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Hochstein at High Falls: Steve Grills and the Roadmasters

Blues guitar virtuoso Steve Grills kicks off a whole new season of Hochstein at High Falls on Thursday, June 5 at 12:10 p.m.

Steve Grills has been a mainstay of the Rochester NY music scene for over 30 years. Steve and his group the Roadmasters play a broad repertoire from artists like Robert Lockwood Jr., Earl Hooker, Freddie King, and Albert Collins, allowing contemporary audiences the opportunity to discover the vitality of the music of these legendary and influential musicians. Steve’s album After Hours charted at # 39 on the Roots Music Report’s Top 100 Blues Albums for 2011 based on radio airplay.

More about the concert series:
Hosted by Hannah Maier of The Route/WRUR 88.5, the concerts begin at 12:10 pm in the outer parking lot at 4 Commercial Street, corner of Browns Race. Please note that this is an alternate location for this summer, due to ongoing construction on the Pont du Rennes.

Concerts take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, the rain location at MCC Downtown Campus will be announced by 10:30 am on Hochstein’s website and via Hochstein’s social media. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own seating and lunch. Each performance will run approximately 40 minutes.

Parking Info: Public parking is available at the High Falls Parking Garage. Please note: the lot at 4 Commercial Street and the MCC lot across the street are for permit holders only.

Hochstein at High Falls concerts are presented by High Falls Business Association, The Hochstein School, and The Route/WRUR 88.5. Hochstein at High Falls concerts are also made possible by a number of local organizations, including Brandtatorship, LaBella Associates, and Monroe Community College. 

Photo: Steve Grills
Credit: Mark Sampson

Hochstein at High Falls: Debbie Kendrick Project

Rochester’s Queen of the Blues is back at High Falls for another great performance on Thursday, July 10 at 12:10 p.m.

Vocalist Debbie Kendrick carries on a tradition of many great blues and gospel artists that goes back to the legendary Son House. Her group has an acoustic vibe and its influences harkens back to the early days of blues, gospel, folk, and jazz music. The Debbie Kendrick Project includes drummer Pete Monacelli, a veteran of the local jazz scene; bassist Mike Patric, who also accompanies the legendary Joe Beard; guitarist Aleks Disljenkovic, whose acoustic fingerstyle guitar provides a solid rhythmic background for Debbie’s powerful vocal melodies; and vocalist Ann Culbreth. Kendrick inspires audiences across New York and Canada with her improvisational performances, laughing with the band and chatting with the crowd.

More about the concert series:
Hosted by Hannah Maier of The Route/WRUR 88.5, the concerts begin at 12:10 pm at **Granite Mills Park, near the Pont du Rennes bridge. **That’s right. We are back at our original location when the series first began!

Concerts take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, the rain location at MCC Downtown Campus will be announced by 10:30 am on Hochstein’s website and via Hochstein’s social media. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own seating and lunch. Each performance will run approximately 40 minutes.

Parking Info: Public parking is available at the High Falls Parking Garage.

Hochstein at High Falls concerts are presented by High Falls Business Association, The Hochstein School, and The Route/WRUR 88.5. Hochstein at High Falls concerts are also made possible by a number of local organizations, including Brandtatorship, LaBella Associates, and Monroe Community College. 

Photo: Debbie Kendrick
Provided.

Hochstein at High Falls: Mambo Kings

Don’t miss the Latin jazz ensemble, the Mambo Kings performing at Hochstein at High Falls Thursday, July 24 at 12:10 p.m.

Together since 1995, Mambo Kings are enjoying great success as Upstate New York’s foremost Latin jazz ensemble, and have earned a national reputation for their explosive blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation. They have appeared in Pops concerts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, and with orchestras in Baltimore, Vancouver, Detroit, Dallas, Naples (FL), Portland (OR), Alabama, Chicago, Austin, Virginia, and Buffalo. The band consists of Mambo Kings’ musical director and pianist Richard DeLaney, percussionist Freddy Colón, saxophonist John Viavattine, bassist Hector Diaz, and percussionist Tony Padilla.

More about the concert series:
Hosted by Hannah Maier of The Route/WRUR 88.5, the concerts begin at 12:10 pm at **Granite Mills Park, near the Pont du Rennes bridge. **That’s right. We are back at our original location when the series first began!

Concerts take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, the rain location at MCC Downtown Campus will be announced by 10:30 am on Hochstein’s website and via Hochstein’s social media. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own seating and lunch. Each performance will run approximately 40 minutes.

Parking Info: Public parking is available at the High Falls Parking Garage.

Hochstein at High Falls concerts are presented by High Falls Business Association, The Hochstein School, and The Route/WRUR 88.5. Hochstein at High Falls concerts are also made possible by a number of local organizations, including Brandtatorship, LaBella Associates, and Monroe Community College. 

Photo: Mambo Kings
Provided.

