Neighborhood’s musical gem launches 2012-2013 season

Riverside Fine Arts, a neighborhood concert presenter that has attracted some of the world’s top musical performers to Jacksonville in recent years, has released news of its 2012-2013 season. This year’s concert series is an eclectic mix of performers including the New Directions Veterans Choir and Elisabeth Von Trapp — of “Sound of Music fame.”
The first performance of the series is an Oct. 12 show by jazz great, Julian Lage. The California native has been described by jazz experts as “a giant in the making” and was the subject of an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Jules at Eight. He was the protégé of vibraphonist, Gary Burton. Lage’s concert, which begins at 8 p.m., will be held at Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd at 1100 Stockton Street in Riverside.
All Riverside Fine Arts concerts will be held at the historic Riverside church. Ticket prices for each performance are $25.
The Bohemian Quartet will perform Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. The Rhode Island-based ensembles includes virtuoso violinist and arranger, Stan Renard, violist Nancy Richardson, cellist Christine Harrington and John DeBossu on the base. The group performs music in the “gypsy” or “Romany” tradition.
On Nov. 29, Empire Brass and Elisabeth von Trapp make their way to Riverside for a brass musical concert sharing sounds ranging from Bach to Broadway. Von Trapp is the granddaughter of Maria and Baron von Trapp, whose story inspired The Sound of Music.  The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
In a post-holiday concert Feb. 8, New Directions Veterans Choir is the fourth group to perform in the Riverside Fine Arts series. The performance — an a cappella group singing doo-wop, soul and traditional gospel — begins at 8 p.m. The choir group received national acclaim during a recent performance on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. They also have been featured on NBC Nightly News and other entertainment outlets.
Grammy nominated group, The Tierney Sutton Band, will play in Riverside at 7:30 p.m. on March 14. The show is the fifth concert in the Riverside Fine Arts series. The Tierney Sutton Band received its fourth consecutive Grammy Nomination recently for “Best Vocal Jazz Album.” The band is comprised of vocalist Tierney Sutton and instrumental virtuosos Christian Jacob, Trey Henry, Kevin Axt and Ray Brinker.
The final show in the series is a performance by Zakir Hussain & Shivkumar Sharma at 7:30 p.m. on April 11. Hussain is a percussionist described as an international phenomenon and a classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order. Sharma is one of India’s most popular classical musicians and India’s greatest living santoor player.
Riverside Fine Arts is one of the Historic District’s most musical gems. Its board of directors includes many neighborhood residents and its executive leadership team is:  Stephen Wickersham, president; Jeff Weitzner, vice president; David Brinson, treasurer; and William Colledge,
secretary.
According to Executive Director Stacy Aubrey, The Riverside Fine Arts Association (RFAA) was created in 1993 as an outreach ministry of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Riverside. Its founding was coincident with the church’s restoration of their E.M. Skinner organ. The Good Shepherd Concert Series, as it was first called, offered a unique opportunity for cultural enrichment to the Riverside community and beyond.
Since its inception, RFAA has grown from a small, neighborhood concert series to a non-sectarian organization that serves the area encompassed by Northeast Florida. Each year thousands of attendees have benefited from its concerts and outreach programs.

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