Faith Middleton, WNPR host and executive producer, is known for her thought-provoking interviews and has been described as “an institution” in her broadcast region. For 11 years, the readers and editors of Connecticut magazine have voted her “Best Radio Talk Show Host” in the state.
Faith has twice received the “Pulitzer” of broadcast journalism, The Peabody Award. She is also a recipient of the Ohio State Award for her interview with battered wife Kathy Kaplan, imprisoned for arranging the killing of her abusive husband. In May of 2008, Faith received the Mark Twain Award from the Connecticut Press Association and Humanitarian Award from The Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut. In 2008, she was named a Hall of Fame recipient by Connecticut Magazine.
Joining the ranks of Helen Keller, Richard Rodgers, Arthur Miller, and Dr. Henry Lee, Faith was recently the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award of The Connecticut Bar Association. Now in her 27th year as the host and executive producer of The Faith Middleton Show, Faith is heard in prime-time six days a week in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York on WNPR, as well as on the internet at wnpr.org. Click here to read Faith's full bio.
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Polly Bergen Actress
Polly Bergen has appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear, opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She was in a number of Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis movies, co-starred with Doris Day and James Garner in the comedy Move Over, Darling.
Polly received an Emmy for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan in the TV series Playhouse 90, and, later, an Emmy nomination for her role in TV miniseries The Winds of War, with Robert Mitchum. Polly was a regular panelist on the original CBS game show To Tell the Truth. She appeared a number of times on the TV series The Sopranos, and had regular appearances on Commander in Chief and Desperate Housewives (for which she received an Emmy nomination).
On stage, she starred in a 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, receiving a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Polly, who now lives in Connecticut when not working in New York City, has three children.
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Ann Leary Author
Ann Leary is a writer, a wife, and a mother. She’s married to actor and comedian Denis Leary. Her first book was An Innocent, a Broad, a funny and poignant memoir about living in England for six months after her son was born there prematurely, and the little family stayed on as uninvited guests of Britain’s national Healthcare System. Her second book, Outtakes from a Marriage, is an amusing novel about life amidst the glitz and glamour of celebrities. One critic called it “a ruefully funny novel about adultery, family, and the good memories that get people through hard times.”
She, Denis, and their two children live on a small farm in Connecticut with four dogs, four horses, and “an angry orange cat named Sneakers.”
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Dick Young Film-maker and Activist
Dick does film/video projects for government, companies, and nonprofit organizations, specializing in tackling societal and environmental problems in a lyrical yet humanistic way. Among his clients are the American Diabetes Association, the Food & Agricuture Organization, the Ford Foundation, Global Water, and Heifer Project International.
Dick lives in New York City and Connecticut. His films have won many awards. He was nominated for three academy awards for documentary short subjects, and two films were selected by the Academy as outstanding documentaries of the year. He received a National Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, won four Gold Hugos at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was Grand Prix winner at the International Film and TV Festival of New York. He has worked on film projects all around the world. He also lectures at various colleges on filmmaking.
Seven years ago, Dick was traveling in Africa doing a documentary. Seeing the plight of people in a small town called Denan in a poverty-stricken part of Ethiopia, he founded The Denan Project. He and some Woodbury friends raised money to build a small, free clinic in Denan to treat the diseases brought on by malnutrition and extreme poverty.
That tiny clinic is now a 29 room hospital with a staff of 40, all of built and run on funds raised by Dick and other volunteers. To help alleviate the horrific effects of recurring drought, The Denan Project is building a water pipeline from a source of fresh water to Denan and nearby towns. It also bought a tanker to truck water to the towns for storage in small reservoirs.
In just six years, The Denan Project he founded has brought medical care, water, a micro-loan program, cottage industries, and education to Denan – all with the belief that Denan will someday become a self-sustaining community.
Art on the River
We are delighted to share photographs from our "Four Seasons of the Pomperaug" photography contest and honored to feature the works of Fern Berman, which will be a preview to her upcoming exhibit "Persistence of the Precious" that will be on display at the Good News Cafe later this summer. Below is an excerpt from the Artist's Statement:
PERSISTENCE OF THE PRECIOUS
Photographs and other work by Fern Berman
"...When I create my work I mainly shoot and print full frame. Color is the commonality.
I think of it as a celebration of color. Kandinsky and Marc talked about “revealing associative properties of color, line and composition.” One of my goals is to do just that in my photographs.
It is important to me to shoot film and print on archival paper to get the color density that defines my work. When people ask me why I don’t shoot with a digital camera I reply that I like to have the limitation of how many photographs I can take. My photographs are thought out and composed. And like most other photographers, I’m catching a moment in time. In other words, each photograph I take is precious to me. Each day is precious. Each moment is precious. Persistence of the Precious."
Collectors include:
Yale Smilow Cancer Center, New Haven, CT
Sylvia Witzenmann, Golden Galaxy, New York City
Thomas Henkelmann-Homestead Inn, Greenwich, CT
Velma Cato, Los Angeles, CA
David Blumenthal, Lionbrand Yarn Company, New York, NY
FOUR SEASONS OF THE POMPERAUG Photographs submitted into our Photography Contest will also be on display and available for sale. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful images and take home the piece of the Pomperaug you like best!
