Utah Cultural Alliance E-Newsletter

May 12, 2008

 

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Dear Colleagues,

 

Please Mark Your Calendars!!

 

Our Culture Bytes with Mayor Ralph Becker has been moved from Tuesday, May 13th to Thursday, May 22nd.

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

 

In this issue you will find:

 

 Utah Cultural Events and Information

 

1) Four World Premieres Headline Ballet West's Innovations Program

2) Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation Announces Tedeschi & Hunt

3) The Utah Symphony Welcomes Larry Rachleff and Pianist Robert Levin

4) Bountiful/Davis Art Center Seeks Docents for its Education Initiative

5) Odyssey Dance Theatre's Studio Company Odyssey II Showcase

6) 6th Annual Art Access Fundraiser & Exhibition

7) The Salt Lake Art Center Welcomes New Executive Director Heather Ferrell

8) Regina Carter Sextet

9) David Sedaris One Night Only

10) Utah Cultural Celebration Center to Host Fourth Annual FIESTA!

11) Traveling Exhibition Program Accepting Reservations

12) Don't Miss the Second Monday of Each Month through September!

13) DESERT:  an evening of artistic exploration

 

Employment Opportunities

 

Immediate Opening for an Annual Giving Officer with the Utah Humanities Council

 

 

Articles Of Interest

 

Resources

 

Submission Guidelines

 

Acknowledgments

 

 

Utah Cultural Events and Information

 

1) Four World Premieres Headline Ballet West's Innovations Program

 

The individual personalities of Ballet West artists will shine during Innovations, May 28-31 at the Rose Wagner Theatre, 138 West Broadway. This inaugural event will showcase three original works created by Ballet West dancers, for Ballet West dancers.

 

Principal Artist Christopher Ruud, Soloist Peggy Dolkas and Artist Megan Furse will premiere their works alongside the return of James Canfield's mesmerizing Equinoxe, set to the music of Jean Michel Jarre, and the world premiere of up-and-coming choreographer Susan Shields' Grand Synthesis.  Set to music by Graham Fitkin, Shield's new work is a piece commissioned especially for Ballet West.  

 

"Susan is an emerging and unique voice in the world of dance," said Ballet West Artistic Director Adam Sklute.  "Her work is energetic, dynamic, extremely musical and creative while maintaining classical purity.  By opening the ÔInnovations' program with a newly created work on our Ballet West artists we are introducing Susan's distinctive style to Utah."

 

Since its inception in 1963, Ballet West has taken great pride in performing new works by not only world-renowned choreographers, but by the Company's celebrated artistic leaders. From Ballet West Founder Willam Christensen on, the Company has created new works on its dancers, premiering them to both local and national audiences.

 

"Innovations is an exciting new endeavor for Ballet West," said Artistic Director Adam Sklute. "Our dancers are fantastically creative artists, and this program gives them a platform to experiment with choreography. In doing so, we also further the art-form of ballet by presenting an evening of new creations.  This is a must see."

 

Ballet West's Innovations is an exceptional way to experience brand-new creations by the next generation of choreographers. Tickets to Innovations are $30 and are on sale now through ArtTix by calling 355-ARTS or visiting www.arttix.org.

 

 

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2) Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation Announces Tedeschi & Hunt

 

Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation Announces Tedeschi & Hunt In Concert On Tuesday, May 13th 2008 At The Libby Gardner Concert Hall In Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

The 2008 Concert Series continues on May 13th with classical and jazz musicians in concert together, Simon Tedeschi and Kevin Hunt.

 

I WANT TO PLAY LIKE HIM

Join the mutual admiration society of two pianists.

 

A two-piano performance that transcends genre, resulting in a unique blend of styles and backgrounds. It stirs the jazz and classic and classic and jazz into one musical recipe. The two have played throughout Australia to great acclaim, receiving rave reviews.

Their creation of music results in a unique blend of styles and backgrounds. They met on tour with American Maestro of the Mouth Organ, Larry Adler and have been combining their styles ever since.

