Arts & Culture

Details are being announced about the 2014 Rochester Teen Film Festival. It’s sponsored by Nazareth College, the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council and The Little Theatre.

This year, young filmmakers have a chance to earn the Philip Seymour Hoffman Award, which honors the life and legacy of the late Academy Award-winning actor. The award was established in association with the Hoffman family with money raised during The Little’s Philip Seymour Hoffman Tribute Film Series held last weekend.

David Fetler has been conducting the Rochester Chamber Orchestra for 50 years and shows no signs of stopping. No conductor in the world has been doing it longer. As the RCO turns 50, we talked to David, along with Ray Grosswirth and Tom Paul, about the past and the future.

Then we heard from Erica Fee,  the producer of the Rochester Fringe Festival, which is now accepting applications from artists.   

NPR’s From the Top is coming to Rochester on Wednesday, May 19th. We talked to NPR’s host Christopher O’Riley, and we welcomed a group of young performers who will be on stage at the Eastman Theater’s Kodak Hall that night. 

In WXXI’s Sharp Ears series, Rochester’s finest musicians are letting us into their inner lives as listeners. 

This week, Eastman cello professor Steven tells Classical 91.5 FM host Brenda Tremblay that his friend Steven Isserlis - who also plays the cello - is definitely worth your time and attention.

Click on the audio link above to hear their conversation.

If all of Rochester read the same book, it would be… The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey. Writers & Books selected Ivey’s highly acclaimed novel for their annual event, and Ivey joined Connections from Alaska to preview her visit later this month. 

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Happy 50th birthday, Buffalo-style chicken wings. 

The milestone is being celebrated Thursday at the Anchor Bar, the Buffalo tavern that's credited with inventing the dish on a March night a half century ago. 

According to Anchor Bar lore, the restaurant's owner, Teressa Bellissimo, whipped up a snack at the request of her bartender son, Dominic, after a group of his friends got hungry while having late-night drinks. 

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP)  The Buffalo Bills have put their annual regular-season game in Toronto on hold for at least one year.

The Bills and their Toronto partner, Rogers Communications, announced in a release Wednesday they have ``postponed'' the series for one season. The postponement will allow both sides to work on enhancing future games, the release said.

The decision comes a little more than a year after the two agreed to renew the series for five years, though 2017, after the original five-year deal expired.

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was remembered all weekend long at The Little Theatre in Rochester.

Hundreds of people came to the six Hoffman films shown during the special tribute, films that were chosen by fans through social media. The tribute was planned after Hoffman’s early death in early February from a drug overdose.

The mother of Fairport’s Philip Seymour Hoffman has released a statement in connection with her son’s death. The actor was found dead February 2nd in a Manhattan apartment, and a recent report from the Medical Examiner indicates his death was an accident, caused by a drug overdose.

The statement from Marilyn O’Connor was not a reaction to that autopsy report. But it was read Friday night at The Little Theatre, by film critic Jack Garner, as part of a film tribute to Hoffman this weekend.

NEW YORK (AP)  A toxic mix of heroin and other drugs killed Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, New York City officials said Friday. 

The Fairport native died from a mix of heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and benzodiazepines, which are psychoactive drugs, said a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner. The death was ruled an accident. 

Law enforcement officials have said Hoffman was found Feb. 2 with a needle in his arm, and tests found heroin in samples from at least 50 packets in his Manhattan apartment.