The Inside Scoop on the Beacon on Aurora Concert Series in Ithaca, NY

NEXT CONCERT: Garnet Rogers on May 21, 2023 (see more info below; tickets available here)

If you enjoy live music in Ithaca, I have some excellent news for you!

The Beacon on Aurora concert series is the newest addition to our local concert scene — and it’s something very special.

Now that my kids are a little older, I’ve been slowly crawling out from under the musical rock I’ve been living under for the past few years. This past summer had me exploring bigger, outdoor concert events in and around Ithaca, like the Ithaca Night Bazaar and GrassRoots. 

Beacon on Aurora is different. Set in the church of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, the concerts — primarily in the Folk, Americana, and Singer-Songwriter genres — are intimate and warm.

When I went to the inaugural event, an evening with Chuck and Mira Costa of The Sea The Sea (a duo from Troy, NY), I felt like I was having an experience and conversation together with the artists.

And thanks to the curation of Lara Supan (herself a musician who has toured nationally as part of Americana band South Rail and who works as a booking agent with Fleming Agents) the series promises to continue to bring in top-notch performers. 

The lineup for early 2023 already looks amazing. I’ve discovered some great new (to me) music just by exploring those artists.

I talked to Lara to get the inside scoop.

Q&A with Lara Supan

Lara, you’re a musician yourself. Tell us about your background.

I’d say the most interesting thing about me is that I am a musician who really cut my teeth during my years studying Vocal Jazz at Ithaca College. 

I started as a Musical Theatre major and ended up in the Jazz program because of a show I saw at the 9:30 Club (in Washington DC) in my freshman year of college. That night made me realize that experiencing the songs and stories of real people, unscripted and on stage, was the magic I was looking for in my life. 

Fast forward 15 years, I’m back in Ithaca with my family and trying to bring more of that magic to the Ithaca community with Beacon on Aurora.

What should we know about the Beacon on Aurora concert series?

Beacon on Aurora is a once-a-month singer/songwriter series at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca (FUSIT, on the corner of Buffalo and Aurora). 

It’ll always be on a Sunday, mainly because we want to provide shows on a night where we won’t be bumping into the regular music scene at local venues like newly opened Deep Dive and other great music venues. 

It came about because of a chance connection after an artist I work with lost her initial house concert location due to weather concerns and we needed a last minute spot to host her. I posted to the social media hivemind and the music director of the First Unitarian Society messaged me offering the space. 

After working together to pull out that last minute show, I realized it would be a wonderful collaboration to continue, and the rest is history. 

What makes the concert series unique? What do you hope to bring to the Ithaca and regional music scene? 

After speaking with a ton of local patrons of the arts and concert-goers, it was clear to me that there is a dearth of small listening room spaces in the city of Ithaca. This has always surprised me, since there’s such a vibrant music community at both the town and university levels. 

We so appreciate the brewery and cidery music, the open air tunes at the Farmer’s Market, and of course the vibrant house concert scene, but I’m hoping to expand on that with something the community can look forward to every month. 

With my connections to the business side of the industry, I have been able to have conversations and entice artists that may not be accessible otherwise to come try out the new series. 

We have international, BIPOC, women and younger generation folks coming in to display how diverse the folk/singer-songwriter world can be, and we hope the community responds favorably.

What is your vision for the series in the long run?

My vision for the long run could go in a number of directions, but working nationally with so many Unitarian Universalist coffee house series, I see how vibrant they are and how well they’ve survived the pandemic years because of loyal attendees that trust the series to bring new music to the community. 

These series are not only beneficial to the community, but also extremely valuable in helping grow an up-and-coming artist who needs new ears on them to build a sustainable tour routing during these uncertain times. 

I’m focusing very hard on curating the series to make sure the community will come take a chance on a new artist they may have not heard before because they trust our judgment. 

Dealing in bulk with booking shows across the country, I find that these series are the most beneficial to everyone involved in them as they grow.

What kind of music can we expect to hear at the concerts?

