Roger soaking up inspiration at ancient Knidos in Turkey, once home of Aphrodite of Knidos, a most famous sculpture in antiquity. Roger says “I learned about this stuff in History 101 at Rutgers.” Aphrodite and another statue, The Lion of Knidos, make their way into Roger’s original music in Reflections In The Wine Dark Sea. 2012 photo courtesy of Roger Latzgo.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  ArtsQuest, 610-332-1300 or info@artsquest.org

Composer/performer Roger Latzgo will bring Reflections In The Wine Dark Sea, his celebration of myths and legends of the Mediterranean, to Musikfest 2013 in Bethlehem Pennsylvania.  His August 7 performance at the Volksplatz Stage begins at 3:30 PM.

Reflections In The Wine Dark Sea is inspired by Roger’s lifetime of study and extensive travel throughout the Mediterranean.  He will accompany his vocals on guitar and piano as well as the accordion, the Greek bouzouki and the Turkish baglama saz.  The program focuses on songs inspired by places and legends from around the Mediterranean, ranging from Spain to Turkey.  The title itself comes from a phrase frequently used by Homer in describing the maritime backdrop to his epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.  “Myths are magical…we can see ourselves in them, even though we are separated from them by millennia” said Latzgo. “They continue to inspire the arts and fascinate us all.”

Featured on the program will be his compositions “A Rose From Homer’s Grave”, where Latzgo joins H.C. Andersen in honoring Homer, and “Swim The Hellespont”, where the composer sings of his 2010 encounter with Poseidon while swimming from Europe to Asia.  His festive world music has playfully been called ethnofunkology, a jazz-influenced sound based on folk traditions.

Latzgo has been performing world music since 1968 on stages throughout the US and Europe.  “In my original compositions, I try to connect with metaphors such as wine, dance, nature and heroism found in epic poetry”, says the Rutgers alumnus.  Staying focused on these traditions is a unifying thread of Latzgo’s work.  “The experience of real places helps us understand things not written.  And musically, we can cross boundaries, revisit those places and recognize our universal humanity.”  Roger brings schools and arts organizations a much-needed dose of timeless myth with this unique program.

When not in his studio, Dr. Latzgo is an avid cyclist and an occasional open-water swimmer. In 2010 he swam the Hellespont, the legendary strait separating Europe from Asia. To accompany his musical interests, he is also an amateur vintner and beer-maker. He grows his vines and resides in Heidelberg Township, Pennsylvania, with his spouse Rachel Roland and their daughter Roxan.  Dr. Latzgo designed and built their residence from recycled vintage materials.  We know you will enjoy his Reflections In The Wine Dark Sea.

For more information about the performance, see info@artsquest.org or call 610-332-1300

www.rogerlatzgo.com

THANK YOU!

18,200 POUNDS OF FOOD

That is what was donated by the four universities that participated in this year’s Lehigh Valley Alumni Club Food Drive in support of the Second Harvest Food Bank. The Notre Dame Club outdistanced all others with 8000 pounds donated.  Rutgers Club of Lehigh Valley was second with 5500 pounds while Purdue and Penn State followed.

The Second Harvest Food Bank and all of its clients, the neediest people in our neighborhoods, appreciate all of your efforts.

Thank you, again!!

The third annual A Walk To Believe will take place on June 15, 2013 at the High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, NJ. A Walk to Believe, a non-profit organization, was founded in 2010 to raise awareness and funds to aid in the recovery of Eric LeGrand, a Rutgers University football player who sustained life-altering injuries in a game against Army in October 2010.

All participants receive a T-shirt and a Free tailgate picnic with kids games and music will follow the walk. Please feel free to bring your spayed/neutered pet. The fundraiser will be held rain or shine.

Are you and individual or business who is interested in helping us promote the 2013 walk? Print out our flyer and hang it in your schools, workplaces, businesses, or just around town. We appreciate your support!

