JAMESTOWN – Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and WRFA radio presents a special holiday program in December.

Home for the Holidays 3: Christmas with The Reg premiered on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. with the full video now available for viewing on the WRFA youtube channel.

Hosted by the Reg Lenna’s Len Barry, the program was produced inside the Reg Multimedia Studio and features musical performances by Gary Peters Jr., The Porcelain Bus Drivers, Bill Ward with Adam McKillip, Cold Lazarus, and Sue Tillotson & Jim Cunningham with Michael Hart.

Enjoy a mix of standards, pop, rock, folk and Celtic songs of the season at your home!

Donations to support the program and Reg Lenna/WRFA Radio are appreciated.

Home for the holidays 3: Christmas with the Reg is made possible through the support of Summit Wealth Management, The Office of Dr. Vejendla, and UPMC Chautauqua.

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The Back Room Radio Hour’s Annual All-Star Christmas show! Join Host Bill Ward as he welcomes an array Chautauqua County musical artists, and some very special Western New York luminaries. “Every year, the musical community responds in a generous and wonderful way to this event, and December’s show is certainly no exception,” Ward said. “Everybody is very excited about the new venue, and this tradition really sets the mood of the season for a lot of us.”

Appearing:

– Adam McKillip
– Amanda Barton
– Bill Ward
– Infinity Visual and Performing Arts Students
Danelle Donelson and Miranda Wilcox
– Karl Lydell
– Stan Barton
– Oldfish
– Juli Bessey
– Mark Mincarelli
– Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham
– John Cross
– Deep Fried and Dipped in Honey
– Aaron and Boaz Mecham

The Back Room Radio Hour is a monthly live music radio show performed in front of a studio audience in the Media Arts Studio at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY. It is presented on the second Thursday of each month and then broadcast on WRFA radio the following Monday. The shows are then archived on the WRFA website.

To attend a show, please text or call 716-753-2800 or send an email to backroomradiohour@gmail.com to confirm a reservation.

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The Back Room Radio Hour presents a brand new season of the popular live music radio show with Chautauqua County Celtic standard bearers Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham.

Also appearing are the Bonnie Loch Fiddlers, a group of young Celtic music enthusiasts under the tutelage of Sue Tillotson.

Host Bill Ward will also be visiting with folks from the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program in Chautauqua County, NY, whose mission is to provide an independent voice in court, advocating for the best interest of abused and neglected children in the pursuit of safe and permanent homes.
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The Back Room Radio Hour exists to celebrate regional artists with live performances each month in front of a studio audience at the Media Arts Studio located on the 3rd floor of the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown NY. The show also highlights a regional service organization. It is recorded live on a Thursday night, then broadcast on WRFA radio 107.9 in Jamestown the following Monday at 7 pm.

Hosted by WRFA General Manager and founding member of 10,000 Maniacs, Dennis Drew, the concert will feature familiar holiday and seasonal songs across music genres.

Maple Grove Voices, one of several acts performing at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts as part of Home for the Holidays: Christmas at the Reg on Saturday, Dec. 17

Performing will be high school choirs The Maple Grove Voices and Westfield High School Westwinds, Celtic music from Sue Tillotson & Jim Cunningham, rhythm and blues from Steve Davis & Marla Harris, classic barbershop vocals from The Jamestown Harmony Express, bluegrass from Matt Gronquist, Bumpy Peterson & Ken Hardley, rock from The Porcelain Bus Drivers and a special performance from Broadway’s Ron Orbach (Chicago, The Producers.) The jolly old elf, himself – Santa Claus – will also make an appearance.

Christmas at The Reg is sponsored by Comfort Inn of Jamestown, Key Bank, DFT Communications and WRFA.

The holiday concert sees The Reg close out a calendar year that included over 50 movies, 7 Reg Presents live events and several community partnerships including BANFF Mountain Film Festival, Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet’s Nutcracker, Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, Sprout Film Festival, Jamestown Concert Association and more.

Early in 2017, the organization will begin major renovations which include a complete lobby makeover, new offices and studios for WRFA 107.9 FM, the relocation of 3rd on 3rd Gallery to street level and new offices for staff.

Home for the Holidays: Christmas at The Reg tickets start at $5 for children and $10 for adults. Limited “Pay What You Can” seats will be available – first come, first served – the night of the performance at the box office.

The Reg box office is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday. The box office phone number is 716.484.7070 and is located at 116 E. 3rd Street in Jamestown, NY. Tickets may also be purchased online at reglenna.com.

JAMESTOWN – Trinity Guitars will present it’s sixth regular episode of the Back Room Radio Hour on Thursday, March 6, which will be recorded and broadcast on WRFA 107.9 FM the following week.

