SPAC

Saratoga Performing Arts Center welcomes the New York City Ballet this week. The season features four unique programs from tonight -July 13th as part of NYCB’s historic 75thanniversary and its 58th season in Saratoga. We welcome New York City Ballet Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford with a preview.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center will be filled with craft vendors and jazz enthusiasts for this weekend’s 47th annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival. Dozens of artists will play, from world-renowned performers to amateurs. This year’s headliners include Nora Jones, Laufey, and Lake Street Dive. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons spoke with Sara Caswell, who will be playing on the Charles R. Wood Discovery Stage Saturday at 11 a.m.

The 47th Annual Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival is taking place June 29 and 30 at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York. Festival Presenter and Producer Danny Melnick and Vice President of Artistic Planning at SPAC Christopher Shiley join us with a preview.

At a CulinaryArts@SPAC event on April 11, we were joined by Marti Buckley to discuss her book “Pintxos: A Taste of Spain’s Basque Country.” The book is published by Artisan.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will welcome back its resident companies -- New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra -- to their summer home in Saratoga for a celebratory season that will feature masterworks from the classical cannon, alongside SPAC premieres and debuts. Before they arrive, SPAC will host the Freihofers Saratoga Jazz Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will continue their residency, there educational programs and CulinaryArts@SPAC events. President and CEO of SPAC Elizabeth Sobol, and Vice President of Artistic Planning at SPAC Christopher Shiley join us to tell us more.

Nils Bernstein is the food editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine and has written and developed recipes for such publications as Bon Appétit, Epicurious, GQ, New York Times, Cooking Light, and Men’s Journal. He traded an illustrious career in the music industry, running the publicity departments at independent record labels Sub Pop and Matador for a career in food, drink, and travel journalism. He is the co-author of "The Outdoor Kitchen" by Eric Werner and "Made in Mexico" by Danny Mena.In this CulinaryArts@SPAC interview, he spoke with us about his newest book "The Joy of Oysters."

Dr. Katie Takayasu is an Integrative Medicine physician, author, and speaker in the holistic health space, bridging the gap between traditional Western medicine and the evidenced-based complementary health tools of nutrition, acupuncture, meditation, botanicals and lifestyle optimization. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University/New York Presbyterian and teaches the next generation of doctors about healing the whole patient mind, body and spirit. Joe Donahue spoke with her at a CulinaryArts@SPAC event on March 25, 2023. Dr. Katie Takayasu’s book is “Plants First: A Physician’s Guide to Wellness Through a Plant-Forward Diet.”

At a CulinaryArts@SPAC event on January 26, 2024, Joe Donahue spoke with Josh Ku and Trigg Brown, authors of "Win Son Presents a Taiwanese American Cookbook." Josh and Trigg are the founders and owners of Win Son restaurant in Brooklyn - a full-service restaurant featuring taiwanese-american cuisine. Across the street is Win Son Bakery, a taiwanese-american café, bakery and restaurant. The ventures are highly acclaimed and successful.

The Grammy nominated vocal supergroup, säje, is the brainchild of vocalist/composers Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Erin Bentlage. Born out of close friendship and deep admiration, these world-renowned artists, composers, and arrangers have come together to explore, create, and celebrate the music that moves them. Their debut album is now out.The band explores the edges of jazz and pop with a combination of inventive covers and brilliantly written originals.They will be performing at the Spa Little Theatre on Saturday, November 11 at 7 p.m. and we welcome Sara Gazarek to The Roundtable.

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Richard Russo’s new novel, “Somebody's Fool,” returns to North Bath in upstate New York and to the characters that captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of readers in his beloved best sellers “Nobody’s Fool” and “Everybody’s Fool.”