News

Arlington teen chosen by Carnegie Hall to accompany jazz orchestra on European tour this summer

By Anya Wareck
Henry Price NYO Jazz
Henry Price photographed with beloved trombone (courtesy of Henry Price)

(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) When Henry Price first picked up a trombone in fourth grade, he could only imagine a summer touring Europe as one of the 22 brightest young jazz musicians in the United States.

The 17-year-old Barcroft resident will return to Washington-Liberty High School this fall with a summer’s worth of top-tier musical experience under his belt.

NYO Jazz — Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra — is a prestigious program set to recognize young, musical minds as the future of jazz on an international scale.

The program kicks off with a two-week training residency in New York City, followed by an NYO Jazz performance at Carnegie Hall on July 25. Trumpeter Sean Jones will lead the concerts and Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be featured as a musical guest.

Following the Carnegie show, participants of the program will abruptly begin their NYO Jazz Europe summer tour, as the team arrives in St. Moritz, Switzerland just three days later (July 28) to play their first international show.

According to the website, “The musicians serve as dynamic music ambassadors as they share this uniquely American genre with audiences around the globe.”

After facing rejection from the 2021 program, Price decided to apply for last year’s NYO session — held within the United States rather than abroad. He was accepted to both the jazz and classical groups but ultimately chose jazz.

“Jazz is more comfortable for me,” Price said in a brief interview with ARLnow. “It’s more social, and more reckless — in a good way.”

Sean Jones led the youth jazz program through the country last summer, and Price says he feels incredibly lucky to be going on tour with such a prominent musical figure and mentor — one who consistently dedicates time to the musical progression of jazz in teenagers.

Price did not think twice when it came time to re-audition for the 2023 European tour.

“Everyone wants to re-audition,” he said. “I haven’t met a person [in the program] that hasn’t had a life-changing experience.”

This year’s young musicians will have the opportunity to perform at world-renowned events and concert halls such as the BBC Proms in London, St. Moritz Jazz Festival, Lucerne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival in Germany. Shows in Berlin and Amsterdam are also included in the tour.

Now, after touring with Carnegie twice, Price understands that this opportunity is just the beginning.

Tickets as well as the full schedule are available here.

Events

An anonymous Russian has taken over the 9/11 Memorial 5K website, leading to a drop in registrations

By Hallie LeTendre
1/4

(Updated at noon) An anonymous Russian buyer has taken the website for Arlington’s annual 9/11 Memorial 5K hostage, undermining registration for this year’s race.

When the domain name lapsed, this buyer took over the page, translated it into Russian and demanded a large sum of money from the race committee to return it, Race Director Joshua Milfeit told ARLnow.

Instead of paying, the committee decided to abandon the old “.com” web domain and buy a new “.us” domain of the same name, said Milfeit, who is also a captain with the Arlington County Fire Department.

The 5K is hosted yearly by the Arlington County police and fire departments, sheriff’s office and the Emergency Communications Center. So far, some 200 runners are registered, compared to around 1,000 sign-ups typically seen by the end of June, Milfeit said.

“We’re all fire and police, none of us are professionals at this type of thing. Now our registration is super low for this year because people can’t find us on our new website,” Milfeit said.

The original Arlington 9/11 Memorial 5K website was taken over and translated into Russian

In light of this year’s confusion, the early-bird registration deadline has been extended through the month of July. Those who register before then will pay $40 per person for a spot in the race, plus a race shirt, a bib and a finisher’s medal, Milfeit said.

There is an option when registering to sign up as an individual or in a team, with all children under the age of 12 getting a $10 discount applied at checkout.

All proceeds made from registration sign ups will be donated to the Bouldercrest Retreat, a mental health facility for military and first responders.

“We cut them a $50,000 check last year,” Milfeit said.

Jose Quiroz organized the race until becoming Acting Sheriff, after former Sheriff Beth Arthur announced her early retirement. Milfeit volunteered to take on the position of race director when Quiroz had to focus on his campaign to be the next permanent Sheriff. He prevailed in last week’s Democratic primary.

Milfeit says the 5K is an important tradition for him and his colleagues.

“Fire service is all about tradition and this is one of the true traditions Arlington police, fire and 911 communication center members can all do together,” Milfeit said.

The race will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 at the DoubleTree Hotel (300 Army Navy Drive) in Pentagon City. The course loops around the Pentagon and runners cross the finish line near where they started.

