Past Calendar Events

Saturday, April 29, 2023 and Sunday, April 30, 2023 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Tickets: From Stage To Screen Acting Studio

Saturday, April 22, 2023 / 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm / Free Admission / PoughETRY Fest

Celebrating its 6th year, PoughETRY Fest 2023, curated and created by the 2017 & 2018 Dutchess County Poet Laureate – Poet Gold, is a one-day, in-person, free festival highlighting the art of poetry both written and spoken, as well as poets of the Hudson Valley and beyond. PoughETRY Fest 2023 will be held at two locations: Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 12 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie, NY and at Reason & Ruckus located in the heart of Poughkeepsie on 305 Main Street.

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm @ Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 12 Vassar Street: Youth Open Mic and Workshop – Hosted by Daniel Villegas, Teaching Artist/Performer and Co-hosted by Miguel Sanchez aka “Lito Koqui”, Poughkeepsie local poet and hip-hop artist. Open to youth of all ages, giving students the opportunity to relate to poetry that is relevant to them allowing exploration of the craft through combining words and beatboxing and to discover contemporary poetry in a meaningful way.

2:30 pm – 3:45 pm @ Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 12 Vassar Street: Film Premiere and Director Q & A – Blueprint For My People directed by Carol Bash award-winning documentary film maker. Blueprint For My People is a short film that illuminates the African-American experience by lyrically weaving spoken-word narration of Margaret Walker’s epic poem, “For My People” with contemporary images and rare 19^th century cyanotypes (blue photographic prints known as ‘blueprints’). It features the voices of award-winning spoken word artists, Poet Gold, and Richard “Braf” Braithwaite. An opening film, Say Their Names, directed by Paul Thompson and co-directed by Poet Gold will also be shown. It was produced by Suprina Troche and Poet Gold and features “Sounds of Heritage”.

4:00 pm – 5:45 pm @ Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 12 Vassar Street: LGBTQ Open Mic featuring Pamela Sneed – Hosted by Jay “Jay Bird” Herman. Jay Bird brings their dedication for love and justice together through poetry and the spoken word. They have hosted the PoughETRY Fest LGBTQ Open Mic since its inception. Pamela Sneed is the author of Sweet Dreams and Funeral Diva which was featured in The New York Times and won the 2021 Lambda Lesbian Poetry Award. She is the recipient of a 2023 Creative Capital grant in literature.

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm @ Reason & Ruckus, 305 Main Street: Calling All Poets (CAPS) Open Mic (a 501c3 poetry organization) is designed to give emerging poets the opportunity to share their work in a public forum.

NOTE: PoughETRY Fest will offer online highlights of the past five years with posts throughout the month of April celebrating participants poetic contributions and poetry month.

Saturday, April 15, 2023 @ 9 Vassar Street / 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Tickets: $75 per person (limited capacity). Online Ticket Sales @ 2023 Annual Magnolia Party EVENTBRITE Tickets Call the CHAC Office for payment by check. RSVP by April 12, 2023. Tickets will NOT be sold at the door.

Live Music performed by Christopher Dean Sullivan, Bass and Lonnie Liebowitz, Piano made possible with support by Jazz in the Valley and TRANSART

Wine Donated By

Dessert Donated by

Raffle Sponsors

• 

Onaje Benjamin Photographic Studio

Event Sponsors

Jackie and Glenn Peterson

Thomas Schmeelk

Saturday, April 1, 2023 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets at Door Only: $20 per person

Two dudes, two guitars, two amps, no effects (OK, maybe a little amp reverb), no tunes. 100% improvised, garden-fresh music composed in real time right before your very ears.

Saturday, March 25, 2023 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Advance Ticket Sales: $25 per person / At the Door: $30 per person / Visit https://sharpdon.bpt.me/ to purchase Advance Sales Tickets (PLEASE NOTE: Advance ticket sales end at midnight the night before the concert).

Elysium Furnace Works kicks off its 2023 season in the Hudson Valley with the incendiary duo of multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp and drummer/percussionist Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II.

Elliott Sharp, one of the pioneers of the NYC-based Downtown music scene, is a virtuoso guitarist, bassist, reed player, composer, improvisor, instrument builder and musical theorist.

Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II is a world- class drummer and highly skilled beat-smith and has been called a “powerhouse” and a “master of deep-pocket hip hop, funk, jazz and rock” whose ferociously powerful contributions to multiple musical genres has virtually no parallel.

