Pianist Pamela Ross is no stranger to the big stages of New York City, having performed for 52 weeks on 42nd Street’s Theatre Row and stages throughout the U.S. and abroad she is an award-winning pianist, actress and writer. Her solo pieces on the piano and those played with an ensemble and other performers are “unique and special “in the way she delivers them. Ross has two award-winning one woman shows to her credit “Carreno” based on the tempestuous life of the great turn-of-the-century Venezuelan pianist, Teresa Carreno and “Goodbye Harry”-a tribute to her late father, both were written and performed by the talented Ross.

On December 18, 2011, Ross will once again grace a NYC stage with her performance at Kaufman Center/Merkin Concert Hall. She will be performing with the amazing Russian Cellist “Adrian Daurov”.

Daurov has received degrees from the Juilliard School of Music, and performs chamber music regularly in the New York City area. His string quartet, “VOXARE,” has received rave reviews and is the quartet-in-residence at Bargemusic. Currently he is the principal ‘cellist with the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

 Together Ross and Daurov will perform two different concerts at Merkin Concert Hall; which will bring to life the works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich and others. Having performed together in the past they are deeply in tuned to each other and portray a wonderful flow of “exceptional classical music.”

 If youâ€re interested in listening to the extraordinary music of Pamela Ross and Adrian Daurov joined them at Kaufman Center/Merkin Concert Hall in NYC on December 18, 2011. There will be two performances which will take place at 3:00 pm & 7:00 pm.  For “complimentary tickets” email Evelyn Bonilla at evelyn.bonilla26@gmail.com

 

Also to learn more about pianist Pamela Ross sign on to her website at www.pamela-ross.com and to learn more about Russian cellist Adrian Daurov sign on to www.voxarequartet.com

 

 

 

 

 

The post Hoboken Pianist “Pamela Ross” to Perform at Merkin Concert Hall in NYC first appeared on River View Observer.

 Like a femme fatale in a “dime novel” Jersey City has had its share of bumpy roads, raw deals and men that done her wrong. But the past is the past and take a look at her now, bustling with new construction and waterfront with a skyline of skyscrapers that have given the old girl a much-needed facelift and a shot at the brass ring.  

At the 4^th annual Book Fair hosted by Jersey City’s Free Public Library on Sat, Sept. 10^th in Jersey City’s beautiful Van Vorst Park, twenty local and no-so-local writers will exhibit their newly published books – all with some connection to Jersey City.  Many of these writers have taken their experiences and/or fascination with Jersey City’s past and placed them on the pages of their new books, not just as a backdrop to the action, but as one of the characters that grabs your attention like a cold-blooded blonde with a pearl-handled Derringer.

The event is free and run by Jersey City’s hard-working library staff hip to fostering new and established writers.

When you stroll over to the park that day, you’ll meet Eunie Guyre, author of  “Happy Victory: Celebrating a Jersey City Childhood,” (publisher: Xlibris, 2011) the story of a little girl who revisits the Polish household she shared with her father, grandmother and aunt in Jersey City when her mother was hospitalized in a sanitarium. And although it seems like a sad story, Guyre emphasizes that hers was a happy childhood nurtured by a loving Jersey City family.

“The book is a tribute to my father,” Guyre says from her New Hampshire home. “I was 14 months-old when my mother went into a sanitarium for tuberculosis and she died there when I was 7. The book is a collection of short stories from birth to eighth grade. We lived on 3^rd Street in Jersey City, that was our first house, and then we moved to Greenville. I attended Sacred Heart and the book has a lot of funny Catholic and Polish stories. My Polish grandmother would read the obits. If the dead person had a Polish name, off we went to the funeral parlor.”

Fascinated by Heavyweight Champion Jack Demsey, a colorful boxing figure and World Heavyweight Champ from 1919-1926, writer Jim Waltzer’s book “The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of the Modern Promotion” (Praeger Publishing) tells the story of the infamous bout that took place in Jersey City on Montgomery and Cornelison Streets and promoter Tex Rickard, described as one of the best fight promoters of the 20^th century. Rickard erected a special stadium for the heavyweight champ and his opponent, Georges Carpentier, and 90,000 spectators came to Jersey City to see them fight.  

“The focus of the book is how the promotion came to be in the first place,” Waltzer says. “It was promotion that went beyond sports and entertainment. This was the one that set the standard for those that followed in the 20^th century. This was the first event in a big way to bring together celebrities, prominent people from all different fields – bankers, Hollywood stars, roughnecks, you name it. They were at ringside. This took the whole promotional arts to another level for a single event.”

