Sander Hicks and DJ Green Arrow on 9/11 Truth

Sander Hicks and DJ Green Arrow will give presentations on 9/11 truth issues at NY Green Fest, Fri.-Sun., Aug. 7-9, 2009, in Alfred, NY. NY Green Fest, a conference on sustainable living and Green politics, will be held at the Powell Campus Center, Alfred University, Alfred, NY. DJ Green Arrow will speak about 9/11 Families and 9/11 Contingencies on Fri., Aug. 7, 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm. Sander Hicks will give a 9/11 Truth Workshop on Sat., Aug. 8, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm.

Sander Hicks is a 9/11 truth activist and the author of The Big Wedding: 9/11, the Whistle Blowers, and the Cover-up (2005). He is the founder of Soft Skull Press and Vox Pop in Brooklyn. Sander has reported for Alternet, GNN, Long Island Press, New York Press, and INN World Report Television (FSTV, Dish Network). Sander will also appear on a Green media panel at Green Fest.

DJ Green Arrow is an activist and Hip Hop artist. He will perform a 48 hour rap during Green Fest and again in September at the "Real Change and Transparency" Conference in New York City, where he lives. Green will be taking pledges for every hour he raps, with proceeds benefiting 9/11 First Responders.

Gas Drilling Presentations

A number of programs of interest to gas drilling activists are being offered at Green Fest:

Fri., Aug. 7, 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm, Workshop Session 1

Building Local Sovereignty over Gas Drilling, Mary Jo Long, Mike Bernhard, Rachel Treichler— Kanakadea 105

Fri., Aug. 7, 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm, Forum 1

Forum on the Politics of Sustainability: Virginia Rasmussen, "Who Has the Power to Implement Sustainability?" and Cyril Mychelako, "Rights for Nature," Music: Deborah Magone — Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center

Sat., Aug. 8, 8:30 am - 9:30 am, Workshop Session 3

Natural Gas 101: Basics of the Social and Environmental Impacts of Natural Gas Extraction, Andrew Byers and Dirk Trachy— Kanakadea 104

Sat., Aug. 8, 9:45 am — 11:00 am, Forum 2

Forum on Sustainable Energy, Presenters: Art Weaver, "Renewable Energy, the Audacity of Hope, the Reality of Change," and Dan Miner, "The Post Carbon Future," Music: Lucky Pluckers— Solar Stage

Sat., Aug. 8, 11:15 am - 12:15 am, Workshop Session 4

Marcellus Shale Basics, Chris Burger — Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center

Sat., Aug. 8, 1:45 pm - 2:45pm, Workshop Session 5

Watershed Protection, with Local Examples, Stephen Lewandowski— Kanakadea 104

Sat., Aug. 8, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Workshop Session 6

Dynamic Conversation about Community Participation, Hydraulic Fracturing, and the Next Ten Years, Andrew Byers and Dirk Trachy — Kanakadea 105

Sat., Aug. 8, 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm, Forum 3

Forum on Politics and Nature, Joel Kovel and Tony Gronowicz,
Music: Crow Weaver—Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center

Sun., Aug. 9, 8:30 am - 9:30 am, Workshop Session 7

"My Name is Allegany County, " Anti-Nuclear Campaign, Meg Krywe, Burton Stein, others TBA — Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center

Sun., Aug. 9, 9:45 am — 11:15 am, Forum 4

Forum on Sovereignty and Sustainability with Bill Kauffman, "Look Homeward, Greens: Why Localism Matters," Peter Jemison and Lyn Gerry. Poetry by Mike Czarnecki —Solar Stage

Sun., Aug. 9, 11:30 am - 12:30 am, Workshop Session 8

Post Carbon Cities, Dan Miner— Kanakadea 104

Treaty of Canandaigua, Peter Jemison— Kanakadea 105

Sun., Aug. 9, 1:45 pm — 3:30 pm, Forum 5

Forum on Visioning a Green Future
Concert: Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams, Presentations: Steve Welzer and Jason Nabewaniec—Howell Hall, Second Floor

Click here for the full Green Fest schedule.

