Mount Kisco Public Library Offers Music and Art

The Mount Kisco Public Library offered an entertaining series of events on Saturday afternoon, showcasing some of the region's talent.

On hand for two music performances were Gus Amador, a singer and songwriter who lives in Mount Kisco, and Bovane, a guitarist who lives at Dutchess County. Also on hand was Mount Kisco artist Genevieve Gochuico, who kicked off an exhibit of her work called "Places," which features impressionistic artworks of places that she has traveled to. Her work was showcased in the community room of the library at the same time as the concert and will stay up until Jan. 28.

Bovane performed first, with dozens of people on hand in the audience. His songs touched on different personal emotions. One example is "After 17 Years," in which he describes his relationship with his teenage daughter.

"Just remember this you are my child," he sings in part of it.

In an interview after the concert, Bovane said the performance was the first time he had done it publicly.

Another song Bovane performed, called "Violins," contained portions of other people's work combined with his, including "Hallelujah" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

"Violins will play, on that special day!" he sings.

In an interview afterward, Bovane said that he liked performing at a library. "Playing for a library, and this is my first time playing for a library, was the best it could ever be," he said. He also said that he is a believer in the library system, and that he does not like it when libraries get funding cut. Bovane also said that he goes to his library at least two times a week.

Gus Amador, who performed after, has a long musical background. He said that he was part of the punk rock scene during the 1970s and 1980s, and since 2000 he has done a solo acoustic act. He calls his style "Acoustic Folk Punk Rock."

His lyrics follow an edgy, anti-establishment bent. A self-described "political atheist," in one of his songs he blasts the government's handling of the economy.

"The economy is tanking, unemployment rising and Washington doesn't have a clue," he sings.

"Borrowing from the reserve, they make money out of thin air," he sings in another part.

Another song Gus Amador performed had to do with his cousin who died last year.

"The last time you close your eyes, is when life catches up with you," he sings.

In an interview, Gus Amador said he first met Bovane online in 2006 and started performing at the same events. However, they lost touch for a while but have since started corresponding again.

The day's music and art events were sponsored by the Friends of the Mount Kisco Library, said Tamara Silberman, the group's programming coordinator in a written statement. In the note, Silberman also said that the event expands people's definition of what goes on at the library.

For Genevieve Gochuico, her exhibit, "Places" showcased various destinations that she traveled to over the last three years, including Italy and Vermont. She also mentioned that while people like to travel, sometimes they may not be able to.

"I'm hoping that when people look at my paintings that they have a visceral kind of experience," she said in describing the reaction that she hopes people have.

Gochuico said that her paintings are impressionistic and that the paintings can look different from different distances, which she said is an experience.

She also said that most of her paintings were done in acrylics, with one or two done in ink. 

For Gochuico, Saturday's timing with her event and the music performance was coincidental. She said that she just made a date, which happened to have a scheduling conflict with the music act. Gochuico said the library's director told her that she could do her event in a small conference room that is adjacent to the main room, where her paintings were hung and where the performances took place. Reception was held there with food served, and in her interview Gochuico said that people were even asking her if the event was planned.