Bethany & Rufus To Perform Two Shows With Peter Yarrow In Ridgefield

Folk music legend Peter Yarrow will bring his vocal and guitar magic to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, October 17, with two performances: a children's concert at 4 p.m., and an evening show for adults at 8 p.m.

At the children's concert, Yarrow will sing with his daughter Bethany Yarrow and cellist Rufus Cappadocia, the duo know as 'Bethany & Rufus'. "I always invite the kids to come on stage to help lead 'Puff, The Magic Dragon,'" said Yarrow, "and I always find out, much to my delight, that even the three and four-year olds know the words."

The trio Peter, Bethany and Rufus recently released the 11- song CD "Puff & Other Family Classics." Yarrow's children's concert is part of the Pepsi Children's Series and underwritten by Wooster School in Danbury. This show's Union Savings Bank "Arts for Everyone" recipient is Escape to the Arts, which will receive a number of complimentary tickets for their constituents underwritten by the Bank.

The evening concert, which is part of the Doyle Coffin Singer Songwriter Series, will offer selections from Yarrow's repertoire that demonstrates folk music's potency as a social, cultural and political force with its message of humanity, hope and activism.

Peter Yarrow found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow met Noel "Paul" Stookey and the late Mary Travers in New York City's Greenwich Village, center of the mid-20th century American folk music revival. By 1962, Warner Bros. Records released the trio's first album, the eponymous "Peter, Paul & Mary." The album remained in the Top Ten for 10 months, in the Top Twenty for two years, and sold more than two million copies. The group has toured extensively and recorded numerous albums, both live and in the studio. Yarrow has appeared as a performer on 61 various albums, including his daughter Bethany's 2003 CD, "Rock Island."

Drawing from the roots music traditions of America, Niger, and Haiti; Bethany & Rufus with Yacouba Moumouni and Bonga Jean-Baptiste come together to create an unexpected tapestry, weaving the desert winds of Africa with Vodou traditions of the new world and the folk music of America. http://bethanyandrufus.musicdish.net http://www.facebook.com/bethanyandrufus

For tickets ($25 at 4 p.m.; $37.50 at 8 p.m.) and further information about The Ridgefield Playhouse, call the box office at 203-438-5795; tickets may be also purchased online at http://www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Playhouse is located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street.