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Jake Landau: The Next Leonard Bernstein?

Posted on June 2, 2012 | 2 comments

After you’ve composed a piece for the New York Philharmonic, what’s left in life?

How about writing writing choral music for the Conservative Synagogue?

That’s Jake Landau’s latest feat.

Of course, much more lies ahead. Jake is only a Staples High School junior.

Jake Landau

A multi-talented junior, that’s for sure. A student at the Juilliard School pre-college program, a member of the New York Youth Symphony and a national PTA “Reflections” award winner, he’s been playing piano — and composing — almost all his young life.

Classical music is his favorite. But Jake is equally comfortable writing opera, musical theater, soundtracks — and now, a piece for his synagogue.

His work will be performed tomorrow (Sunday, June 3, 7 p.m.) as part of the “On a Chai Note: A Musical Celebration of Israel” concert. Accompanying Jake on piano are 2 other nationally recognized young musicians (and temple members): cellist Danielle Merlis and violinist Sam Weiser.

Amazingly, this is Jake’s 2nd world premiere this spring. Last month, the New York Philharmonic performed a piece he wrote for their School Day concert. That one, he says, was “adventurous, aggressive and knotty.” Tomorrow’s piece is “simpler.” A synagogue is not a concert hall.

Working from a text, Jake composed this work for the “up-in-the-stratosphere soprano” cantor.

Jake Landau, rehearsing at the synagogue’s piano. (Photo/Marcy Juran)

He calls the process “very rewarding. It’s not just that it will be performed by my choir. Most of my pieces are done in high-pressure concert halls, and everyone is rushed for time. This is a much more personal environment.”

Conservative Synagogue Chorale member Marcy Juran is “blown away” by Jake’s talent.

“He understands how to create a beautiful piece of music,” she says. “But the way he explains his work to the choir — how it’s constructed, how he envisions it to sound, how his music matches the liturgical text — is unparalleled.

“It reminds me of hearing Leonard Bernstein explain music — but Jake is only 16! It is a joy to listen to play his piece on the piano, direct us, and understand from him what this is all about.

Still a teenager, Jake understands the long tradition he’s part of. “Music is a craft that’s existed almost as long as man,” he notes. “Music is practical, emotive and evocative. Music is everywhere. I’m proud to help continue that legacy.”

Danielle Merlis and Sam Weiser will also perform at the Conservative Synagogue tomorrow. (Photo/Marcy Juran)

Though Jake also studies piano at Juilliard, his playing is secondary to composing. In fact, he says, “some of the pieces I write are too difficult for me to play. Someone plays my stuff for me.”

He hopes to make a career in music — writing film scores, operas, commercial soundtracks, “whatever.”

So — after spending the past 2 summers at Interlochen and Tanglewood — this year Jake will stay home. He’ll write orchestral and chamber pieces for his conservatory and music school applications.

Oh, yeah. His college essay, too.

(“On a Chai Note: A Musical Celebration of Israel” free concert takes place Sunday, June 3, 7 p.m. at The Conservative Synagogue, 30 Hillspoint Rd. The program also includes The Western Wind, a renowned a cappella sextet, and Jewish choral singers from throughout Fairfield County. For more information, click here.)

2 Comments

Posted in Arts, People, religion, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged Jake Landau, Juilliard School pre-college program, Leonard Bernstein, New York Youth Symphony, Sam Weiser, The Conservative Synagogue of Westport

Teens TAG Drunk Driving

Posted on June 1, 2012 | 39 comments

The Staples prom is tomorrow (Saturday, June 2). Graduation follows quickly. Like teenagers everywhere, Westporters celebrate. They party. They drink.

TAG — Staples’ Teen Awareness Group — is not stupid. Members are students; they know their peers, and they know how to have a good time themselves.

But they want everyone to be around for years to come. And — more directly– they want them at graduation.

To ensure that happens, TAG produced a video. Using real Westporters — ranging from high school students to Staples grads and parents — they describe what drunk driving did to friends and relatives.

And themselves.

The video is not easy to watch.

But neither are the results of drunk driving accidents.

39 Comments

Posted in Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged drunk driving, Staples Teen Advisory Group

Aux Delices Opens

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 7 comments

Square pizzas and meatball parms are out. Mushroom barley burgers and quinoa pilaf are in.

That’s the menu, now that Aux Delices has replaced Arcudi’s — the family restaurant that twice occupied the Post Road building next to Carvel’s.

This is the 4th Aux Delices in Fairfield County. Husband-and-wife owners Gregory Addonizio and Debra Ponzek opened the first 3 in Riverside, downtown Greenwich and Darien.

Like those, this one features specialty imported and local foods, freshly baked desserts and full-service catering.

It’s more like Chef’s Table — a previous tenant — than Arcudi’s, which both preceded and followed it.

~~Mangia!~~ Bon appétit!

7 Comments

Posted in Restaurants

Tagged Arcudi's, Aux Delices

A Bridge Too Near

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 6 comments

Westporters might have read recent “06880” posts about the possible reconstruction of the Route 57 bridge near Cobb’s Mill, and not cared. It won’t happen for several years. Besides, it’s Weston.