This year, the Rutgers Spring Football Game/NFL and Rutgers Players Autograph Session/Rutgers Day will be held on April 27 at Rutgers Stadium and the surrounding campus in Piscataway. Admission is FREE for everyone and the event will be held rain or shine. The day begins at 12:00 Noon with a FREE autograph session with many NFL players. At 1:00 PM,the NFL players will play a flag football game in honor of Eric LeGrand. At 3:00, the annual Rutgers Spring Football Game will kickoff. After the game,everyone can go down on the field to get FREE Rutgers Football posters and autographs from the Rutgers players.

Remember to bring your cameras!

Have fun throwing the football around on the stadium field. Refreshments and Rutgers merchandise will be available for sale. This is a great day for kids AND adults. For more information, check the Rutgers Athletics website, http://www.scarletknights.com/, in the upcoming weeks.

The 2013 Rutgers Day will be held on April 27. This is a great day for the whole family to learn more about your state university. Admission is FREE and the event will be held rain or shine. Enjoy tours of the campus and speak with Rutgers students, professors, and alumni. Get a look inside classroom buildings,dormitories,museums,athletic facilities,science facilities, and centers for art,music, and drama. Concerts,performances,lectures,exhibits,sports events, and hands-on activities will go on all day from 10:00-4:00. Celebrate the upcoming merger of Rutgers and The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. All ages are welcome to take part in all that Rutgers Day has to offer. Tell others about this great afternoon. For more information, call 732-932-7823 extension 672 or visit rutgersday@ur.rutgers.edu.

Have you visited a food bank lately?  Unless you are working as a volunteer, it is unlikely that you have done so.  We are among that group that has seldom, if ever, felt the pangs of hunger or thought about where our next meal would come from.

The reality is that despite the prosperity of the United States, hundreds of thousands each day face the prospect of missing another meal.  Their children often thrive on before school breakfasts and warm meals at lunchtime.  Food banks themselves are often starved for food.  Donations do not always meet demand.

In response to these needs, the Lehigh Valley alumni clubs of Purdue University, Penn State, Notre Dame, Lafayette, Northampton Community College and Rutgers have entered into a friendly competition to increase donations to the Second Harvest Food Bank that supplies a variety of distribution sites in our area.

We are looking to Rutgers graduates in the Lehigh Valley to respond to the need for additional support of Second Harvest and to top the other alumni clubs- including two of our new Big Ten partners- in this effort. There are two ways you can respond to this challenge: to donate non-perishable goods directly to Second Harvest which is located at 2045 Harvest Way, Allentown or to make a monetary donation which can be completed directly on Second Harvest’s website at www.shfblv.org. Every dollars you donate will provide none pounds of food or the equivalent of seven meals for our neediest Valley residents.   In doing either of these, please indicate that your gift should be credited to Rutgers as a part of the Alumni Club Food Drive Challenge.

Progress of the participating clubs will be tracked at the Second Harvest website at www.shfblv.org. At the close of the competition at the end of April, the clubs are planning a concluding event at which we can share our success with the other participants.

Let’s show are Rutgers pride and compassion with a strong effort in this initiative.  It’s GO KNIGHTS!

You have just enjoyed the latest report of the success of the latest recipient of a scholarship supported by the Rutgers Club of Lehigh Valley.  Besides offering opportunities for Rutgers alumni in the Lehigh Valley to meet for fun and fellowship, the Rutgers Club of Lehigh Valley has two major initiatives: the RCLV Scholarship and the Summer Send-off for incoming freshman at all of the campuses of Rutgers, The State University.

Since the inception of the scholarship, our fund has grown slowly but steadily.  This growth allowed us to offer our initial grant of $1766 in the summer of 2010.  We have continued this tradition ever since and look forward to offering another scholarship at our annual Summer Send-off for new students in the summer of 2013. We cannot continue this support of students who are graduates of high schools from the Lehigh Valley area.

