-73

  • As You Like It
  • Melissa Hayden / Jacques D’Amboise
  • Dance Theatre of Harlem
  • H.M.S. Pinafore

1971-72

  • Edward Villella Dance Company
  • The Miser
  • The Mikado

1970-71

  • Arms and the Man
  • Frank Glazer, Pianist
  • Oedipus Rex

1969-70

  • Candida
  • Trumpets & Drums
  • MacBeth
  • Lady’s not for Burning