Workshops on Palestine and Peace

Three workshops at Green Fest will address issues related to Palestine and peace:

Fri., Aug. 7, 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm, Workshop Session 1

Gaza's Dilemma, Ismail Mehr — Nevins Theater, Powell Center

Sat., Aug. 8, 8:30 am - 9:30 am, Workshop Session 3

Organizing for Peace, Dianne Roe, Paul Zulkowitz— Knight Club, Powell Campus Center

Sat., Aug. 8, 11:15 am - 12:15 am, Workshop Session 4

In Defense of Palestinian Homes and Communities, Beth Harris— Kenyon/Allen Room, Powell Campus Center

Beth Harris is a founding member of the Central New York Campaign to End the Occupation of Palestine and professor of politics at Ithaca College. Beth lives in Ithaca, NY.

Ismail Mehr is chief of anesthesiology at Saint James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, NY. He led a team of 9 physicians and 2 non medical personnel on a relief mission to Gaza in conjuction with the Islamic Medical Association of North America just as Israel's military assault on Gaza ended early this year. Ismail lives in Hornell, NY.

Dianne Roe is a founding member of the Central New York Campaign to End the Occupation of Palestine. She has visited Hebron in Palestine a number of times with Christian Peacemaker Teams. Dianne Roe lives in Corning, NY.

zool (Paul H.) Zulkowitz is a life-long antiwar, human rights and environmental activist. Retired from a "Hollywood-on-Hudson" film production career, zool, a member of the Directors Guild of America, is a gardener, sculptor and special events producer. zool is active with many local and international groups, including, among others, the Green Party, Jews Against the Occupation, Witness Against Torture, and Code Pink Women for Peace (with whom he has recently traveled to the Middle East as a member of an Israel/Gaza peace delegation). He lives in Woodmere, NY and Washington, DC.

Workshop on Watershed Protection with Steve Lewandowski

Steve Lewandowski will offer a watershed protection workshop at Green Fest on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 1:45 pm. Green Fest is being held on the campus of Alfred University. The workshop will be held in Kanakadea Hall, Room 105. Steve's watershed protection workshop will offer a basic introduction to watersheds, their characteristics, developing a problem statement, selection of remedial actions, political organization, and structural questions. He is not offering quick fixes—think in terms of decades. The workshop will outline significant issues in watershed protection and consider the examples of the watersheds of Canandaigua Lake, Hemlock and Canadice Lakes and Lake Ontario watersheds. There will be an opportunity for lots of Q&A.

Steve is the Program Director of the Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative. He is a founder of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Alliance and the Coalition for Hemlock and Canadice Lakes. He has worked as an environmental educator and consultant in the western Finger Lakes for thirty-five years, and has worked closely with protection efforts for Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua, and Honeoye Lakes. Steve has served on the Boards of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Friends of Ganondagan State Historic Site, Pegasus Early Music, and the 1816 Quaker Meetinghouse Committee. He is a graduate of Hamilton College and did graduate work with Louis Jones in the Cooperstown Graduate Programs in American Folk Culture and with Howard Nemerov and William Gass at Washington University in St. Louis.

Learn about Home Brewing at Green Fest

Peter Reynolds and Chris Romanchock, brewers and self-described "local yokels" from Hartsville Sweetwater Home Brewing in Hartsville, NY, will demonstrate the art, science, and joy of home brewing beer. Peter and Chris will show brewing, bottling, live fermentation, as well as the methods and materials therein.

Hartsville Sweetwater Home Brewing will be one of the 40 exhibitors in Green Fest's Green Fair. For information about all our exhibitors, visit http://nygreenfest.org/exhibitors09.html

Green Fest Site Location

Green Fest 2009 will be held on the campus of Alfred University in Alfred, NY, 80 miles south of Rochester. Workshops and forums will be held in the Powell Campus Center (middle photo above), Kanakadea Hall (left photo) and Steinheim (right photo). Exhibits will be on the lawn in front of the Powell Campus Center and in the lobby. Outdoor performances will take place on a solar-powered stage on lawn. A live webcam of the Powell Campus Center can be viewed at http://www.alfred.edu/virtual_tour/webcam.cfm.
Click here for directions to Green Fest.

