2012 Pastorius Park concert series back for another season

The Chestnut Hill Community Association is bringing its family-friendly Pastorius Park Summer Concerts back to the neighborhood this month. The free concert series will again be held on Wednesday evenings in Pastorius Park at 7:30pm starting June 13 and running until the final show Aug 1. No concert will be held on July 4.

The Pastorius Park Summer Concerts line-up features local musicians with a worldly blend of influences. Kicking off the music series will be Sharon Katz & The Peace Train. Katz is a Grammy nominated South African singer-guitarist whose music is a fusion of traditional South African music with rock rhythms and jazz.

The Mt. Airy resident is renown for bringing 500 multicultural voices together in a newly post-Apartheid South Africa. The 1992 choir performance was called When Voices Meet and led to Katz’s 1993 railway concert tour with 150 “Peace Train” musicians who played in support of peace, democracy and Nelson Mandela. Sharon Katz & The Peace Train continue to combine performance with humanitarian efforts in support of human rights, education and conflict resolution.

Noreen Spota, Administrative Coordinator for the CHCA stated that it will cost between $20,000 and $24,000 to put on the concert series this year. To fund this year’s Pastorius Park Summer Concerts the CHCA received grant money from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, the Barra Foundation and a donation from Chestnut Hill Hospital. Spota said the CHCA also raises money for the shows via advertisement space on the concert schedule flier and by asking for voluntary donations from the audience.

Spota noted that WXPN will be promoting three of this year’s concerts (Toy Soldiers, Hezekiah Jones and Hot Club of Philadelphia).

Here’s a look at the complete 2012 Pastorius Park Summer Concerts line-up:

June 13 – Sharon Katz & The Peace Train – African rhythms

June 20 – Toy Soldiers – twangy bluesy rock

June 27 – Hezekiah Jones – indie folk music

July 11 – The Venissa Santi Quartet – Latin jazz

July 18 – Runa – contemporary Celtic music

July 25 – Hot Club of Philadelphia – acoustic Gypsy jazz

August 1 – The Dukes of Destiny – R&B soul