Multi-award-winning pianist, recording artist and educator Sophia Agranovich will perform a solo recital, sponsored by the Watchung Arts Center, on Saturday, May 20, at 8:00 PM. The program will feature Fantasia in G minor/B Major by Beethoven, “Papillons” by Schumann, Polonaise-Fantaisie by Chopin, works Liszt and Mendelssohn. Sophia Agranovich is “a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics…A tigress of the keyboard” - Fanfare. Her performances are captivating audiences by the “orison of uncommon beauty” - Audiophile, “the ideal balance she achieves between the intellectual and the emotional” - Fanfare, “interpretation that dares to be different”, “magnificent shading and superior musicianship” - American Record Guide. A Steinway Artist, Ms. Agranovich has performed in USA, Europe, Israel, and Canada. Recently she played solo concerts at the Pennautier Festival and Juan-les-Pins in France and was invited to China and Brazil. Among her venues are Avery Fisher Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium and Paul Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, and Bargemusic, all in New York City, Salle Cortot in Paris, Ehrbarsaal in Vienna. Ms. Agranovich has collaborated with prominent musicians, award-winning Emmy, Grammy, and Billboard top 10 musical artists, and members of the major

Dress up your outdoor living space with a unique plant arrangement made by you, the artist! Creating a potted arrangement is a great way to add color and visual interest to your deck, garden, and yard. Enhance your outdoor living space with beautiful blooms and foliage that last through the season! In this informational workshop, learn which plant combinations will thrive in your particular outdoor setting, how to care for them, and how to arrange them artistically. After learning about planted arrangements, you will have the opportunity to create your own by choosing from Blooms at Belle Mead's selection of glazed pottery, light weight containers, and unique plant options. Already have a planter at home, but its too heavy to bring to class? During the workshop, ask about how to create an insert that you can drop into your planter after planting! This workshop cost is $5 per person for the presentation portion. If you choose to create your own arrangement, prices vary depending on plants and supplies chosen.

Led by Dorothy Smullen, Teacher Naturalist Bring your favorite wildflower guidebook to check out the newly emerged blooms under the woodland canopy and open fields at Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary. Hand-outs will include vocabulary on flower structure and the “What’s in Bloom” brochures of the sanctuary. COST: free for members, $6 nonmembers. Registration required by 5/20 at 4:00 PM. One person per ticket. You must pre-register, walk-ins will not be allowed to participate. Limit 15.

Born Isabella Baumfree, Sojourner Truth was enslaved for nearly the first decade of her life by the Hardenbergh family of New York, relatives of Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh of New Jersey’s Old Dutch Parsonage. Ahead of Pinkster, the traditional Dutch and African Dutch springtime holiday of Pentecost, visit Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage for a living history audience with Sojourner Truth by Dr. Daisy Nelson Century. The slave from a small town north of New York City changed hands several times, sold by one brutal owner to another just as harsh. Her life included repeated beatings, rapes and a forced marriage. In 1826, having been promised freedom, but then cruelly denied emancipation, she left her current owners and found her way to the Van Wageners’ home. There she had an epiphany, became a devout Christian, and renamed herself Sojourner Truth, after which she began her travels as a preacher. In 1850, Sojourner began speaking on women’s suffrage, believing the causes of abolition and women’s rights to be intertwined and equally important. Ms. Truth’s most quoted speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” was delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Although there has been much dispute about the