WORCESTER Mechanics Hall will present a Founders Day commemoration concert at 7:30 p.m. March 19 on Facebook and YouTube.
Organist and composer Leonardo Ciampa, director of music at Emanuel Lutheran Church, will perform an organ recital that includes the world premiere of three of his compositions and arrangements.
Mechanics Hall is celebrating 164 years (1857-2021). Meanwhile, 1864 is the year the hall s E. & G.G. Hook Organ was installed.
Ciampa has written a special arrangement for the occasion, 1864 Suite, of four songs that debuted in 1864 Shall We Gather at the River?, Beautiful Dreamer, Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green and Maggie.
The program also includes works by Robert Schumann and Louis-Claude Daquin, and Ciampa s Pequeña Canción, and Finale on Coronation.
The Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District, an initiative that had the misfortune of getting off the ground during the coronavirus pandemic, has been given state funding to help the neighborhood recover from the health and economic crisis.
A $120,000 grant the district announced Wednesday from the state s Local Rapid Recovery Planning program will help district leaders study solutions to help revitalize the downtown, which was challenged by storefront vacancies before the pandemic and some restaurants that closed at least temporarily this winter, as well as events spaces including the Hanover Theatre, DCU Center and Mechanics Hall.
The business improvement district said it would work with city officials to develop plans for helping downtown recover, including slightly longer-term strategies. The process is expected to take about five months and involve the Boston office of the urban design firm Stantec.
The annual Firefighter of the Year Award ceremony was held Monday, with a Medal of Honor posthumously awarded to Worcester Fire Lt. Jason Menard.
He died during a house fire Nov. 13, 2019, after helping another firefighter escape the flames, an act of uncommon bravery that merits the high honor, according to state fire officials.
The annual award ceremony, usually at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, was held virtually this year. Menard s family, Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Worcester fire and community officials were at a Worcester fire station. Today is a day to remember what a firefighter chooses to do, Polito said. Clearly a firefighter is born with.just brave.