Manx bluesmaster Davy Knowles is the main-man musical guest at the 18th annual Brookdale Guitar Show – merely the biggest of several special events on campus this Sunday.
By all traditional expectations a quiet day on campus, this Sunday promises to keep the Route 520 roundabout out front of Brookdale Community College humming with visitors to the sprawling Lincroft complex.
All members of the general public are being welcomed as BCC hosts its annual Spring Open House between 12 and 2 pm, inside the Robert J. Collins Arena. Current high schoolers and the career-changing curious are invited to learn about the more than 50 degree and certificate programs offered at the county college, with guided tours available and faculty advisors from all departments on hand to answer questions about course curricula, scholarships, grants, financial aid, job training and four-year programs.
Also on-site will be representatives from partner universities such as Georgian Court and Rutgers, available for questions on streamlined transfer agreements and discounted tuition. Complimentary refreshments will be furnished by Brookdale’s Culinary Education Center, and parking for the event is available in lots 6 or 7. Take it here for more info — and take it around the corner for more happenings on campus this April 12.
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Meanwhile, the Warner Student Life Center at BCC comes alive on Sunday with one of the most highly anticipated yearly events in our music-mad backyard — the Brookdale Guitar Show, the 18th annual edition of which commandeers the SLC building (inside and outside) between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm. A fundraiser for Brookdale Public Radio station 90.5 The Night, the expo promises “more than 50 high-quality vendors selling incredible vintage and brand new guitars,” along with artist-friendly clinics on topics that range from how to be a better guitar teacher, to how to get your songs published.
Naturally, there’s also plenty of live music on site and under the tent — headlined by Davy Knowles, the acclaimed blues guitarist and vocalist from the Isle of Man who’s joined by Accidental Seabirds and many other performers from up and down the Shore. There’s a special “All About the Bass” emphasis for 2015 that throws some long-overdue respect to the anchor axe and its ace players; a group that includes longtime Joe Jackson associate (and local area transplant) Graham Maby. Go here for updates on featured acts, clinics and more — and here to reserve advance admission ($10; tickets are $12 at the door).
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On a more somber note, the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education (chhange) at Brookdale Community College marks the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman empire’s First World War-era Armenian Genocide in what’s now Turkey, with a special interactive exhibit plus guest lecture this Sunday inside BCC’s Bankier Library building.
Going on between 2 and 5 pm, the event will showcase “A Journey to Life: Armenia,” an interactive exhibit featuring the personal histories of local Armenian survivors and their families. Internationally recognized Armenian scholar, poet and Rutgers faculty member Khatchig Mouradian (pictured) will introduce the exhibit and its historical content, while other offerings include an artistic exhibit of three-dimensional Armenian cityscapes designed and created by hundreds of middle school, high school and college students throughout New Jersey.
Chhange will also take the occasion to officially release its new book Hundred-Year Legacy of Courage: Celebrating the Lives of Armenian Genocide Survivors in Our Community. The publication shares the personal accounts of 54 individuals who managed to survive the Ottoman government’s systematic extermination of more than one million Armenians, beginning in April 1915. For more information on this free April 12 program, visit the chhange website or call (732)224-1889.
