“Wackier” Opera Debuts with Local Talent Saturday in Park

by Jonathan Weaver

Music, both from the lips and instruments of local musicians and an internationally-touring opera, will fill Kittanning Riverfront Park Saturday evening.

At different stages along Water Street will be ‘Squonk Opera,’ West Kittanning’s Ben Valasek and his daughter, Isabel, Applewold Borough’s Damon Dosch and his son, Charlie, local musician Jeff Claypoole and the Travelers and Pittsburgh country band Ruff Creek.

Arts on the Allegheny Chairwoman Mary Ann Valasek said ‘Music Around the Park’ will feature the most musical acts in the park at one time

“We were kind-of siding for the festival atmosphere,” Valasek said.

Valasek has heard Squonk Opera perform, but Squonk Opera’s Artistic Director and Composer Jackie Dempsey said music fans should expect something a little different Saturday night.

“They’ll have to come to the show to hear what a squonk sounds like,” Dempsey laughed. “We think of ourselves as an opera company because we combine all the art forms the way Western opera does, but we wanted a funny word so people knew it was a bit wackier.”

Dempsey and fellow Artistic Director Steve O’Hearn spent about a year perfecting their latest show, Pneumatica – described as “an event about air, made of air and powered by air.” The show premiered at the 2014 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival

“(O`Hearn) is really interested in science and nature, and is inspired in terms of design – a design that is ‘out there’ and how things operate. Exploring those things, we’re able to do workshops and outreach activities for kids to teach them how we make all of our stuff happen,” Dempsey said. “(O`Hearn) leads the workshops as ‘Dr. Pneumatica’ and teaches all the kids about pneumatics and air and how we use the principles of pneumatics to make all the set pieces work.”

Dempsey, who grew up in Plum (Westmoreland County) taking piano lessons before going to graduate school for music composition and theory, now teaches piano in Forest Hills (Allegheny County) when she is not playing keyboard and accordion with ‘Squonk.’

“I’ve played in a couple groups here-and-there but Squonk’s always been my main musical adventure,” Dempsey said. “(O`Hearn) and I have been working as a team since 1992.”

This will be Squonk Opera’s Kittanning debut performance, even though the directors build and rehearse each show in a Tarentum barn.

“We’re happy to come – it’s exciting to do a gig close to home,” Dempsey said.

Valasek looked forward to their performance as well.

“It’s amazing – it’s something that everybody is going to enjoy,” Valasek said.
Pittsburgh Magazine’s editors chose Squonk Opera as their “Best Marriage of Sights and Sounds” earlier this month

A trio of acoustic groups will bring crowds to Kittanning Riverfront Park prior to Squonk Opera’s first performance at 6PM.

Ben said 13-year-old daughter Isabel, a former Kittanning Junior High chorus singer who performed with Armstrong Community Theater in the musical “Robin Hood” last month, will join her father for about five of his total 20 songs for her debut.

“We’ve been talking about doing something together and this came up and I thought it was a good time since it’ll be a little laid back and we’re not going to be on the main stage,” Ben said. “This is going to be the first time she sits in with me.”

Ben, who opened an Arts on the Allegheny concert featuring Gaelic Storm with his band “The Growlers” in 2013, and Isabel will perform both his original music and some cover music.

Damon Dosch will play mandolin and harmonica with his 10-year-old son, Charlie – a guitarist. The pair have practiced a bit each evening.

“He has played a few songs with my band – opening the show, he’s played four or five songs a couple times – but this is his first whole gig,” Damon said. “I have a lot of original music, and we’re even going to perform a song Charlie wrote – he always amazes me. I think he’s going to be an awesome musician.”

Damon is known locally for being with bands “Free Peanuts,” “Clusterfunk” and current rock group-“Jaggerbush Hollow.”

All three acoustic groups play at both 5PM and 6:30PM – with ‘Squonk’ in the middle and at 7:30PM- and ‘Ruff Creek’ ends the show in the John P. Murtha Amphitheatre at 8:30PM. All acts are free to the public.

 

 

 

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