On January 27, Mamaroneck Mayor Norman S. Rosenblum, Festival Director Patrick Sciarratta and Artistic Director Mark Morganelli and Festival Board Members Mark Ettenger, Mike Hines, Peggy Jackson, Laurence Krashes, Gerry Ryan will outline plans for the 1st Mamaroneck International Jazz Festival on the Sound at a Launch Cocktail Reception at Molly Spillane's Pub, 211 Mamaroneck Avenue, Mamaroneck, New York from 6pm to 9pm. Mr. Morganelli a world renowned trumpeter will perform with the Jazz Forum All Stars.
The Village Elected Board of Trustees of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York recently approved the First Annual Mamaroneck International Jazz Festival (MIJF). The 4-day event will take over Mamaroneck Avenue and its vibrant Restaurant Row; snake into Harbor Island Park, The Pier and Beach. There will be major concerts in the park; a high profile opening event with major artists to be announced at The Emelin Theatre and Molly Spillane's; Parades, Workshops and more each day and night from June 16 to June 19, 2011
The music festival will highlight several well-known, major and emerging jazz artists and ensembles. MIJF will include workshops, jazz dance, musical theatre; Dixieland-style Street Parades down Mamaroneck Avenue and a jazz-themed Riverboat restaurant on the pier every day. There will even be a special screening of "The Jazz Singer" on the beach. In fact, the festival is actually the Mamaroneck Showcase Festival - the village, as well as, the festival organizing committee want the events to be a branding opportunity for the new, invigorated downtown, beach community.
"This festival will be developed over the next ten years," stated Mamaroneck Village Mayor,
Norman S. Rosenbaum. "We expect it to reposition Mamaroneck and be an extension of the good press we have received since Mamaroneck Avenue attracted all those well-respected restaurants and people have discovered the Village as a friendly place to shop, stroll, and enjoy."
The Village of Mamaroneck was recently named 5th Best in a ranking of all Westchester communities. The June music events will focus new attention on the spruced up and very friendly community along the Sound. Now in its inception, the Planning Committee is developing its structure, venues, and daily events.
Festival Director
Patrick Sciarratta stated, "The MIJF Vision is to increase public enjoyment and enrichment while also raising funds for the Village to offset taxes - proving that in tough economic times, local communities can find creative ways to meet their local challenges". As Executive Director of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Mr. Sciarratta brings a wealth of experience in presenting performing arts internationally. He has been the executive director of FAF since 1993. He has spoken at conferences and universities throughout the world on topics related to cultural exchange and global peace building. His staff & he have opened and introduced American performing arts groups to emerging destinations worldwide with active, customized exchange opportunities.
He was lead faculty member for the Arts Management Certificate Program for over a decade at Purchase College of the State University of New York. Prior to his teaching at SUNY, he taught at St. John's University, Adelphi University, C. W. Post College, and New York University. He was also the Director for Performing Arts at Hunter College of the City University of New York from 1987-1993, during the reconstruction of the
Danny Kaye Playhouse, and the Resident Director of the Israel Festival in 1984.
Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Bond Street Theatre Coalition, from 1976 - 1985, Mr. Sciarratta produced, directed and co-wrote 12 plays with the ensemble; all of which were presented in New York and in other national and international venues. He is currently chair of the Board of Directors of Bond Street Theatre.
Mr. Sciarratta has received many awards, including the MacArthur award as the leader of the Palenville Interarts Colony (1980-1992), the Governor's Citation for Excellence from Governor Rockefeller, the New York University's Gallatin Award for Achievement in the Arts, and is listed in four Who's Who internationally for contributions to culture and community. Mr. Sciarratta is currently on the boards of UNA/Westchester (NY) & Vanaver Caravan.
Mark Morganelli began presenting concerts in his first Jazz Forum loft at 50 Cooper Square in June 1979. By the time the second Jazz Forum loft closed its doors in April 1983, recordings, videos, films and radio broadcasts had documented performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, Woody Shaw, Red Rodney, Carmen McRae, Barry Harris, Philly Joe Jones and Max Roach. After brief residencies at the Village Gate and the Entermedia Theater, Morganelli established Jazz Forum Arts, a not-for-profit arts presenting organization, and in 1985 started the Riverside Park Arts Festival, which concluded on its 13th anniversary in August 1997. Morganelli has produced over fifty compact discs, most for Candid Records, twenty of which were recorded "live" at NYC's Birdland club, where he was the music coordinator for five years.
Seventeen years ago, Morganelli and his family moved to Westchester, and shortly thereafter, he inaugurated the Jazz at the Music Hall series in Tarrytown. Performers have included Ahmad Jamal,
Billy Taylor, Harry "Sweets" Edison,
James Moody,
Lionel Hampton,
Betty Carter,
Gerry Mulligan,
Herbie Mann,
Sonny Rollins,
Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson,
Dave Brubeck, Chuck Mangione, and the
Count Basie and
Duke Ellington Orchestras. Morganelli produced the Sunnyside and Berkshire Jazz Festivals and was executive producer of "Reckson Jazz at Tilles", at C.W.Post College in Greenvale, Long Island for nine years.
Other productions have included the Tarrytown Arts Festival, and concerts at Paramount Center in Peekskill, the Palace Theatre in Stamford, CT, NJPAC, The John Harms Center in Englewood, NJ, the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, SUNY, The Beacon Theatre and The Town Hall, NYC. Morganelli also produced the
Dizzy Gillespie 75th Birthday concert at
Carnegie Hall and co-produced the "Jazz Beats Breast Cancer" concert at Avery Fisher Hall. In 2005, he began presenting a new concert series at Jazz @ Lincoln Center.
As a trumpeter and flugelhornist, Morganelli performed at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival, the 1992 & 1994 Syracuse Jazz Festivals, the Du Maurier Downtown Toronto Jazz Festival, JVC/NY and Saratoga Jazz Festivals, several tours of Italy, many concerts and festivals in Europe, Japan, Brazil and the Caribbean, and hosted nightly jam sessions aboard QE2 to the Newport Jazz Festival from 1996-99. He continues to perform with his Jazz Forum All-Stars on Thursdays at Rainwater Grill in Hastings, NY as well as around the region and has released "My Romance," his fourth CD as leader