Musical Entertainment
Soprano Marianna Vagnini’s singing has taken her to many stages around the world including Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Russia. Her many operatic roles include Mimi (La Bohème), Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte), the Countess (The Marriage Of Figaro) and the title role in Suor Angelica. Connecticut audiences have seen her as soloist with Connecticut Concert Opera, the Stamford Master Singers, the Shubert Theatre, the Palace Theatre and the Waterbury Symphony. Most recent roles in Connecticut were at the Palace Theatre as Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly and at the Warner Theatre as Carlotta in Maury Yeston's Phantom and as Ida Strauss in Titanic. A recent recipient of the Waterbury Foundation's Sendzimir Award, Marianna has recently released a new CD entitled Our Souls Take Flight - a compilation of original and newly arranged songs of inspiration by composer/arranger Frank Pisani and lyricist Bonny Gilbert Ashe. Marianna is on the Music Faculty at Waterbury Arts Magnet School.
Jean Carlos Rodrigues is a graduate of Waterbury Arts Magnet School, has performed at the Palace Theater, and many other venues. He has played the role of Javert in Les Mis at The Thomaston Opera House. He is a vocal performing major at Western CT State University.
William Linster is a 13 year old who has been playing the piano for nearly 11 years. His passion for music has been shared with audiences at numerous events at the Palace Theater, Seven Angels Theater, Heritage Hotel, Mattatuck Museum, and Main Street Theater, among others. William has also performed at the Middlebury Bicentennial Concert, numerous fundraisers, churches, assisted living communities, and in the orchestra pits of musicals. Last summer, William was honored with a rare invitation to perform at the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, where he was also asked to perform for Philip Fortenberry, Associate Music Director of Jersey Boys in Las Vegas. His contemporary repertoire includes the music of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Burt Bacharach, Leroy Anderson, Broadway, and movies. While the piano is his first love, William also plays the violin, trumpet, clarinet, vibraphone, and handbells. He has also been recognized for his abilities to compose and improvise.
Joey Loglisci began studying voice and piano at a very young age and began writing music when he was 12. With a 4 octave range he is currently working on his debut Album which will be released on itunes Summer 2010. Producer Michael Patzig (Celine Dion, Ricky Martin) has already expressed that Joey is a very naturally talented kid with an impressive work ethic and drive."
Mike Blaszczak will be sharing his love of jazz and classical music learned during his youth. His musical selections will come from within for all to enjoy.
Madeline "Muggy" McCord is seventeen and attends the Waterbury Arts Magnet School. For over ten years she has been performing in musicals. Within the past year she was seen at Thomaston Opera House in the Wedding Singer, Blue's Clues Live, Seussical the Musical, and Les Misérables, at Seven Angels Theatre in Hello Dolly!, and at Naugatuck Teen Theatre in Alice in Wonderland most recently, Urinetown. In addition to musicals, she has also performed in a lot of cabaret shows and fundraisers in her school, local theaters, and in other places in the community. Although she mostly performs musical, jazz, and rock genres, she is being trained classically and hopes to pursue a career in opera.
Pianist Richard DeRosa is a veteran singer, voice instructor, musical director for countless productions in New York City, Connecticut, and New Mexico. He has served as musical director for Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre including the upcoming production of My Fair Lady at the Palace Theater in September.
The Dean Torrey Quintet is composed of extraordinary young talent from Greenwich to Middletown including one of Pomperaug High School’s own musicians. This jazz quintet features Jacob Rego on trumpet, Greg Lapine on saxophone, Itamar Gov-Ari on piano, Dean Torrey on bass, and Matthew Criscuolo on drums.
Friends Youth Ensemble is made up of three talented, local musicians - 14 year old Dennis Li on flute, 14 year old Mengting Zhang on piano and clarinet; and 12 year old Dereck Li on flute - and is directed by accomplished singer and pianist Jenny Li. Dennis started playing flute at age 8 and is a member of the school band, jazz band and the Tri-M music honor society. He is also the principle flutist in the Greater Bridgeport (Symphony) Youth Orchestra, and a flutist in the Danbury Community Orchestra. He is now a freshman at Pomperaug High School, along with Mengting. Mengting started playing clarinet at age 9 and is a member of the school band and Tri-M music honor society. She was a clarinetist in the Greater Bridgeport (Symphony) Youth Orchestra. She is also an accomplished pianist. She has achieved level 10, the highest level in the Connecticut Musicianship Achievement Program in piano performance and music theory, and she won the West Connecticut Select Student Piano Competition in 2008 and 2009. Dereck, age 12, is now in 7th grade at Rochambeau Middle School. He started playing flute at age 8 as well and is a member of the school band, jazz band and the Tri-M music honor society. He is also a flutist in the Greater Bridgeport (Concert) Youth Orchestra.
