The flute and piano duo of Jan Vinci and Barbara Lee will present Handel, Messiaen, Poulenc and others on Monday, April 19, 2010, at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY. This fifth concert in 2009-2010 season of the deBlasiis Chamber Music Series will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Hyde Collection’s Helen Froehlich Auditorium.

On the program for Monday evening are sonatas by Handel and Schulhoff, Messiaen’s Le Merle Noir, the Dohnanyi Aria, Intermezzo by Francis Poulenc and the Widor Suite for Flute and Piano. Also included will be the first complete performance of Fantasies on Celtic Airs by local composer Jan Bullard.

Flutist Jan Vinci holds the DMA degree from the Julliard school, as well as degrees from the Cleveland Institute and Bowling Green State University. She is currently Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College. Barbara Lee is a much-in-demand, skilled and sensitive pianist who has performed throughout the U.S. in recital and as a master class accompanist; she performs not only classical but also jazz and South American music. Their appearance together is a much anticipated highlight of this the 77th season of the deBlasiis concert series.

Tickets at the door are $20; student tickets are $5. The Hyde Collection is located at 161 Warren Street in Glens Falls, NY. This concert is made possible, in part, with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered locally by The Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. For additional information, please call Artistic Director David Bullard at 518-792-2383.

The growing population of Canada geese on Lake George is not only annoying property owners, it’s harmful to human health and the lake’s sensitive eco-system.

To help address the problem, the Lake George Association will sponsor Nuisance Waterfowl Workshops on Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30pm at the Hague Community Center, and again on Thursday, April 8 at 6:30 at the LGA office in Lake George.

Staff from the USDA’s Wildlife Services department will make a presentation and demonstrate techniques, such as egg oiling, that can be used during nesting season to manage the area’s over-population of geese. The workshop is free, and will last approximately one-hour with questions and answers afterward. Reservations are not required.

Damage on Lake George from both Canada geese and double-crested cormorants has already been seen. The droppings from these birds add nutrients to the lake that can lead to increased algal growth and can contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli, making swimmers sick and contaminating the drinking water provided by the lake. The presence of geese is also related to swimmer’s itch.

“We would like to prevent the populations from growing out of control before they have irreversible effects on the lake’s water quality, plant life, and landscape,” said Emily DeBolt, the LGA’s Education Director. “The LGA receives calls and complaints about geese and cormorants all summer from members, so we decided to host these workshops to help address these concerns. We also continue to encourage property owners with large lakeshore lawns to create landscaping buffers, as these can be an effective deterrent.”

The Lake George Association sought grant funding earlier this month from the Champlain Basin Program to create a Waterfowl Nuisance Management and Monitoring Program for Lake George. Public input and education, along with monitoring, surveying, data analysis and the implementation of nest management, population reduction and harassment techniques would be included in the plan. The USDA Wildlife Services already conducts population management for both geese and cormorants on numerous other bodies of water statewide, and recognizes the need for this type of work on Lake George. Through the grant, the LGA will partner with experts from the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the USDA Wildlife Services.