Welcome to The Fredericksburg-Este Association

November 3,  2026

N E W S   R E L E A S E

 

Great American Songbook Concert Slated for November 12 at the Downtown Library Theater

 

Seasoned professionals present a reprise of their Italian standing ovation performance.

VA250 Celebration with a tribute to All American Song.

Concert free and open to all   

 

 

George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Richard Rogers…just some of the celebrated composers whose work is included in the Great American Songbook. The storied, truly American pieces represent the best of popular compositions and showtunes from the 20th Century.

 

On Thursday, November 12, a trio of experienced professionals is presenting an encore performance of the best of the Songbook, and it is free and open to all. It is a gift to the Fredericksburg region from the Fredericksburg-Este Association, the sister city organization partnered with Este, Italy. The concert concludes the year-long sister city programming in celebration of America250.

 

Sue Henderson and Ray Dempsey, longtime duo of lyricist and pianist, will reprise their standing ovation performance of these American classics in Italy this past spring. They are joined with acclaimed local musician Becky Stuart.

 

The concert was so well received in Italy that the Association is offering a reprise, in part, as a celebration of the best of American cultural contributions for the VA250 commemorations.

 

Henderson has more than fifty years of performance experience, including stints at Riverside Dinner Theater.  For more than a decade, she served as a Vocal Director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Henderson is well known for her vocal and photographic talents, as well as leadership positions in culture and history programs, and volunteer services to many arts endeavors.

 

Pianist Ray Dempsey has performed with Henderson for over ten years. In the greater Washington area, Dempsey conducted community choruses with orchestra while teaching vocal music.  He regularly performed at the Washington Hilton Hotel and at engagements on the Embassy and Museum circuit.  He later served as the organist at Fredericksburg’s St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Now visually impaired, he continues to play by memory.

 

The free, open-to-all performance will showcase familiar and memorable Broadway hits, and classic compositions of the early 20th Century.

 

Attendees will also have the opportunity to win an original photograph of Este, Italy, the city’s Italian sister city association.

 

The Henderson-Dempsey duo were selected as the 2026 Honorees in the sister city’s Artist Exchange Program. Honorees qualify, in part, by being well recognized in regional artistic circles for excellence in their chosen medium. The artists also have substantially contributed to the cultural life of the greater Fredericksburg region. Henderson and Dempsey are the fifth artists selected for the exchange program, which alternates between bringing Italian artists here and sending Fredericksburg artists to Italy on an occasional basis.

 

In Italy, the duo were joined by Claudia Minielli, a pianist and percussionist, as part of the program. On November 12, local pianist/performer Becky Stuart will help in the Songbook reprise. Stuart, who performs on flute, piano guitar and voice, also teaches, and often appears with her husband Slam Stuart. They also  have a home studio music business, Slamone LLC, in King George.

 

Artists for the Fredericksburg-Este Association’s  Artist Exchange Program qualify, in part, by being well recognized in regional artistic circles for excellence in their chosen medium. The artists also should have substantially contributed to the cultural life of the greater Fredericksburg region. The program alternates between bringing Este artists here and sending Fredericksburg artists to Este on an occasional basis.

 

The duo of Henderson and Dempsey are the first performance honorees, and are the fifth to be chosen for the exchange.

The Fredericksburg-Este Association, founded in 2015, nurtures friendship and cultural understanding between Fredericksburg, VA and Este, Italy, through exchanges, programs, and events.

For program notes and more information, go to www.fred-este.org.