Grammy Award-Winner Lisa Gutkin Brings Her Eclectic Music Mix To Westchester Collaborative Theater

On Saturday, November 18, Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) will present Grammy Award-winning violinist, singer, actor, and composer Lisa Gutkin. Lisa is best known as a member of the acclaimed Klezmatics, and most recently for her musical score, performance, and music direction in the two-time Tony award winner, Indecent.

Lisa has had a storied career that reflects the eclectic nature of her life, passion, and creativity. A cameo performance in Sex and the City, a seat in Sting’s Broadway band for The Last Ship, a CD of original songs produced by John Lissauer, and scores for Amy Guggenheim’s Blindsight, and Pearl Gluck’s Summer have taken her a long way from her beginnings as back-up musician to the Fast Folk songwriters’ collective.

Praised for her “hauntingly emotional” vocals by the L.A. Times, she has co-authored songs with Anne Sexton, Maggie Dubris, and Woody Guthrie. “Gonna Get Through This World”, co-written with Woody Guthrie, was described by Pete Seeger as “a piece of genius”.

In her ventures as soloist and band leader, Lisa might swing seamlessly from Klezmer to the blues, or between traditional Irish and Appalachian sounds. She might even put the violin down altogether, pick up a tenor guitar, and sing one of her own universally resonant songs. Wherever she goes, Lisa has an uncanny way of taking the audience with her.

Playing with Lisa will be accordionist Will Holshouser. Will’s music draws on an eclectic range of sounds from various folk music styles, jazz, hymns, classical and experimental music. His most recent recording is a duo project with Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. He has made three albums for the Portuguese label Clean Feed, and one with Musette Explosion, a collaborative trio featuring guitarist Matt Munisteri and tuba-ist Marcus Rojas. Will has also composed music for theater, film, and dance, and has toured extensively with Regina Carter, David Krakauer, Han Bennink & Michael Moore, and Kiran Ahluwalia. Locally, he has worked with Andy Statman, Suzanne Vega, Guy Klucevsek, Mark Morris Dance, New York City Ballet, and on Broadway.

Tickets can be purchased online at Eventbrite for $30 (limited seating available; advance purchase is strongly recommended.) Refreshments will be available.

Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. It is comprised of local playwrights, actors, and directors who employ a Lab approach in which new stage works are nurtured through an iterative process of readings, critiques, and rewrites. When work is ready for production, it is produced for the public at various local venues.

WCT is committed to furthering theater arts in our community. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a recipient of production grants from ArtsWestchester and New York State Council on the Arts.

WCT is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of county Executive George Latimer.

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