Community Calendar

This event is part of Hudson Valley Community College's Fall 2026 Lunchtime Concert Series presenting the free concerts from the very best local and regional musicians. This event is free and open to the public and is presented by the HVCC Cultural Affairs Program. Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to donate to the Viking Cupboard Food Pantry.

Musician and educator Scott Hopkins is an accomplished banjo player whose performances blend traditional bluegrass influences with contemporary interpretations.

He became interested in bluegrass and banjo music by listening to recordings of Flatt & Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers that his father played while he was growing up. At age 15, he started taking private banjo lessons and joined the school band on tuba to fully immerse himself in the study of music.

As a tubist, Hopkins earned a Bachelor of Music Education from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and a Master of Music Education from the University of Connecticut. He won the Crane Concerto Competition on tuba in 1995 and, since his college days, has played banjo in a variety of bands and collaborations.

In 2013, Hopkins released his first solo banjo recording project, a self-titled album featuring guest artists Mike Compton, Stephen Mougin, Casey Driessen, Andy Hall, Jesse Cobb, Randy Kohrs and Becky Buller, among others. In 2023, he released his second project, Just You, an album of duets with musical friends and heroes featuring Tony Trischka, Joe Newberry, Smokey Greene, Ellen Carlson and Bob Amos, among others. Both projects garnered critical acclaim.

This event is part of Hudson Valley Community College's Fall 2026 Lunchtime Concert Series presenting the free concerts from the very best local and regional musicians. This event is free and open to the public and is presented by the HVCC Cultural Affairs Program. Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to donate to the Viking Cupboard Food Pantry.

Jeanine Ouderkirk is a jazz vocalist and multi-instrumentalist from Saratoga Springs, NY. She began performing on the Capital Region music scene after spending a decade studying and performing bass clarinet and baritone saxophone in classical and jazz settings. She earned a master's degree in music education from The Crane School of Music.

As a vocalist, Ouderkirk explores the art of scat singing and the rich catalog of jazz standards that comprise the Great American Songbook. Since 2021, she has been the featured soloist with the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony Orchestra for its annual Poinsettia Pops performances and appeared as a featured soloist with the Catskill Symphony in 2025.

In June 2025, Ouderkirk released her debut album, Nightingale, a 13-track collection of jazz standards featuring New York City pianist and arranger Tedd Firth.

In addition to performing, Ouderkirk is a music educator at St. Gregory's School in Loudonville, where she teaches prekindergarten through eighth-grade general music, and a voice instructor at Union College, where she specializes in jazz and pop styles.