Daughter of Peter Yarrow, of the legendary folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bethany Yarrow has grown up around folk music.  For the past several years she and the extraordinary cellist, Rufus Cappadocia, have been pushing the boundaries of American folk.

“Folk music may be in my blood, but I spent a lot of time running away from it,” says Bethany. “By the time I was 14, I had green hair, eleven piercings, was listening to hardcore, and spent my weekends at Danceteria and my Sundays down at CBGBs.... Singing these old tunes was the last thing I thought I'd end up doing.”

But folk music is in her blood indeed, and sometimes there is no escaping it.  So last year Bethany decided to return to her roots and the music she grew up with.  She released her debut CD, entitled “Rock Island”, to glowing reviews. The CD mixed the gloss of pop production with banjos, dulcimers, harmonicas, slide guitars, gospel choirs, and the sampled ghosts of some of the great blues singers in America. “…Rock Island, is a collection of traditional folk songs brought back to glorious, pulsing, dramatic life by an artist whose delicate voice breathes from the depths of a gothic spirit.  …Nothing in the traditional folk world could have prepared its fans for the likes of Yarrow, yet she’s one of the best things that ever happened to the genre.  Yarrow’s voice is powerful.  …And the music will lure fans of any genre. She opens some tracks with Celtic crooning that dissolves into hip-hop – with a cello. She offers electronica/new age/pop with a grinding groove that would make bodies on a dance floor melt together.” – Jennifer Layton, indie-music.com

Bethany’s brand of folk has certainly struck a chord across the country, and ears are beginning to perk up noticeably…  HBO recently featured “Black is the Color” in their new series Cat House, and reviewers have been knocked out by her “fascinating” and “dramatic” interpretations. Her voice has been called, “mesmerizing,” “intense,” “powerfull,” “spell-binding”….

Especially this year, when politics is on everyone’s minds, Bethany has emerged as a powerful musical voice.  She literally stopped the crowd in their tracks when she sang at the March for Women’s lives in April, 2004 for more than one million people.  She sang at the Million Mom March, the Take Back America Conference in Washington, DC, the World Peace Music Awards in Vietnam (broadcast live to over 900,000,000 homes), and will appear on VH1 Classic this summer with her father talking about her musical and political heritage.  To learn more about Bethany Yarrow, visit www.bethanyyarrow.com.

Rufus Cappadocia is one of the leading voices on the cello today. He has toured throughout the Americas and Europe with numerous groups and is known for his collaborations with artists from all over the world... from the Balkans to the Caribbean, from West Africa to North America. He has toured extensively with Urban Tap and The Paradox Trio.

Rufus was first introduced to the cello in Hamilton, Ontario at age three through the Suzuki method. By age 6 he had begun his studies with the renowned Czech cellist Zdenick Konicek.  He continued to play classical music as a teen but was increasingly inspired to find a voice that would allow him to reach a larger audience and work with contemporary instrumentation.

After years of experimentation and practice Rufus now plays a self designed Five String Electric Cello that extends the bass range of the cello and through amplification expands the tonal possibilities of the instrument.  Rufus has made a career of going where few cellists have gone before. He has appeared on CDs with Ross Daly, Kif, David Fiuczynski, The Paradox Trio, Odetta, Michael Blake, and Tamalalou. Rufus has also performed with Kasse Mady, Aretha Franklin, The Black Rock Coalition, Esma, Theodossi Spassoff, Seamus Egan, Eileen Eivers, Cheick-Tidiane Seck, Vernon Reid, and many more.

On Saturday, August 21, Pam and Rusty Berry, owners of the Shepherdstown Opera House, will host an Opera House Open House from 4pm to 8pm.  The community is welcome to come and enjoy music and refreshments and help celebrate the grand opening on the Eastern Panhandle's only true music hall - a venue dedicated to presenting fine live music of all genres.  The music will be provided by singer songwriter David LaFleur, The Dilettantes, and Treehouse.  Admission to the Open House is free. 

The Shepherdstown Opera House is located at 131 West German Street in Shepherdstown, WV.  The box office opens at 5:00PM on show days. All shows start at 8PM.  Seating and concession sales begin one hour before scheduled show time.  Seating is on a first come, first seated basis. Concert tickets may be purchased either at the theatre box office or online through the website at www.OperaHouseLive.com. Tickets are not sold via telephone. The box office is open from 5:00PM until 9:00PM on show days. Tickets may be purchased during that time for that evening's performance or for a future event.  Tickets for Bethany Yarrow are $12.00.  Admission to Saturday's Open House is free.  For more information, visit www.OperaHouseLive.com, call 304-876-3704 or 888-866-7372, or send an e-mail to info@....