Building Community and Life-long Joy through music and the performing arts
The Savage Club?
Our unusual name is a historical nod to the minor English poet, Richard Savage [1697-1743], who had a penchant for histrionics and puffery. The original Savage Club of London was founded in 1854. The Savage Club of Ithaca was founded in 1895 by members of the Cornell University Mandolin, Banjo, and Glee Club when their English concert tour fell through, and the Savage Club of London helped them get back on their feet. Ithaca’s Savage Club has been entertaining and supporting the Ithaca community more or less continuously since that time.
The Savage Club of Ithaca is a nonprofit charitable 501(c)(3) organization devoted to cultivating the lifelong pursuit and joy of the arts through performing and supporting related community groups and events. Club members include accomplished singers, composers, musicians, instrumentalists, poets, magicians, authors, comedians, and other entertainers— both amateur and professional— bound together by a common delight in music, poetry, and the performing arts.
It is our mission to encourage that same joy of the performance arts in others. Here’s how we do that:
• We perform three annual Variety shows at Cornell or in the community (Cornell Reunion show, Little Apple Fall Follies, and St. Valentine’s Day Show)
• We host various free performance series, such as the Jazz Stars series and Poetry Meets Music series.
• We give grants to aspiring performers (over $46,000 to groups like Running to Places, Vitamin L, Unity House, CCO Youth Orchestra, Mostly Motown, Armstrong School of Dance, Next Jennaration Dance Studio, and Women’s Works).
• We have have our own rock band (the Tarps) and our own Jazz combo (the Ira Kamp Quartet).
• We host free workshops such as Dramatic Interpretation, Shakespeare Reading, and other events to encourage both youth and adults in developing their performance skill and confidence.
• We hold a monthly dinner and variety show for (and by) our members
• We open our Lansing Performance Hall up to performance groups in our community.
The Lansing Performance Hall
In December 2020, The Savage Club of Ithaca purchased the former Faith Bible Fellowship Church on 1004 Auburn Road in North Lansing (9 miles north of the Triphammer Mall). The Club has diligently repaired and renovated this historic building it order for it to be a 100-seat performance space that is freely available to the community for rehearsals or performances. To inquire about using this new performance space, please contact us at ithacasavageclub@gmail.com.
Poet Laureate of Tompkins Country, Janie Bibbie, reading at The Verb Takes a Walk - Poetry Meets Music series.
Jazz fans enjoy refreshments during the intermission of an event
Dennis Winge and Jacob Merrill trade licks as they backed by the Ira Kamp Trio at the second event of the Jazz Stars series.
The Lansing Performance Hall at 1004 Auburn Road in North Lansing (9 miles north of Triphammer Mall)
Join Us!
If you are a guy who likes to perform (sing, play an instrument, write poetry, perform magic, be dramatic, be comedic, or be a ham), and if you resonate with our mission of creating a life-long appreciation of the performing arts (especially among youth and young adults), you might be interested in joining us in our fun adventure.
For more information, about the joining club, using the community performance space, or applying for a grant, write to us at ithacasavageclub@gmail.com or visit www.savageclubofithaca.org