Exhibitors at Green Fest Fair

A Green Fair, with exhibitors, music and performances will take place at the center of Green Fest, August 7 - 9, 2009, on the Alfred University Campus Green in Alfred, NY.

The following exhibitors are confirmed for Green Fest 2009:

ACCORD Corp/Allegany Business Center

Alfred University Bookstore

Alpaca Breeders of Western New York

Alternative fuel and electric vehicles

Autonomedia, book publishers

Beyond Oil NYC, a Sierra Club NYC project

Chelsea Green Press, book publishers

Campus Sustainability Workbook, Karen Monroe author, Joel Cera illustrator

Carol Doscher, artist

Central New York Campaign to End the Occupation of Palestine

Chenango, Delaware Otsego Gas Group, activist organization

Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County, activist organization

DJ Green Arrow, artist

Flowering Heart of Carapace Farm, wool, felt and toys

Foothills Publishing, poetry press

Gaia Girls Books, Lee Welles, author

Green Alfred, student organization

Green Party of New York State, activist organization

Green Party of the United States, activist organization

Hartsville Sweetwater Home Brewing, Peter Reynolds and Chris Romanchock

Home Comfort-All Star Energy, energy efficiency consultants

Hyland Woodcraft Fine Furniture, Sean Hyland, craftsman

Linda Huey, ceramic pottery sculpture

Tom Keough, artist

Barry Miller, wind engineer

Natural Medicine Books, Pat O'Brien, author

New York Nut Growers Association, activist organization

Tom Persichilli, musical instruments, sculpture and fine woodworking

Positive News, alternative newspaper

Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy, activist organization

Pluto Press, book publishers

Reusable Materials Depot (RePo), student organization

Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance, activist organization

Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group, activist organization

Solar is Hot, solar installation services

Tickletown Trust and Trade

Unwelcome Guests, alternative radio program

UpsideDownWorld, media collective

Windy Ridge Natural Farms

Click here for information about exhibiting at Green Fest 2009

Hornell Tribune: Green Fest to be held at AU this year

The Alfred University campus will be swarming with crafters, artists, exhibitors, activist groups, environmentally-conscious people, Green Party members and those interested in sustainability practices Aug. 7-9 during Green Fest 2009.

This is the first time the event has taken place outside of the Ithaca area and means extra space and more accommodation options because of the new location. . . .

With 45 different workshops and forums and 77 presentors scheduled, events will delve into a variety of topics, including; Marcellus Shale gas drilling, protecting water sheds, the Treaty of Canandaigua, Global Warming and the Allegany County anti-nuclear campaign.

Whether one wants to learn how to build a small wind turbine, make tofu, beer or felt, grow nut trees, perform yoga, sit in on a presentation about the history of Belmont’s Pollywogg Holler or learn how to draw political cartoons, people will come from all over the state — and as far as New York City and central Pennsylvania — to demonstrate and discuss their personal and professional talents, interests and knowledge.

“There is something for just about everybody,” said Treichler, who admits there are too many topics to list.

She said a solar-powered photovoltaic stage will be showcased with musical performances spanning over the weekend. There will also be an alternative vehicle show Saturday afternoon with the possibility of a parade.

Click here for the full article

Welzer and Nabewaniec Speak on Visioning a Green Future

Steve Welzer and Jason Nabewaniec will be the speakers for Green Fest's concluding plenary session on visioning a truly sustainable future, Sunday, August 9, 1:45 pm — 3:30 pm in Howell Hall, Alfred University, Alfred, NY. Steve Welzer will speak about the future of Green politics, and Jason Nabewaniec will speak on joining our personal odysseys into a movement. Leonard Lehrman's and Helene Williams' concert, Celebrating the Elie Siegmeister Centennial and Other Music Relevant for Our Time, will open the program.