 

The program features composers such as Shostakovich, Keith Jarrett, Fats Waller, Serge Prokofiev, Fredrick Chopin, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Dave Brubeck, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, with compositions and arrangements by Kevin Hunt.

 

The performance will create an intimate and informative exploration of how these two musical genres are inextricably intertwined.

 

SIMON TEDESCHI

Described by pianist Leslie Howard as one of the finest musicians of his generation worldwide, Simon Tedeschi was named the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Simon first performed a Mozart Piano Concerto at age 9 in the Sydney Opera House. In 1996 he had a private audience with Luciano Pavarotti  and that same year he was featured as the hands double in the movie, Shine.

 

KEVIN HUNT

Kevin Hunt is a popular and versatile jazz pianist. He has over the last 16 years shared the stage with international artists including: Herb Ellis, Billy Cobham, Joe Williams, Louis Bellson, Buddy DeFranco, Emily Remler, Sheila Jordon, Mark Murphy, Don Radar, and Larry Adler. He has also recorded and performed with most of Sydney's prominent jazz artists.

 

Please visit our website at www.bachauer.com for more information regarding our events.

 

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3) The Utah Symphony Welcomes Larry Rachleff and Pianist Robert Levin

 

The evening features Beethoven's First Piano Concerto, De Falla's Three-cornered Hat and Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony

 

 

 

Guest conductor Larry Rachleff leads pianist Robert Levin and the Utah Symphony in Beethoven's First Piano Concerto on a program that also includes De Falla's Three-cornered Hat and Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony. The performances will be held at Abravanel Hall on Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24 at 8:00 pm.

 

The program opens with De Falla's Three-cornered Hat featuring folk-inspired melodies and rhythms from Spain. Then Levin joins the orchestra for Beethoven's First Piano Concerto (the concerto was actually written after Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto, but published first), which features a grand first movement, a slow and beautiful second movement and a cheerful third movement. Then, the evening closes with Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, which was written amidst the suffering of World War II, as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit."

 

A former faculty member of Oberlin Conservatory where he served as Music Director of Orchestras and Conductor of the Contemporary Ensemble, Larry Rachleff also served as Conductor of the Opera Theatre at the University of Southern California. In 1988, Mr. Rachleff served as the Music Director of the highly acclaimed American-Soviet Youth Orchestra tour. He has conducted and presented master classes at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Zurich Hochschule, and the Sydney and Queensland, Australia conservatories. In 1993, he was selected as one of four American conductors to lead the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the mentorship of Maestro Pierre Boulez. As an enthusiastic advocate of public school music education, Mr. Rachleff has conducted All-State orchestras and festivals in virtually every state as well as in Europe and Canada.

 

Pianist Robert Levin has been heard throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and in Asia, in recital, as soloist, and in chamber concerts. He has performed frequently at such festivals as Sarasota, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Bremen, Lockenhaus, and the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. As a chamber musician he has long associations with violist Kim Kashkashian and the New York Philomusica. After more than a quarter century as an artist faculty member at the Sarasota Music Festival he was made Associate Artistic Director in 2004 and succeeded Paul Wolfe as Artistic Director in 2007.  Robert Levin studied piano with Louis Martin and composition with Stefan Wolpe in New York. He worked with Nadia Boulanger in Fontainebleau and Paris while still in high school, afterwards attending Harvard. Upon graduation he was invited by Rudolf Serkin to head the theory department of the Curtis Institute of Music, a post he left after five years to take up a professorship at the School of the Arts, SUNY Purchase, outside of New York City.

 

Tickets for evening performances are $12-$48 and can be purchased by calling (801) 355-ARTS (355-2787), 1-888-451-2787, in person at the Abravanel Hall box office, or by visiting www.utahsymphony.org.  Subscribers and those desiring group or student discounts should call (801) 533-NOTE (533-6683).