Well, this news strikes closer to home.

There’s a good possibility the North Avenue bridge over the Merritt Parkway will also need work. Patching, waterproofing, possible full deck repair — all are on tap for the 72-year-old art deco span.

The North Avenue Merritt Parkway bridge.

Because it’s not over water, there are fewer environmental issues — so it will probably come up for work sooner than Route 57.

North Avenue is a major Westport thoroughfare, carrying 2300 vehicles a day. More importantly, it’s an important accessway to 4 schools: Staples, 2 middle schools and Coleytown El.

Construction could take 8 months. Detours would last for 4 of them.

Westporters will have to find another way to get to school.

And Cobb’s Mill.

6 Comments

Posted in Environment, Places, Staples HS

Tagged Cobb's Mill Inn, Merritt Parkway, North Avenue, Route 57

Improved Terrain

Posted on May 30, 2012 | 12 comments

Less than 2 weeks ago, Crescent Road was under siege. Overflow parking, trash and noise from the new Terrain was making life unbearable for residents of that once-quiet street looping peacefully behind the new store, from McDonald’s to the fire station.

Cliff Montagna wrote “06880.” Calmly but none-too-pleasedly, he stated his case.

Almost instantly, the police and Planning and Zoning went to work. Today, Cliff emailed this:

Just wanted to post an update on the very improved situation here on Crescent Road.

I understand Police Chief Dale Call had a discussion with the Terrain management team, and many of our safety concerns have been addressed. Big thanks to Chief Call for your help!

Our school bus can now get down Crescent Road. There is no more parking up and down the road or in our driveways.

I do think we should consider petitioning the P&Z to activate the 47 reserve parking spaces for this site. There are 6 or 7 parking spots around back that are filled in with storage items and unable to be used, and the Terrain staff employs a valet parking system as the existing parking is just not adequate. It’s a thought.

Thanks again, Dan.

Well, I’d like to take credit. But the praise goes to our police department, the folks at P&Z, and Terrain’s management.

Hey, Washington: Are you listening? This is the way government and the private sector are supposed to work.

It’s called “common sense.” And “cooperation.”

Calm reigns at Terrain.

12 Comments

Posted in Local business, Local politics, People, Police, Restaurants

Tagged Crescent Road, Dale Call, Terrain

Westport Leads; LA Follows

Posted on May 30, 2012 | 23 comments

Mostly, whatever Westport’s got, Los Angeles has more.

People. Beaches. Traffic.

But for nearly 4 years we had something LA did not: a ban on plastic bags.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to phase out plastic bags at supermarkets over the next 16 months. It’s the largest US city to do so.

The LA ban differs somewhat from Westport’s. Theirs covers supermarkets only; our, all retail stores.

And Los Angeles will charge customers 10 cents for each paper bag. Here, they’re free.

But while the California vote seems almost archaic to us now, it’s instructive to look back at 2008. The RTM vote made Westport the 1st town in Connecticut — and one of the few in the country — with such an ordinance.

Many Westporters were not pleased. What about garbage bags, lawn and leaf bags, UPS bags, even sandwich bags? some smirked. (Well, they should be banned too, proponents countered.)

Paper bags are even worse for the environment than plastic! one side said.

Billy Ray Cyrus finds a good use for plastic bags.

There were arguments that better recycling of plastic bags would serve the same purpose, with less hassle. That plastic is not the real problem — littering is. Even that plastic bags are necessary to pick up dog poop.

Is this really an ordinance that does good? opponents asked. Or does it just feel good?

I have no hard evidence, but it seems many Westporters regularly tote cloth bags into supermarkets. Certainly, lots of local businesses and non-profits make them available, as part of their marketing and branding efforts.

But the bottom line is this: Despite all the naysayers, we adapted quickly. These days, getting plastic bags at stores outside Westport is almost as surprising as seeing smokers.

Soon, nearly 4 million Angelenos will realize what 25,000 Westporters have known for years: Like it or loath it, the plastic bag ban works.

23 Comments

Posted in Environment

Tagged Los Angeles plastic bag ban, Westport plastic bag ban

Cobb’s Mill: Part 3

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 7 comments

Saturday’s post on the possible closure of the Route 57 bridge — a main gateway to the newly reopened Cobb’s Mill Inn — did not cause the stir I thought it might.

Maybe Weston’s telegraph operator was off for the weekend.

Here are a few more details, from an engineer who appears to know something:

“Bridge No. 01023” (to use its official state number) has been placed on a list of bridges needing rehabilitation. A study report is being prepared, and engineers are performing a hydraulic analysis.

Construction would start in 5 to 8 years. Many bureaucratic steps remain between today and 2017 (or 2020). Two major ones are funding and priorities.

The engineer stresses that there is no safety concern with the bridge. Routine inspections have identified, however, that it is showing its age. It was built around 1933.

The engineer — thinking ahead — hopes residents will weigh in on the choice between detouring traffic (for an expedited construction schedule) or maintaining traffic (and taking a long time to construct a new bridge).