Saturday, February 25, 2023 and Sunday, February 26, 2023 / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Performance Times and Tickets: Standing Room Only Theater Company

January 14, 2023 @ 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm and January 15, 2023 @ 12:00 pm & 5:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets: From Stage To Screen

Saturday, January 7, 2023 @ 3:00 pm & 6:00 pm and Sunday, January 8, 2023 @ 12:00 pm & 2:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets: From Stage To Screen

Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm / 12 Vassar Street – The VBI Theatre / Tickets: Children $6.00 Advance Sales or $7.00 at the door – Adults $11.00 Advance Sales or $12.00 at the door / Call (845) 337-5467 to Reserve Tickets / Visit JG Dance for more information   

Saturday, December 10, 2022 @ 3:00 pm & 7:00 pm and Sunday, December 11, 2022 @ 12:00 pm and 3:30 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets: From Stage To Screen

Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 3:00 pm / 12 Vassar Street – The VBI Theatre / Tickets: Starting at $15.00 / Visit Broadway Holiday Spectacular to purchase tickets

Saturday, December 3, 2022 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Visit Elysium Furnace Works for Ticket Information

Ava Mendoza and Susan Alcorn – two of the world’s most singular guitarists (Mendoza an electric plectrist and Alcorn a pedal steel player) wax rapturous and incisive for the first time as a duo.

Saturday, November 12, 2022 @ 2:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street

Tickets: $25 General Seating & $60 Premium Seating (NOTE: Premium Seating includes Post-Performance Reception/Limited Availability) /

Purchase ONLINE About Love Eventbrite Tickets HERE

***TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR – Cash or Checks ONLY!***

The Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center proudly presents About Love – a Benefit Cabaret Concert featuring professional stage performer/baritone vocalist John North, accomplished keyboardist Colin Rose, and acclaimed bassist Cary Brown. Artistically crafted and conceived by John North, this delightfully NEW and fun-filled cabaret is an homage to love and showcases some of the best classic Broadway Showtunes, Ballads, Standards and Pop Songs. Event Sponsors of About Love are Vassar Brothers Institute, Central Hudson and A. Page & Associates. Post-Performance Cocktail Reception Sponsors are Mahoney’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse, Sugar & Spice Cafe/Spice Catering, Simply Gourmet, The Derb, Milanese Italian Restaurant and Adams Fairacre Farms. Posters printed courtesy of Prime Print Shop.

John North is a professionally trained singer, dancer and actor who was born and raised in Ulster County, NY. He began his professional vocal training at the age of 13 and received a BA in Dance/Theatre from Hope College (Holland, MI) with an emphasis in Vocal Performance. Moving to NYC in the mid-1980’s, John pursued his theatrical career performing in over 20 regional, summer stock and dance productions and choreographing an array of musicals. Some of his favorite leading roles have been in regional/summer stock productions of My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Brigadoon, and Godspell.  As a choreographer he has staged musical numbers for Their Playing Our Song, Guys and Dolls, On The Town, Stars, and Fiddler on the Roof. In addition to performing on the stage, John has had a successful administrative career employed by such notable organizations as the New York City Ballet, School of American Ballet, New York Philharmonic, Pentacle DanceWorks, Gloucester Stage Company, Lema Production as assistant to the producer Jessica Levy, and working for producer Martin Richards of the Producers Circle Company on the Broadway production of Sally Mahr and Her Escorts starring Joan Rivers. His foray into the cabaret scene began when he wrote and starred in two solo cabaret shows – The Best of Broadway and A Jolly Jazzy Christmas – and an instructional cooking stage show entitled Easy Cooking With John! A Culinary Musical.  In 2018 he originated the role of Detective Sherlock Tracy, The Singing Detective in Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center’s Musical Murder Mystery Dinner Theater presentation reprising it again in 2019.

Colin Rose began playing the piano at age three and never stopped.  A Hudson Valley native, he trained in classical concert style throughout childhood and eventually decided to pursue music on a professional level.  He attended Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT, where he graduated in 2014 with a major in piano performance and a minor in music history. Since then, Colin has been employed at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase as a staff accompanist for both ballet and modern dance classes.  He has also provided musical accompaniment for classes and masterclasses for The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Limon Dance Company, American Academy of Ballet Summer School of Excellence and Youth America Grand Prix.  Colin enjoys playing in all styles performing with numerous rock and country bands, choirs, chamber ensembles and orchestras.  