 

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4) Bountiful/Davis Art Center Seeks Docents for its Education Initiative

 

Bountiful/Davis Art Center is looking for interested people to be trained as docents. This position is expressly for those who love art and want to educate and inspire others through the Education Initiative Program at Bountiful/Davis Art Center. Docents may participate in the following: guide field trips at the art center; gallery sit; assist with services related to exhibit receptions; help with traveling exhibits to schools, and assist in organizing the annual Summerfest event, specifically the ChildrenÕs Art Yard.  Comprehensive training is available. Please call the center at (801) 292-0367, or e-mail emmadugal@bdac.org or trixee@bdac.org 

 

For more information about the programs and activities of BDAC, call 801 292-0367 or visit us online at http://www.bdac.org/ .

 

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5) Odyssey Dance Theatre's Studio Company Odyssey II Showcase

 

Odyssey Dance Theatre's studio company Odyssey II will have its final 2007-2008 season performances, May 13 and 14, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in the Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.

 

In an ongoing effort to nurture emerging artists, Junior Company Odyssey II offers a full-scholarship, pre-professional training program, which gives young dancers the opportunity to spend a year training intensively and performing with the company. Twelve dancers, ages 14 to 18, receive full scholarships for one year to train extensively in ballet; jazz; tap; funk; and acting.  They perform with the company during its Kingsbury Hall seasons and have their own performances in May each year.  This rigorous program is directed by Emmy-winning Choreographer ("High School Musical") and Odyssey Dance Theatre Associate Artistic Director Bonnie Story, and rehearsal space is hosted by Treehouse Athletic Club.  "This is such a wonderful opportunity for the kids," says Story.  "They get excellent training and the chance to be onstage with the professional dancers. And some are even offered contracts with Odyssey Dance Theatre the next season!"

 

Tickets for Odyssey II: The Journey are $8.00 and can be purchased by calling 355-2787 or online at www.ArtTix.com. 

 

Auditions for Odyssey II 2008-2009 will be held on Saturday, August 9 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Treehouse Athletic Club in Draper.

 

Odyssey Dance Theatre is funded, in part, by Zoo, Arts & Parks. Best of State in Dance 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Best of State in Arts and Entertainment 2007, Odyssey Dance Theatre performs to critical acclaim and standing ovations at home and on tour, nationally and internationally.

 

 

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6) 6th Annual Art Access Fundraiser & Exhibition

 

ItÕs time again for the (oft imitated, yet never duplicated) 300 Plates Fundraiser & Exhibition. This year's event‹our sixth‹will be held on May 15th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in the Art Access Gallery. In keeping with the constant urge for more room and better air circulation at this event, the celebration will overflow into the neighboring Utah Arts Festival space.

 

Art Access will also host a Gallery Stroll reception on Friday, May 16th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM to feature the entire exhibition, which will continue through June 13.

 

We have 82 participating artists this year.  Yes, 82 established and emerging Utah artists working in a variety of mediums. yet all creating art on the 11² x 10² recycled metal printer's plates you¹ve grown to know and love. The plate prices will start at $65 and increase sequentially in one-dollar increments. As always, a small selection of plates will be placed in our silent auction.

 

While salivating over art, you can also savor tasty morsels from Rico's Mexican Market, cool off with some Dolcetti Gelato, and calm your plate-buying angst while listening to the smooth jazz stylings of Aaron Renshaw and Steve Stewart of Fifth Fret.

 

Here is what to expect:

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM      Plate preview

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM      Social hour and continued preview

7:00 PM -  8:30 PM      Your name in a hat! (Every minute we will draw five names from a hat, until the hat is empty, entitling those lucky people to purchase one plate each with minimal competition. Automatically get your name in the hat with a paid RSVP by May 8th. Additional Óhat ticketsÓ will be available for $25 each at the door.

8:30 PM - 9:00 PM       Remaining plates for sale

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM       Silent auction (We will be using blind bids again this year, and winners will be notified by the next day.

