| VOLUME 4 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | January 27, 2000 |
ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
There is a free AAC Networking Meeting/Coffee House at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, and workshops every month at the The Northwest Transportation Network office in St Albans.
2000 is the centennial anniversary of the birth of American composer Aaron Copland. The Vermont Youth Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Troy Peters, returns to the MVU stage Saturday evening with a Copland tribute entitled A New Birth of Freedom. VYO BRINGS FREEDOM BACK TO TOWN
The VYO Freedom concert is hosted by the All Arts Council of Franklin County and presented by media sponsors the St Albans Messenger and radio stations WWSR/WLFE.
Three VYO members will appear as soloists, filling the program with colorful, melodic selections. The Concerto in G major for Two Flutes by Cimarosa will be performed by Laura Hamel, a home schooled senior from Hyde Park, and Shannon Wheel, a senior at Colchester High School. Both Laura and Shannon study privately with Berta Frank. Nicholas Strebendt, a senior at Plattsburgh High School, will perform the Trombone Concerto by Gr ndahl. Nicholas studies with Michael Nystoriak.
The program will open with Beethoven's Overture to Egmont, an heroic piece celebrating the Dutch revolution against Spain, followed by the Cimarosa and Gr ndahl works.
AAC Chair Dick Harper will narrate Copland's Lincoln Portrait. The evening will close with the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin.
Three VYO members will appear as soloists, filling the program with colorful, melodic selections. The Concerto in G major for Two Flutes by Cimarosa will be performed by Laura Hamel, a home schooled senior from Hyde Park, and Shannon Wheel, a senior at Colchester High School. Both Laura and Shannon study privately with Berta Frank. Nicholas Strebendt, a senior at Plattsburgh High School, will perform the Trombone Concerto by Gr ndahl. Nicholas studies with Michael Nystoriak.
Seven of the 92 VYO musicians are from Franklin County: Amy Branagan, violin, St Albans; Anne Clark, violin, East Fairfield; Heather Davis, horn, Richford; Malikah Fulton, viola, Georgia; Elisabeth Lauffer, violin, East Berkshire; Morgan Pollitt, violin, Fairfax; Nicole Rawding, flute, St. Albans; and Rebecca Snyder, violin, Georgia. It is the largest symphony orchestra in Vermont.
Violinist Elisabeth Lauffer is a freshman at MVU. "It's great to be part of the huge sound" of the orchestra, she said, "and being able to hear all the different things that go on" in a piece of music.
"I like the Borodin," she said. "It's fun and interesting to listen to because there is always something going on. It has a lot of nice woodwind stuff and the melodies are passed between all the sections of the orchestra."
Morgan Pollitt is a senior at the Vermont Commons School and in her fifth year as a violinist in the VYO. She also plays "piano on the side." The VYO "has given me a chance to meet so many different people from all over the state," she said.
"Copland is one of my favorite composers," Morgan said. "His music takes simple melodies and he makes them so beautiful and develops them into the sound of America."
Although both musicians have spent several years in the VYO, neither expects to become a professional.
"I don't plan to continue the violin once I graduate, but I've been so happy to have played all the music," Morgan said. She worked the Film Institute with Vermont film maker Jay Craven and does the newsroom for Regional Television network and plans to go into film.
Elisabeth has studied with David McAdam of Cowansville for seven years. She expects to do a dual major with music and will "keep it an important hobby." Everyone should be involved in music because "it's a nice way of self expression. You can see your rewards."
The MVU Art Department will exhibit a diverse collection including a series of mosaics by high school students with a variety of themes from baseball to bands to (Thunder)birds. The MVU band, with the generous assistance of Pam's Pizza in Swanton, will host the VYO musicians for a buffet dinner before the concert.
Tickets for the performance cost $5 for adults; students and seniors are free. Tickets are available at Jukebox CDs and Tapes in St Albans, Spears Pharmacy in Enosburg Falls, Swanton Rexall in Swanton, from most AAC members, from the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (658-4708), and at the door.
The VYO will also present A New Birth of Freedom at the Flynn Theater on Sunday, January 30, at 3 p.m. Senator Patrick Leahy will narrate the Lincoln Portrait. Tickets at the Flynn are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens, available at the Flynn box office or from the VYO. The VYO's Flynn series is underwritten by Vermont National Bank
The Elder Art Program is a statewide non-profit arts organization for artists age 55 and older. Artist educator Mark Montalban will hold beginning and intermediate classes at the St. Albans Barlow Street Center on Thursdays in Franklin County, February 10 - March 30. Beginning classes will be held at 9:30-11:30 a.m. Intermediate classes will occur in the afternoons, 12:30-2:30 p.m. The program costs $52 plus materials. Transportation may be available. ELDER ART PROGRAM
Each site also includes a month-long county-wide art show where students exhibit their work. e-mail ElderArt for more information or call the St Albans Recreation Department (524-1519) to register.
Artist educator Mark Montalban of the Elder Art program will join us at the AAC CoffeeHouse next week. The All Arts Council and the Elder Art program plan to collaborate on shows and programming this year. MEETING NOTES
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the VSO Chorus present the Mozart Mass in C Minor Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Flynn Theater. Mike Ewell, George Harwood, and Claire Hungerford sing in the VSO Chorus. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
The program also includes Copland's Old American. The Friday concert offers the PDQ "Bach Bluegrass Cantata" featuring Kevin Deas and Roger Grow; on Saturday, the "Knoxville Summer of 1915" by Samuel Barber, featuring Jane Thorngren.
Russ Chapman will perform Children's Music for Adults and Adult Music for Children from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Cambridge Elementary School auditorium as part of the WinterFest celebration. There will be skating outside from 5 to 7, with music and hot drinks inside. The free program is sponsored by the Cambridge Arts Council.
The Hub Cats, an acoustic duo, will perform at the Cambridge Coffeehouse at Smugglers Notch Inn in Jeffersonville from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2. The original art of Gay Lynette Morris will be on exhibit.
Sponsored by the Cambridge Arts Council, CoffeeHouse offers live performers on the first Wednesday of each month and Open Mike on the third Wednesday. There is no admission but donations are appreciated. For more information, call Pete Langdell (644-2233) after five or Fred Brauer (644-5721) any time.
This week, we continue our online exploration of some museums and galleries of the United Nations countries. CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK
Art Scene China is a commercial gallery that specializes in contemporary Chinese art. Their samples introduce artworks by well-established and up-and-coming artists from throughout China.
The North Cyprus home page introduces a "sanctuary of unspoilt beauty." The Turkish-Cypriot On-line Museum of Fine Arts offers a broad collection of the work and short biographies of native and resident artists.
Links to galleries in the Czech Republic will carry us to the Czech Cubism Museum, Galerie Gema in Czech and English, and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Iowa. There are paintings, photography, and a nice list of related sites.
A page of links offers some of the art galleries in Odense where "Artsy tourists can visit a sculpture workshop, a gallery, and a museum showcasing the history of Danish art." The Funen Art Gallery, for example, exhibits Danish art from c. 1750 onwards, with a special collection of concrete art.
ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site. FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF
All Arts Council of Franklin County
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
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