Hosted by Bill Ward, the March show will present a host of regional Bluegrass artists celebrating the Lenten/Easter season with Bluegrass Gospel. Also featured on the show will be the Celtic duo, Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham.

This broadcast will also highlight Project Chacocente, an a project which began to move families out of the Managua, Nicaragua dump, La Chureca. Project Chacocente exists to educate and enrich the community it now has become. Many Chautauqua County residents, including Ward and his family, have visited the community.

The program will be taped in front of a live audience at 7 p.m. March 5 broadcast on 107.9 FM at 7  p.m. on Monday, March 9. It will also be streamed on wrfalp.com.

ABOUT BLUEGRASS GOSPEL

Many denizens of the popular “Thursday night Bluegrass Jam at the Lakewood Legion” will be on hand. Some of the artists scheduled to appear:

• Matt Homan
• Steve Strom
• Amanda Barton
• Bill Ward
• Steve Eng
• Pat Corey
• Vern Ahlgren
• Don Strom

ABOUT SUE TILLOTSON AND JIM CUNNINGHAM

Sue and Jim have played music together for many years bringing a love of Celtic music and exciting instrumentation to their audiences. You will hear Sue on fiddle, whistle and vocals and Jim on guitar, bouzouki, cittern, Celtic harp and vocals.

ABOUT PROJECT CHACOCENTE

The featured service organization for the show is Project Chacocente, which began in January 2003, in response to the pleas of a high-school-aged youth delegation called the Mission of Peace.

“After visiting the vast, smoky wasteland of the Managua dump, the kids kept saying, ‘We have to do something,’” explains executive director Cheryl Avery. “At first, we tried to tell them how futile it would be to rescue people without the help of the government or a large NGO. But they insisted, and finally I stopped saying ‘But…’ and started asking ‘Why not?’”

While its primary goal is to transform the lives of these people who lived at the bottom of the social ladder, Project Chacocente’s secondary goal is to show that an NGO can successfully work with the poorest of the poor, and to share that model worldwide with other NGOs.
www.outofthedump.org.

ABOUT BACK ROOM RADIO HOUR

Hosted by Chautauqua County musician Bill Ward and presented on select Thursdays at 7:00 pm from October to May at Trinity Guitars, 800 West Third Street. Each show features the live performances of two independent artists from the Chautauqua region. Each show will also highlight a community, regional or world service organization.

For more information or to reserve seats for the March 5 “Trinity Guitars’ Back Room Radio Hour” call Trinity Guitars at 716.665.4490 or email info@trinityguitars.com. Reservations may also be made by visiting trinityguitars.com or visiting the event’s Facebook page.

Ronan Tynan will appear in Jamestown’s Reg Lenna Center for the Arts on Thursday, March 6.

JAMESTOWN – World-renowned performer, Ronan Tynan will perform live on stage at The Reg Lenna Center For The Arts on Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m.

A classically-trained vocalist and an original member of The Irish Tenors, Tynan will sing a variety of songs, including several Irish standards that will get audiences ready for St. Patrick’s Day. Tynan will be accompanied by his longtime pianist, Billy Lewis.

Ronan Tynan’s story is one of beating the odds and defying expectations. A lower limb disability didn’t hold him back as he was an active horse rider and motorcycle enthusiast as a child.  At twenty years old, Tynan’s legs were amputated below the knee after complications from an auto accident.  Within one year he was competing in the Paralympics and eventually won 18 gold medals and still holds 9 world records.

Ronan Tynan became the first disabled person admitted to the National College Of Physical Education where he became a medical doctor specializing in orthopedic sports.  At the age of 33 he began studying voice and won the International Operatic Singing Competition.

His operatic debut was in Madame Butterfly.  In 1998, Tynan made a splash on the world stage as one of the original Irish Tenors with Anthony Kearns and John McDermott, astounding American audiences in a series of popular PBS specials.

For several years he has lived in the United States, first in New York City and now in Boston.  The “big Irishman” has a special relationship with American audiences.  “America is powerful and intense, and it begs you to take it on,” Tynan marvels.  “If you do that and do it right, it will give you absolutely everything you want.  The thing I love about America is that there are so many people who want you to do well.  They will you to do well.

A Celtic fiddle duo will perform in the lobby of The Reg prior to Tynan’s concert.  Sue Tillotson and Jim Cunningham have played together for many years, bringing a love of Celtic music and exciting instrumentation to their audiences.  Sue plays fiddle, whistle and spoons and Jim plays guitar, bouzouki, cittern, Celtic harp and bodhran.  Both are vocalists too.

An Evening With Ronan Tynan tickets are priced between $25 and $60.  Tickets may be purchased at www.reglenna.com, by phone at 716-484-7070 or in the box office at 116 East Third Street in Jamestown, New York.

This concert is made possible by support from United Arts Appeal, Trinity Biotech, Gebbie Foundation and Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation.