Questions about bookstore-cafe events? You can reach the cafe directly at tel. (717) 236-1680.
WE'RE GLAD YOU CAME! - ARCHIVE OF SELECT PAST EVENTS
Saturday 3/6/2010, 10:30-Noon * A FAMILY EVENT! Children's book author Kerry McGuinness Royer & illustrator Matt Royer, reading from and signing copies of their recently published book, Nightbear and Lambie, Saturday, March 6th, 11 AM - noon.
Part
of a special Children's Morning program, with the book-reading preceded
by a free parent-&-child music/play class for ages 5 and under, at
10:30 AM. Featuring Kathy Eckhaus of the award-winning "Music Together in the Susquehanna Valley." Please RSVP to cafe@midtownscholar.com or in-person at the bookstore if you would like to participate in the music class.
“Nightbear & Lambie has
the right combination of elements to delight children and adults alike.
As children we often think of our stuffed animals as having their own
‘lives’ and adventures, and the Royers’ easy to read text,
along with endearing and expressive illustrations, make this a book that will
become a bedtime favorite.”
Wendell and Florence Minor, award-winning children's book illustrator and
writer
Bill Ayers, rescheduled for 2/27 2/27/2010, 7 PM BILL AYERS, co-founder of Weather Underground * Click here for the PRESS RELEASE Rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27th, at 7 PM, because of inclement weather on 2/5. We hosted an invigorating discussion of "Education in and
for Democracy: The Case for Social Justice in the Classroom," by
William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior
University
Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Education. Free admission, with a non-perishable food donation to "Food not Bombs" requested.
Video from Feb. 4th, 2010 - Brief interview by Fox News in Chicago, with Prof. Ayers' discussing grass-roots change.
Learn
more about Professor Ayers by listening to WITF-FM Craig Cohen's
interview with him, on Radio SmartTalk, broadcast at 9 AM on Wednesday,
January 27th: WITF-SMARTTALK
Here's what some listeners had to say about the interview:
Written by Frank , January 27, 2010, 09:45:55 AM:
"Just
want to say, it's an incredible relief to hear Bill Ayers dare to speak
rationally and sensibly about the condition of our country. How sad
that such common sense "radicalism" is so rare in the mainstream media
today. ..." Written by Lisa , January 27, 2010, 09:50:27 AM: "... Mr. Ayers seemed to
listen carefully to the questions and calmly and quietly addressed
questions. ..."
GENE BAUR, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary * Sunday, Feb. 21st, 2-4 PM. Sponsored
by Harrisburg's Green Street Vegetarian Club, Gene Baur discussed issues drawn from his national best-selling book, Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food(Simon and Schuster, 2008). He offered a thought-provoking
investigation of the ethical questions involved in the production of
beef, poultry, pork, milk, and eggs - and what each of us can do to
promote compassion and help stop the systematic mistreatment of the ten
billion farm animals who are exploited specifically for food in the
United States every year. Book-signing followed, with a bake-sale of
vegan pastries to benefit Farm Sanctuary programs. 2/19/2010 - 2/20/2010, Friday-Saturday, 7 PM - 10 PM both days. FREE ADMISSION! The Midtown Scholar will be a featured host venue for the Millennium Music Conference, with a great lineup of regional and international acoustic performers! FRIDAY 7 PM - DelRain, from UnionDale, PA 7:45 PM - Chuck Schaeffer, from Philadelphia, PA 8:30 PM - Marc Berger, from Ithaca, NY 9:15 PM - Chris Pickering, from Brisbane, Australia SATURDAY 7 PM - Sean O'Donoghue, from Carlisle, PA 7:45 PM - Jared Costa, from Philadelphia, PA 8:30 PM - J. J. Voss, from Saskatchewan, Canada 9:15 PM - Tom Vollman, from Madison, WI
2/21/2010, Sunday, 7 PM: Moviate presents, from Sweeden, Fredrik, $5. NPR
rates Fredrik #2 of the "Top 10 Great Unknowns" - He has offered "a
mesmerizing and gorgeous debut... music with just the right mix of
light and darkness: It's quirky but elegant, spare but rich." More info and tix available through www.Moviate.org
2/14/2010, Sunday, 7:30 PM: WXPN Presents singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler, in a solo evening concert. http://www.cherylwheeler.com/
Sample two of our own favorite Cheryl tunes on YouTube here: The darkly comic "ESTATE SALE" and the sweetly romantic "ARROW"
Our first Haitian Benefit Concert on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, raised $5,500! Our sincere thanks to all
who participated, and especially to our sponsors Counter Culture Coffee
& Trickling Springs Creamery, and organizer-extraordinaire Liz
Laribee, who made last Sunday's event such a great success. With
music by WADE YANKEY AND HANK IMHOF * KOJI ON THE ROOF * IN WILDERNESS
* A PUBLIC BETRAYAL and more, we are glad so many people contributed so generously to the Haitian
relief efforts of Partners in Health. Please click here for more details.
Our second Haitian Benefit Concert on Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, raised
nearly $2,500! We were delighted to host a silent auction &
performances by area singer-songwriters and musicians including: Kevin Neidig * Mike Banks * Indian Summer Jars * Camela Widad Kraemer * and more! Sponsors included the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Counter Culture Coffee, & Trickling Springs Creamery. All proceeds will benefit the Haitian relief efforts of Partners in Health. Our sincere thanks to all organizers & participants!
12/5/2009, Saturday, 8 PM: Antje Duvekot and Lizanne Knott in concert.
11/28/2009, Saturday, 8:00 PM: XPN Welcomed Ellis Paul in concert! Opening performance by Adam Ezra (adamezra.com). http://www.ellispaul.com/ * Ellis celebrated the release of his new CD! * You can now download the title track from Ellis's latest release here: The Day After Everything Changed.
11/19/2009, Thursday, 7:30 PM:XPN Welcomed John Gorka in concert! http://www.johngorka.com/ * Celebrating the release of his new CD! *
11/6/2009, Friday, 7 PM:Carlisle's Camela Widad Kraemer performed during Harrisburg's First Friday Artwalk. 11/7/2009, Saturday, 7 PM:Concert for Darwin, a musical celebration of
the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of the Species, with
singer-songwriter Jefferson Pepper, Vancouver-based
rap-lit artist Baba Brinkman, and celebrity readers, sponsored
by the PA-ACLU. More info at www.americanfallout.com. 11/2/2009, Monday, 7 PM:MT. EERIE, TARA JANE O'NEIL, NO KIDS, and OLD TIME
BURIALS in concert, sponsored by moviateSOUND and COLORMAKE. Our thanks to www.moviate.org. 10/15/2009, Thursday, 7:30 PM:David Wilcox inaugurated our Fall 2009 Acoustic Music concert series, with an inspiring and engaging performance. He performed several ongs from his new CD An Open Hand, songs by Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan that have inspired him for decades, and songs that he just wrote a few days ago - capped off in his encore with a song he crafted, live, before the audience! Sample David's music on YouTube here (performing "Hard Part")!
10/9/2009, Friday, 7-9 PM: Pittsburgh's Brad Yoder returned for a FREE concert to start off our 2009 series! www.BradYoder.com
Thanks for coming, Ellis!
Feb. 2006: The Midtown Scholar Bookstore welcomed ELLIS PAUL for a SOLD-OUT concert on Feb 10 to open our 2006 Acoustic Music Series. Check out thesegreat pictures from the show! To listen to or purchase Ellis's music, visit his website: http://www.ellispaul.com/.
March 2006: Pennsylvania's own JOHN FRANCIS performed, with special guests, the Green Trees Band. John's passionate performances and eloquent songwriting have recently drawn comparisons to U2's Bono, Jeff Buckley, Bruce Springsteen, and Dylan. Visit his website at http://www.johnfrancismusic.com/.
April 2006: Singer-songwriter RICHARD SHINDELL, on tour from Argentina, wowed a SOLD-OUT crowd with his eloquent, passionate lyrics and beautiful, haunting melodies. Visit his website at http://www.richardshindell.com/.
May 2006: Boston's rising star, ANTJE DUVEKOT, celebrated the recent release of her first studio-recorded cd. A remarkable poet/singer-songwriter with a lovely voice. Special guest, Pittsburgh's award-winning coffeehouse favorite, Brad Yoder. _Originally from Heidelberg, Germany, singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot has begun making waves in the New England area and is enjoying a fast-growing fan base in the city of Boston, regularly selling out venues such as legendary Club Passim and Johnny D's. With the help of national touring acts such as Ellis Paul and SOLAS - enthusiastic supporters of Duvekot's career - and with a growing number of CD sales across the U.S., Antje is creating a buzz beyond the Boston market. _There is something intrinsically vulnerable, yet uplifting and uncompromisingly truthful in Antje's writing. Her lyrics encompass the joy and struggle, the trials and perseverance and simultaneously the beauty that characterize human existence. When Antje first immigrated to the United States as a young teen in the early nineties, she observed people and events through the eyes of a different culture. While long since assimilated to the new culture, Antje has been able to remember this outsiders perspective, which is part of the reason she tells it so well as it is. _In 2002, the Irish supergroup SOLAS released two of Duvekot's songs, "the Poisonjester's Mask" and "Black Annis", on their album "The Edge of Silence". Billboard Magazine called "Black Annis" "the highpoint of a powerful record". In 2005, SOLAS included another Duvekot tune "Erin" on their release "Waiting for an Echoe". A few years earlier, in 2000, Antje took the grand prize in the rock category of the prestigious John Lennon songwriting contest with her song "Soma" as well as the contest's second place in the folk category with the song "Anna" about her grandmother's struggle with Altzheimer's disease. Antje also took the $1,800 grand prize in the MOVA songwriting contest for that song and has won numerous other placements in songwriting contests including the USA Songwriting Competition, the Falcon Ridge New Artist Showcase, the Newsong festival and others. Visit Antje's website at http://www.antjeduvekot.com/.