There are at least three ways in which the growth of the scholarship fund can be ensured.  The first, of course, is the annual fund-raising effort offered by the university.  We encourage all members to participate in this drive.  Gifts can be made through response to the email and phone contacts made to you directly from the university.  Encourage you to request that your donations be credited to the RCLV Scholarship Fund.  If you’d prefer, you can also make donation using the “Support Rutgers” tab on the club website at www.rclv.org.  Finally, you can support the club’s efforts as it plans and implements activities whose goal is to raise additional scholarship funds. Information concerning these events will be posted on the website and communicated to you through our regularly scheduled e-mail efforts.

We hope that you will help us to help Lehigh Valley students by choosing to use at least one of these ways to make a donation to the scholarship fund.  Every extra dollar we can raise is another step in making the scholarship a consistent source of support for graduates of high schools in the Lehigh Valley who elect to join us as Scarlet Knights.

For additional information concerning the details of the Rutgers Club of Lehigh Valley, please take a minute to visit our website at www.rclv.org.

Roger shows his daughter Roxan the musical approach to grape stomping and wine making as he learned it in Chem 101 and in the Rutgers Glee Club.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Palmerton Area Library, 610-826-3424

Rutgers alumnus Roger Latzgo will bring Music from Roger’s Garden, his celebration of gardening and ecology, to the Palmerton Library, 402 Delaware Avenue, Palmerton Pa.  The performance will take place at 2:00 PM on Sunday, April 21, and is free and open to the public.  The Library will accept donations at the door.

Music from Roger’s Garden builds on generations of celebrating nature with song.  Roger will accompany his vocals on guitar and piano as well as some exotic instruments brought back from his travels.  His festive world music has playfully been called “ethnofunkology,” a jazz-influenced sound based on folk traditions.  The program focuses on songs of nature’s bounty, the conquering sun and our connections to them.  “I come from a family of farmers and winemakers so that’s how I relate to life — through the seasons of the garden,” said Latzgo. “What better way to share it than through song?”  Featured on the program will be his compositions “A Tomato Called Paulina”, a song about an heirloom plant, and “Hot Pepper Jelly”, a humorous look at a spicy condiment.  Much of this music can be found on his CDs Swing Bohemienne, New Wine In Old Bottles and Wild Nights.

Latzgo has been performing world music since 1968 on stages throughout the US and Europe.  “In my original compositions, I try to use metaphors such as wine, dance, nature and even heroism that appear in the folk music of my ancestors who arrived in Pennsylvania about 100 years ago” says the Rutgers alumnus.  Staying focused on these traditions is the unifying thread of Latzgo’s music.  “With it, I’m reaching out to audiences of today.  By honoring the ‘musical gems’ of my grandparents, I bring them to people of my generation and their kids who might have missed them.”

When not in his studio, Dr. Latzgo is an avid cyclist and an occasional open-water swimmer. In 2010 he swam the Hellespont, the legendary strait separating Europe from Asia. To accompany his musical interests, he is also an amateur vintner and beer-maker. He grows his vines and resides in Heidelberg Township with his spouse Rachel Roland and their daughter Roxan.  Dr. Latzgo designed and built their residence from recycled vintage materials.  Currently he is at work on a project based on his travels in Turkey and Greece: Reflections in the Wine Dark Sea.

www.rogerlatzgo.com

from www.scarletknights.com…

A collection of New Brunswick establishments will take part in a special charity event to raise money for the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund on Sunday, March 3.

Participating New Brunswick restaurants will provide a variety of special menus and offers for the fundraiser. Tickets for this event can be purchased in advance from participating establishments, and there are a number of differently priced ticket options available.

The list of restaurants include Steakhouse 85 and Panico’s Italian Restaurant. Additional restaurants will be added in the coming days.

A minimum of 50% of the ticket price will be donated to the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund at each participating restaurant.

For information on participating New Brunswick establishments, visit http://www.steakhouse85.com andhttp://www.panicosrestaurant.com/.

For more information on the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund, visit: www.scarletknights.com/believe