Celebration of the Arts Festival
Encyclopedia
The Celebration of the Arts festival, or COTA for short, is an annual event in September located in Delaware Water Gap
, Pennsylvania
. COTA is presented in cooperation with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap, Castle Hill
Development, Inc., and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
.
, Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert founded the organization Celebration of the Arts in 1978 late one night in the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap
. The organization would eventually become the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Their initial goal was to help foster an appreciation of jazz
and its relationship to other artistic disciplines.
The first festival was staged later that year, on a shoe-string budget. The sponsors for the event included the Delaware Water Gap
Chamber of Commerce
, the Lions Club, and the Antoine Dutot Museum. Participating musicians, artists, and vendors were all drawn from the northeastern Pennsylvania
area, thus establishing a festival precedent - in addition to showcasing the many nationally-known musicians and artists residing in the Pocono area, the annual festival is also designed to provide an opportunity for many talented, though lesser-known, musicians to be heard.
Festival one raised $300 for the Borough of Delaware Water Gap and, at a $1.00 cost of admission, is a great bargain for jazz
and art fans alike. Bands play on a makeshift stage in the street, where there is theatre as well. More than thirty years later, admission is only $25.00 per day (a two day ticket is $40.00) for 8 hours of music per day.
The COTA Cats were the brainchild of Phil Woods, when he sent a letter to twenty-six high school band directors in May about creating a band of high school students for that year's festival. Pat Dorian, a trumpet player and local music educator, was the only one to respond. Dorian has been the band leader since the COTA cats began and continues to recruit some of the best young musicians within a 25 mile radius. The big band is considered by many to be the most significant change to the COTA festival in its history. It symbolizes everything that the festival means to those involved.
Festival thirteen, in 1990, marked the tenth anniversary of the COTA Cats, who played that year before a festival crowd of well over 4,000. The Cats have continued to send their alumni to such institutions as Indiana University
, the Berklee College of Music
in Boston, the Juilliard School
in New York, and the Eastman School of Music
in Rochester.
The ensemble is now directed by Tom Fadden, Lance Rauh and Ryan Curchoe.
, Al Cohn
, Urbie Green
and Kathy Green, George Young, Jesse Green
, Nancy and Spencer Reed, Hal Galper
, Bob Dorough
, Tom Harrell
, Jim McNeely
, Dave Liebman
, Joe LaBarbera
, Glenn Davis, Bill Charlap
, Jamey Haddad
, Steve Turre
, Billy Hart
, Jerry Dodgion, Nelson Hill, Lew DelGatto, Bill Goodwin, Paul Rostock, Hal Crook, Caris Visentin, Vic Juris, Eric Doney, John Swana, Bill Mays, Stephanie Nakasian, Hod O'Brien, Adam Nussbaum, Teddy Charles, Jerry Harris, Michele Bautier, Kenny Werner, Dave Leonhardt, Alex Watkins, Phil Markowitz, Bob Grauso, , Kim Parker, Alan Gaumer, Craig Kastelnik, Janet Lawson, John Coates, Jr., Kate & Richie Roche, Steve Gilmore, Len Mooney, Neil Braunstein, Jim Daniels, Paul "Low Blow" Reiche, Bobby Davis,John Bonham, plus many more.
More recently Nellie McKay, Simone, and Sherrie Miracle and Fiveplay have been appearing along with younger groups that consist of COTA CAT alumni.
Delaware Water Gap
The Delaware Water Gap is on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. COTA is presented in cooperation with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap, Castle Hill
Castle Hill
-Australia:* Castle Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney* Castle Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Townsville-United Kingdom:* Castle Hill, Birmingham, an area in the centre of Dudley...
Development, Inc., and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is a bistate, public agency charged with providing safe, dependable and efficient river crossings between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The DRJTBC was established under legislation enacted in the two states in 1934. The federal Compact for the...
.
The beginning
Phil WoodsPhil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert founded the organization Celebration of the Arts in 1978 late one night in the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap
Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania
Delaware Water Gap is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap, the pass through which the Lackawanna Corridor and Interstate 80 run across the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border along the Delaware River.The population of Delaware Water...
. The organization would eventually become the Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts. Their initial goal was to help foster an appreciation of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and its relationship to other artistic disciplines.
The first festival was staged later that year, on a shoe-string budget. The sponsors for the event included the Delaware Water Gap
Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania
Delaware Water Gap is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap, the pass through which the Lackawanna Corridor and Interstate 80 run across the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border along the Delaware River.The population of Delaware Water...
Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, the Lions Club, and the Antoine Dutot Museum. Participating musicians, artists, and vendors were all drawn from the northeastern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
area, thus establishing a festival precedent - in addition to showcasing the many nationally-known musicians and artists residing in the Pocono area, the annual festival is also designed to provide an opportunity for many talented, though lesser-known, musicians to be heard.
Festival one raised $300 for the Borough of Delaware Water Gap and, at a $1.00 cost of admission, is a great bargain for jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and art fans alike. Bands play on a makeshift stage in the street, where there is theatre as well. More than thirty years later, admission is only $25.00 per day (a two day ticket is $40.00) for 8 hours of music per day.