It's still just $25 per person to attend, as long as your RSVP is postmarked by May 8th (remember, this early RSVP gets you a "hat" ticket).  RSVPs postmarked after May 8th and tickets purchased at the door on May 15th will be $35. Questions? Contact us at (801) 328-0703

 

All proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to support the inclusive programs of Art Access /VSA arts of Utah.

Art Access is located at 230 South 500 West, #125 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Regular Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10AM to 6PM.  

 

 

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7) The Salt Lake Art Center Welcomes New Executive Director Heather Ferrell

 

The Salt Lake Art Center is pleased to announce the search for a new executive director is at an end. Heather Ferrell has accepted the position and will assume the directorship at the end of July.

 

Heather Ferrell has most recently served as the Executive Director and Curator of the Salina Art Center in Salina, Kansas. This move to Utah is something of a homecoming to the West for Ferrell: before her tenure in Salina, she served as the Associate Curator at the Boise Art Museum, and has worked both at the Utah Arts Council and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in Logan, Utah. Ferrell brings more than eleven years of progressive curatorial and administrative experience in art centers, art museums and university art galleries. She has a strong background in museum practice, fine art, and arts education, with a special interest in community and cross-disciplinary art partnerships, research, leadership and nonprofit management.

 

Ferrell received a BFA in Art, with a dual emphasis in Art History and Photography, as well as a BA in Liberal Arts from Utah State University in1994. She earned an MA in Art History and Museum Studies, with an emphasis in 20th century Modern/Contemporary Art, from the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1997. In 2004, Ferrell was selected to attend the Getty Leadership Institute's "Museum Leaders: The Next Generation," an international program dedicated to developing the potential of museum professionals. Her experience with the Getty is indicative of her belief in the importance of continuing education as well as her commitment to staying on the cutting edge of her field.

 

Staff and trustees are pleased with the selection and eager to begin this new chapter at the Art Center. Erik Christiansen, President of the Board of Trustees, is confident Ferrell will continue to lead the Center in its role as one of the finest contemporary visual arts venues in the Intermountain West:

 

"We are very excited that Ms. Ferrell accepted our offer.  She will bring youth, enthusiasm, and a community-oriented approach to the Art Center.  We were very impressed by her curatorial skills, as well as her ability to foster collaborative community relationships, which will no doubt deepen the Art Center's roots in our state."

 

As we enter a new chapter in the 76-year history of the Salt Lake Art Center, as well as an exciting time in downtown development, the Board and staff of the Art Center look forward to welcoming Heather Ferrell.  We are confident that her strong belief in community and artist involvement will bring positive direction to our cultural landscape.

 

Admission to the Art Center is always FREE.

 

The Salt Lake Art Center is located at 20 South West Temple.

 

Call 328-4201 or visit www.slartcenter.org

 

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8) Regina Carter Sextet

 

Where:                   Sheraton City Centre, 150 West 500 South

When:                    Monday, May 12, 2008, at 7:30PM

How Much:             $25.  Tickets available at Holladay Pharmacy.  Student discount tickets are available with valid student I.D.

 

Presented By:         GAM Foundation/Jazz SLC www.jazzslc.com

 

Press Contact:        801-278-0411:  Gordon Hanks, GAM Foundation Co-Founder

 

Regina Carter, one of the finest jazz violinists in the genre, will perform on Monday, May 12, 2008, at 7:30PM, as part of the of the GAM Foundation Jazz at the Sheraton series.

 

Regina Carter combines exciting technical proficiency and improvisation with an aggressive approach to her instrument, adding multicultural influence.  Her playing is melodic, yet percussive.  "I followed a more non-traditional route" says Carter.  "I initially learned to play by ear, then later learned to read, then learned theory.  I think that kind of experience has freed my playing up a lot more, so I'm not stuck on the page.  A lot of people are afraid not to have a piece of music in front of themÉ"

 

As a Detroit schoolgirl during the 70's and 80's, Carter grew up at a time when the Motor City was a hotbed for jazz.  Hip urban sophisticates could spend weekends cruising the jazz circuit.  The city's nightlife was vibrant with jazz.  "There's just so much music that came out of Detroit, and it all inspired me", Carter acknowledged.

