Community concert highlights jazz and ‘Hamilton’
The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School Jazz Ensemble and Harmonics Select Choral Group will give its eighth annual Community Concert on Friday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem.
Directed by Michelle McLoughlin, the Harmonics choral program will feature “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from the Broadway show, “Hamilton.” The Jazz Ensemble’s program will range from standards by Duke Ellington to Average White Band’s arrangement of “Pick Up the Pieces,” under the direction of John Fatuzzo.
Light refreshments will be available after the concert.
John Fatuzzo is the instrumental music director at RCS High School. He conducts the High School Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble, teaches woodwind, brass, and percussion lessons and elective courses in Music History and Music Theory. He plays the trumpet and regularly performs with Albany Pro Musica and the Capital Region Wind Ensemble.
Michelle McLoughlin is the high school’s choral director and Music and Art Curriculum Content Specialist for the district. In addition to her work as director of the RCS drama club, McLoughlin has developed and directed summer theater programs for Camp Nassau in Guilderland. She plays the bassoon, substituting with the Albany Symphony and has performed as part of the faculty recital series at Skidmore College, The College of Saint Rose, and Schenectady County Community College, as well as the Union College lecture recital series.
The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District serves about 1,900 students in the town of Coeymans and parts of the towns of Bethlehem, New Scotland, and New Baltimore.
Led by the Rev. Harlan E. Ratmeyer, the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem was organized in 1763, and is sited on 70 acres of land given by Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1795. The church is located off Route 9W at 38 Church Road in Selkirk.