Pablo Malco, choreographer and director of The Hip Hop Symphony, the dance performance extravaganza hosted by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on January 29, 2012, tells us about how he got into dance, the making of The Hip Hop Symphony and the dance company turned foundation (www.pablomalcofoundation.org) that brings the art of dance into the community. ...more...
Arts America Blog
Spring Is Here, or at least musically
February 4, 2012 by
Conductor Mary Woodmansee Green
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) gets ready to take on the challenge of Spring tonight without worrying about hay fever or the possibility of “spring fever” in a concert at the Kenner First Baptist Church at 7:30 p.m.
Set to conduct the LPO this evening is talented and beautiful conductor Mary Woodmansee Green, a 24-year-veteran as music director and conductor of the Kennett Symphony of Chester County. …more…
Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards Feb 12th
February 3, 2012 by
The Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards will take place at the North Downtown Hilton on Sunday, February 12th at 7:00 PM. If you are active in the arts community around here, there is a good chance you’ve heard about this event and have probably already purchased your tickets. If you haven’t heard about this event and you don’t yet have your tickets, what are you waiting for?
Tickets are on sale …more…
Love Before Intimacy: Lola Montes Schnabel’s First U.S. Solo Show
January 31, 2012 by
"Exchange of Youth for Knowledge," 2001, 84 x 120 inches; photo courtesy of The Hole.
Visiting art gallery shows can be a particularly refreshing experience, contrasting in tone from the often retrospective views of museum exhibitions. There is a welcome immediacy in a gallery, the kind that grounds the viewer in the here and now.
Such is the case at Lola Montes Schnabel’s exhibition Love Before Intimacy at The Hole in …more…
Happy Anniversary: Free Bang on a Can All-Stars Album through January 25
January 23, 2012 by
Few ensembles have been as integral to the propagation of new music both nationally and abroad as the Bang on a Can All-Stars. In addition to premiering compositions by Bang on a Can founding composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, the amplified sextet has interpreted the works of Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and many others. ...more...
Lembit Beecher Presents Documentary Oratorio And Then I Remember in NYC
January 20, 2012 by
Taimi Lepasaar, top, and Ants Lepasaar, flier for "And Then I Remember;" culled from Lembit Beecher's website.
Outside of the medium of opera, composers are not often characterized as storytellers. Increasingly in recent years, however, with the use of multimedia to tell abidingly personal stories in a concert setting, the description of composer-as-storyteller has become more apt.
At 8 p.m. today, January 20 and Saturday, January 21 at …more…
2012 OEAA Visual Arts Nominee Showcase Opens Saturday
January 13, 2012 by
Visit Hot Shops this Saturday from 6:00-9:00 to check out some art from nominees for the 2012 Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards. While not all nominees will be on display, you can’t go wrong when visiting Hot Shops. Finding inspirational art at Hot Shops is a given.
The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards is an annual event that recognizes local artists in a variety of mediums. Visual artists are just the …more…
2012 NY Guitar Festival: Buster Keaton and the Sounds of Silence
January 12, 2012 by
The New Year is upon us. For New York City concertgoers, this means the arrival of the New York Guitar Festival, and with it the seemingly anachronistic Silent Films/Live Guitars series. ...more...
‘Live and Let Die’ at LPO tonight
January 7, 2012 by
This week George Martin, better known as “the Fifth Beatle,” a record producer with long ties and associations with the classical and opera world, celebrated his 86th birthday. That may be especially appropriate because the classical and pop worlds will collide in a good way – much as it did when Martin became the Fab Four’s producer for some of their best known work such as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s …more…
Q2 Presents a New Year’s Countdown for “New Music” Lovers
January 1, 2012 by
Image by Darwin Bell; culled from the WQXR website.
Welcome to the New Year! For devotees of classical music–particularly works from the 20th century onward–I can think of no better resolution than to investigate Q2 Music’s Inaugural New-Music Countdown. The New York City-based, WQXR-operated online new music station has compiled a Top 50 list of listeners’ favorite works of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Running through midnight, January …more…
Sonic Revelry: New Year’s Eve in NYC
December 30, 2011 by
If you’re a classical music lover who will be in New York City on New Year’s Eve, perhaps Times Square isn’t on the top of your list of destinations for revelry. Here are three more than viable options for your last concert experience of 2011 ...more...
Suzaune McKamey to appear at J. W. Marriott
December 28, 2011 by
Suzaune McKamey is one of those local performers who could probably succeed as a major star in any other small town. That she chooses to live in New Orleans with its limited offerings for a strong cabaret and nightclub performer is unfortunate. She could no doubt do much better elsewhere, but dang it all, she loves her hometown and won’t hear anything of moving elsewhere. ...more...
Hansel for the Holidays at the Metropolitan Opera
December 16, 2011 by
Angelika Kirschschlager as Hansel and Miah Persson as Gretel; photo by Marty Sohl, culled from the Metropolitan Opera website.
