‘An American Picnic,’ November 17—

Newtown Music Studio Is Creating An Evening Of Remembrance And Celebration

By Shannon Hicks

Jackie Gaudet, the owner and director of Newtown Music Studio, is coordinating a special event that will take place on Saturday, November 17, at Edmond Town Hall. For one night, the lights in the gymnasium will be dimmed, linens will cover clusters of tables and centerpieces will adorn each table, and residents will be invited to take part in an evening of remembrance and celebration of the American spirit through music and art.

The event will run from 6 to 10 pm. Suggested donation is $20 for adults; reduced donations will be accepted for children and family rates will be available. Picnic dinners are encouraged (BYOB); coffee, soft drinks and desserts will be provided.

Proceeds will benefit the families and children of Cantor Fitzgerald. As New York Daily News pointed out on October 28, the 700 employees who died at the bond-trading firm formerly located in Tower One of the World Trade Center left behind about 1,500 kids — enough to fill 30 city buses.

“Cantor Fitzgerald was a young company,” Ms Gaudet said. “I’ve heard the number of children who have been affected by this. Another statistic I’ve heard is that 60 pregnant women were left without their husbands. My heart just goes out to all of those families.

“There is a wonderful community here,” Ms Gaudet continued, “and I wanted to draw on that to do this concert. You see all these concerts on TV. I wanted to do the Newtown version of it.” A fund dedicated to An American Picnic/Cantor Fitzgerald Fund is being set up at Newtown Savings Bank for direct donations.

Ms Gaudet is counting on friends and students for much of the musical portion of the evening. The performances will begin at 7, and will feature some of the area’s best professional, semiprofessional and student singers and dancers.

Ms Gaudet will be joined by a group of her professional and semiprofessional friends. Joe Jacovino, the accompanist of Connecticut Master Chorale and organist and choir director at St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, will be the evening’s accompanist. Ms Gaudet’s friends also include the singers Brianne Chasanoff, Mike Forbes, Seth Lefferts, Cheryl Lichtenstein, Tom Sheehan, and the drummer Bobby Leonard. Except for Mr Leonard and Ms Chasanoff, these singers have performed benefits together in the past; a number are also former members of Connecticut Choral Society, for whom they performed a benefit concert of Gershwin works last year.

“In different combinations, we’ve all done benefits at different times in the past so I knew I could tap into their talent,” Ms Gaudet said. “They’ve all stepped up to bat for this. The thing is, we miss singing together, so this will be enjoyable for all of us.”

Students of Newtown Music Studio will be performing everything from Gershwin and traditional music theater to Irish art songs and covers of songs made popular by Bette Midler and Faith Hill. Among Ms Gaudet’s students who will be singing are Clare Archer, Emily Cieniawa, Diana Curcuruto, Samantha Davies, Shannon Kohn, Jeff Jackson, Sherry Langrock, Sheila O’Connor, Stephanie Paproski, Lauren Poppe, Holly Ronan, Maggie Ronan, Sydney Russell, and Adriane Yeager.

Pamela Hoffman, who sings with New York City Opera and teaches voice, will be participating. So will a number of her students, among them Tom Sheehan, Mike Forbes, Erica Tsacoyeanes, Meggie Brown, and Maura Lucking.

A silent art auction will also be one of the featured offerings of the evening. As of this week, 17 local artists have committed to providing works of art for Ms Gaudet to offer during her event. Painters Pat Barkman, Betty Christensen, Ginny Fisher, Isabelle Forbes, Pieter Leffers, and Ruth Newquist, and photographers David Anderson, Shannon Hicks, Melissa Landin, Joanne Lefferts, and John Slaney have all promised to donate works in their respective media for the event.

Matthew Roe will be donating a watercolor wash for the event. Mr Roe, along with the photographer Mr Slaney, are both employees of Koenig Frameworks in Newtown. When Ms Gaudet was visiting the Main Street South store in search of additional donations for the picnic, both men volunteered their personal work.

Suzanne Melillo, who lives in New York City and is a friend of Ms Gaudet, will also be donating one of her creations. A fine arts and crafters teacher, Ms Melillo is making a red, white, and blue-theme wreath for “An American Picnic.” An article about her work will appear in an upcoming issue of Threads magazine.

Mary Gaudet-Wilson is fashioning a quilt with an American flag for the auction, and Diane Vanderkrof is also creating a quilt for the event. Karen Murphy, a co-owner of Petal Pushers in Newtown, will be putting together an arrangement of silk flowers. The Mill, an antiques shop in Sandy Hook, has also offered to put something into the silent auction.

Also participating in the event will be one of Newtown’s Cub Scout dens, who will be serving the soft drinks/coffee and dessert during the course of the evening.

In addition to the music and art to enjoy, attendees will be encouraged to share some of their thoughts concerning September 11. Notebooks will be left at each table so that people can write notes, thoughts, and reactions concerning the events of seven weeks ago. All of the notes will be compiled into a booklet, and copies will be shared at a later date with those who attend the November 17 event. Additionally, the notebooks will be sent to a remembrance project in the works in Washington, D.C.

Reservations for “An American Picnic” are strongly suggested.

“We’d like to have a good idea of how many people we’re setting up for,” Ms Gaudet explained.

To make reservations or for further information contact Ms Gaudet at 270-8915.