Steve Welzer was the co- editor of the Green Horizon Quarterly from 2003 to 2008. He is a founder of the Green Party of New Jersey and a member of the National Committee of the Green Party of the United States. He is the editor of The GreenGram, the newsletter of Green Party of New Jersey and writes for Synthesis/Regeneration, a magazine of Green social thought. He was a Green Party candidate for congress from New Jersey in 2008. Steve lives in Hightstown, New Jersey.

Jason Nabewaniec is a Co-Chair of the Green Party US. He works as a design engineer in the public sector and is finishing his Master's thesis in Environmental, Health and Safety Management at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Campus Map

The Powell Campus Center on the Alfred University campus will be the central location for Green Fest 2009. Workshops and presentations will also be held in Kanakadea Hall, Steinheim, and Howell Hall and outdoors on our solar stage and the lawns. The Green Fair will be located on the campus green. The Green Book Fair will be located in the lobby of the Powell Campus Center. Dormitory accommodations are in the Brick Residence Hall.

Click here to download an AU campus map

Click here for a map showing how to get from Alfred to the Foster Lake campground

77 Presenters Confirmed

77 presenters are confirmed for Green Fest 2009:

Tim Bancroft Jennifer Bertron Bloodthirsty Vegans Chris Burger Roy Butler Andrew Byers Steve Calkins Bill Castle Rome Celli C. Douglas Clarke Mary Joy Cody-Fagan Michael Czarnecki Don DeBar John Dietrich David Doonan John Doscher Ann Eagan Stephanie English Dave Fagan Joey Gates Lyn Gerry DJ Green Arrow Tony Gronowicz Ken Harris Sander Hicks Lois Hilton Michele Hluchy Bill Huston Courtney Ingham G. Peter Jemison Jerry Kann Bill Kauffman Tom Keough Joel Kovel Meg Krywe Ron Kuriloff Peter LaVenia Cecile Lawrence

Stephen Lewandowski Ann Link Tony and Mary Lipnicki Carl Lundgren Lucky Pluckers Deborah Magone Amelia McIsaac Alex Mead Ismail Mehr Barry Miller Dan Miner Cyril Mychalejko Jason Nabewaniec Bob Nape Steve Nicholson Jane Pearson Tom Persichilli Tom Potts Virginia Rasmussen Lee Riddell Darin Robbins Dianne Roe Carl Romanelli Rafter T. Sass Gudrun Scott Burton Stein Craig Taylor Elizabeth Thompson Dirk Trachy Rachel Treichler Art Weaver Crow Weaver Sam Weinreb Lee Welles Steve Welzer Susannah White Helene Williams Zool (Paul H.) Zulkowitz

Leonard Lehrman

Where to Stay and What to Eat

The registration fee for the entire Green Fest weekend is only $85. This includes all plenary sessions, workshops and activities. Meals and lodging are additional, but very reasonable. If you would like to reserve a camping space, dorm room or meals, you may do so online at http://nygreenfest.org/registration.html, or by printing out and mailing in our registration form.

Dorm rooms and the Saxon Inn are available for lodging on campus. Camping is available at a beautiful lake 2 miles from campus. Transportation will be provided from the campus to the campground. Local bed and breakfasts are also available. Meals prepared from locally-grown food will be served at the Alfred University dining hall. Meals may also be obtained from area restaurants and grocery stores.

Dormitory lodging is available on campus in the Brick Residence Hall, across the campus green from the Powell Campus Center for $25 per person per night. Kids 4-12 are $11.00 per night. Kids 3 and under are free. Bring your own sheets, blankets and towels. Bed linens are available for $10. Apartment suites on campus are also available for $35 per person per night. Each suite has 3 doubles, 1 bath, 1 kitchen, and A/C . There is a maximum of 2 adults and 2 children per room, 6 adults and 6 children per suite. On campus lodging must be reserved before August 3, 2009.

CAMPING: Tent camping is available for $10 per person at Foster Lake, a 25-acre lake 5 min. from the Alfred University campus. Children 12 and under camp for free. Fires are allowed in the grills. Boating is available. Swimming is not allowed in 2009 due to water quality concerns. Transportation will be provided to and from the lake upon request. Showers for campers are available on campus in the McLane Athletic Center. Campers and RV's may stay at Foster Lake or in assigned parking lot on campus (no hook-ups). Camping must be reserved before August 3, 2009.

