WHEN: 3pm Saturday, November 21, 2026
WHERE: Beczak Environmental Education Center, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, NY 10701

Sixty years ago this autumn, Pete Seeger and a group of determined neighbors and activists came together to found Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and began playing concerts to raise money to build a sloop to “save the river.” The concerts inspired a movement to restore the Hudson River, and three years after the first concert, Clearwater set sail for the first time.

For six decades, Clearwater has championed a swimmable, drinkable, fishable Hudson River by bringing people together through education, advocacy, sailing, and music. While the Hudson is healthier in many ways, our work is far from over, as legacy pollution, emerging threats like climate change, and rollbacks of federal regulations still threaten our river.

Join Hudson River Sloop Clearwater to celebrate this milestone at Clearwater’s 60th Anniversary Benefit Concert on Saturday, November 21 at 3:00 pm at the Beczak Environmental Education Center in Yonkers and support the next 60 years of our work to protect the Hudson River. The concert will feature performances by Tom Chapin, Emma’s Revolution, Reggie Harris, and Magpie. 

Tickets are $35/per person, though additional donations are welcome. Doors will open at 2:30.

The Beczak Environmental Education Center is two blocks (0.3miles) from the Yonkers Train Station; please plan to take the train if possible. There is a small parking lot at the Center, and street parking is available nearby. The Center is two blocks (0.3miles) from the Yonkers Train Station; please plan to take the train if possible. Please plan additional time to park if you intend to drive.

Performers + Emcee

Sonny Ochs
Emcee

Sonny, the sister of the late folk music icon Phil Ochs, is a former schoolteacher who began hosting radio shows in the 1980s and continues to this day. She also emceed open mic nights and ran sound at Folk City in New York City from 1984 to 1986. In 1982, she produced the first Phil Ochs Song Night at Speakeasy, a legendary stage in Greenwich Village. Sonny created the series to honor her late brother’s music and to encourage other artists to follow Phil’s commitment to social justice. The shows grew each year, first moving to the Bottom Line and then traveling to other venues across the country.

Sonny also created the series Wisdom of the Elders at NERFA in 2010. A panel discussion featuring three respected “elders” from the folk community, each event shared stories from some of the lives of some of the most respected artists from the folk revival as well as unsung heroes who helped create and perpetuate folk music during their lives.

A beloved fixture in our folk community, Sonny has opened her home to hundreds of artists over the decades, giving not only a place to sleep but also offering guidance and encouragement to a generation of folk musicians.

Tom Chapin
Musician

In a career that spans six decades, 28 albums, and three Grammy awards, Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist, concert performer, storyteller, and activist, he’s acted on Broadway and worked extensively in television, radio, and film.

With hundreds of songs in his repertoire, Chapin serves up a tasty mix of story songs, ballads, comedic and political songs, family music, sing-alongs, old-time folk classics, and a favorite song or two of his late brother Harry’s. Tom accompanies himself on guitar, banjo, and autoharp.

In addition to his musical and media endeavors, Chapin has long been an advocate for issues of hunger and social justice, environmental causes, and a supporter of music and the arts in public schools. Learn more about Tom Chapin.

Reggie Harris
Musician

Reggie Harris is a singer-songwriter, storyteller and world-renowned song-leader who is a powerful interpreter of the global music narrative. An inspirational and engaging entertainer and concert artist, Reggie brings fresh new energy to music’s role in the discourse for inclusion and the struggle for human rights. He was the 2021 winner of both the Spirit of Folk Award from Folk Alliance International and the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Award, and a recipient of the 2018 Magic Penny Award for lifetime achievement for his impact in music from the Children’s Music Network. His most recent album, “On Solid Ground”, was number one CD on the FolkDJ Charts for May 2021. Learn more about Reggie Harris.

Emma’s Revolution
Musicians

Known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you can’t resist singing, Emma’s Revolution is the award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O. Performances feature the duo’s signature soaring harmonies and lush acoustic instruments, in songs that span folk to jazz and funk to rock. For more than 20 years, Emma’s Revolution has written about critical issues happening in the world, lending their voices to the movements those issues inspire and delivering moving, uplifting performances. Their songs have been praised by Pete Seeger, covered by Holly Near, featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Pacifica’s Democracy Now!, and sung around the world.

As independent artists and queer and non-conforming women, Emma’s Revolution has a national presence among communities, organizations, and venues that share the duo’s vision of valuing people over profit, choosing compassion over violence, demanding accountability, and building a more just and sustainable world. More about Emma’s Revolution.

Magpie
Musicians

Terry Leonino & Greg Artzner, a.k.a. ‘Magpie,’ have played music together professionally for over 50 years. Their broad and deep repertoire includes numerous songs that comprise uplifting and upbeat programs on topics of history and the environment. From the Underground Railroad and the Civil War to the Great Depression and the Nineteen Sixties, history comes alive in the songs the people sang. “Battle Cry of Freedom: Civil War to Civil Rights” connects the struggles for freedom in the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century through the songs sung in both. Terry & Greg sing of the intersections of the web of life on Earth, and the interdependence of all who call it home, in programs such as “Living Planet,””Tales of the Blue Crab,” and “Sense of Wonder”. Their sound, authentic acoustic Americana, is built on Greg’s solid fingerstyle guitar and two strong voices in powerful harmony. Add to this Terry’s world-class harmonica virtuosity, and also her excellent playing on mandolin, dulcimer, and guitar, and you have a treat for the ear. With many recordings to their credit, Magpie received the World Folk Music Association’s prestigious John Denver Award for Environmental Activism, and are the recipients of multiple “Wammie” awards from the Washington Area Music Association. Learn more about Magpie.