 

At age 14, Carter saw French jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli perform, and everything changed.  Grappelli's live performance was such an eye-opener; Carter saw it was possible to improvise, and even swing with the violin.  And, she realized a solo violinist could play something other than classical music and still be famous.

 

Carter received a degree in music from Oakland University and studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston before forging her jazz career.  She first came into the spotlight as the violinist for the all female jazz quintet Straight Ahead.

 

Carter has come a long way since then.  She's on the road eight months out of the year playing a wide range of venues.  Active as an educator, mentor and proponent of the Suzuki teaching method, Carter has taught at numerous institutions, including Berklee College of Music.  In September 2006, Carter was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program grant, also known as a "genius grant".  

 

 

The GAM Foundation is sponsored in part by the Zoo, Arts and Parks program.

 

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9) David Sedaris One Night Only

 

Monday, October 20 at Abravanel Hall

June 2008 Release of When You Are Engulfed in Flames

 

David Sedaris, NPR Humorist and Best-selling Author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, is coming to Abravanel Hall for one night Monday, October 20 at 7:30 pm.  Sedaris will release his latest book When You Are Engulfed in Flames in June 2008.   Tickets will go on sale to the public in May 9th through ArtTix, 355-ARTS, ArtTix.org.  Ticket prices are $24.75-$42.75 plus service fees.  Presented bY NewSpace Entertainment.  Sponsored by KUER.

 

With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America 's pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.

 

David Sedaris is the author of the bestsellers Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, each of which became immediate bestsellers. He is the editor of an anthology of stories, , Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. His essays appear regularly in Esquire and The New Yorker. Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name "The Talent Family" and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center , and The Drama Department in New York City . These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler's Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatist's Play Service. His next collection of essays, titled When You Are Engulfed in Flames, will be published in June 2008.

 

David Sedaris's original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ. In 2001, David Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was named by Time magazine as "Humorist of the Year" in 2001. David Sedaris was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album ("Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim") and Best Comedy Album ("David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall").

 

 

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10) Utah Cultural Celebration Center to Host Fourth Annual FIESTA! Celebrating Mexican Heritage and Culture.

 

 

WHAT:           FIESTA! Ð Viva Mexico!

WHEN:           Friday, May 16 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

WHERE:         Utah Cultural Celebration Center

1355 West 3100 South

WHO:              Everyone is welcome to attend FIESTA! free of charge.

WHY:              The Utah Cultural Celebration Center is proud to host its fourth annual Fiesta! Ð a spicy  evening of entertainment, excitement and education celebrating Mexican heritage and culture in Utah.

 

This year's Fiesta! features a special visit by delegates from Boca del Rio, Mexico; local musicians Rio Bravo; Mariachi Zavala; Hispanos En Utah; Latin Dance Heritage and Quetzalcoatl, who will perform a special ancient Aztec ceremonial dance.  Taco, bread and other sweets vendors will be selling products, along with material craft vendors selling their wares from booths.  Children's games, including the popular lottery game La Loteria, will be played for prizes, along with bead-stringing; Mexican flower and flag-making, and other activities.  Non profit formation booths for Una Mano Amiga and the Latino Community Education & Information Center will also be on hand distributing information.  When the sun sets come prepared to sing in the open mic session with Mariachi Zavala just before breaking the pi–ata, followed by the ceremonial torch lighting of the Olmeca Head and fireworks!

 

For more information about this and other events or exhibits at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, call 801-965-5100 or visit www.culturalcelebration.org. Funded in part by the Salt Lake County Zoo Arts and Parks Program and West Valley City.