Waltzer, a Philadelphia resident, has written more than 600+ features, mostly for regional magazines. In 2001, Rutgers University Press published his nonfiction book “Tales of South Jersey,” and in 2007, Five Star Mysteries published his first novel, “Sound of Mind.” He’s now working on a new book, a crime novel based in Atlantic City.

Maureen K. Wlodarczyk, who lived in Jersey City until she was five and whose family has been a part of Jersey City’s fabric since the 1840s will be at the fair promoting her second book, “Young & Wicked: The Death of a Wayward Girl (Publisher: Ultra Media Publications, 2011) The story is about the doomed relationship between two petty criminals, William Flannelly and Polly Sexton. They were criminals in love, who lived in the fast lane of the 1890s in Lower Manhattan.

 Wlodarczyk was researching her Irish ancestors when she came upon her distant relative, Flannelly, and accounts of his relationship with Sexton who lived like “Bonnie and Clyde” outlaws.

“A few months later, down in the Bowery, they had a falling out and she wound up dead by his hands,” Wlodarczyk says. “He goes to trial on the Lower East Side for murder. He’s sitting in the Tombs and crosses paths with people who are famous and infamous of the 1890s, the Tammany Hall people like William Devery who was to become New York City’s Chief of Police. I wondered how a little punk from Jersey City jailed in the Tombs could cross paths with Devery and top Tammany Hall commissioners.”

Also at the Book Fair, photographer and writer Alina Oswald of Jersey City will present her three books: “Vampire Fantasies”  a collection of vampire-inspired photographs; Journeys Through Darkness (a biography of  a blind photographer), and “Infinite Lights: A Decade of 9/11 Tribute Lights,” which is a collection of 9/11-related photography.

“Although I wasn’t in New York on 9/11, I made it a point when I moved here in 2003 to photograph all the ceremonies, the lights in the night,” Oswald says. “I made it a point to take pictures.”

The Book Fair will also feature Thomas Belton and his book, “Protecting New Jersey’s Environment: From Cancer Alley to the New Garden State,” Cherese Bracey and her mystery “The Case of the Withering Books,” Elijah M. Brown and his book, “Missing Pages, Out of My Life,” “Taco” by John E. DeJesus, “Those Sweet Nothings” by Cynthia Fabian, Jacqueline Hallenbeck’s “Poem-atic,” Sandra Guzmán’s “The New Latina’s Bible: The Modern Latina’s Guide to Love, Spirituality, Family, and La Vida,” Judith Natelli McLaughlin’s “Poems on Fruits & Odes to Veggies,” Clarence Matthews’ “Jacob’s Rite of Passage & Teen Jacob,” Valerie A. Mitchell’s “Emotional Rollercoaster: A Depicted Mind,” Peter O’Reilly’s “Oh Really, O’Reilly,” Jane Pedler’s “Wisteria Rose,” Alyssa Pierce’s “Caroline & Rebecca’s Day at the Beach,”  Keith Smith’s “Men in My Town,” JoAnne Williams “Escaping from the Victim or Volunteer Role in Your Relationship,” and Edna C. Zalenski’s “Los Cuentos de mi Abuelito,” (“Stories of My Grandfather”.)

Many of the fair’s featured writers praise the Jersey City Library, especially the New Jersey Room and the help they received during their research. “They allowed me to use images from their collection,” Wlodarczyk says. “They’re wonderful people and a valuable resource.”

The annual book fair is co-sponsored by the City of Jersey City’s Cultural Affairs Division, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Municipal Council. Chairwoman of the Book Fair is Assistant Library Director Sonia Araujo.

“We are so happy it’s the fourth annual,” Araujo says. “When we see all the people who come to the book festivals, we know we’re on the right path.” 

 A Tale of Our City

Jersey City Free Public Library’s

4^th annual Book Festival

Sat, Sept. 10, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Van Vorst Park

Opposite Main Library

472 Jersey Avenue

(Corner of Montgomery Street)

Jersey City

For more info: (201) 547-4500

 

 

 

 

 

The post TALES OF OUR CITY: Jersey City becomes the Main Character at Upcoming Book Fair first appeared on River View Observer.

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Jersey City Office of Emergency Management are asking motorists not park on city emergency routes in light of the forecasted snow storm beginning tonight into Wednesday.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Tuesday evening through Wednesday night for the Jersey City metropolitan area. Snow is expected to begin today, Tuesday, January 11, mainly after 8pm, and could be heavy at times with expected snowfalls to be between 12 and 20 inches. Meteorologists are also predicting strong winds that coupled with the snowfall are expected to result in near zero visibility for motorists.

