ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cherry Arts is expanding the musical performances it hosts.
The plan to grow the music programming at the multidisciplinary Cherry Arts is a bright spot amid a tough time for local music venues in Ithaca. The number of venues has shrunk in recent years, but musicians still want places to play and people still want to go see live performances.
The Cherry is trying to meet that demand this summer with Cherry Music. The idea crystallized in a job interview. Musician Spencer Butts, 26, has held the newly created position of music coordinator at The Cherry for a little over a month now, but the position didn’t exist until he landed it.
Butts had applied to be the production and events manager at the Cherry and included a note that the music scene in Ithaca was suffering from the loss of venues. At that point, he’d spoken to many musicians who said how difficult it can be to break into the music scene in Ithaca.
Sam Buggeln, artistic and executive director of The Cherry Arts, interviewed Butts and decided to take him on and see what they could accomplish this summer. The music programming is planned to be year round, but focused in the summer since The Cherry schedules theater events from fall through the spring.
Butts said they aren’t just envisioning the usual gig scene where the venue delivers a check at the end of the performance. Cherry Music aims to be a collaborative effort where the venue works closely with musicians to create memorable performances.
“I think those are models that we have to move closer and closer to in this day and age,” he said.
As a multidisciplinary hub that aims to create “spaces for collaboration and experimentation across artistic and cultural boundaries,” it’s characteristic that The Cherry is up for something new.
Butts spoke to the value of rethinking nightlife outside of bars and clubs.
“More and more people around my age or younger are choosing to stay in. And I want to combat that a little bit, make it fun to come out again and put on different combined events,” Butts said. “And this is a multidisciplinary space. So I am looking to put on dance and live music events. We have the gallery here as well, so I’m looking to see where I can bridge the gaps between art and music, too, and just get people collaborating who maybe haven’t had the chance to yet.”
Butts has spent the past month working to build out the sound system, having conversations with other venue owners, and planning the first events. Cherry Music unofficially kicks off on June 12 with The Pretty Makers acoustic show in the Camilla Schade Studio at The Arthaus building.
The official launch is the Ithaca Musicians’ Alliance Meet Up on June 16, headed by musician and educator Kylie Brown. This will be an opportunity for musicians in the community to gather and give voice to what they would like to see for the future of Cherry Music and Ithaca’s music scene.
“Our vision right now is to really work closely with the community and see what they need from us,” Butts said. “We’re going to have our full stage set up then and hopefully have a nice jam afterwards. […] When I was meeting with Hank Roberts, who I’m currently booking here for a show this summer, he was saying how nice of an idea it would be if all the musicians could get together and talk and then play music.”
Musicians can RSVP to the meeting with the form prepared by The Cherry.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ithacavoice.org ’
