The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its origins in 1922. The RPO presents approximately 150 concerts and broadcasts a year, serving up to 170,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Music Director Andreas Delfs joins the ranks of former notable RPO music directors, and Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, now in his 28th season, has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his tenure with the RPO. Sally Cohen PR was the orchestra’s publicist from 2012 – 2018, and returned in September of 2021 through the end of 2021-2022 season. View the latest press releases from the RPO.
From its five-day debut in 2012, the KEYBANK ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL has become one of the most-attended fringe festivals in the U.S. as well as New York State’s largest multi-disciplinary arts festival. Renowned among the world’s 200+ fringe festivals for its spectacular, outdoor, free events as well as its large number of free performances in general, Rochester’s Fringe was also the first in North America to feature a Spiegeltent. From comedy to theatre, from music to dance, from visual art and film to spoken word, and from children’s entertainment to multi-genre collaborations, the festival’s diversity also extends to venues that span the gamut from parked cars to grand theaters. Attracting more than 100,000 attendees to more than 660 shows in 25+ downtown venues in 2019, 2020’s Virtual Fringe featured more than 170 online productions. Fringe will bring safely enjoyed, in-person events back to celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2021, from Tuesday, September 14 through Saturday, September 25. Sally Cohen is proud to have been Fringe’s publicist since its inception. View the latest press releases from The KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival.
AIRIGAMI partners, Rochester artists Larry Moss and Kelly Cheatle, are full of hot air and visionary ideas. Internationally renowned for their incredible, inflatable installations, including a giant Acrocanthosaurus for the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the world’s first piloted balloon sculpture (Fantastic Flying Octopus), and seven Balloon Manors – later called Airigami Balloon Adventures – in Rochester, NY, the two are committed to community-building art experiences. Moss, who began his career as a NYC street performer, has earned two Guinness World’s Records for giant builds, as well as AP, CNN Headline, PBS and other international and national news coverage. Airigami has made multiple appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, Good Morning America, the Today show, and at the White House. Its artwork has been exhibited throughout North America and in more than 16 countries worldwide, including: the U.S, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, the U.K., France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. Airigami is part of a collective of Rochester creative entrepreneurs – artists and “makers” who work in everything from metal to video to balloons – that inhabit a maker space in the downtown High Falls District called MADE ON STATE (510 State Street). View the latest press releases from Airigami.
Intense athleticism, gravity-defying acrobatics, and soulful artistry are the trademarks of award-winning, genre-defining PUSH Physical Theatre. Founded in Rochester, NY in 2000 by husband-and-wife team, Darren and Heather Stevenson, out of a desire to “push” the boundaries of conventional theatre, PUSH has since earned an international reputation as one of the U.S.’s leading physical theatre companies. Recently featured in acclaimed collaborations with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ying Quartet, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s two multi-media operas (Comala and No Se Culpe with fellow composer Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez), PUSH has also produced its own full-length works including DRACULA, Jekyll & Hyde, and Arc of Ages. Additionally, its wide-ranging repertory includes many shorter works such as “Red Ball,” a hilarious take on the interplay between the real and virtual worlds using iPad technology. PUSH was a season finalist on TruTV’s national series, Fake Off, a competition/reality show featuring what producers dubbed “the captivating art of ‘faking’” – a mix of theatre, acrobatics, and illusion. Their performances caused judge and Glee star Harry Shum Jr. to exclaim: “You guys are superhuman!” Sally Cohen PR has been proud to promote PUSH’s endeavors since the group’s sold-out Geva Theatre Center debut in 2008. View the latest press releases from PUSH Physical Theatre.
Founded in 1994, CHESHIRE AUDIO VISUAL’s mission has always been to energize every client’s message by customizing the latest technology to their goals and budgets with pride and integrity. A second-generation, award-winning, full-service audio, visual and lighting company, Cheshire’s meticulous attention to detail ensures seamless delivery and stunning, creative execution of events that range from local, intimate functions and technically sophisticated live-streamed presentations, to large-scale, complex international shows. With the onset of COVID-19, Cheshire is pivoting to provide virtual event support, with the help of Sally Cohen PR. View the latest press releases from Cheshire Audio Visual.
