SPAC

Ozoz Sokoh is a culinary anthropologist, food historian, and author of the new cook book “Chop Chop: Cooking the Foods of Nigeria” (Artisan, 2025). In the tradition of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and Madhur Jaffrey’s “An Invitation to Indian Cooking,” “Chop Chop” offers both a cultural history and a hands-on introduction to the flavors of Nigeria.We spoke with Ozoz in a CulinaryArts@SPAC and WAMC on the Road event in Saratoga Springs, New York on November 15. At the event, we were all treated to authentic Nigerian dishes including a goat pepper soup, chin chin, puff puff, jollof rice, and more prepared by Keobi Restaurant of Albany, New York.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s popular “Sounds of the Season” holiday series returns next month from December 12–14, featuring the acclaimed Irish ensemble Danú, rising jazz sensation Stella Cole, and, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing Bach’s Complete Brandenburg Concertos.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s popular fundraising event, “SPAC in Conversation,” returns on Wednesday, October 22 in the historic Hall of Springs, featuring award-winning journalist, former New York Times staff writer and media ecologist Julie Scelfo. Founder and Executive Director of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA), Scelfo will lead an inspiring discussion on “fighting back against runaway tech to protect our kids’ childhoods.”

It will be a lot of fun at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday night as the film “Back to the Future” will be shown with The Philadelphia Orchestra playing the music. Yes, you can recharge your flux-capacitor and get ready to celebrate the movie classic as you’ve never seen or heard it before. It is celebrating its 40th Anniversary of the movie and it is incredible especially with the Philadelphia Orchestra. To tell us more we welcome Steve Linder. He is producer of Film Concerts Live who makes all of this possible.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center has announced their presentation of “Music and Mind with Renee Fleming: Harnessing the Arts to Heal & Connect.” This will take place this Thursday August 14th at 4pm at the Spa Little Theater. 5-time Grammy Award winning soprano Renee Fleming, curator of the groundbreaking anthology "Music and Mind" will host a discussion with a panel of experts exploring compelling research on the powerful connection between arts and health.

The New York City Ballet will be at SPAC in Saratoga Springs from July 9th -12th. We get a preview of this week’s performances from New York City Ballet Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan on Monday unveiled a revitalized statue memorializing an Albany-area philanthropist and builder.

The 48th Annual Saratoga Jazz Festival will return for a full two-day and two-stage weekend experience on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.Featuring a roster of 22 musical groups and 10 festival debuts, the line-up is headlined by magnetic performers Gary Clark Jr. and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, alongside beloved jazz vocalists Gregory Porter and Cassandra Wilson, and the next generation of jazz, funk and rock stars Cory Wong, Lettuce, DJ Logic & Friends and Veronica Swift.Danny Melnick is the festival producer and President of Absolutely Live Entertainment.

SPAC President Christopher Shiley and Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Sobol join us this morning for a preview of their Summer Season including highlights from the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra.When last we met, Chris was SPAC’s Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning and now has been promoted to President. He is now overseeing SPAC’s programming and day-to-day operations in alignment with the organization’s goals for the future. And he works collaboratively with Elizabeth and, the Board of Directors.

Edward Lee is the chef/owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky; and culinary director of Succotash in National Harbor, Maryland, and Penn Quarter, Washington, DC. He earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the PBS series “The Mind of a Chef.”The acclaimed restauranteur is also the author of “Smoke & Pickles,” “Buttermilk Graffiti,” and “Bourbon Land.” He participated in a CulinaryArts@SPAC event in October based around his “Bourbon Land” book - and for this event, the conversation was facilitated by a former editor at The New York Times, Tiina Loite.