Getting to Green Fest

Green Fest 2009 will be held on the campus of Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Alfred is in rural Allegany County, 80 miles south of Rochester near the Pennsylvania border. The Short
Line Bus runs several buses daily between Alfred, Westchester, New York City and Long Island. The bus stop in Alfred is just a couple of blocks from the Green Fest location. Click here for driving directions to Alfred. Offers and requests for rides may be posted on the Green Fest ride board.

Kovel and Gronowicz to Speak on Politics and Nature

Joel Kovel and Tony Gronowicz will be the speakers for a plenary session on politics and nature, Saturday, August 8, 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm in Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center, Alfred University, Alfred, NY. Joel Kovel will speak about revitalizing the relationship between humanity and nature and Tony Gronowicz will speak about the history of political efforts to protect and give rights to nature in the US. Crow Weaver's musical performance will open the program and a musical performance of the Tom Persichilli and Meg Krywe will close the program.

Joel Kovel is the editor of the quarterly journal, Capitalism Nature Socialism. From 1988 to 2009, he was Professor of Social Studies at Bard College. Joel has published nine books and over a hundred articles and reviews. His books include White Racism, which was nominated for a National Book Award in 1972; Against the State of Nuclear Terror; In Nicaragua; The Radical Spirit; History and Spirit (1991); Red Hunting in the Promised Land (1994), a study of anticommunist repression in America; The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or The End of the World (Zed, 2002); and Overcoming Zionism (2007). As an activist, Joel has been engaged in struggles for peace and justice since the Vietnam War era. He has worked within the antiwar and antinuclear movements, the solidarity movements in Central America and the Caribbean, the movements for democratic media, and, increasingly, for ecological transformation. Joel joined the Green Party since 1990. In 1998, he was the Green Party candidate for US Senator from New York, and in 2000 sought the party's Presidential nomination.

Tony Gronowicz teaches U.S. history, global civilization, political science and human geography at the City University of New York. He edited Oswald Garrison Villard: The Dilemmas of the Absolute Pacifist in Two World Wars (1983); and authored Race and Class Politics in New York City Before the Civil War (1998) and Last Western Empire: A History of the United States from Spring to its Fall (2006). Tony was the 2005 Green Party candidate for Mayor of New York City and a 1996 Green Party candidate for State Assembly. He serves on the International Committee of the Green Party of the United States.

Crow Weaver is the founder of the Native Earthling Band in Ithaca. He was born in Virginia and grew up listening to blues, deep southern rock, and rockin' gospel. He started playing guitar when he was 13 and later picked up silver and Native American flutes. He has explored his Native American and Celtic ancestry to create a blend of spiritually-minded, earthy and edgy rock-and-roll. He calls his music Tribal Rock, as it transcends all race and creed to bring people together as one.

Tom Persichilli and Meg Krywe are members of the Lucky Pluckers, a band that performs folk/rock/old-timey music on mostly acoustic instruments built by Tom. Meg will speak at Green Fest about her work in the fight against a nuclear waste dump in Allegany County.

Kauffman, Jemison and Gerry to Speak on Sovereignty and Sustainability

Bill Kauffman, Peter Jemison and Lyn Gerry will be the speakers for a plenary session on sovereignty and sustainability, Sunday, August 9, 2009, 9:45 am — 11:15 am , on the solar stage on the Alfred University Campus Green, Alfred, NY. Bill Kauffman's talk is titled "Look Homeward, Greens: Why Localism Matters." Poetry readings by Michael Czarnecki will open and close the program.

Bill Kauffman is the author of eight books, including With Good Intentions? Reflections on the Myth of Progress in America (1998), Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town’s Fight to Survive (2003), Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists (2006), which the American Library Association named one of the best books of 2006 and which won the Andrew Eiseman Writers Award, Ain’t My America: The Long Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism (Henry Holt/ Metropolitan/2008), which Barnes & Noble named one of the best books of 2008; and Forgotten Founder: Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin (2008). Bill is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the American Conservative, the Independent, Counterpunch and Orion. Bill is a critic of development, writes approvingly of distributism and agrarianism, and is strongly anti-corporate. He has described his politics as "a blend of Catholic Worker, Old Right libertarian, Yorker transcendentalist, and delirious localist."