“We are urging residents to eliminate all non-essential driving and to avoid parking on emergency routes if possible,” said Mayor Healy. “This will greatly assist us in the clean-up of this storm if we receive the amount of snow currently forecasted.”

Because of near zero visibility caused at times by strong winds and drifting snow, motorists are also urged to limit all non-essential driving and to utilize public transportation. Free parking will also be available from Tuesday through Wednesday night in two municipal metered lots: Central Avenue and Griffith Street (behind Burger King) and in the Montgomery Street and Jordan Avenue. All cars must be in a metered spot.

Additionally, should Jersey City Public Schools be closed on Wednesday, January 12, 2011, residents will be able to parking in the following school lots by mid-morning:

– Lincoln High School – 60 Crescent Avenue

– Ferris High School – 35 Colgate Street (lot underneath NJ Turnpike)

– P.S. 6 – 100 St. Paul’s Avenue

– P.S. 9 – Off Columbus Drive by Brunswick Street

– P.S. 11 – 886 Bergen Avenue

– P.S. 28 – 167 Hancock Avenue

– P.S. 40 – 88 Gates Avenue

– P.S. 41 – 59 Wilkinson Avenue

Later in the day, residents will be able to park in the following lot:

– Dickinson High School – 2 Palisade Avenue

Due to hazardous conditions and to not impede with snow plowing, all residents are being asked to refrain from double parking, parking close to corners, and from shoveling snow from sidewalks into the streets.

“The city snow team, which is comprised of representatives from the Mayor’s Office, the Jersey City Incinerator Authority, the Department of Public Works, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Parking Authority, have been in constant communication this week in preparation for this storm, and all of the necessary measures have been taken,” added Mayor Healy.

Additionally, residents are required to shovel snow and ice from the sidewalks surrounding their property within eight (8) hours of snowfall or by sunrise, whichever comes first. Business owners are required to remove snow and ice from the sidewalks surrounding their property within four (4) hours of snowfall or by sunrise, whichever comes first.

It is also a violation of city ordinance to deposit snow into the street after it has been plowed, and residents are required to pile all shoveled snow against the curb line. When removing snow around your parked vehicle or home, do not throw it into the street. Inspectors will be issuing warnings and summonses to individuals who violate this ordinance.

“We are asking that residents abide by the city ordinances so that we are able to clear the streets in a timely fashion during a snow storm,” said Mayor Healy. “It is a service to the city and to your neighbors and will help us get the job done the first time.”

Snow Emergency Routes:

Journal Square: JFK Blvd./Bergen Ave. South to Montgomery Street

Sip Avenue: JFK Blvd./Sip Ave. to Summit Ave.

Communipaw Ave.: Rte. 440 to Bergen Ave.

Newark Ave.: Rte. 1/9 to Marin Boulevard

Montgomery St.: West Side Avenue to the Hudson River

Manhattan Ave.: Rte. 1/8 to Central Avenue

MLK Drive: Communipaw Ave. to McAdoo Ave.

Broadway: Tonnele Ave. to Rte. 440

Danforth Ave.: Princeton Ave. to West Side Ave.

Bergen Ave.: Academy St. to Communipaw Ave.

Palisade Ave.: State Highway (139) to City Line

West Side Ave.: Broadway to Danforth Ave.

Christopher Columbus Drive: Center Street to the Hudson River

Ocean Ave.: Bramhall Ave. to Merritt St.

Grove St.: Newark Ave. to Grand St.

Central Ave.: State Highway (139) to City Line

Summit Ave.: Manhattan Ave. North to Secaucus Road

Baldwin Ave.: Montgomery St. to Beacon Ave.

Jersey Ave.: Grand St. to 8th Street

The Jersey City Incinerator Authority will be plowing 230 miles of roadway and will use 67 pieces of equipment, 2600 tons of salt which will be stored at three salt storage sites: Grand and Pacific Avenues; Route 440; and Carteret and Halladay Street.

Stand-alone senior congregant food sites will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, January 12, 2011, due to the winter storm. The locations are as follows:

Paterson Street Senior Center, 28 Paterson Street

The Maureen Collier Center, 335 Bergen Avenue

Gace Church Van Vorst, 39 Erie Street

The Olga Rodriguez Congregant Site, 463 Montgomery Street

Any senior citizen who needs further assistance or information, can contact Senior Affairs after 10:30 a.m. at 201-547-4361 or the Department of Health and Human Services at 201-547-6800.

The post Jersey City OEM is Asking Motorists to Not Park on Emergency Routes During Expected Snow Storm first appeared on River View Observer.