Hochstein at High Falls: Watkins & the Rapiers

The Hochstein at High Falls lunchtime summer concert series returns to the city’s High Falls District, kicking off with Watkins & the Rapiers on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 12:10pm.

Watkins & the Rapiers play an eclectic mix of acoustic music incorporating echoes of Cajun, country, jug band music, reggae, soul, and swing. The band’s repertoire includes more than 60 quirky original songs written by band members, as well as covers of songs by artists as diverse as The Band, Travelling Wilburys, Steve Earle, and Colorblind James, among others. The band has been rocking out in the Greater Rochester area since January 1996, when the band was formed on a lark to fill an empty performance slot at the Rose & Crown Pub. The band includes Scott Regan, Kerry Regan, Tom Whitmore, Marty York, Steve Piper, and Rick McRae.

More about the concert series:
Hosted by Hannah Maier of The Route/WRUR 88.5, the concerts begin at 12:10 pm at **Granite Mills Park, near the Pont du Rennes bridge. **That’s right. We are back at our original location when the series first began!

Concerts take place rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, the rain location at MCC Downtown Campus will be announced by 10:30 am on Hochstein’s website and via Hochstein’s social media. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own seating and lunch. Each performance will run approximately 40 minutes.

Parking Info: Public parking is available at the High Falls Parking Garage.

Hochstein at High Falls concerts are presented by High Falls Business Association, The Hochstein School, and The Route/WRUR 88.5. Hochstein at High Falls concerts are also made possible by a number of local organizations, including Brandtatorship, LaBella Associates, and Monroe Community College. 

Photo: Watkins and The Rapiers
Provided.

Miss Austen Regrets • WXXI-TV

Based on Jane Austen’s actual letters and diaries, this drama unravels the secrets of this elusive woman.

Miss Austen Regrets airs Saturday, May 10 at 4:30 p.m. on  WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Jane is nearing her forties and has never married. To her niece, Fanny Knight – a young, pretty girl desperate to fall in love – Jane is a favorite aunt who offers the wisdom and knowledge that will help her in her own search for a happy marriage.

Great Performances “Yellow Face” • WXXI-TV

Enjoy Tony winner David Henry Hwang’s comedy starring Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests “yellowface” casting in the musical “Miss Saigon” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

Great Performances “Yellow Face” airs Friday, May 16 at 9 p.m. on  WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang’s comedy from Roundabout Theatre Company stars Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost,” “Hawaii Five-0”) as an Asian American playwright who protests yellowface casting in the blockbuster musical “Miss Saigon,” only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. The repercussions resonate in this farce about the complexities of race. Filmed in November 2024 and directed by Leigh Silverman (“Violet,” “Suffs”), “Yellow Face” is an “is-he-or-isn’t-he” comedy of identity, show business and autobiography.

Great Performances “Next to Normal” • WXXI-TV

Experience this Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical directed by Michael Longhurst from London’s Donmar Warehouse. Grammy nominee Caissie Levy stars in the story of a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness.

Great Performances “Next to Normal” airs Friday, May 9 at 9 p.m. on  WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

This three-time Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical stars Caissie Levy (Broadway’s “Frozen”), Jamie Parker (Broadway’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”), Jack Wolfe (Netflix’s “Shadow & Bone”) and Eleanor Worthington-Cox. An intimate portrait of a modern family, the show explores illness, loss, grief and family as a suburban wife and mother lives with bipolar disorder and is haunted by her past. Filmed at Wyndham’s Theatre in September 2024 during the show’s West End transfer from its original run at the Donmar Warehouse, the musical is produced by David Stone (“Wicked”), staged by director Michael Longhurst and features an original rock score by Tom Kitt with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey.

This program is presented by  Move to IncludeTM, an award-winning national initiative to promote disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media.

The Boys Who Said No! • WXXI-TV

A stunning and immersive look at the cost of opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The Boys Who Said No! airs Monday, May 12 at 9 p.m. on  WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.

During the Vietnam War, American men were required to carry their draft card at all times, and a refusal to participate when called up would land you in prison. The seeds of resistance would begin to grow when one man stood up and publicly burned his draft card in protest against the war. By the war’s end, thousands were imprisoned for refusing to fight.

The film features original interviews with activists and historians of the movement, including folk singer Joan Baez, journalist and activist David Harris, and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.  From the support of Martin Luther King, Jr. when Muhammad Ali refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, to the countless demonstrations and marches from resistors whose names have been almost lost to history – these actions together built a movement of principled and powerful nonviolent resistance to America’s most problematic war, that have become a touchpoint for subsequent movements around social justice and peace today.

Through dynamic archival footage and compelling interviews, this film is the first documentary to profile the youth-led movement of nonviolent civil disobedience against the Vietnam War, a critical part of the antiwar movement that eventually forced an end to both the war and draft conscription

Photo: Young men and women protesting • Photo provided by APT

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