Fifty Years And Counting

I can personally attest to the importance and influence of the community symphony orchestra. We were fortunate to have one in the town where I grew up, led by a short and energetic conductor who needed several extra platforms to be seen by his players.   That orchestra still exists today, albeit under a different maestro. But in my childhood it certainly fed my interest in classical music. My parents took me to every concert. Later, as a semi-decent high school trombonist, I joined the orchestra as one of its more youthful members. We were pretty good, and we played some of the staples of the repertoire. It was a thrilling experience that I couldn’t have gotten any other way.  How lucky are we, then, to have a similar institution in our neck of the woods. The Torrington Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary next weekend, May 7, with a concert of American classics by Ferde Grofé, Richard Rogers, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, and others.  The very fact that this ensemble has made it to the half-century mark is further testament to the vitality of community orchestras, even as their high-powered professional counterparts struggle to survive.  The Torrington Symphony, conducted by Maurice Steinberg, a retired Litchfield public school music teacher, has continued to offer reasonably-priced concerts performed by a mix of amateur, semi-professional, and professional musicians, while also providing that wonderful artistic outlet for talented young instrumentalists (and some talented, not-so-young instrumentalists), just as my hometown orchestra did so many years ago.  “A Salute to American Composers,” celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Torrington Symphony Orchestra, will take place at the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre on the Warner Theatre Campus in Torrington, on Saturday, May 7, at 8 p.m.  Guest soloists include Mark McNally, baritone, Fran Wall, mezzo-soprano, John DelVento, euphonium, Joy Zublena, piano, and Michael John Valenti, narration.  For reservations and information, call the Warner Box Office, 860-489-7180, or go to www.warnertheatre.org.

Latest News

Invasive species, infectious diseases and some new ticks in Litchfield County
Provided

When we hear ‘invasive species’ around here we think of Oriental Bittersweet strangling trees, Japanese Knotweed clogging riverbanks, Purple Loosestrife choking wetlands, and Emerald ash borer beetle decimating our ash trees. These are threats to our environment that are visible from almost every road, path or hiking trail across the northwest corner of Connecticut. These are introduced species that adapted to our local climate, out-competed our native flora and fauna, and occupied the ecological niche formerly home to local native species.

What is invisible from your car window as you pass across the region is another invasion, one with big health consequences. It is an invasion of infectious disease driven by arthropods that act as disease vectors arriving in our county from elsewhere. Some of the most closely watched arrivals are the new tick vectors that have spread to southern Connecticut in the last couple of years. Most of us are familiar with the black-legged deer tick which has been in Connecticut for millennia and transmits Lyme Disease, Anaplasma, Babesia and Powassan Virus in mice, birds, deer and humans. What few realize is that there are three new tick species that have arrived in the state enabled by the rising global temperatures, movement of host species carrying tick passengers, and human disruption of habitat allowing the new arrivals to become established.

Keep ReadingShow less
Michael Kashgarian

SHARON — Michael Kashgarian, MD (Mike), died peacefully at home in Hamden, Connecticut, on June 28, 2025, surrounded by his loving family and the sounds of his favorite Irish folk music. Mike and his beloved wife Jeanie (d.2019) were longtime residents of North Haven and Sharon. Mike was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a distinguished physician, professor, colleague and mentor. He had wide-ranging interests – he was a music lover, a wine connoisseur, an avid fly-fisherman, and enjoyed gourmet cooking and travel.

Born on Sept. 20, 1933, in New York City to Toros and Araxie (Almasian) Kashgarian – both survivors of the Armenian Genocide – Mike was raised with a deep appreciation for learning and the responsibility to make the world a better place. He attended public schools and graduated from Bronx High School of Science, already showing the brilliance and curiosity that would shape his life’s work. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and philosophy from New York University in 1954 where he sang tenor in the glee club and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry that same year. He went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine from Yale University School of Medicine in 1958.

Keep ReadingShow less
James North

SHARON — James W. North of Sharon, passed away on June 4, 2025 at the age of 91.

James was born on Feb. 2, 1934, and grew up in Stratford, Connecticut. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

Keep ReadingShow less