 

 

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11) Traveling Exhibition Program Accepting Reservations

 

The Utah Arts Council Traveling Exhibition Program (TEP) will accept registrations for the 2008-2009 program until Saturday, May 31, 2008. TEP provides nonprofit organizations and exhibition locations around the state with access to curated art exhibitions. Exhibits can be reserved for one month on a first-come, first-served basis. The price per month is $125.

 

Fourteen unique exhibitions are available, including two new collections. Available exhibitions include: People, Places, and Things Along US-89, Early Utah Masterpieces, Block Prints by Everett Ruess, 2008 World of the Wild, and 2008 All State High School Art Show. The two new options are Prints from Saltgrass and Prize Photography from the Utah State Fair.

 

Each exhibition package includes a press release, digital images for publicity, a framed introductory text panel, as well as transportation and installation of the exhibit. Educational materials are available for selected TEP collections.

 

TEP is open to museums, colleges, university and community galleries, arts and cultural centers, libraries, and schools throughout the state of Utah. The purpose of the program is to provide access to an array of visual arts, nurture the understanding of diverse art forms and cultures, promote creativity, and encourage cultural activities in local communities.

 

Registration is now available online. To register, click on the link provided on the program webpage www.utahtravelingexhibits.org or go directly to www.tepregistration.org. For further information, contact the TEP Coordinator Laura Durham at ldurham@utah.gov or call 801.533.3582.

 

This program is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington D.C.

 

The Utah Arts Council is part of the Division of Arts and Museums within the Utah Department of Community and Culture.

 

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12) Don't Miss the Second Monday of Each Month through September!

 

Concert in the Park 2008 Series Ð Admission is Free

Monday May 12, 2008 Ð 7:30 PM

R.B. Stone Ð Rock/Country/Blues

Vernon Worthen Park - 300 South 400 East St. George

 

The City Of St. George continues their Concert in the Park Series 2008 with R.B.Stone on Monday, May 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm at Vernon Worthen Park. 

 

R.B. Stone's life is, in a word, "Americana." Born in Huntingburg, Indiana, R.B. graduated from Kenton High School in Kenton, Ohio. Shortly thereafter he hired onto a 90-man railroad work gang, laying quarter-mile lengths of rail across the Midwest, living in camp cars. After two years he went to work as a manager for a plumbing, electric and heating company and, after three years of that he assessed his life.

"I had acquired two cars, two trucks, two motorcycles and a house. And I was not happy. "So," he says, "I sold everything except one truck, a shotgun, some clothes, a guitar and a songbook and headed west to Colorado to become a cowboy."

 

R.B. Stone's music has been played around the world; he's won several awards (among these a songwriting award from Billboard) and praise from his professional peers.

He says, "I am now gearing up for the second half of my career. I've seen a lot of the world but still want to see more and have more. I vow to play, write and tour until I die.

"It's what I am and it needs to be expressed."

 

R.B. Stone is Americana Ñ his story is unique to America

  

Sponsored by the City of St. George and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Arts Council, Concert in the Park 2008 Series is free to the public.  Don't miss the second Monday of each month through September. Park seating is available, bring blankets, lawn chairs, food and the family. For more information call 634-5942.

 

 

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13) DESERT:  an evening of artistic exploration

 

featuring new work by Nicholas Cendese, Eric Handman, Stephen Koester, Stephanie Leitch, Chris Noble, Brad Richter, Erik Stern, and Natosha Washington

 

Friday and Saturday

May 16 and 17, 2008

7:30 pm (visual arts exhibition opens at 6:00 on Friday night for Gallery Stroll)

Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory, Westminster College

Tickets available by phone (801.450.8977) or at the door

$10 general admission, $8 students and seniors (Westminster Students $5 with ID)

Discussion and reception immediately following the performances

 

Choreographers and visual artists join together to create a stimulating evening of work devoted to the theme of desert.