Cary Brown has always had an affinity for all styles of music – classical, jazz, rock, and film scores – ever since he was a child. Attending the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester and graduating with a double degree in Piano Performance and Film Studies, he has studied classical piano with master Jeffrey Marcus, Barry Snyder and Elier Suarez, jazz arranging and film scoring with the legendary Rayburn Wright, and jazz piano Harold Danko and Donald Brown. Upon graduation from college, he embarked on a performance, recording and touring career playing alongside The Skatalites, New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble (co-founder/composer), Sloan Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus Wainwright, John Scofield, Levon Helm, Yonrico Scott, Clark Gayton, Tony Mason, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Chuck Leavell, and saxophonist Matt Garrison. Cary has also been quite active as a pianist/composer in the dance world, holding the position of Dance Musicians’ Coordinator/Staff Pianist for the prestigious Purchase College Conservatory of Dance since 2000, and playing master-classes for American Ballet Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Mark Morris Company, and José Limón Company to name a few. Additionally, since 1995, he has served as the Musical Director for the Steffi Nossen School of Dance composing and recording an annual dance suite. When not providing musical accompaniment or performing live his own acoustic piano trio, The Cary Brown Trio, Cary devotes time to his thriving piano and guitar teaching practice in Westchester, NY.

Saturday, October 1, 2022 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Visit Elysium Furnace Works for Ticket Information

Three of Brooklyn’s finest contemporary musicians and composers – Matt Mitchell, Kim Cass and Katie Gentile – super collide in this high-energy, eclectic and electric Fender Rhodes-bass-drums encounter.

Elysium Furnace Works is a cooperative project co-led by Mike Faloon and James Keepnews. EFW seeks to present the work of vanguard artists in settings as dedicated and uncompromising as the art itself, focusing primarily although not exclusively on live music performances in and around New York’s vibrant Hudson Valley. http://www.facebook.com/elysiumfurnaceworks/

Friday, September 23, 2022 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door the night of the performance. Advance ticket sales end at midnight the night before the concert. Purchase tickets at Stephan Crump 9/23/2022 Tickets.  

Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning bassist/composer Stephan Crump is an active bandleader with fifteen critically-acclaimed album releases in addition to numerous film scoring contributions. Stephan’s solo performance, which explores his unique musical language through an expansive range of sonorities on the acoustic bass, is a culmination of decades of work as a bassist, composer, and improviser. From his home studio in Brooklyn, Crump released monthly solo recordings throughout the last year in a fan-supported series via his Bandcamp page. The new album, Rocket Love, is curated from this body of solo work.  

Elysium Furnace Works is a cooperative project co-led by Mike Faloon and James Keepnews. EFW seeks to present the work of vanguard artists in settings as dedicated and uncompromising as the art itself, focusing primarily although not exclusively on live music performances in and around New York’s vibrant Hudson Valley. http://www.facebook.com/elysiumfurnaceworks/

Friday, September 9, 2022 @ 8:00 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Visit Elysium Furnace Works for Ticket Information    

The premier modern Electric Guitarist and Educator, Joe Morris, performs in an incendiary duo setting with Saxophonist and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” Winner, Ken Vandermark, in this rare area appearance.

Elysium Furnace Works is a cooperative project co-led by Mike Faloon and James Keepnews. EFW seeks to present the work of vanguard artists in settings as dedicated and uncompromising as the art itself, focusing primarily although not exclusively on live music performances in and around New York’s vibrant Hudson Valley. http://www.facebook.com/elysiumfurnaceworks/

Wednesday, August 24, 2022 / 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm / 9 Vassar Street on the Front Porch & Lawn (NOTE: Outdoor Event) / Free Admission

Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson’s Summer Sampler series is an opportunity for future Girl Scouts to gain an understanding of the Girl Scout experience and the many ways she can design a unique Girl Scout journey. Everything a Girl Scout does – from planting a garden, to putting on a skit, to exploring the world, and meeting new people is an opportunity for her to learn, grow, and make the world a better place! And there is room for your girl to be a part of the adventure! For more information visit girlscoutshh.org or Girl Scout Sampler – Poughkeepsie Facebook Event Page  Click HERE to download the Girl Scouts Sampler Series Flyer.

Saturday, August 20, 2022 @ 4:00 pm \ VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Free Admission

Tuesday, August 16, 2022 to Thursday, August 18, 2022 / Viewing Hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm / Grand Parlor – 9 Vassar Street

The MHA Art Show, now in its eleventh year, features Dutchess County artists whose art inspires, raises awareness, and promotes the mission of Mental Health America. Each participant is unafraid to break through barriers and to push limits in support of the vision of Mental Health America of Dutchess County. Many of our artists are getting their first opportunity to demonstrate their talent within the community and this has lifted the aspirations of everyone involved. MHADutchessCounty

Saturday, August 13 @ 3:30 pm / VBI Theatre – 12 Vassar Street / Tickets: From Stage To Screen