Amanda Grafton

Start your weekend off tonight with Italian Arias at a benefit concert at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Maplewood. Young Maplewood Soprano, Amanda Grafton, will present Viva Italia! A Concert and History of Italian Art Songs and Arias. She will be accompanied by pianist Duk kyu Kim of the Manhattan School of Music. Composers including Carissimi, Scarlatti, Bellini, Handel and Puccini, Verdi and Mozart. Half of the donation proceeds will go to St. Joseph’s Food Pantry and the other half will help sponsor Amanda’s summer vocal study in Italy with the Daniel Ferro Voice Conservatory.

Viva Italia! A Concert and History of Italian Art Songs and Arias
Thursday, June 30 at 7 pm
St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, 767 Prospect St, Maplewood, NJ
The concert is free but donations will be accepted.

Or bring a lawn chair to Church Street in Montclair for the Montclair International Film Festival’s Outdoor Screening of Apollo 13 and celebrate NASA’s final space shuttle mission with this Oscar nominated and winning movie about the 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission. Sit under the moon and watch a moon mission.

Outdoor Screening of Apollo 13
Thursday, June 30 at 8:30 pm (film starts at 9 pm)
Church Street, Montclair, NJ 07042
Free

Big Mike and Jersey Jump

It’s all about the Blues on Friday night, when West Orange kicks off its annual Blues Festival and Taste of Downtown sponsored by the WO Department of Recreation and the Downtown Alliance. Colgate Park will be filled with the sound of blues and a Downtown Food Court offering delicious eats from Guy’s Restaurant, Mazzi Dogz, Olga and Juanita’s Deli, SuzyQue’s BBQ and Bar, Taste of the Caribbean and desserts by Supreme Bakery. This year, the festival will inlcude the annual Skinner-Dunn Horseshoe Tournament too. Bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket and sit back and enjoy the free sounds of West Orange’s bluesmen. Here’s the lineup: Kevin Kiley and Outpatients at 7 pm, Big Mike and Jersey Jump at 8:15 pm and Al Gold and the Suburban Rhythm Kings at 9:30 pm.

West Orange Blues Festival and Taste of Downtown
Friday, July 1 beginning at 7 pm
Colgate Park, Franklin Avenue and Cherry Street, West Orange, NJ
Free

Start your patriotic celebrating early at Brookdale Park in Bloomfiled, where the 48-member  U.S. Military Academy Band will perform. According to its website, “The West Point Concert Band is a direct descendant of the small Band of Musick that had assembled at West Point by 1817.  The modest twenty-piece military band of that era has evolved into the 48-member wind band of today.Over the years, the Concert Band has earned the reputation of being among the finest of its kind in the world. The band’s events annually attract thousands of visitors to the academy to hear the finest in new and traditional concert band literature.” After the concert, enjoy a fireworks display. Bring a lawn chair and/or blankets and enjoy!

U.S. Military Academy Band Concert and Fireworks
Friday, July 1 at 7:30 pm
Brookdale Park, Bloomfield, NJ
Free

If you want to hear some cool jazz, then go to HLS (Health, Love and Soul) Juice Bar & Grill Restaurant in Montclair on Saturday night to hear Body & Soul headed by trumpeteer Alex Parchment, a Jazz House Kids alumni. Body and Soul is a fusion of Soul, Latin, R&B and Jazz, melodically wrapped in a sound that is pleasantly unique. Formally trained by Jazz House Kids, Body and Soul is starting to make its mark in the world of Jazz.

Body and Soul at HLS Juice Bar and Grill
Saturday, July 2 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
HLS Juice Bar and Grill, 387 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07042
Free

The rest of the weekend is all about the Fourth! Check here for where and how to celebrate. If you’re going to Montclair’s parade, make sure to give the Baristanet /Barista Kids float a super big cheer. We’ll smile and throw candy your way.

To see what else is going on in Baristaville, make sure to check our calendar.

Related Posts:

• $200 Ticket Giveaway to Jazz House Kids Benefit
• It Happened Last Night
• Baristaville Picnics At Brookdale Park