 

The desert is a natural environment, a locus of human events, a setting for art, a poetic metaphor:  All these aspects of desert art explored through dance, music, visual art and spoken word.  Chris Noble displays his stunning photographs of desert landscapes.  The RawMoves dance troupe interprets Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty.  Stephanie Leitch's multimedia installation is inspired by the Bonneville lake bed.  Through movement and music, Erik Stern and Brad Richter present a minimalist interpretation of the story of Olive Oatman, who was captured by Native Americans in the mid-19th century.  The desert is used as a metaphor for human situations by choreographers Stephen Koester and Eric Handman.

 

DESERT:  an evening of artistic exploration is a part of Westminster College's Common Ground Series.  Common Ground is a year-long endeavor to heighten campus and public awareness of this endangered environment.  Featuring new work by Nicholas Cendese, Eric Handman, Stephen Koester, Stephanie Leitch, Chris Noble, Brad Richter, Erik Stern, and Natosha Washington, DESERT brings together artists and the local community in a meaningful experience and dialogue.  A conversation about desert involving the artists and community will immediately follow the performances.

 

Detailed Program:

 

Photography:  Basing his career on the celebration of the beauty and wisdom of the earth, Chris Noble is a photographer, writer, lecturer, and social activist.  Noble's work focuses on aiding the transition to a more compassionate and sustainable world.  He collaborates with environmental and conservation organizations around the globe helping humans re-connect with nature and discover a new relationship with the earth.  "Escalante: The Best Kind of Nothing," a book of his black and white landscape images with text by Brooke Williams published by the University of Arizona Press, won honorable mention in the 2006 Utah book awards.

 

Large-scale, multimedia installation:  The white crust of the lakebed gives way easily under the spade, and as we dig deeper, the earth starts to feel like fleshÉStephanie Leitch is interested in real time and space dynamics between the experience and the work; the indomitable vulnerability of something that changes over time; that which is temporary; the intensity that comes with tenuousness.  The expanse of the west desert is a place of geological, archeological and historical significance. As a drainage point for the entire Great Basin, the Bonneville lakebed contains the seepage of a huge landmass.  The material excavated from this place carries the weight of geologic time.  The essence of this project is the idea of place transposed, altering the experience of space.

 

 

Modern Dance:  Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.  -  Goethe

RawMoves, choreograped by Nicholas Cendese and Natosha Washington, explores these ideas using Robert Smithson's 1970 creation 'Spiral Jetty' as a launching point.  Keeping the physical dancing style that has become a RawMoves signature, the movement vocabulary sweeps, curves, rises, falls, and travels through space as Smithson's work is echoed on stage.  With exploratory drilling proposed just five miles away from 'Spiral Jetty' new efforts are being put in place to preserve and protect this iconic landmark.  It seems like the perfect time to re-visit, re-explore, and re-invest ourselves in this beautiful piece of art.

 

Film:  In Exile by Eric Handman, a haunted, solitary man runs through a barren landscape.  Recurring sounds from his past keep him from finding home in the present.  Exile is a film that explores the idea of place in relation to one man's sense of self.

 

Interdisciplinary Performance:  Mining for Olive is inspired by the mid-19th century frontier story of Olive Oatman.  This collaboration between dance/choreographer Erik Stern and internationally established guitarist/composer Brad Richter interweaves live guitar, video, movement, evocative staging and spoken word.  This astounding archetypal tale of a girl being taken by Native Americans addresses many of the fundamental perceptions, assumptions and dynamics of the frontier West.  Mining for Olive is the first piece in an  evening-length collaboration, "How The West Was Won And Lost And Won . . ."

 

Multi-media Modern Dance:  Tentatively titled Wasteland by Stephen Koester, the desert can be seen as a barren, inhospitable, empty, arid and fragile place.  Things die there including people.  While two people in a relationship may be together, choose to be together and in fact may need each other, there is nothing between them.  The relationship is as empty and dead as the desert.  Though they stand next to each other, there may as well be a desert between them.  Love is but a mirage.  Touch is as unpleasant as the sting of sand in a windstorm.  Both continue forward but are dying inside, as desperate for the impossible connection as a nomad in search of water in drought.

 

 

About Brolly Arts

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