Greetings, Friends and Neighbors of our factory, 

Waving to you from the landscape of the Hudson Valley this Holy Daze season. Wishing you and yours good health and happiness this coming year. Thank you for an amazing year. The new year promises to bring more music to our historic waterfront art factory——with exciting new partnerships to ring in the new year.

The winter arrived in real time, framing the river and mountains with dramatic cold winter light skies, sprinkled with comforting snow. The romance of our region never grows old; in fact, with time, the glow of the natural, majestic world’s permanence will only grow.  This landscape, Mother Earth herself, is an anchor of stability in this rapidly changing, splintered world we find ourselves sharing time and space in.

The history of our region offers inspiration: The Hudson River Painting School was founded 200 years ago by local hero Thomas Cole. The movement of artists captured the power of the natural world with their paintbrushes and giant tableaus. So powerful were these depictions of landscapes and skies that they eventually inspired the creation of the National Parks Department — it was the founders of the first art movement of America’s settlers, who continued the tradition of what the indigenous people long already knew, that the beauty and complexity of nature needs to be honored, preserved, and protected.

The Hudson Valley is the birthplace of America’s first art and environmental movements – further empowered by Pete Seeger, the Clearwater movement, and musicians / activists over the past 100 years.

Another golden ethos we embody plenty here is “Think Globally, Act Locally”. The saying originated with Scottish urban planner and social activist Patrick Geddes around 1915, appearing as an idea in his book Cities in Evolution, which advocated understanding broad global environmental contexts to make small, intentional changes locally for better community planning and sustainability. 

Those seeds planted over a 100 years ago grew into a slow but steady effort to raise awareness of the notion of bettering the place you live by  “buying local.” That notion birthed our initial alternative to “Black Friday”- Basilica Farm & Flea – over a decade ago. This past year, we presented three markets- Spring, Summer and Holiday – in partnership with LikeMindedObjects. In 2026, we will continue our commitment to this mission to celebrate local makers and a healthy local economy. 

Spring Market applications HERE As a transplant from Montreal, I have developed great pride in the history of this region. Here is where we have chosen to make our home, raise our daughter, build community, and commit to our love of independent, innovative, and creative voices as a stable solace in this eve-changing world. 

Here we are now. 2026. 

Weird Wide World …. The increasing life lived online only emboldens our commitment to Basilica being a real-life gathering place, keeping us tethered to each other. We must continue to ask ourselves: what can we be for our local and global communities, as individuals, and as a collective? 
 

“The building is the muse. The building does it for us. We don’t do anything but serve it. The building itself is as much of an artwork to be revered as the work being presented inside.” 

This year marks our 16th year of reclaiming and restoring this glorious 1880s factory — been an honor of a lifetime to serve such a location and host, give or take 200,000+ dynamic people in this sturdy structure. This year marks an exciting expansion of our commitment to music, with the launch of a partnership with like-minded concert promoters Bowery Presents, Higher Ground, and Sister Midnight. Together, we will present more shows year-round. Our focus will be on mid-week concerts, as a counterbalance to the weekend destination tourist town Hudson has become. We hope this partnership will be an invitation to people who live here to join us, while stimulating local businesses during the quieter days upstate.

Learn more about our new upcoming concert series HERE

I have personally built my whole life around live performances, starting back in Montreal at a public performing arts school, into my time in 1990s rock bands (read all about it in my upcoming memoir!), then upon retiring from the road to become a mother, and founding Basilica Hudson – aka “Temple of Sound”  with my partner Tony Stone. Gathering as fellow humans around expression, in my humble opinion, provides a strong foundation for bringing out our humanity. 

When in doubt, bring the music. Come together as fellow humans, through the music. 

Some initial shows have been announced, and more are to come.
Stay strange, but don’t be a stranger,

Melissa Auf der Maur and our Basilica Hudson Family