The Hopewell Theater gives an important area environmental region center stage with the Tuesday, September 28, presentation of “Save the Sourlands SoloFest.”
“SoloFest” combines documentary filmmaking and music performances to raise public awareness and funds to address a serious threat to the Sourlands, home to several threatened and endangered species in central New Jersey.
Musicians recorded original songs alone or with a household partner, surrounded by Sourland landscapes, including St. Michaels Farm Preserve, Hunterdon County Sourland Mountain Preserve, Baldpate Mountain, Hidden Spring Lavender Farm, and Unionville Vineyards.
Featured musicians include:
Hopewell native Danielia Cotton, a prominent performer and recording artist who has participated in Sourlands music festivals and is currently releasing a tribute to Charlie Pride;
Abbie Gardner and her husband, Craig Akin of Jersey City, who premiered a new song, “Cypress Tree.” Gardner has a solo career and is part of the Red Molly band;
Stacey and Alan Schulman, the As Is Jazz duo, of Llewellyn Park, who have been hailed for “hot scat singing” and “heated guitar playing” on their “Here’s to Life” album;
And Jonathan Tetelman, an opera singer from Titusville who has been described in the New York Times as “a total star.”
The film also includes an ensemble of more than a dozen musicians recorded solo or combined as one in the studio of music director Cliff Wilson of Princeton. Wilson also co-produced the original documentary, “The Sourlands: A New Jersey Treasure.”
The documentary aspect of the film focuses on the beauty and ecology of the Sourlands, as well as the serious threats facing the forest. Among the regional naturalists and scientists providing commentary and insights are Jim Amon, Rush Holt, Sharyn Magee, Jennifer Rogers, Hannah Suthers, and foresters from the New Jersey Forest Service.
“The Sourlands are one of the great natural and recreation assets of New Jersey, and it needs our help,” says Brad Fay, “SoloFest” co-producer and founder of an agritourism initiative, Discover Central New Jersey. “Regardless of your familiarity with the Sourlands, this event can serve to deepen your love for this region, or to help you make the first acquaintance.”
The accompanying panel discussion will be led by Sourland Conservancy director Laurie Cleveland, who joined the organization to fight the Penn East pipeline project.
She will be joined by panelists Jenn Rogers, director of stewardship, Mercer County Parks; Didier Jimenez Castro, leader for Our Revolution Hillsborough; Maya Van Rossum, leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and founder, Green Amendments For the Generations; and John Cifelli, general manager of Unionville Vineyards and past executive director of the Garden State Wine Growers Association.
Also participating are the film’s co-producers, Fay, president of Stepping Stone Strategies and the Millstone Valley Preservation Coalition, and Wilson, Sourland Conservancy emeritus trustee.
Save the Sourlands SoloFest, Hopewell Theater, 5 South Greenwood Avenue, Hopewell. Tuesday, September 28, 7 p.m. $20. 609-466-1964 or www.hopewelltheater.com.
