ARKAI Duo Heads to Staples Orchestra for Two Day Residency Program

(Front) Violinist Jonathan Miron, (Rear) cellist Philip Sheegog. Contributed photo

ARKAI will conduct a two-day residency program with Staples High School Orchestras in October.

ARKAI is a dynamic duo featuring violinist Jonathan Miron and cellist Philip Sheegog. Winners of the 2021 Astral Artists National Auditions, their diverse genre-bending music forges new possibilities for violin and cello. Miron and Sheegog met at Juilliard where they joined forces to conduct performances at acclaimed concert halls around the world.

Their workshops will include performances interspersed with inspirational talks exploring concepts of life as 21st-century performing artists, finding one’s creative voice through curiosity, listening as an art, and sharing tips on using music technology within a diverse and rapidly-evolving world. Additional workshops will be interactive, including playing one of ARKAI's original tunes with the orchestras and introducing aural learning and improvisation. 

This program, coordinated by Music for Youth, is brought to Staples High School by the Town of Westport through an allocation of a portion of its American Rescue Plan Act funding to local non-profits arts organizations. The Westport Art Advisory Committee organized the application process. 

Morning Weather Report

Today

Sunny, with a high near 73. Light and variable wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. Light southwest wind.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Tomorrow Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Northwest wind around 9 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

Arline Gertzoff, 76, Died; RTM Member, “true daughter of Westport”

Arline Patricia Gertzoff, 76, passed away peacefully at St. Vincent's Hospital on September 28th from esophageal cancer. Arline is remembered as a true daughter of Westport, a dedicated, tireless volunteer for many organizations that contribute to the vibrancy of the town.

Arline was born in Norwalk. Her family moved to Westport, establishing a local dry-cleaning business, where she often worked after school. Arline was active in The Staples Players and SSTS, the backstage crews, earning the position of Head of Costumes for several productions, and became SSTS President her senior year. As a teen, she drove a sporty Triumph with a daisy on her antenna to announce her cheerful disposition. Arline was a proud graduate of Staples and Westport schools, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from Boston University in history and education. She taught in New Canaan, and at the International School in Antwerp, Belgium for 25 years, where she was involved with the Model UN.

Arline enjoyed people, the arts, travel, good food and wine, and Belgian chocolate. Students and friends from around the world stayed in touch with her. She returned to Westport in 1979 to help care for her mother and dove into her community activism. She loved Westport and took great pride in its history and contributions. She was filled with local lore and stories, emphatically setting the record straight on Westport history with people newer to town.

For 20 years Arline was a tireless poll worker with the Westport League of Women Voters. Active with Westport's Democratic Town Committee, she co-chaired the Community Outreach Committee. Arline served on the Board of the Democratic Women of Westport, and in 2016 received the DTC Dora Stuttman Campaign Leadership Award. She was a familiar face and trusted cashier at the Library Book Sales, and a longtime member of the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut (UNASWCT), often bringing interesting speakers and dialogue to the community.

One of Arline's favorite activities was jUNe Day, an event that for more than 55 years floods the Steinkraus Bridge with colorful flags from around the world and welcomes UN delegates and staff annually to Westport for a day of food, fun and friendship. Serving on the Board of Directors as Membership Chair, Arline was currently Treasurer of UNASWCT, and on the Advisory body for the national UN Association headquartered in Washington DC.

Long-time friend Melody James noted, "Arline earned a seat at the leadership table of our town the old-fashioned way: through volunteerism, pitching in, and showing up. She was a Doer. You could count on her. True in high school; true in 2022." When Arline died, she was serving a third term as an elected District 3 member on Westport's non-partisan Representative Town Meeting (the RTM).

Arline Gertzoff is remembered as a life-time democrat, committed to social justice, with great ability to reach across political divides. Another classmate remarked, "Arline was a connector. She had the ability to connect with different types of people, across age, sex, class, race, religious and nationality lines. She was the thread that joined together a very wide community. A great gift."

Once returning to Westport, Arline became the lead Coordinator for her Staples Class of '64, orchestrating several class reunions. At the 50th Reunion she appeared with her arms full of roses to cast on Long Island Sound for fallen classmates. She was the confidante, the treasurer, the detail master, who tracked marriages, divorces, deaths, births, and career changes. Arline supported her friends and local artists, showing up frequently to their performances and exhibits. She possessed a fierce loyalty to her friends and their accomplishments. Arline was a leading voice to establish the "Laddie Lawrence Track" at Staples High School, dedicated in 2021, challenging the argument that a great teacher and coach could only be honored after they died. She worked tirelessly for her classmate, a beloved coach at Staples, to be honored, by organizing a Letters of Support campaign from around the country.

Her friend Jennifer Johnson called her "a lifetime Westporter, and truly a citizen of the world. She was a...champion of democracy and international understanding." DTC Chair, Mark Friedman said, "Through her work, she strengthened the fabric of our civil society and touched the lives of people in Westport and around the world, creating a family of friends and admirers, imbuing her friendships with insight, wit and love."

Arline was predeceased by her father, Donald, mother, Marion, and her brother, Stewart. She is survived by cousins Steven Gertzoff of Florida, and Ken Bean of Colorado and their families. A Memorial Service is planned for November 12th, at 2:30 pm at the Westport Town Hall.

Town Clerk Announces Vacancy for RTM District 3 after Lifelong Westporter Arline Gertzoff Passes

Town Clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton has announced that the Westport Representative Town Meeting (RTM) is seeking candidates for a District 3 representative to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Arline Gertzoff.  In accordance with the Town Charter, Section C5-8C, the vacancy must be filled by a registered voter residing in RTM District 3.  No party affiliation is required since Westport’s RTM is non-partisan.  The term expires November 28, 2023.

Residents of RTM District 3 interested in being considered to fill the vacancy are invited to send a resume on or before October 14, 2022 by 4:00 PM to Town Clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton at JDunkerton@westportct.gov.