I’m focusing mainly on Folk, Americana, and Singer-Songwriter genres while building the series because I find that these genres lend themselves most easily to the room, and it’s what I’m noticing a lack of here in town. 

I’m also focusing deliberately on bringing diverse examples of those genres, including Canadian Folk artist Julian Taylor, Irish Folk artist Pat Byrne, mixed with a traditional favorite, Canadian Folk singer and author Garnet Rogers.

For our April 2023 artist, I have my sights set on a young woman doing fantastic things in the Folk world.

These shows are intimate, with amazing sound and will be mixed with songs, stories, and banter. 

Every show will start at the same time (7 pm) and have you out before bedtime (around 9 pm) – we know it’s a school night! 

FUSIT will be offering tea, coffee and homemade baked goods at the short break to help collect funds for the church as well.

How do you choose the artists to invite?

Right now, I’m going with artists I have a personal connection with since it’s a bit risky to bring regional/national artists to a space where you don’t have a built-in crowd yet. Getting these series off the ground is always the hardest part, unless you have funding behind the endeavor, which we don’t. 

Our hope is to get to a point where our paid attendance is consistent enough that we will be able to offer a minimum to touring artists, which will open our options quite a bit. 

At that point, I’d love to take some feedback from the community as to who they would like to see that hasn’t performed in Ithaca in a while, or ever. I very much want this to be a collaboration with the community once things get off the ground. 

As a musician, what do you think might attract artists to Ithaca and this concert series?

When I tell folks in the industry that we recently moved back to Ithaca, the overwhelming response I get is “Oh Ithaca! What a great place to live! It’s so beautiful up there.” Most folks have been here once or twice for one reason or another, and if they haven’t been, they want to come see it. 

Artists I represent – like Scott Cook, Ordinary Elephant, and others – have played here once or twice (with the fabulous house concert series La La Land among other spaces) and have been trying to find ways back ever since. 

Ithaca is a unique, vibrant, beautiful community, and I feel coming to stay here and play for our town is a respite for so many touring artists once they discover it.

As we are off the beaten path, as I’m sure most of you reading this know, you don’t “pass through” Ithaca on your way to other places. That can be a blessing and a curse when routing a tour, but I find that artists who have played here once always want to come back – and spend a day soaking in the good vibes before jumping on the road again. 

In addition, the performance space at FUSIT is beautiful and has wonderful acoustics. Artists – like myself – are suckers for good natural acoustics!

The room is live and active, and can make a 60-person audience sound as energetic as a sold out show at The State. Both artists we’ve had perform this space so far have given the same feedback – that it truly is a special place to play. 

Artists scheduled for 2023

Here’s what Lara has to say about some of the other artists scheduled for this year:

Julian Taylor is coming up on April 23, 2203, and he is a prolific folk artist. He won Canadian solo artist of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards and was nominated for two Juno awards (the equivalent of the Grammys) in 2021 for his latest album, Beyond the Reservoir.

You can hear his music on his website or on Spotify. 

Garnet Rogers is coming to our series on May 21st, and needs no introduction in this community, as I know he already has a solid fanbase in the area. This legendary Canadian Folk artist has performed with Bound for Glory and other local folk series for decades. He is happy to return to do some old and new tunes, along with reading some excerpts from his two novels, one fiction and one a memoir of his life on the road. Garnet is somewhat of an enigma, and I love working with the man as his agent. He has a way about him that makes you fall in love with him immediately. He has just started returning to touring and especially in the United States, so we are extremely honored to have him making a stop here in Ithaca. It’s definitely not a show to be missed! 

Explore his music on his website or on Spotify.

Pat Byrne is another one of our artists. Pat hails from Ireland, born and raised, and is currently based in Austin Texas. He’s got a Glen Hansard-esque gruffness to his vocals, and his songwriting is accessible and thought provoking in the same breath. His tunes are catchy, one my personal favorites on my playlist since he joined Fleming in October. I saw him play live at Americanafest in Nashville as one of the official showcasing artists, and it’s impossible to not fall in love with his charismatic banter and dry humor in addition to his musical performance.

His latest album Into the Light can be found on his website or on Spotify.