If there is one definitive, reigning holiday tradition at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, it’s Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel. Since its Metropolitan Opera premiere on November 25 in 1905 with the composer in attendance, the work has been frequently performed by the company …more…
New Orleans Museum of Art turns 100 with a party
December 15, 2011 by
In most any other major North American city an art museum would commemorate an anniversary with a dry, stuffy affair consisting of a string quartet quietly playing Haydn or Brahms while hor d’oeuvres would be passed along to attendees by a wait staff in thick-starched black and white uniforms.
New Orleans Museum of Art (Photo courtesy of NOCVB)
But this is New Orleans and when the New Orleans Museum of Art …more…
Holiday Music: An Alternative Playlist
December 14, 2011 by
In his November 30 blog post, entitled “The Trouble with the Familiar,” fellow Arts America writer Ken Williams lamented the extent to which our seemingly impenetrable focus on holiday music favorites blinds us to the merits of music that, for no lack of quality, is not as embedded in our listening traditions. ...more...
GIVE THANKS… FOR JOHN SANTOS
December 1, 2011 by
This November many of us carved out time to appreciate the people in our lives and give thanks. We Bay Area jazz fans, in particular, had much to be thankful for. Although the SFJAZZ Festival is still winding down, the past months have been filled with some outstanding shows including those by Esperanza Spaulding, Robert Glasper, and McCoy Tyner. Alongside the established jazz artists were legendary Bollywood playback-singer Asha Bohsle, R&B …more…
Wordless Caroling: Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night, Nationwide
November 29, 2011 by
There are, of course, numerous classical music works that have become iconic holiday traditions in and of themselves–Handel’s Messiah, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker,Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carolsamong them. ...more...
The week ahead in Cincinnati
November 29, 2011 by
With the Thanksgiving holiday passed, winter festivities are in full swing and Cincinnati is bursting with entertainment this week! With major shows opening throughout, there are many choices no matter which genre of fine arts you appreciate.
Wednesday begins this week’s events with an incredible opening night performance of Snow White at the Ensemble Theatre. David Kisor and Joseph McDonough bring this classic fairytale to life in a production that runs …more…
Bay Area Arts Mailing List Exchanges Go Big
November 22, 2011 by
Are you a Domestic Duo, a Fast Track Family, Country Casual, or New Homesteader? Do you have “Gray Power” or belong to the “Second City Elite?”
These are just a few of the monikers used to label audience members in “The Big List,” a mailing list pool maintained by Theater Bay Area. Because 200 organizations (not all in the Bay Area) have participated in the list since 2008, if you have …more…
Art at Saint Mart Nov 20th
November 18, 2011 by
Arts for All is hosting its second annual Art at Saint Mart shindig this Sunday at the historic St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church from 11:00-2:00. It’s an art show for local artists coupled with a fundraiser, so not only do you get to peruse art and eat soup, but you can feel good knowing that the money you spend on the cost of admission ($7 for adults, $5 for …more…
Broadway Takes Out Its Treasures
September 18, 2011 by
The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market and Grand Auction is upon us again, starting at 10am on Sunday, September 25. The annual event attracts Broadway’s biggest fans, who love to peruse the tables, full of goodies like old Playbills, show posters, t-shirts, cast albums, and one-of-a-kind items like props, costumes, and autographed material from Broadway shows old and new.
Many current shows run their own tables, which feature …more…
The Best Tip
September 15, 2011 by
If someone, no matter where they lived, asked us for the best Arts America tip, our answer is simple – go to the websites of your favorite cultural institutions (museums, theaters, dance groups etc.) and sign up for free email alerts. More and more non-profit (as well as profit) organizations are seeing the huge advantages of email marketing over snail mail. Email is cheaper (and greener) to send, and it …more…
Saving Money and Enjoying the Arts – The Ground Rules
September 14, 2011 by
You cannot see everything. Nor should you try – you will just feel overwhelmed. As long as what you are seeing (or hearing) is in your opinion worthwhile that is all that matters. You are out to have a stimulating good time, not to increase your “most concerts attended” cocktail party chatter. If this site allows you to enjoy twelve arts activities a year instead of six, then we will …more…
Jazz venues
August 24, 2011 by
Jazz is the only native American art form, a musical style that began in African American communities in the Southern U.S. in the early years of the 20th century. Jazz has been around for about 100 years, during which time it has splintered into dozens of different sub-genres – all of which remain, recognizably, jazz.
Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong were some of the first jazz icons, born in 1903 and …more…
Ballet dance companies
August 24, 2011 by
Ballet is a performance dance, which originates from the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in Russia and France as a concert dance form. The ballet we know today did not take its form until the mid-19th century when it was primary categorized as a number of graceful movements.
If someone wants to become a ballet dancer, he would first need to realize how highly disciplined and trained ballet dancers get. The ballet dance requires dedication and hard work in order to be …more…
