Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Discover how music, theater, and creativity converge to honor the Erie Canal’s rich legacy.
In this episode of AHA! A House for Arts, we journey into the heart of New York’s history with the Albany Symphony and their Water Music New York festival — a powerful collaboration with the New York State Canal Corporation. As part of the 2024 celebration of the Bicentennial of the completion of the Erie Canal, this festival reimagines canal history through sound, spotlighting the untold voices of women, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and the environment itself.
🎼 Water Music on the Erie Canal – Go behind the scenes of this traveling musical experience that brings communities together through intimate, site-specific performances across canal towns. Composer Clarice Assad debuts her moving piece “Earth and Water,” inspired by a conversation with a member of the Mohawk Nation.
🎭 Will Kempe's Players – A dynamic regional theater co-op based in Troy, NY, Will Kempe's Players stage Shakespeare and his contemporaries as they were originally performed — fast, interactive, and actor-owned. Learn how this collaborative troupe brings theater to local parks, bars, and schools, reviving Renaissance-era methods for a modern audience.
🎶 TV Doctors – Wrap up the episode with a genre-defying performance from TV Doctors, an instrumental trio known for bending musical expectations and electrifying stages with their creative energy.
📍 Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:48 Albany Symphony Water Music on the Erie Canal
8:27 Will Kempe's Players
18:53 TV Doctors Performance
📺 Want more stories like this?
Explore the Reflections on the Erie Canal Shorts Series playlist:
👉 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAxyLdmIEHP83goVTT7kHRZ8mgfY_vaco
🌐 Connect with WMHT Public Media:
Facebook: facebook.com/PublicMediaWMHT
Twitter / X: twitter.com/WMHTPubMedia
Instagram: instagram.com/wmhtpubmedia
TikTok: tiktok.com/@wmhtpubmedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wmht/mycompany
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wmhtpubmedia.bsky.social
🔗 Learn more about AHA! A House for Arts and discover other inspiring stories at:
wmht.org/aha
Discover how music, theater, and creativity converge to honor the Erie Canal’s rich legacy.
In this episode of AHA! A House for Arts, we journey into the heart of New York’s history with the Albany Symphony and their Water Music New York festival — a powerful collaboration with the New York State Canal Corporation. As part of the 2024 celebration of the Bicentennial of the completion of the Erie Canal, this festival reimagines canal history through sound, spotlighting the untold voices of women, immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and the environment itself.
🎼 Water Music on the Erie Canal – Go behind the scenes of this traveling musical experience that brings communities together through intimate, site-specific performances across canal towns. Composer Clarice Assad debuts her moving piece “Earth and Water,” inspired by a conversation with a member of the Mohawk Nation.
🎭 Will Kempe's Players – A dynamic regional theater co-op based in Troy, NY, Will Kempe's Players stage Shakespeare and his contemporaries as they were originally performed — fast, interactive, and actor-owned. Learn how this collaborative troupe brings theater to local parks, bars, and schools, reviving Renaissance-era methods for a modern audience.
🎶 TV Doctors – Wrap up the episode with a genre-defying performance from TV Doctors, an instrumental trio known for bending musical expectations and electrifying stages with their creative energy.
📍 Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:48 Albany Symphony Water Music on the Erie Canal
8:27 Will Kempe's Players
18:53 TV Doctors Performance
📺 Want more stories like this?
Explore the Reflections on the Erie Canal Shorts Series playlist:
👉 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAxyLdmIEHP83goVTT7kHRZ8mgfY_vaco
🌐 Connect with WMHT Public Media:
Facebook: facebook.com/PublicMediaWMHT
Twitter / X: twitter.com/WMHTPubMedia
Instagram: instagram.com/wmhtpubmedia
TikTok: tiktok.com/@wmhtpubmedia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/wmht/mycompany
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wmhtpubmedia.bsky.social
🔗 Learn more about AHA! A House for Arts and discover other inspiring stories at:
wmht.org/aha
