Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts to open May 23; announces 2025 programming
- Adirondack Almanack
- May 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 17
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Blue Mountain Lake, NY—The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts (ALCA) has announced its exciting lineup of programming for the 2025 season with the theme “Arts for All”, presenting an expanded lineup of live music and theatre, workshops, art-gallery exhibits, kids’ activities, and a new speaker series in celebration of its brand-new location, a beloved former resort.
ALCA reopens May 23, and season activities kick off with the speaker series on June 22, a concert on June 24, a ribbon-cutting, concert, and return of the No-Octane Regatta on June 28, and return of the Annual ALCA Auction on July 6. The Arts Center will be open this year through Oct. 11, and new hours will be announced. For everything going on at the Arts Center, check out adirondackarts.org.
For performances, the Arts Center’s 2025 lineup will include classical, jazz, R&B, African and Indian, and Broadway music through its Weekend Concert Series, kicking off with the return of cello-piano duo Schwarz and Bournaki on June 28 and featuring a return by Arts Center favorites the Durham County Poets on July 25. The Tuesdays@ALCA series is also back, showcasing locally based or connected performers excited to rock our new Performance Space. The “Arts for All” theme continues with three touring ADK LAKES Theatre Festival productions: The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn in mid-July; Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It in late July; and Seasons of Change: A Musical Revue! in August.
For adult workshops, activities will feature a Chalk Project by New York City chalk artist Anthony Cappetto July 8-10, a textiles residency and workshops Aug. 4-10 by Andrea Spiridonakos, workshops by Indian Lake’s Lauren Walker that will include explorations in watercolor, acrylic, plaster-relief sculpture, and collaging, a loon-carving workshop with Rick and Ellen Butz, iPhone photography workshops with Sally Wheeler, and a paint and sip with PaintWithPatrice. Kids’ Arts Camp activities will again be offered this year on Thursdays and Fridays, running July 17–August 22.
In addition, gallery exhibits at the Arts Center will return with shows curated by artists Sandy Litchfield and Peter Coffin, along with exhibits by Cari Clement, Susan Hoffer, Russ Hartung, Sandra Hildreth, Ingrid Van Slyke, Barry Lobdell, Noah Bonesteel, Ann Womack, Steve Arcone, and Monika Kalra.
A brand-new feature of the Arts Center’s programming in 2025 is the Alfred Z. Solomon Speaker Series, with a fascinating Sunday lineup of lectures and related activities that will include C. Flemming Heilmann, Hallie Bond, author Joe Connelly, pianist Ryan Reilly, David Oestreicher, Ella McPherson, Pamela Aall, Anna Mudeka, and Ustad Shafaat Khan. Sponsored by the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust, this series will be free and open to the public. Start times will vary; go to our website for details.
The 2025 Weekend Concert Series kicks off on Sat., June 28, with the Schwarz Bournaki Duo (cello/piano), followed on Sat., July 19, by clarinetist Bixby Kennedy, accompanied by pianist Steven Beck. On Fri., July 25, the Durham County Poets bring their jazz & blues sound from Canada, followed by concert pianist Ryan Reilly on Sat., Aug. 2. On Sat., Aug. 16, piano duo Stephanie & Saar return to the Arts Center, followed by the exciting American Brass Quintet on Sat., Aug. 30. In September, the Arts Center will host Anna Mudeka with her show Mama Afrika on Sat., Sept. 6, following the resounding success of a 2024 UK tour, and the Arts Center will again host the Seagle Festival on Fri., Sept. 12, with their program of music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. On Oct. 4, Ustad Shafaat Khan returns to the Arts Center with a program of multicultural fusion on sitar, tabla, and other instruments.
All Weekend Concert Series performances begin at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available through the Arts Center website at a reduced advance price and at the door. Sponsors of the series include the West Bay Fund and the Joe & Rita Coney Memorial Fund.
2025 also sees the return of Tuesdays@ALCA, featuring a wide-ranging lineup of full-year or part-year Adirondacks-based or -connected performers. This year’s performers are: June 24, the Yod Squad; July 1, Bark Eaters; July 8, the Circular Jazz Trio; July 22, the Bob Stump Duo; Aug. 5, Pablo Cafici; and Aug. 12, the Honey Bears. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m., with a $15 donation suggested at the door. Through this series, the Arts Center again celebrates the diversity and talent of our region, featuring genre-leaping programs by performers from close to home. Tuesdays@ALCA is sponsored by a Generous Acts grant from the Adirondack Foundation.
In addition to concerts, the touring ADK LAKES Theatre Festival (ALTF) returns in 2025 with three productions. First up, The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn. This winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which originally starred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn and was later revived with Julie Harris and Charles Durning, uses a card game as a metaphor for life. This production, co-directed by Karen Lordi-Kirkham and Jordan Hornstein, features Jordan Hornstein as Weller Martin and Anne Buckwheat as Fonsia Dorsey. Performances will be: July 11 & 12, the Arts Center; July 13, Tannery Pond Center, North Creek; July 14, Indian Lake Theater, Indian Lake; July 15, View Arts, Old Forge; and July 17, The Wild Center, Tupper Lake. Tickets are available online.
Next up is Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It, abridged and directed by Karen Lordi-Kirkham and presented free and outdoors, July 26-Aug. 1. Venues will include: Arrowhead Park, Inlet; Overlook Pavilion, Newcomb; Mt. Sabattis Pavilion, Long Lake; Sunset Stage, Tupper Lake; Speculator Pavilion, Speculator; Minerva Pavilion, Minerva; and the Arts Center (additional venue TBA). Featured performers include Annachristi Cordes, Julia Black, Charlotte Peartree Moon, Henry Sirota, Joseph D’Amore, Karen Lordi-Kirkham, and George Cordes.
Finally, the ALTF season will conclude with Seasons of Change: A Musical Revue! showcasing the talents of some of the theatre festival’s favorite stars from past seasons and celebrating new beginnings and transitions, a connection to the past and traditions, and inclusion & diversity. Included is music from such shows as Rent, Wicked, Fiddler on the Roof, Ragtime, Cabaret, Company, Camelot, Greatest Showman, Spamalot, Songs for a New World, and more. Conceived & co-directed by George and Elizabeth Cordes, the production will feature Annachristi Cordes, Chelsea Bolles, Julia Black, Kendall Davison, Sam Brown, Danielle LaMere, Karen Lordi-Kirkham, and George Cordes, with accompaniment by Elizabeth Cordes. Performances will be: Aug. 23, the Arts Center; Aug. 24, Tannery Pond Center, North Creek; Aug. 25, Indian Lake Theater, Indian Lake; Aug. 26, View Arts, Old Forge; and Aug. 27, Tupper Lake Middle/High School Auditorium, Tupper Lake. Tickets are available online.
The ADK LAKES Theatre Festival is made possible by funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, along with the Glenn & Carol Pearsall Foundation, and our generous business and individual sponsors.
With the new location of the Arts Center being a former resort, the Arts Center now is renting cabins through the season, each just steps away from the shoreline of pristine Blue Mountain Lake. Swim, kayak, paddle-board or just relax in an Adirondack chair and enjoy the gifts that nature has provided at your doorstep. Then stroll up to the Main Lodge and immerse yourself in arts programming, exhibits and workshops. For more information on lakeside lodging, go to adirondackarts.org/lodging.
And for details on all the exciting programming at the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, along with links to tickets and workshop registration, go to our website, adirondackarts.org, or contact us at info@adirondackarts.org. ALCA is now located at 8897 State Route 30, Blue Mountain Lake, NY.
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