The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Spring Spirits’ supports jazz camp
Guests bid on trips, tickets during party at distillery
LITCHFIELD — Saturday night’s weather was a mild 60 degrees, and a large pink full moon hung in the cloudless night sky. In other words, it was a beautiful night for the “Spring Spirits” event at the Litchfield Distillery at 569 Bantam Road.
The annual spring fundraiser, attended by 55 people, included a live jazz performance by the Albert Rivera Consortium, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, desserts and live and silent auctions, all to benefit the annual Litchfield Jazz Camp.
Overseeing the event was Vita Muir, founder and executive director of Litchfield Performing Arts.
“We have playing with the band tonight a drummer who is a jazz aamp alumnus and who is 16 years old,” she said, prior to the auction, emphasizing for the audience the tangible good that is found in donating to the Jazz Camp.
Organizers said the $75per-ticket spring fundraiser was expected to raise approximately $20,000 for the summer’s 22nd annual Litchfield Jazz Camp. The camp hosts 350 residential and day students age 13 and up to study jazz. This year’s camp will be held at The Gunnery, a private coeducational boarding school in nearby Washington, in July. The camp culminates at the Litchfield Jazz Festival at the Goshen Fairgrounds, scheduled this year for July 27-29.
Previous spring fundraisers have included 2017’s “Spirits of Love” Valentine’s Day event at the Lichfield Distillery and parties at a donor’s home in Washington.
Muir said before the event: “I don’t need to talk to you about the current state funding climate. Especially now, we need to do everything we can do to keep the core mission of the camp: To accept kids who can’t afford it. We have a history of never once turning away any student because of finances.” Muir said each year anywhere between 15 and 20 percent of students attend the camp via scholarships.
Guests sampled local wines and bourbons, tasted gourmet chocolates, and sampled a collection of hors d’oeuvres including crab cakes, beef tenderloin crostini and pork-and-gnocchi cakes, as well as various desserts — cannolis, lemon squares and fruit tarts — all provided by Ciesco Catering Company of Torrington.
One speaker prior to the live auction, Justin Wilbur of Ridgefield, attested to the jazz camp’s effectiveness on his own son.
“Our son came to us at age 10 and said he was a really good drummer and wanted to study at the Camp,” Wilbur said. “Upon going to the camp, he found out that many other students could play other instruments besides drums, and he was put on the low end of skill sets.”
Instead of being discouraged, that made the young drummer more determined, his father said.
“Whereas another kid might have said ‘Screw it,’ it was a credit to the camp that it encouraged him to rise to the challenge and to learn more,” Wilbur said. “Since then, he has been taking private drum and piano lessons, and we just got a piano for him. What could have been a crushing experience to our son became a challenge, and we credit the camp for it, because it is truly all about the music.”
Litchfield Performing Arts coordinator Ellie Lambert, managing director Tegan Ryan, and WNPR journalist John Dankosky auctioned five vacation and class packages. A Premier Litchfield Jazz Festival Package with a brunch, drinks, and concert tickets for two to the July shows, finally sold for $700.
“Every time Vita asks me to participate, I have to say yes,” Dankosky told the crowd between auctions. “I have seen a lot of kids go through the program and learn how to play music and have careers.”
Amid animated bidding, Dankosky’s wife, sitting in the back of room, won the bid for a “Spanish Getaway Package” that included seven nights staying at a private residence on Costa Brava along the coast of Spain, for $1,800.
“Is there anyone who would like to bid on the next item who is not married to me?” Dankosky joked with the crowd. “National Public Radio after all is ‘public.’”
Other auctioned vacation packages and classes included a cooking class and dinner for up to 10 people taught by celebrity chef Chris Prosperi of Simsbury’s acclaimed restaurant Metro Bis; an “Adirondacks Retreat” for six people in an Indian Lake, New York, home, sold for $1,500; a six-person sunset boat cruise and dinner at Muir’s Tyler Lake house in Goshen, auctioned for $1,000; and a Holland America Cruise for seven days along the Caribbean and Mexico, was auctioned for $2,100.
Some silent auction items displayed on a table in front of the stacks of bourbon barrels against the Distillery’s walls, included an Andover Classic Wines Basket valued at $110; a jazz show at Waterbury’s Palace Theater’s Poli Club ($250); and a soprano saxophone and lesson from jazz camp teacher and musician Dane Ballou ($600). A nearby “Giving Tree,” was festooned with typewritten paper tags that included donations by individuals and companies, such as $500 donated from the Arthur J. Miller Scholarship Fund.
Jazz Camp volunteer Lisa Cruse of Sharon commented, “Our spring fundraiser is always a great event, and this is a great space for a party and, surprisingly, for music acoustics.”
Following drinks and dessert, Peter Adomeit, president of Litchfield Performing Arts, made a valedictory short speech, thanking the guests for their contributions.
For tickets and information about the jazz camp and the Litchfield Jazz Festival, go to https://litchfield jazzfest.com and https:// litchfieldjazzcamp.com