Route 57 has no viable detour. It is an important route to Georgetown, and a major conduit to Weston center.

In the meantime, the road — and the bridge — to Cobb’s Mill Inn are open. Use them!

7 Comments

Posted in Places, Restaurants

Tagged Cobb's Mill Inn, Route 57

“The Sound & The Saugatuck” — Go See It!

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 7 comments

For years, the Westport Historical Society has mounted educational, informative exhibits. They’re on manageable topics — Longshore, local cartoonists, Westporters and TV — because, let’s face it, it’s a volunteer-run museum with not a lot of space.

But the current exhibit is huge — in scope of geography, sweep of time and importance.

“The Sound & The Saugatuck” opened last week. It runs through September 1, and whether you’re a history buff, geology freak, nature lover, environmentalist or someone who has ever driven across the river or enjoyed the beach, it’s not to be missed.

Using stunning modern aerial photos and seldom-seen black-and white shots; maps; artifacts; even fish and animals — and with plenty of explanatory (but not overwhelming) text — the exhibit covers 9,000 years of geologic, natural, economic, political, demographic, social, ecological and conservation history.

In a word, it’s fascinating.

For example, I’d heard that ferries crossed the Saugatuck. But I didn’t realize how important they were to daily life and commerce. And I didn’t know that George Washington used them twice here, in 1756 and ’75. (In 1780 and ’89 he traveled through what is now Westport by carriage.)

One small part of the WHS exhibit.

I never thought about the impact our bridges have on tidal floods, soil and water chemistry, and plant and animal habitats. Or the impact of the foul-smelling, polluting Riverside Avenue tannery that discharged waste into the river.

I did not understand how much the geography we believe is “natural” has been altered by dredging, damming, diversions and landfill.

There are panels on the glacial era, Indians, Dutch coastal exploration, shellfishing, maritime commerce, hydropower milling and manufacturing, modern recreation and more. In a nod to very recent history, there’s important info on the stormwater impact of Hurricane Irene.

And, of course, plenty on the amazing Sherwood Mill Pond.

A fantastic look back at the Sherwood Mill Pond.

There are shout-outs to our beaches (including oft-forgotten Burying Hill), marinas, islands like Cockenoe — and the Black Duck. (What was the barge before it served burgers and brew? A bait shop. And — don’t laugh — a dress consignment store.)

Back in the day, Compo Beach boasted portable bathhouses.

Speaking of the beach: I learned that in 1902 the town won a lawsuit asserting it — and not Compo Hill landowner David Bradley — had control of the beach. Seven years later, authorities demolished “unsightly shacks and tents in the Bradley Street section, dispersing vagrant squatters and rat-infested filth and trash.”

Now that’s the kind of historical exhibit I like!

“The Sound and the Saugatuck” covers the, um, waterfront. In fact, there’s only one thing missing:

No back story on the vessel mired in the Saugatuck River mud, just west of the Bridge Street bridge.

I’ve seen it for years. And, judging from many brief glimpses, it looks like it’s been there for centuries.

(“The Sound & The Saugatuck” runs through September 1 at the Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place. The WHS is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturdays, 12-4 p.m. For information, call 203-222-1424.)

Cockenoe Island from the air — one of many amazing photos exhibited at the Westport Historical Society.

7 Comments

Posted in Beach, Environment, History, Longshore, Looking back, Organizations, Places, Saugatuck

Tagged Black Duck, Burying Hill Beach, Cockenoe Island, Saugatuck River, Westport Historical Society

New York, New York: A Wonderful Start-Up Town

Posted on May 28, 2012 | 1 comment

When the New York Times needed an entrepreneur to illustrate today’s story on the city’s increasing allure for tech start-ups, it turned to Doug Imbruce.

The 1999 Staples graduate “wanted to start an interactive video company in 2009, (yet) he had no luck finding investors in New York,” Joshua Brustein wrote.

So he moved to Silicon Valley — where venture capitalists were receptive to his pitch — and founded Qwiki.

But in February, he decided that being so far away from the nation’s big media companies was stifling his start-up’s growth. So he moved back to New York, bringing the company with him. Qwiki, with 15 employees, now operates out of a SoHo loft space.

Doug Imbruce

“We went to Silicon Valley because they understood how big we wanted to get,” Mr. Imbruce said, “and we moved back to fulfill that promise.”

The piece goes on to describe New York’s advantages over Silicon Valley — proximity to the media, advertising and fashion industries, for example (important now that the tech industry is focusing more on consumer products), as well as the “myopia” in the Valley.

Venture capital financing is changing too, the Times says.

When Mr. Imbruce sought investment for Qwiki in New York in 2009, his pitch fell flat. He did eventually find a California-based investor who offered to back the company, but only if Mr. Imbruce moved west and immersed himself in the Silicon Valley scene. He agreed, and soon found investors to be much more receptive, to the tune of $10.5 million in financing.

What eventually drew Mr. Imbruce back to New York was the gravitational pull of the major media companies. Soon after arriving in New York, Qwiki began meeting regularly with ABC to discuss how the network could use Qwiki’s tools. Last week, the two companies announced a partnership.