Concert series brings listeners to ‘special, sacred’ Rochester farm
Justin Arena and Molly O’Leary perform during a day-long concert Saturday, Aug. 10 at Bennett Farm. Photos by Erez Ben-Akiva 
Rochester native and musician Rebecca Correia has held the event since 1996.
Horses stood right next to the concert area.
Cristina Hogetop and Tim Moye, of Wisconsin, fold shirts at a merchandise table.
Concertgoers watch a performance.
Justin Arena and Molly O’Leary perform during a day-long concert Saturday, Aug. 10 at Bennett Farm. Photos by Erez Ben-Akiva
Rochester native and musician Rebecca Correia has held the event since 1996.
Horses stood right next to the concert area.
Cristina Hogetop and Tim Moye, of Wisconsin, fold shirts at a merchandise table.
Concertgoers watch a performance.
ROCHESTER — A pony chuffed as people streamed into the nearly day-long concert Saturday, Aug. 10 at Bennett Farm, just before the music started.
The farm hosted another iteration of a concert series organized by musician Rebecca Correia. Since 1996, Correia has held the annual concerts at her childhood home.
From 2 to 10 p.m., musicians from the South Coast to Nashville performed in front of a crowd of more than a hundred people seated on lawn chairs and picnic blankets, adjacent to a horse stable.
Ashlie Roundtree said she’s been volunteering at the concert series since 2018. Her father, Phillip, travels from New Hampshire to work security.
The concert is “quality time” for her and her father, Roundtree said.
“And music is our thing,” she said.
About 100 tickets had been sold in advance, according to Roundtree.
A portion of the proceeds are planned to be donated to Friends of Old Rochester Music, a booster group for the music program at the Old Rochester Regional School District.
More tickets were expected to be sold at the gate, and many might have been holding out to see how the weather would turn out according to Roundtree.
New Bedford-based musician Molly O’Leary said they had played at the concert many times before — through rain and heat — and were “so happy that the weather worked out for this beautiful day.”
“In all elements, it’s such a wonderful time,” they said.
O’Leary performed with musician Justin Arena; the two sang together and strummed guitars and banjos.
O’Leary started taking lessons from Correia at the age of 11.
“I always love coming and playing at this farm,” O’Leary said. “Such a lovely time.”
Correia, who was set to perform at the end of the night, said the “goal is to continue equine and music education” through Bennett Farm, which her family acquired in 1978.
“I love bringing talent together,” Correia said.
For a pair of Nashville musicians, Tracee Perrin and Lauren Anderson, Rochester and Bennett Farm served as the third stop of an East Coast tour, according to Correia.
“It’s a really special, sacred place for me and my family,” Correia said.
She said Bennett Farm “is special because it’s peaceful,” a place to be in nature, meditate and rejuvenate.
“I hope when people come here they get to experience that as well,” Correia said.
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