Donated post-race snacks and water will be available at the finish line. A post-race party will feature a DJ, a beer truck pouring free drinks and food trucks with food for sale.

For those who can’t attend the race, a donation page has been set up to help the event reach its $25,000 goal. There is also an option to register as a virtual runner, a feature that came about after the 2020 race was made completely virtual due to Covid-19.

In the last two decades, the 9/11 Memorial 5K has donated close to $1 million to 9/11-related charities, including the Pentagon Memorial Fund, Project Enduring Pride and the National Police Suicide Foundation.

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By ARLnow.com
My Painter's local headquarters

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News

ACPD: After breaking into car, would-be thief opens home’s garage door

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A would-be thief or thieves used the electronic opener inside a car they rummaged through to open a home’s garage door, according to police.

The incident happened early Tuesday morning on the 2500 block of Military Road, near Cherrydale.

More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report, below.

BURGLARY, 2023-06270025, 2500 block of Military Road. At approximately 2:28 a.m. on June 27, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined the unknown suspect(s) gained entry into two of the victim’s vehicles, rummaged through the interiors and utilized a garage door opener to open the garage. No items were reported damaged or stolen from the garage or vehicles. Officers canvassed the area for the suspects yielding negative results. There is no suspect description(s). The investigation is ongoing.

In June 2021, Arlington police warned that they were seeing a rise in home and vehicle thefts that occur overnight when suspects find garage door openers in unlocked cars. The department said at the time that it assigned additional officers to north Arlington neighborhoods, where the crimes were taking place, adding that they arrested a group of suspects on the first night of deployment.

News

A tricycle-based Turkish coffee purveyor has set up shop in Ballston

By Matt Blitz
1/3

(Updated on 7/25/23) A tricycle serving Turkish coffee has started serving in Ballston.

The three-wheeled coffee contraption is from long-time restaurant veteran and local author Isa Seyran, who told ARLnow late last year he was working on a new concept that would come after leaving his server job at The Salt Line.

This mobile, custom-designed red tricycle offering Turkish coffee and baklava is that new business. It has been parking along the 4000 block of Wilson Blvd after opening earlier this month.

Seyran named the small coffee stand “Ballstonian,” in homage to the neighborhood in which he has lived for over two decades.

The coffee tricycle is currently open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or until supplies last) seven days a week.

“I was a waiter for 23 years and worked with some of the greatest chefs in our region. Some of the food I served, like [at] Rasika and Zaytinya, was simply divine, but it was never my thing,” Seyran told ARLnow about why he decided to open a Turkish coffee spot in Ballston.

“So I decided to sing my own song at my own humble stage and wanted to bring a piece of Anatolia, Medietterrenea and Mesopotamia, a cradle of civilization where I spent the first half of my life, to Ballston, where I spent the second half of my life.”

Besides coffee and baklava, Ballstonian also serves cheese pastries and masala chai from a recipe Seyran learned while working at D.C.’s famed Indian restaurant Rasika.

The Ballston resident worked at some of the region’s most popular and renowned restaurants, including ​​Zaytinya, Bombay Club, and Fiola Mare in D.C., before ending his tenure at The Salt Line in Ballston.

Beyond those jobs, Seyran is also an author, playwright, and filmmaker often producing art based on his experiences as a waiter in the D.C.-area. And, now, he’s added entrepreneur to that list.

He told ARLnow that the first few days have gone well so far and he’s been “humbled by the overwhelming support and love Ballstonian received from my fellow Ballstonians.”

But Seyran is not particularly surprised by the reception, noting that no other Ballston business is selling Turkish coffee.

“At The Salt Line… I got to know my client base, their spending habits, who they are and what they want,” Seyran said. “Having done my market research, I knew people were hungry for something different.”

His ambitions go beyond a coffee stand. The hope is one day to set up an “urban oasis” in Ballston with a tent, cushions, coffee, and books where “members of the community could take a breather from the bustling urban landscape around them.”

He also would love to do coffee ground fortune tellings, like he did while working at Zaytinya, and introduce “Bark-lava,” which would be “a bone-shaped, dog-friendly baklava.”

But, for now, all of that will have to wait, including the coffee ground fortune telling.

“That requires time and space to seat people so that I could serve the coffee in a ceramic cup as opposed to a paper cup,” Seyran said. “[A] food truck parked on the side of the road is not suitable for that ancient tradition but I hope to do that in the near future.”

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