G. Peter Jemison is the manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site, a recreation of a 17th-century Seneca village, located in Victor, New York. He is the editor of Treaty of Canandaigua 1794: 200 Years of Treaty Relations between the Iroquois Confederacy and the United States (2002), and the director of the film, Hanondagonyes 'Town Destroyer,' in which Seneca tribe members re-enact events of the 18th-century colonial wars and the campaign against them. Peter represents the Seneca Nation on repatriation issues, and serves on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and formerly served on the board of directors of the American Association of Museums. He is also an artist whose work has been widely shown for more than two decades. His paintings and drawings have shown in solo exhibitions at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. He was the founding director of the American Indian Community House Gallery in New York City.

Lyn Gerry is the host and producer of the Unwelcome Guests radio program about wealth, power, and peoples' resistance to the corporate world order. Unwelcome Guests is broadcast on 20 radio stations across the US, including WEOS Geneva, WXXE-FM Syracuse and Ithaca Community Radio. Lyn is a founder and collective member of the A-Infos Radio Project, and a founder of the revived Watkins Glen Farmers Market.

Michael Czarnecki is a poet and a poetry publisher from Wheeler, NY. Mike, his wife Carolyn, and their sons Grayson and Chapin operate Foothills Publishing, now in its 24th year publishing poetry.

Weaver and Miner to Speak on Sustainable Energy

Art Weaver and Dan Miner will be the speakers for the plenary session, Saturday, August 8, 9:45 am — 11:00 am, on the solar stage on the Alfred University Campus Green, Alfred, NY. Art will speak about "Renewable Energy, the Audacity of Hope, the Reality of Change." Dan Miner will speak about how to create a post-carbon economy. Carl Lundgren's musical performances will open and close the program.

Art Weaver is President of Renovus Energy, a renewable energy systems design and installation company in Ithaca, NY. Prior to founding Renovus Energy, Art was a staff scientist at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron, conducting research in x-ray biophysics and proteomics. The accelerating pace of environmental degradation and social upheaval caused by increasing global population, in conjunction with a diminishing global petroleum resource, motivated Art to establish Renovus Energy.

Dan Miner is the chair of the Sierra Club NYC Group, and founded its Beyond Oil NYC campaign. He is the organizer of the Peak Oil NYC Meetup, the NYC affiliate of Post Carbon Institute. Dan, an attorney, is Senior Vice President of the Long Island City Business Development Corporation.

Carl Lundgren is the Chair of the Bronx County Green Party and a member of the best (and possibly the only) country band in the Bronx, Troy Willy.

Celebrating the Elie Siegmeister Centennial

Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams will open the concluding session of Green Fest Sunday, August 9, 2009, at 1:45 pm in Alfred University's Howell Hall, Alfred, NY, with a program Celebrating the Elie Siegmeister Centennial and Other Music Relevant for Our Time. Their concert is dedicated to the memory of Susan Blake and
Maria Kuriloff.

Program (the music is by Elie Siegmeister unless otherwise noted):
A Song to Begin - by Gerhard Bronner (Helene Williams-Leonard Lehrman)
Johnny Appleseed (Rosemary Benet,)
Two Songs of the City (Langston Hughes):
Chalk Marks on the Sidewalk
Childhood Memories
A Dream Deferred - by Leonard Lehrman (Langston Hughes)
Abraham Lincoln (Rosemary & Stephen Vincent Benet, ed. Leonard Lehrman)
Conspiritor Reality - from ALGER by Leonard Lehrman & Kim Rich
Guns Don't Kill People - by So-Hee Youn (Jamie Jackson)
Harvest Time
Conscience - by Leonard Lehrman (Abel Meeropol)
John Reed (Abel Meeropol)
Why Am I Painting the Living Room - by Lou & Peter Berryman
Where Do I Belong? - If I Can't Dance from E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman - by Leonard Lehrman & Karen Ruoff Kramer
Elie Siegmeister (Leonard Lehrman)