Significant Events Through the Years
Throughout the years, many things have changed to make the festival what it is today, including:- 1979 - The Fred WaringFred WaringFredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
Award, presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the arts and the community, is initiated by Rick Chamberlain during Festival 2, with the initial honor going to the man for whom the award is named. As well as being known as the man behind Waring BlenderBlenderA blender is a kitchen appliance for chopping or liquefying food.Blender may also refer to:Media:* Blender , a music-themed magazine* Blender , a free and open-source software program for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering...
s, Mr. Waring was also a musician and singer/songwriter and the man behind what would become Fred Waring's U.S. Chorus, a choral group made up of the best high school chorus members around the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A tradition of honoring community activism is established, and will become a vital part of the COTA endeavor.
- 1981 - The COTA Cats are added and become one of the most anticipated yearly acts of the festival. Also, new this year is the juried art show, for work with a musical theme, precursor to the Music Motif Show.
- 1983 - Festival six attracts more than 4,000 people The festival is captured on video for the first time, for broadcast over public television station WVIA-TVWVIA-TVWVIA-TV is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station broadcasting on channel 41 to most of northeastern and central Pennsylvania...
. - 1984 - The annual COTA Cats Scholarship, designed to acknowledge outstanding musical achievement and festival spirit, is established and presented for the very first time. In addition to a cash award, each recipient will be given a certificate signed by Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, and have his or her name inscribed on a plaque displayed inside the Deer Head Inn. For the first time, the festival is broadcast live over WESS-FM, the East Stroudsburg University radio station. - 1985 - The Music Hall the Castle Inn is destroyed by fire on March 29, and the landscape for Festival 8 is changed.
- 1987 - The COTA festival celebrates its 10th anniversary. Forced to perform inside due to bad weather for the first time, the festival goes on. Festival 10 also begins on Friday night for the first time (previously, the festival was Saturday and Sunday only).
- 1989 - During festival 12, COTA joins with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the town, scene of a storied musical history outlined in this year's program. The Sterling Strauser Award is created this year to honor artistic contributions to the visual arts; the award's name-sake is also its first recipient, one of the area's most accomplished and revered painters, and a long-time supporter of the local arts community.
- 1991 - The Volunteer of the Year Award, established to honor COTA volunteer spirit, is presented for the first time, in memory of long-time volunteer Joanne Mayer. Radio station WRTI-FM, from Temple UniversityTemple UniversityTemple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, broadcasts the festival live. - 1994 - Festival seventeen is presented on a newly-constructed $10,000 stage. This year, COTA receives the Spectrum Award from WVIA-FMWVIA-FMWVIA-FM is the National Public Radio member station for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is licensed to the community of Scranton. WVIA is owned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Television Association along with its sister television station, WVIA-TV. The station's studios are based in...
in Scranton, in recognition of its contributions to the advancement of the arts and its enrichment of the cultural life in the WVIA-FMWVIA-FMWVIA-FM is the National Public Radio member station for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is licensed to the community of Scranton. WVIA is owned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Television Association along with its sister television station, WVIA-TV. The station's studios are based in...
Public Radio listening area. - 1995, the year of Festival Eighteen, COTA reaches a long-term lease agreement with the National Park ServiceNational Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, which allowed the organization to make improvements on the land across from main stage. A master plan was developed for the phased development of a natural amphitheater-like festival setting. - 1997 - On January 21 & 22, Phil Woods rounds up the Festival Orchestra, along with his quintet, into Red Rock Studios to record what becomes entitled "Celebration!" The DWG COTA Festival Orchestra performs once again while the impending CD is mastered for release later this year, unbeknownst to anyone at the time that "Celebration!" will be nominated for a GrammyGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in less than a year. - 2007 - The 30th Anniversary of COTA - Phil Woods orchestrates and performs The Children's Suite - set to the words of A.A. Milne's "Now We Are Six" collection of poems.
- 2011 - The 34th Anniversary of COTA dedicated the to life and work of jazz legend and COTA contributor Bob Dorough. The COTA Cats perform Comin' Home Baby, Devil May Care, and Conjunction Junction.
Jazz Mass
A non-denominational mass that blends music and spirituality, the Jazz Mass is a very large draw for the COTA festival weekend and is performed on Sunday morning. The first Jazz Mass was said and sung at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain in Delaware Water Gap. The Music is performed by the Delaware Water Gap COTA Festival Orchestra. The Jazz Mass was first made available on CD in 1995.COTA Cats
In 1981, The COTA Cats were introduced. The Cats come together through the continued efforts of Pat Dorian and Phil Woods, and are a major feature of each festival.The COTA Cats were the brainchild of Phil Woods, when he sent a letter to twenty-six high school band directors in May about creating a band of high school students for that year's festival. Pat Dorian, a trumpet player and local music educator, was the only one to respond. Dorian has been the band leader since the COTA cats began and continues to recruit some of the best young musicians within a 25 mile radius. The big band is considered by many to be the most significant change to the COTA festival in its history. It symbolizes everything that the festival means to those involved.
