Community Calendar

You are cordially invited to the Gallery's upcoming opening reception for the Fall Faculty Show - showcasing the work of our very own Visual Arts department. This annual exhibit highlights the diverse and exceptional work of our faculty, spanning painting, photography, ceramic, sculpture, mixed media and more.

It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with faculty, appreciate their creative contributions, and kick off the new academic season together. Please see details below.

Show Dates:
September 7 - October 2

Opening Reception:
September 8 5:30pm-7:30pm at the Gallery

Gallery Hours:
Mon/Wed 12:00PM - 6:00PM
Tues/Thurs 10:00AM - 4:00PM
Fri 12:00PM - 4:00PM

Mercer County Community College is hosting a Farmers Market on campus beginning June 10, open to both the Mercer community and the public. This market reflects the college's ongoing commitment to supporting local agriculture across the region and provides a wonderful opportunity to engage community members and invite them to grow with us through our Horticulture and other degree programs.

The market will be held every other week through September 16, rain or shine, in the parking lot next to the University Center.

Local vendors will be selling a variety of products, including fresh produce, jams, cold-pressed juices, breads, pastries, teas, honey, books, pickles, artisan soaps and more. The market will also be selling ice cream, donated by The Bent Spoon in Princeton, with all proceeds supporting the MCCC Food Pantry.

Vendor inquires may be sent to FarmersMarket@mccc.edu.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP – Feel the spirit of ’76! The Jackson Branch of the Ocean County Library will host “Maggie Worsdale Sings the Hits of 1976” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 14.

Maggie Worsdale is not just a singer. She is a musical historian. Known for peeling back the layers of a song to its emotional core, she takes the hits of ’76 and reimagines them through a jazz-infused lens.

The year was 1976. The United States was celebrating its bicentennial. The air was thick with the spirit of revolution and reinvention, and the airwaves were vibrating with a sound that would define a generation. It was a year where disco began its glittering ascent, outlaw country found its voice, and soft rock mastered the art of the melody.

Now, acclaimed jazz vocalist Maggie Worsdale invites you to step into a musical time capsule as she brings her signature sophistication and soulful storytelling to the iconic hits of 1976. Classics like “Isn’t She Lovely,” “New York State of Mind,” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” are part of this musical nod to the songs we heard for the first time 50 years ago.

This isn’t just a tribute show. It is a sophisticated exploration of a year that bridged the gap between the experimental seventies and the polished pop of the eighties.

This program is generously sponsored by the Ocean County Library Foundation. The Ocean County Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization now in its 25th year of enhancing services and opportunities to all OCL users.

Registration is required for this free program. To register, visit tinyurl.com/WorsdaleOCL, call 732-928-4400, or stop by the branch at 2 Jackson Drive. Registration will open August 15.

TOMS RIVER – Several branches of the Ocean County Library will host “Musiquita: A Bilingual Music Experience” to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

The program will take place at the following dates and locations:
• Tuesday, September 15 @ 11 a.m. – Tuckerton Branch – 380 Bay Avenue, 609-296-1470. Registration opens September 1.
• Tuesday, September 15 @ 2 p.m. – Beachwood Branch – 126 Beachwood Avenue, 732-244-4573. Registration opens August 15.
• Monday, October 12 @ 11 a.m. – Plumsted Branch – 119 Evergreen Road, New Egypt, 609-758-7888. Registration opens September 12.
• Monday, October 12 @ 3 p.m. – Manchester Branch – 21 Colonial Drive, 732-657-7600. Registration opens September 21.

Musiquita is a bilingual musical experience for all ages. The husband-and-wife duo features Blanca Cecelia González (violin/vocals/ukelele/percussion) and Jesse Elder (piano/vocals/percussion/melodica).

Musiquita’s play-based approach to performing encourages the audience to sing, dance, and move along with them in joyful celebration. They perform originals, Latin folk music, classical, jazz, pop, children’s classics, and more.

Registration is required for this free program. To register, visit tinyurl.com/MusiquitaOCL, or call or visit the branch of your choice.

TOMS RIVER – Several branches of the Ocean County Library will host “Musiquita: A Bilingual Music Experience” to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

The program will take place at the following dates and locations:
• Tuesday, September 15 @ 11 a.m. – Tuckerton Branch – 380 Bay Avenue, 609-296-1470. Registration opens September 1.
• Tuesday, September 15 @ 2 p.m. – Beachwood Branch – 126 Beachwood Avenue, 732-244-4573. Registration opens August 15.
• Monday, October 12 @ 11 a.m. – Plumsted Branch – 119 Evergreen Road, New Egypt, 609-758-7888. Registration opens September 12.
• Monday, October 12 @ 3 p.m. – Manchester Branch – 21 Colonial Drive, 732-657-7600. Registration opens September 21.

Musiquita is a bilingual musical experience for all ages. The husband-and-wife duo features Blanca Cecelia González (violin/vocals/ukelele/percussion) and Jesse Elder (piano/vocals/percussion/melodica).

Musiquita’s play-based approach to performing encourages the audience to sing, dance, and move along with them in joyful celebration. They perform originals, Latin folk music, classical, jazz, pop, children’s classics, and more.