Leonard Lehrman, the former Assistant Chorus Master of the Metropolitan Opera, founded and directs the Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus. He is also the Co-Director of the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case, and Co-Author of the forthcoming bio-bibliography of Elie Siegmeister (1909-91), one of America's most prolific and socially-conscious composers. Leonard was Siegmeister's youngest and longest composition student (he also studied at Harvard, Cornell, Indiana, and with Nadia Boulanger in France), and has organized 23 of the 36 concerts honoring the Siegmeister Centennial this year, throughout the US and Europe, including this one. With Helene Williams, Leonard co-founded the Elie Siegmeister Society and Court Street Music in Valley Stream, Long Island. Leonard's own works (192 to date, including 10 operas) have been heard in 24 US States, 9 European countries, Russia, Israel, Australia, at the UN, and at the annual Northeast Naturist Festival in Moravia each August since2003. His current project is the opera ALGER, on Alger Hiss.

Helene Williams is co-founder of the Bronx Opera Company, Court Street Music, and the Elie Siegmeister Society. A faculty member at Queensborough Community College, she majored in Drama at CCNY and appeared Off-Off-Broadway and in summer stock, as well as on TV and in films. A professional concert, theater and opera singer, she has performed throughout Latin America, Australia, Israel; and all across Europe and North America in Leonard Lehrman's E.G.: A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman, New World, and Superspy!: The S-e-c-r-e-t Musical. Since beginning to work with Leonard in January 1987, she has performed together with him over 400 times; they were married July 14, 2002. They have recorded for Opus One, Premier, Capstone, Albany, and Original Cast Records. A Bronx Council on the Arts Career Development winner, Helene founded and directs Accent Reduction in English Speech.

Rasmussen and Mychelako to speak on the Politics of Sustainability

Virginia Rasmussen and Cyril Mychelako are the speakers for the opening plenary session of Green Fest, Friday, August 7, 2009, 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm in Nevins Theater in the Powell Campus Center at Alfred University, Alfred, NY. Virginia will discuss who has the power to implement sustainability and the political changes that need to be made if we are to achieve real sustainability. Cyril will talk about rights for nature, including the rights to nature clauses in Ecuador's new Constitution, the challenges Ecuadorians face in seeing them upheld, and the lessons for activists here in the United States. Deborah Magone's musical performances will open and close the evening.

Virginia Rasmussen is a principal with POCLAD, the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy and co-founded the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Corporations v. Democracy campaign. She previously directed the Education Program at the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod and headed the Environmental Studies Program at Alfred University, Alfred, New York. Virginia lives in Alfred and is a trustee of the village of Alfred.

Cyril Mychelako is an editor at www.UpsideDownWorld.org, an online magazine covering politics and activism in Latin America. He won two Project Censored awards this year for his critical coverage of the "Rights to Nature" clauses in Ecuador's constitution and for an article about the Bush Administration withholding lifesaving aid from Haiti. His writing and analysis has appeared in publications such as the BBC, The New York Times Online, The Miami Herald, New Politics, www.CommonDreams.org, NACLA online, and Z Magazine. In 2006, he worked as an Intag Solidarity Network human rights observer - working in solidarity with communities resisting mining in Ecuador. Cyril worked in the Southern Tier in the summer of 2007 to end the war in Iraq. He serves on the board of the Canary Institute, a transnational collective of individuals engaged in research, writing, teaching, solidarity, and action that address the problem of catastrophic systemic collapse.

Deborah performs solo and with her rock band, The Deborah Magone Band. Deborah's CD, "Blues, Boogie & More......", was chosen as "2004 Best Blues CD" by Walkin' Willie of WDYN 90.1 in Rochester. Her television show "Greenline" aired on Greece, NY Cable Access Channel 12 and Rochester RCTV Channel 15. Her show, Iraq: War of Choice, can be viewed on Google Video.