June 2006: We were pleased to host the amazing LUCY KAPLANSKY in concert! A former clinical psychologist who left her private practice to pursue her first love, music, Lucy wrote the six original songs on her latest album, "The Red Thread," with her husband, New York University film professor Rick Litvin. The songs are informed by several significant events in their lives, most notably their recent adoption of their infant daughter, Molly, from China, as well as their close proximity to Ground Zero in New York City and having witnessed much of the tragedy of 9/11 first-hand. As Lucy writes in the album liner notes, there is an ancient belief in China that when a child is born, an invisible red thread reaches out from the child's spirit to all of the important people who will be a part of the child's life. In songs like "I Had Something," "The Red Thread," "Land of the Living," and most notably "This is Home," Lucy tells the story of the many threads that connect her to people, time and place - including family and fellow New Yorkers. Visit her website at http://www.lucykaplansky.com/.
July 2006: KIM RICHEY played, with special guest JEZ ASHURST. There is a feature interview with Kim Richey in the July issue of Harrisburg's FLY MAGAZINE (click here).
September 2006: DAVID WILCOX performed in a solo evening concert. Describing his June 2006 cd, Vista, he writes “Music dares us to dive in where life is deep. Do I ask too much from music? I don't think so. All my life I have believed in what a good song promises: It wakes a sleepy heart like the smell of breakfast cooking so that we hunger for a life of love & true adventure. I made breakfast for you & I hope you like it.” http://www.davidwilcox.com/.
October 2006: CATIE CURTIS, accompanied by fellow singer-songwriter MARK ERELLI, gave a terrific performance. Catie’s new album Long Night Moon (8/06) features harmony vocals by Erelli. “She sings grippingly of love’s better moments,” writes Scott Alarik. She makes “simple kindness seem edgy and chic…[and] like Guthrie, she can fine-focus political complexities into a stark, telling couplet: ‘If they can keep us fighting about marriage and God/ They’ll be no one left to notice if our leaders do their jobs.” “Folk-rock goddess” (New Yorker). http://www.catiecurtis.com/. http://www.markerelli.com/
On Friday, June 8th, 2007, we welcomed bluesman extraordinaire GUY DAVIS in concert, with bookstore-favorite, Alaskan singer-songwriter LARRY ZARELLA returning to open! Hear music samples at http://www.guydavis.com/ and http://www.larryzarella.com/ This was a *benefit* "CONCERT FOR DEMOCRACY!"
PAST ART GALLERY EXHIBITS:
"ABANDONED AMERICA" : NOW ON EXHIBIT December 2, 2009, through January 31, 2010: Photographs by Matthew Murray, in conjunction with his book the things we left behind. http://www.abandonedamerica.org/
"THE REAL STEEL"
13 September 2009 through 30 November 2009: Photographs by Peter Treiber, in conjunction with his book Inside Bethlehem Steel, with text and introduction by Elizabeth A. Kovach.
February 28 - April 8, 2006: "Another Playground," Acrylic paintings by Central Pennsylvania artist Jay Gerber. Mr. Gerber presented two dozen paintings in a range of sizes. Most were abstract in nature, or had the look of a semi-realistic landscape, with both conventional and irregular shapes.
April 11 - May 25, 2006: Architectural and nature photographs, including the "Harrisburg Cemetery" series, by photographer Stephen Conklin, Jr. View more of his work at www.pisceandelusions.org/.
May 27 - July 8, 2006: Paintings and collages by Sharon Mitchell of Elmira, NY, recipient of the 2006 National Academy Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship for Mural Painting in America.
Ms. Mitchell is a leading figure in Elmira's ongoing cultural revitalization and has had long-standing commitments to historic preservation and urban redevelopment throughout the Northeast. She currently serves as the Mayor's special advisor for the Arts and is spearheading efforts to establish a community arts center. She writes, "I am fascinated with the way experience, dream, memory, and mood arise from the unconscious in response to paint, brush, and color. I am deeply interested in the emotional impact of color. For me painting is an act of discovery. Writing and reading influence my work as much as dreams and the physical world."
July 11 - August 19, 2006: "The Confederate Dead," drawings by Elizabeth R. McFalls of Wilton, ME.
August 22 - October 7, 2006: Architectural, nature, and social-documentary photographs by four area photographers: Stephen Conklin, Jr. (pisceandelusions.com), Garrick Dorset (gastankphoto.com), Ippei Katsumi (HACC), and Amanda Keefer (keeferartisticphotography.com).