GARTH FAGAN DANCE is an internationally acclaimed contemporary American dance company whose home has remained in Rochester for almost five decades. The company began in the ‘70s, when Garth Fagan began teaching dance classes at the SUNY Educational Opportunity Center in downtown Rochester. Many of his students had no previous training, and most came from inner-city, economically disadvantaged backgrounds, but Fagan was so inspired by their raw talent and tenacity that he decided to transform this highly unconventional group of dancers into a professional company. From this early start, the organization has continued to evolve, shaped by the values that first prompted its formation. A true Rochester treasure, GFD packs a punch with Fagan’s signature technique that marries the fluidity of Caribbean dance, the polyrhythms of African dance, the precision of ballet, and the strength and weight of modern dance. Sally Cohen PR has been promoting Garth Fagan Dance’s Home Seasons since 2018. View the latest press releases from Garth Fagan Dance.
CATHOLIC CHARITIES COMMUNITY SERVICES (CCCS) serves people who are living with developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and chronic illnesses including HIV/AIDS and mental health struggles throughout the 12 counties of the Greater Rochester area. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, CCCS’s 2020 biggest fundraiser of the year is extra special, and Sally Cohen PR was proud to help promote this event for our fourth time. Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled. View the latest press releases from Catholic Charities Community Services.
Founded in 1996, PRIME TIME FUNK is a 10-piece powerhouse of passionate musicians from Upstate, NY who write, arrange and perform a world-class combination of funk, jazz and R&B. PTF has played multiple times at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Club in Paris as well as at the Rochester International Jazz Festival and the Rochester Fringe Festival, and is the official house band of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame annual awards ceremonies at Eastman Theatre. PTF’s debut CD, Ready and Willing, was co-produced by Grammy® Award-winning producer Jeff Tyzik, Principal Pops Conductor for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Its self-produced follow-up CD, Hear and Now, is a tribute to the band’s co-founder and original bass player, the late Ralph Ortiz. Sally Cohen PR has been honored to help this incredible band with its PR since 2005. View the latest press releases from Prime Time Funk.
Founded in 2008 by Christine Tirk, CLEAR CHOICE HEARING AND BALANCE is a private, full-scope audiology practice in Rochester, NY that serves a wide variety of people with diverse hearing health care needs. With the addition in the fall of 2019 of a new Pediatric Audiology office that also caters to children with special needs, Tirk hired Sally Cohen PR to help get the word out. View the latest press releases from Clear Choice Hearing and Balance.
Area teaching artists who were affiliated with the now-defunct Young Audiences of Rochester (YAR) have banded together as Teaching Artists ROC (TAROC) to bring awareness to their continuing interest in working with educators and students. The ability of arts-in-education to improve academic achievement, attendance, and life and social skills such as decision-making, collaboration, and taking responsibility is well documented. TAROC is looking to fill the void for both educators and artists with a website that provides direct access to artists. They also presented their first YAR-style showcase exclusively for area educators, librarians, school reps, parent-teacher organizations, etc. in September of 2018, and are planning another this September. Many of Sally Cohen PR’s former and current clients are TAROC artists, and the organization’s mission aligns 100% with its own. View the latest press releases from Teaching Artists ROC.
Rochester’s DEEP Arts (Develop, Explore, Enrich, and Perform) is a not-for-profit [501 (c) 3] professional theatre organization with the mission to offer high-quality, cultural experiences that entertain while fostering enrichment, communication, positive values and an awareness of literature, social and historical issues to as broad and diverse an audience as possible. Formerly Rochester Children’s Theatre, with which Sally Cohen PR also worked for many years, DEEP Arts original musicals began with Moses Man: A New Musical, based on Founding Executive Artistic Director Deborah Haber’s late parents, Holocaust survivors Kalman and Lily Haber. Its latest original work, LIKAH! A Puppy Musical, is receiving national attention as well. View the latest press releases from DEEP Arts.
DRAPER CENTER FOR DANCE EDUCATION, the official training school for Rochester City Ballet, teaches approximately 150 students year-round. The Center provides a disciplined level of technique-focused classical ballet training, along with pointe, variations, modern, jazz, and creative movement for all ages. With impeccable dance technique as its focal point, the school also teaches formation of character and stresses standards of excellence in all areas of life. Founded by the late Timothy M. Draper in 1986 to give the Rochester community a professional dance school where students would receive a strong foundation in classical ballet while studying other forms of artistic dance, the Draper Center continues to evolve. Jamey Leverett took over as artistic director in 2004 and, with Executive Director Katherine Ertsgaard, the school’s classical ballet-centric curriculum and teaching style has won awards and recognition as one of the top dance training schools in the United States. Sally Cohen PR has been assisting Draper Center with its PR since 2018. View the latest press releases from Draper Center.