DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 13 * * All Arts News On the Web * * October 1, 2009

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      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.


      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

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MUSIC FOR FALL

      The Vermont Youth Orchestra opens the 2009-10 concert season at Saint Mary’s Church in St. Albans tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. Interim Conductor Andrew Massey will begin his stay at the VYO with a program of Brahms, Grainger, Jay Greenberg, Saint Saens, and Tchaikovsky for a fall afternoon.
      Four Franklin County students are VYO members: Cellist Isabel Larrow, Fairfield, Cellist Joshua Morris, St. Albans, horn Warren Rixon, St. Albans, and bass Adam Wolinsky, St. Albans.
      The concert will open with the Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80 by Johannes Brahms. Listen for melodies from the popular student drinking tunes of the 19th Century all within a musical score that feels like proper Brahms. The program also includes Colonial Song, by Percy Grainger and Skyline Dances, by eighteen-year old Connecticut composer, Jay Greenberg, a current student at Juilliard. The Fantasy Overture from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is contemporaneous to the Brahms.
      Sally Bruce will present the first movement of Camille Saint Saens’ Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61. The Champlain Valley Union High School senior is in her second season as concertmaster of the VYO.
      A native of Nottingham, England, Maestro Massey serves as the Music Director of the Racine Symphony Orchestra in Racine, Wisconsin. He resides with his family in Montgomery.
      Admission is $5 for adults/seniors and just $2 for students. Tickets are available at the door.
      The concert is co-sponsored by The Dressing Room and Mousetrap Pediatrics.


      The VYO will reprise the Fall Opener at the Flynn on Sunday at 3 p.m. Admission for the Sunday concert is $15, $12, $10 for adults/seniors and $12, $10, $6 for students. Tickets for Sunday are available from the Flynn (call 802-86-FLYNN or click here) or at the door.


      The Vermont Youth Orchestra Association is now accepting registrations for Presto, their ensemble program for beginning string players. Presto sessions take place on Saturday mornings from October 10 through November 14.
      VYO season tickets are also on sale now.


ART ON THE WALLS

WESTON--Corliss Blakely begins her Fall Art Show today in her new space not far from the Vermont Country Store. She will host a wine and cheese reception tomorrow at the gallery at 5 p.m.
      Look for oil paintings from Afternoon Treat to the Woodstock Hillside as well as the new paintings she creates on her iPhone with the Brushes, Inspire, and Layers applications. "Now I can work anywhere," she said.
      Ms. Blakely's friend Kennie Lyman will also bring her Functional Pots to the show.
      The show is open daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and runs only through October 12. Click here for more info.


ENOSBURG FALLS--The Artist In Residence Gallery features different artists each month. This month, the spotlight is on fiber artist Jan Brosky, painter Melissa Haberman, sculptor/painter Alexis Kyriak, and photographer Charlotte Rosshandler.
      The A.I.R. gallery hosts a free meet-the-artists reception with refreshments tonight from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. The exhibit continues through the end of October.
      The Artist in Residence art cooperative features paintings, fiber arts, stained glass, sculpture, lamps, pottery, folk art boxes, scarves, hats and more by 45 Franklin County and surrounding area artists. It is owned and operated by the artists and sponsors. The Village Frame Shoppe is located within the coop as a resident framer. The Blue Crayon, a small private studio, is available there for individual or small group lessons. The gallery, located at 349 Main Street, is open Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.


ST ALBANS--The Northwestern Medical Center Gallery hosts artist Carol Mueller this month. Her sister, Debra Peete, works in Diagnostic Imaging at NMC. She is one of three sisters who all paint and exhibit together in Williston every year.
      The show continues through the end of October.


ON STAGE LIVE

RICHMOND--On the Rise Bakery presents Jim Branca and the Mystic Mojo men as they rip up and re-invent old and new tunes on Friday at about 8 p.m.
      Mr. Branca reminds us that it Friday is the shared birthday of Gandhi, Groucho Marx, "Chubby" Wise, and Don McLean. He promises they will not play American Pie under any circumstances.


MONTPELIER--The opportunities to see and hear live opera in Vermont are still limited, so it is worth a drive this weekend and next for the 17th annual Vermont Opera Theater Foliage Art Song Festival. It is a celebration of classical song with performances and master classes.
      WordStage Vermont performs a reprise of L'Affaire Verlaine/Rimbaud and Trio Amoroso: The Letters, Diaries and Music of Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Tim Tavcar will narrate with music by singers Simon Chausse, Margot Button, Linda Radtke and Stephen Falbel, and pianists Mary Jane Austin-Reynolds and Eliza Thomas in the Montpelier Unitarian Church on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students at the door.
      Teacher and pianist Dalton Baldwin will perform Master Class Highlights with selected singer-pianist teams from the master classes in the Montpelier Unitarian Church on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students at the door.
      Foliage Art Song Festival will host Master Classes Friday and Saturday with Dalton Baldwin and Lorraine Nubar. Auditors may observe the international roster of 9 pianists and 23 singers as they work on interpretation and vocal technique at the Church on Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Admission is $40 for the two days or $25 one day and just $10 students; the fee includes evening programs.
      Call Joan Stepenske (802.223.8610) or click here for more info.


MIDDLEBURY--Middlebury College presents the Emerson String Quartet in a free return performance in Mead Chapel on Friday at 8 p.m. This is the ensemble's 31st Middlebury concert. The program will include the music of New England composer Charles Ives, plus Beethoven and Mendelssohn. The New York City-based quartet includes violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, cellist David Finckel and violist Lawrence Dutton.
      The concert is free; no tickets or reservations are necessary. Call 802.443.6433 or click here for more info.


ESSEX JUNCTION--A venue that has been good to Franklin County musicians is changing gears. Saturday evening marks the last regular event for the Lincoln Inn. The Pub will open only for special events in the near future. QUADRA rocks the stage for the Lincoln Inn Customer Appreciation Party on Saturday at 9 p.m. Doors will open at 7 p.m.
      Call 802.878.3309 or click here for more info.


WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASS--The Vermont Building at the New England Exposition (the Big E) features the Sarah Blair Ensemble on Saturday plus Yankee Chank at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday. There will also be performances by the New England Center for Circus Arts.


A PERSONAL NOTE

  ArtBits News Photo     October 1 would have been artist Mary Harper's 90th birthday; she died seven years ago.
      An award winning and popular artist, Mary painted with oil, watercolor and pastel. Her striking watercolors and scratch boards often portrayed landscapes and portraits from the mid-Atlantic dunes to the bright sub-tropical sun of Florida Keys to the soft colors of the southwest; they hang in collections across the country. She was a member of the Bougainvillea House Gallery, the Florida Keys Art Guild, and the All Arts Council.
      And she was my mom.
      The Cap Cancer checks went out today in her honor.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Diane Zeigler of Montpelier has won eight national songwriting awards. Her live shows offer skilled performance and laughter. She performs both as a solo act and as a trio. Her site includes samples, news, her music and lyrics, biography and photos, tour dates, contact info, and a Nimbit powered store.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      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.


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2009 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved. Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine).
      Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium.