All photography by John Verner

THANK YOU!

The annual Gala Evening for the Arts Society of Kingston was a success! Thank you to everyone who made it possible, especially our guests – you made it a night to remember.

And congratulations to this years ASKar honorees!

The 2018 ASKar honorees:

Staats Fasoldt

Staats Fasoldt is Vice President of the Woodstock School of Art, a member of the Woodstock Artist’s Association and of The Art Society of Kingston. Staats’ watercolor paintings are interpretations of nature that stress spontaneity as method. He is the exponent of the minimal statement.

Laura Shaine Cunningham

Laura Shaine Cunningham is the author of nine published books, including two acclaimed best selling memoirs, Sleeping Arrangements and A Place in the Country. Both memoirs first appeared in The New Yorker magazine and were excerpted in The New York Times and The London Times.  A Place in the Country was also a New York Times notable book. Laura leads a diversified life as an author, playwright and journalist. Her memoirs, plays and novels appear in nine foreign editions. She has been a frequent columnist and essayist for The New York Times, the London Times and the New York Observer. She is the winner of many awards, in the categories of literature and theatre, including two N.E.A. grants, two N.Y.F.A. Fellowships, a Yaddo fellowship, and a Ford grant. She frequently speaks on Memoir Writing and has held workshops at Omega, SUNY New Paltz, the Woodstock Writers Festival, Harvard, N.Y.U. and The Women Writers’ Festival for Huguenot Street. She has been a Guest Professor at many universities and colleges. She also mentors aspiring memoirists in her role as Artistic Director of The Memoir Institute.  Her plays are widely produced and anthologized and have been performed in many other countries, her novel; Beautiful Bodies appears in seven foreign editions. The theatrical version is popular and currently produced in multiple, major productions throughout Europe.

The Board of the Ulster Chamber Music Series shown here recently following a concert at Holy Cross Church, Kingston, NY.
L to R front: Thomas Keehn, Pres., Cecelia Keehn, Sec. Karen Hinderstein, Vice Pres., Kathy Thomas, Ruth Matthews, Kay Sutka, Lydia Newcombe, Treas., Sue Rafkind
L to R back: Karl Kelbaugh Joseph LaRusso
Absent: Jane Barsumian, Lonnie Kulick, Willa Loescher, Cornelia McGiver, Allison Rubin

Ulster Chamber Music Series

After a 1969 performance by the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Society’s Monteux Quartet, the Ulster County Council of the HVP Society scheduled two concerts for 1970, and by 1971 the three concert winter series had been established. The 2018 series marks the 50th anniversary season of the Ulster Chamber Music Series, with 3 concerts per season since 1970. The concerts have been held at the acoustically superb Church of the Holy Cross in Kingston.

The series has featured a number of chamber groups over the years drawn from the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Other noteworthy artists have included the Manhattan String Quartet, the New York Baroque Ensemble, and Nexus Percussion with local artist and entrepreneur Gary Kvistad, as well as noted musicians like Gilbert Kalish on piano and Walter Trampler on viola. Each concert is followed by a meet-the-artist reception. Congratulations to the Board and the many supporters of the Ulster Chamber Music Series on 50 years of beautiful and innovative music-making!

Pictured to the left:

L to R front: Thomas Keehn, Pres., Cecelia Keehn, Sec. Karen Hinderstein, Vice Pres., Kathy Thomas, Ruth Matthews, Kay Sutka, Lydia Newcombe, Treas., Sue Rafkind

L to R back: Karl Kelbaugh Joseph LaRusso

Absent: Jane Barsumian, Lonnie Kulick, Willa Loescher, Cornelia McGiver, Allison Rubin

The annual ASK Gala is vital to helping us make our annual budget and is a wonderful event for all who join us. ASK has presented our awards to outstanding local artists, which we call the ASKars, for the past eight years.