Training School Offers Weekly Free Concerts

On Tuesday nights during the summer, the Southbury Training School (STS), a normally very quiet place, comes alive for the evening. The reason for this is the free Gate House Café Concert Series, put on by the training school.

These concerts are held in the gazebo outside the Gate House Café.  Tuesday, the Bernstein Bard Trio will play.

According to STS employee Anita Kalenauskas, the concerts were created to "get the community and the Training School together."

These concerts feature musical groups from around Connecticut, and include a variety of genres from a Bob Marley cover band to folk and world music.

Over the last few years, I myself have gone to quite a few of these shows, and I've heard everything from a Bob Marley cover band (a must see, by the way) to traditional folk music to what I heard on Tuesday: Latin American, Andean, Afro-Caribbean, Spanish, and what they call 'world music', all coming from the mouths and instruments of the same group.

            Last week's the concerts featured a band playing music from South America by the name of "Surcari." The lead singer, Lorena Garay, told the audience that they use over forty woodwind, wind, and string instruments in their songs, and she wasn't kidding.            Along with music, the Gate House Café is open to sell dinner and snacks.

The concerts have a small-town feel to them: people show up at 6:30, when the concerts begin, and throw down blankets, lawn chairs, coolers packed with soda and snacks, chat, relax, and listen to music that you probably couldn't find on the shelves at Borders.

Local State Trooper John Moreno, who is assigned to every one of these concerts, finds them just as appealing as the audience. He said the atmosphere contributed to the series' popularity.

"They're free… nice place to hang out, relax, and listen to a little music," said Moreno.