Festival thirteen, in 1990, marked the tenth anniversary of the COTA Cats, who played that year before a festival crowd of well over 4,000. The Cats have continued to send their alumni to such institutions as Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston, the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York, and the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in Rochester.
The ensemble is now directed by Tom Fadden, Lance Rauh and Ryan Curchoe.
CAMPJAZZ
In 2007 campjazz began. An intense one-week program with world-class musicians and revered teachers, a jam-packed curriculum, and your chance for young players to see and work with masters.Performers
Over the years, thousands of bands and solo musicians have played for the crowds including:Musicians
Phil WoodsPhil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Al Cohn
Al Cohn
Al Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
, Urbie Green
Urbie Green
Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green is an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle....
and Kathy Green, George Young, Jesse Green
Jesse Green
Jesse Green is an American professional jazz pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and teacher. He is the son of ex-big band singer Kathy Preston and acclaimed Jazz trombonist Urbie Green. Jesse was married in June 2003 to Kristine and has three children...
, Nancy and Spencer Reed, Hal Galper
Hal Galper
-Biography:He studied classical piano as a boy, but switched to jazz which he studied at the Berklee College of Music from 1955 to 1958. He hung out at Herb Pomeroy's club, The Stable, hearing local Boston musicians like Jackie Byard, Alan Dawson and Sam Rivers. Galper started sitting in and became...
, Bob Dorough
Bob Dorough
Bob Dorough is an American bebop and cool jazz pianist, composer and vocalese singer.He worked with Miles Davis and Allen Ginsberg, and his adventurous style was an influence on Mose Allison, among other singers...
, Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...
, Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely
Jim McNeely is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. In 1978 he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band...
, Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...
, Joe LaBarbera
Joe LaBarbera
Joe LaBarbera is an American jazz drummer and composer. He is best known for his recordings and live performances with the trio of pianist Bill Evans in the final years of Evans's career. Prior to joining Evans he worked in the quartet of Chuck Mangione and Joe Farrell.- Early life :He was born...
, Glenn Davis, Bill Charlap
Bill Charlap
William Morrison Charlap is a jazz pianist born October 15, 1966 in New York City.Bill Charlap comes from a musical background and is a distant cousin to famed jazz pianist Dick Hyman. His mother, Sandy Stewart , is a singer who had a hit in 1962 with My Coloring Book, while his father was Broadway...
, Jamey Haddad
Jamey Haddad
Jamey George Haddad is an American percussionist working primarily in the fields of jazz and world music, and specializing in hand drums.-Biography:...
, Steve Turre
Steve Turre
Steve Turre is a trombonist, recording artist, arranger, and educator. In 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2006 he won the Down Beat Reader's Poll for best trombonist....
, Billy Hart
Billy Hart
William "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...
, Jerry Dodgion, Nelson Hill, Lew DelGatto, Bill Goodwin, Paul Rostock, Hal Crook, Caris Visentin, Vic Juris, Eric Doney, John Swana, Bill Mays, Stephanie Nakasian, Hod O'Brien, Adam Nussbaum, Teddy Charles, Jerry Harris, Michele Bautier, Kenny Werner, Dave Leonhardt, Alex Watkins, Phil Markowitz, Bob Grauso, , Kim Parker, Alan Gaumer, Craig Kastelnik, Janet Lawson, John Coates, Jr., Kate & Richie Roche, Steve Gilmore, Len Mooney, Neil Braunstein, Jim Daniels, Paul "Low Blow" Reiche, Bobby Davis,John Bonham, plus many more.
More recently Nellie McKay, Simone, and Sherrie Miracle and Fiveplay have been appearing along with younger groups that consist of COTA CAT alumni.
Groups
Asparagus Sunshine, Chris Solliday Trio, Butch Tucker Quartet, Jazzberries, Steve Gilmore/Steve Brown Quintet, Steamin' Jimmies with Sugar Cone Horns, George Young and Low Profile, Lee Katzman's Bebop Six, Jimmy Tigue Trio, Ralph Hughes Jazz Reunion, Grandma's Soup, Dave Liebman's Quintet, The Pocono Jazz Quintet, The Eric Doney Trio, The Drewes-Haddad Band, The Lee Katzman Quintet, The Pete Veltri Quintet, the Robert D'Aversa Band, Jerry Harris & Jazz Renaissance, Baroque Wind Ensemble, Water Gap Players, Sankofa African Drum & Dance Ensemble, the Alex Watkins Quartet, Jesse Heckman's Quartet, Active Ingredients, the Jesse Green Trio, the Donna Antonow Trio, David Leonhardt Jazz Group, The Absolute Trio, Swing 'N Dixie, Alex Watkins' Bayou Band, Bill Goodwin Trio, The Jazz Farmers, Funk Ed, The Dixie GentsExternal links
- Official Site of the COTA Festival
- CAMPJAZZ
- COTA article in Pursuits Magazine
- VisitPA page on the COTA festival
- WVIA programming guide information on the COTA festival
- Deer Head Inn A major COTA venue
- Pat Dorian's East Stroudsburg University Faculty Page
- Pat Dorian profile as a member of Water Gap Brass
- Red Rock Recording studio A major part of the COTA community