Hillsdale, NJ Arts Festival - June 9 to 11, 2017

The Saint John’s - Hillsdale Arts Festival will be celebrating its eighth anniversary over the weekend June 9, 10 and 11 with a stunning array of performances by gifted artists. Marie Marquis, a lyric coloratura soprano, will open the Arts Festival with a concert of Handel, Bernstein, Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, and Argento songs and arias in the church at Saint John the Baptist, 69 Valley Stre

et, Hillsdale, N.J. Marquis for her “extraordinary virtuosity and elegance." On Saturday, June 10 at 8pm at St. John’s church there will be an “Opera & Broadway Night” featuring the prominent tenor David Guzman, mezzo-soprano Eunjoo Lee, baritone Edward Huls and other prominent singer. They will presenting arias and scenes from La Boheme, The Magic Flute, Cavalleria rusticana, Carmen, Italian Girl in Algiers, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier, Don Carlo and Tales of Hoffman, Broadway favorites from Showboat, Carousel and The Sound of Music, as well as Italian song favorites as “Funiculi, Funicula” and “Non ti scordar di me.” Tickets are $20 each. A Gala Dinner that same evening at 6pm with live cabaret featuring Stephanie Carr & JP Serednicky will take place in the elegant Parish Center (tickets $20 per person - reservations required by June 6). On Sunday at 1pm in the adjoining Parish Center “2016 America’s Dancer of the Year” Kristilee Maiella performs a dance recital with dancer-model Jaclyn Laurino, followed by “Children’s Fun Day” with magic, balloon sculpturing, juggling, dance demo, facepainting, crafts and games. On Sunday, June 11, “Children’s Fun Day at St. John’s – Hillsdale”, a dance recital will be held starting at 1:15 P.M. that will be headlined by dancers Kristilee Maiella and Jaclyn Laurino. Maiella currently holds the title of 2016 America’s Dancer of the Year, having competed against hundreds of dancers worldwide. She is the Capezio Brand Representative and recently performed a piece entitled “Off The Grid” (choreographed by Jaclyn K. Walsh) at the 2016 National Capezio A.C.E. She is presently a scholarship Dance Major at Montclair State University. On the same day at 3pm next door in church, the piano prodigy Brielle Perez will demonstrate her incredible virtuosity and artistry in a recital of Debussy, Liszt, Chopin, Bach, Stravinsky. A student at River Dell High School in Oradell, Miss Perez has concertized as a soloist, chamber musician and with orchestra in Germany, Russia, Luxembourg, Austria, Poland, and the UK, as well as nationally in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. She has won First Place prizes and scholarships in many competitions internationally and in the US. As a result she has performed numerous times in NYC at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well at Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall NYC and New York University. Her solo debut piano concerto was with the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra performing Saint Saen’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the age of ten. The Festival box office, located at 1 Valley St. in Hillsdale, is open for walk-ins M-F 9-4pm, and credit cards are accepted in person and over the phone at 201-666-2707. Truly a weekend of entertainment to remember and a tour de force.