CAC announces return of Art Garfunkel for 25th anniversary

Grammy Award-winning American singer Art Garfunkel performs on stage at the Bloomfield Stadium in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, on June 10, 2015. AFP PHOTO / GIL COHEN-MAGEN (Photo credit should read GIL COHEN MAGEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Famed musician Art Garfunkel will headline at a concert at 7:30 p.m. March 13 at the Community Arts Center for it’s 25th anniversary season, according to the concert venue.

The concert will mark Garfunkel’s return to Williamsport, after the folk-rock superstar first performed at the CAC during its inaugural season 25 years ago.

Tickets to the public will go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 12.

“We are tremendously excited about this show,” said Community Arts Center Executive Director Sharon Mack. “It is not just going to be music and songs, he is really going to talk about his life and the way his life has evolved over the last 25 years since he was last here on stage.

“It is wonderful for us because we went back through all of our old programs and we found the original listing of artists who played here during our first season in 1993-94. We tried to get in touch with a few of them and started an effort to get in touch with Art Garfunkel months ago,” added Mack. “We were just recently able to connect on a date, time and fee that we could work with.”

Garfunkel originally broke onto the national music scene as a member of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, who became one of the bestselling musical groups of the 1960s with major hits like “Mrs. Robinson,” “Scarborough Fair,” “The Sound of Silence,” “The Boxer” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

After splitting with Simon in 1970, Garfunkel embarked on a solo career that produced 12 studio albums, including his most recent release, “Some Enchanted Evening,” which debuted in 2007. He also has enjoyed a successful film career and published a book of poetry, “Still Water: Prose Poems,” in 1989.

“One of the things that we are feeling very grateful about, is that an artist of the caliber of Art Garfunkel — someone who has had such a long history of success in his genre — is not only coming to Williamsport, but is coming back to the city for a second time with 25 years in between,” said Mack. “It is just the best way to celebrate our 25th anniversary.”

At the request of Garfunkel, who would like to keep the show as intimate as possible, the CAC will be offering limited seating on its main floor and will not be selling tickets to the loge or balcony. However, the upstairs bathrooms and Capitol Lounge will be available to patrons during the event.

“We are adjusting our seating, so he can really be looking at the audience and talking to the audience,” Mack said. “That way the audience can get a feel for interacting with Art Garfunkel.”

With ticket sales starting prior to the holiday season, Mack hopes those in the area will take advantage of the great opportunity to gift someone the chance to see a living legend perform in person.

“We wanted to get people talking about this because it would be a wonderful way to surprise a loved one,” Mack said.

Mack mentioned that the CAC would like to hear stories from people who made it to Garfunkel’s first stop in Williamsport 25 years ago. She is also hoping to see many of those same people in the audience for the show in March.

“We would love that,” she said. “We think it would be a great experience for people to remember what it was like 25 years ago and compare that to what it is like today.”

For more information, go to caclive.com or call 570-326-2424.