Registration is required for this free program. To register, visit tinyurl.com/MusiquitaOCL, or call or visit the branch of your choice.

Mercer County Community College is hosting a Farmers Market on campus beginning June 10, open to both the Mercer community and the public. This market reflects the college's ongoing commitment to supporting local agriculture across the region and provides a wonderful opportunity to engage community members and invite them to grow with us through our Horticulture and other degree programs.

The market will be held every other week through September 16, rain or shine, in the parking lot next to the University Center.

Local vendors will be selling a variety of products, including fresh produce, jams, cold-pressed juices, breads, pastries, teas, honey, books, pickles, artisan soaps and more. The market will also be selling ice cream, donated by The Bent Spoon in Princeton, with all proceeds supporting the MCCC Food Pantry.

Vendor inquires may be sent to FarmersMarket@mccc.edu.

The American Classical Orchestra (ACO) begins its 42nd season with a concert led by Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford on September 17 at Alice Tully Hall. New York City’s leading period instrument orchestra provides a rare opportunity for audiences to hear masterworks on such original instruments as valveless horns, gut strings, and wooden flutes. The opening program presents Haydn’s "Lord Nelson" Mass in D minor with award-winning soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho in her ACO debut, along with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1—the first of three Alice Tully Hall Celebrate Beethoven! concerts during 2026-27, continuing the Orchestra’s performance cycle of all nine symphonies begun last season to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death.

The ACO will next appear in a salon concert of chamber music by Mozart and Haydn on October 21 at Columbus Citizens Club, 8 East 69th St.

“As we continue our Beethoven symphonies cycle this season, pairing his First Symphony with Haydn’s Mass for Troubled Times reveals two masters responding to the anxiety and drama of a changing world with equal defiance,” said Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford. “Performing these works on period instruments isn't a history lesson—it delivers the warm and visceral sound of the moment directly to our audience."

Celebrate Beethoven!: Turning the Key
Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 7:30 PM
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
American Classical Orchestra
ACO Chorus
Thomas Crawford, conductor
Shelén Hughes Camacho, soprano
Franz Joseph Haydn: “Lord Nelson” Mass in D minor, Hob. XXII:11
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Haydn wrote this famous choral work in 1798 with the title Missa in Angustiis, or "Mass for Troubled Times,” as Napoleon’s forces were threatening much of Europe, including the composer’s native Austria. In honor of British Admiral Horatio Nelson’s defeat of Napoleon that year in the Battle of the Nile, the mass eventually took on its more familiar nickname “Lord Nelson.” The performance spotlights the young Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho, a winner of the 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition, in her ACO debut. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 marks the beginning of a new musical path with sudden harmonic shifts and the use of sforzandi accents. ACO’s performances of the First, Fourth, and Fifth Symphonies in 2026-27 offer NYC’s only opportunity to hear these works this season on period instruments, as Beethoven intended for his first audiences.

Tickets: Priced at $35, $55 & $75, are available at aconyc.org; by calling ACO at (212) 362-2727, ext.4; or by visiting lincolncenter.org or calling CenterCharge at 212.721.6500.

International pianist Ching-Yi Lin presents “Heroic Journey,” a program that explores transformation, struggle, and triumph through music. From the dramatic intensity of Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue to the brilliance of Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise, the program is anchored by Beethoven’s Eroica Variations and the transcendent final sonata, Op. 111, tracing a powerful emotional arc from conflict to resolution.

Originally from Yunlin, Taiwan, Dr. Lin holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and has appeared at distinguished venues including Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, Van Cliburn Concert Hall in Texas, Washington National Cathedral, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. As a soloist, he has been recognized in numerous international competitions, earning awards at the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Singapore, the New York International Artists Association Competition, the NTD International Piano Competition in New York City, Second Prize at the Texas State International Piano Competition, Third Prize at the Marbella International Piano Competition, and the Wonderlic Piano Competition.

In addition to his solo career, Lin has collaborated with members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in 2024 he was featured as guest pianist in a special concert honoring Leon Fleisher at the Mohican Hills Concert Series. A dedicated educator, he has presented masterclasses and lectures at the College of Southern Maryland, Christopher Newport University, Ocean County College, Soochow University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and Virginia Tech; he served as a faculty associate at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University from 2021 to 2024 and has been a faculty member at Montgomery College since 2025.

hether you are a child of the 60s or you just love the music, you will hear the best of that amazing decade when the Strictly 60s Band returns to rock the Ocean County Library’s Bay Head Express Library from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, September 18. This program will be held outdoors in Centennial Park, directly behind Bay Head Borough Hall, 83 Bridge Avenue.

The New Jersey ensemble will take you on a musical journey with a spectacular playlist that includes the British Invasion, Motown, rock and roll, soul, surf, doo-wop, and rhythm & blues, plus music trivia and facts. Then it’s your turn to be a rock star during their interactive singalong.

This program is sponsored by a generous grant from the Ocean County Library Foundation. The Ocean County Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization now in its 25th year of enhancing services and opportunities to all library users.

In the event of inclement weather, the rain date for this program is 6 p.m. Thursday, September 24.

Please bring a blanket or chair for seating.

Registration is required for this free program. To register, visit tinyurl.com/Strictly60sOCL, visit your local OCL branch, or call 732-892-0662.