SARATOGA SPRINGS — Zac Brown and Robert Plant will stage shows at SPAC. Guided tours will be provided at the Tang Museum. There will be live music for folks performed at Caffe Lena, “opera under the stars,” and staged theater by HMT. The gardens at Yaddo will host their long-awaited return.
These are some of the showcased events scheduled to take place in early June which provided the focus of this week’s collaborative announcement by the city of Saratoga Springs and local cultural organizations to kick-off the summer season.
It’s called “All Together Now,” and serves as an official reopening of Saratoga’s cultural destinations.
“’All Together Now’ celebrates (our) incredible cultural richness. What’s amazing is nothing was specially produced for it. It is literally a snapshot of all the amazing things already happening in the city and the county on a particular weekend in June,” Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center said at a presser held May 17 at Saratoga Arts. “Our aim is to capture this moment. To shine a light upon it.”
“All Together Now: Arts Celebration Weekend in Saratoga” will be held June 2-5 and serves as an official re-opening of Saratoga’s cultural destinations. It is the culmination of two years of collaboration across organizations to fulfill the community’s need for the arts after navigating through pandemic-related hardships and obstacles.
“We’re all aware that towns and cities everywhere are facing health challenges – challenges of mistrust and division, addiction and stress. We are offering an antidote. It’s called human creativity,” said Sarah Craig, Executive Director of Caffè Lena, which will be staging a jazz chart-topper, a bilingual global folk singer, a downstate alt-country band and a free children’s concert the first weekend in June. “How do I know this works? Every day and night year-round I get to see the power of music unlock something inside of people.”
Closed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yaddo artists’ retreat will open its gardens to the community from 12-4 p.m. for a poetry and dance event Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5. The Tang Teaching Museum will host a variety of free art exhibitions throughout the weekend-long event.
Across town, presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco will be featured June 5 at a Festival of Young Artists at SPAC, visitors will be welcomed inside into the grounds newest building, The Pines at SPAC, for an exhibit displaying Mikhail Baryshnikov’s photographs of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
This week’s gathering featured in-person commentary by Saratoga Springs mayor Ron Kim, Saratoga Arts Executive Director Louise Kerr, Tang Museum Dayton Director Ian Berry and Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus.
Sen. Daphne Jordan made an announcement proclaiming Saratoga Springs as an arts and culture tourism destination, and verbally spun the Beatles-inspired event slogan – “All Together Now” – into a different fab four tune: “The smiles returning to the faces/ It seems like years since it’s been here,” she said, “Here comes the sun.”
From Thursday, June 2 through Sunday, June 5 about 40 free and ticketed events will be happening in or a short distance from downtown Saratoga Springs.
Saratoga Arts will host a ‘raise a glass to the arts’ kickoff event at 320 Broadway from 5-6:30 p.m. Friday, June 3 and will present the first-ever Saratoga Arts Community Talent Show the next afternoon at the Saratoga City Music Hall.
For the full lineup of activities during All Together Now: Arts Celebration Weekend in Saratoga, visit: saratoga.org/arts.
