Tusten Theatre Fall Season

Celebrating American Music
Opens Saturday, October 2 with Paul West Trio
Box office: 845-252-7272


Tusten Theatre’s 2010 Fall Series, celebrating a wide spectrum of American music, opens with the Paul West Trio playing the works of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Duke Ellington on Saturday, October 2 at 8 p.m. For jazz lovers, this group is the real deal. Paul West (bass) is a jazz educator, performer, and producer who has played in orchestras from the symphony hall to Broadway and has taught, conducted, or produced every genre of music from JazzMobile to opera. He had a long tenure with Sir Roland Hanna’s Duo and Trio and with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra. West will share the stage with Richard Wyands (piano) who toured extensively with Kenny Burrell for over a decade, and has played with many other top musicians including Freddie Hubbard, Zoot Sims, Frank Foster.


The series continues on Saturday, October 16 with “Music of Our Time,” a concert featuring the Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra playing a newly commissioned work by long-time contributing composer David Tcimpidis of Livingston Manor. Over the past 20 years, Tcimpidis has written many works for the Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra, which has commissioned him to write a new work for this year’s concert.

Classical chamber music meets Latin percussion in Tcimpidis’ “Dance Suite in the International Latin Style” featuring special guest artists Matt Sullivan and Chacho Ramirez. Sullivan is a well-known oboist specializing in contemporary music. Percussionist Ramirez is widely known for his work in jazz, Latin jazz, Caribbean, South American, and African rhythms..


Closing the season on Saturday, October 30 is the folk/rock duo Mike and Ruthy, who will perform work from their new CD, “Million to One.” Mike and Ruthy met in New York City, just out of college. Daughter to Hudson Valley fiddling legend Jay Ungar and folk-singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy’s past was steeped in the folk tradition. Mike had his musical roots planted in the ska-punk and rock scene. The two formed the folk-rock behemoth The Mammals. Now married and settled outside Woodstock, NY, they tour with a full band or as a duo.

“We’re proud, in this twentieth Tusten Theatre season, to still be able to present such excellent talent,” says Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Executive Director, Elaine Giguere. “No amount of electronics can replace the live music experience and we welcome everyone to take advantage of it.”

The Fall Series is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties.

All shows begin at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15 (with a $2 discount on advanced sales for DVAA members).

For reservations call the Tusten Theatre box office at 845-252-7272.



Many audience members were introduced to the Tusten Theatre after it was renovated by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in 1990. The theatre, however, has had several transformations. In its first life, if was called Community Hall, a dance and banquet hall built by the Narrowsburg firemen in 1926 to accommodate community activity. The firemen also showed films fairly regularly, as is evidenced by several posters still hanging in the theatre’s outer lobby.

In the 1930’s, the firemen leased the hall to Harvey English, a theatre chain owner from Hancock, NY. He converted the hall to a sloped floor movie house and ran the Park Theater for several years. The movie operation closed in 1985 and the firemen sold the building to the Town of Tusten for use as a town hall.

In 1987, DVAA took over management of the theatre portion for cultural events, and it was renamed Tusten Theatre. A cooperative effort by the Town, DVAA, and Sullivan County Planning Department resulted in a Community Development Block Grant to renovate the space for handicapped accessibility. A grand re-opening was held March 24, 1990.

In the past 19 years, the Tusten has presented or hosted over 500 events, from jazz to opera to one-person shows.


TUSTEN THEATRE • 210 BRIDGE ST • NARROWSBURG, NY • 845-252-7272