Sample from 2007 issue
Best Bets for the 2007-2008 Season: Tips from folks "in the know"
MUSIC
Several Classical KING FM radio hosts have provided these
recommendations for upcoming musical performances:
Brad Eaton, Mornings, 6-10am
The season ahead is rich with musical
treasure. It was extremely difficult to pare
down my recommendations, but here goes: As
a lifelong science fiction fan I simply have to
choose Seattle Symphony’s Sci-Fi Favorites
(narrated by George Takei, “Sulu” of Star Trek
fame), complete with a laser show, September
20-23 at the Mark Taper Forum, Benaroya Hall.
On Friday, November 30, the Early Music Guild
brings the marvelous Norwegian Trio Mediaeval
to Town Hall for an evening of French and
English carols. Then, March 15th and 16th,
at Benaroya Hall, Seattle Baroque Orchestra
will join forces with Susan Pascal’s brilliant jazz
quartet for “Uncommon Grounds,” saluting the
ground bass pattern in music from Pachelbel’s
“Canon” to contemporary jazz.
Steve Reeder, Mid-Day, 10am-3pm
We have such an extraordinary variety of
live music opportunities in the coming season.
One of the world’s most distinguished pianists,
Murray Perahia, gives a solo recital at Benaroya
Hall in mid-October, and the renowned Saint
Petersburg Philharmonic appears there in late
November. A must-hear! This October, you can
enjoy Seattle Opera’s first-ever collaboration
with the Met, Gluck’s “Iphigenia in Tauris.”
You can help start your New Year in style
with our very own Seattle Symphony playing
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in early January.
One of my favorite period instrument groups,
England’s Academy of Ancient Music, performs
at Town Hall in mid-February. As a certified film
fanatic, I’d also call your attention to the Seattle
Symphony’s June performances of Prokofiev’s
thrilling and deeply moving score to the 1938
Russian masterpiece, “Alexander Nevsky,” one
of the greatest movies of all time. Meanwhile,
hope you can join me for a steady diet of
wonderful music every weekday from 10am to
3pm, including our Bach’s Lunch at noon, online
at king.org.
Sean McLean, Afternoons, 3-7pm
The Brazilian-born brothers Sérgio and
Odair Assad may not be Siamese twins, but
one could wonder if they’re not anatomically
grafted to their guitars. Most of us speak without
translating - the word just comes. Same for
them with music. I’ve heard them make flute
sounds from their plucked instruments. See
them October 23 at Benaroya Hall. I remember
my surprise when a Balinese friend told me
how “full of holes” our Western music sounded
to him. They have notes in between two keys
on our piano. Like jazz musicians who squeeze
a ‘blue note’ from the place-of-in-between,
the 25 musicians and dancers of Gamelan
Çudamani will open your ears and thrill your
eyes November 9 & 10. Celebrations of an
Indonesian village, colorful costumes and all,
should make you forget where you live. At the
UW World Series - I die for Baltic choral music.
Latvia, Estonia, & Lithuania live and breathe —
and produce today — some of the most magical
soundscapes for mixed voices. How to describe?
Think opposite of gospel choir: ice clouds and
endless indigo horizons, with one warm candle
burning in the midst of it. Seattle Pro Musica,
who brought 400 voices to Seattle this summer,
presents Northern Lights II just in time for the
Yuletide, at Town Hall in downtown Seattle.
ART
Brenda Tipton, publisher of Art Guide NW, provides these
‘best bets” for the northwest arts world:
If you haven’t been
to the all-new Seattle Art
Museum downtown yet,
then I insist that you put it
at the very top of your list.
Frankly, I had no idea
what a lousy museum the
Robert Venturi building
was until the new one
opened. While the First
and University building is
still there, it is now just a part of the new museum,
and a small part at that. Seattle has finally arrived
as a first-class museum city with the opening of the
new SAM extension. If you get the opportunity,
take your grandchildren or children with you as
they will marvel at the jazzy cars suspended from the
ceiling in the entry. The restaurant is much larger
and has a few items on the menu kids might like too.
SAM’s big and fabulous exhibit this winter
is three stunning panels from Lorenzo Ghiberti’s
“Gates of Paradise,” one of the most celebrated
works of the Italian Renaissance, on view at SAM
Downtown. This exhibition marks the first time
that the gilded bronze panels have traveled to
the United States since their creation over 550
years ago. Generations of admirers have praised
the monumental doors of the Florence baptistery
for their compelling portrayal of scenes from the
Old Testament and their innovative treatment of
architectural space. After they tour four cities in
the United States, including Seattle, the panels
will return to Florence to be reassembled within
the original doors and kept in an oxygen-free
environment at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo,
never to leave Florence again. If everything goes as
planned, the exhibit opens January 26 and will be
on view through April 6.
Another great exhibit at SAM this winter is
“Roman Art from the Louvre,” opening February
21 and on view until May 11. This extraordinary
selection of ancient art from Paris’s famed Musée
du Louvre portrays nearly 300 years of imperial
Roman life and history. The exhibition includes
approximately 180 pieces, many that have never
before traveled to the United States, from one of
the richest collections of ancient Roman art in the
world.
The only museum in town open to the public at
no charge is the Frye, located at 704 Terry Avenue.
Opening November 3 and showing through April
6 is “Dreaming the Emerald City: The Collections
of Charles and Emma Frye and Horace C. Henry.”
The Henrys and the Fryes are old Seattle families
who were responsible for donating two important
museums to this town in the days when they didn’t
get a tax deduction to do it. In the case of the Henry
family, Horace Henry fi rst invited the public into his
own home to see his art collection. Can you image a
rich person doing that today?
If you’re in Tacoma, be sure to see “Threads
that Bind: Works by Pacific Northwest African
American Quilters,” on view at the Tacoma Art
Museum from December 18 to February 18. If
you love glass, make sure you go to the Museum
of Glass while you’re in Tacoma as there are
always great glass exhibits.
As far as the individual galleries go,
remember First Thursday in Pioneer Square.
There is no charge to wander from gallery to
gallery to see new exhibits. East of the lake,
Kirkland has a fun gallery walk on second
Thursday, and Tacoma has one on third
Thursday. The Puget Sound region abounds with
fabulous choices for people who are art lovers!
For a complete list of all galleries in Western
Washington, check out www.artguidenw.
com on the web. Don’t forget to log onto
www.seattleartblog.com for daily art exhibit
information. Enjoy!
THEATRE
Karen J. Zeller Lane, Executive Director of Theatre Puget
Sound, an organization dedicated to nurturing a healthy theater
community, provided a “Best Bets” list of theatre events:
With over 135 theatres in the Puget
Sound region, it’s nearly impossible to pick
just a few. A glance at www.seattleperforms.
com shows that it’s the season for musicals
and the classics:
- Brigadoon, Lyric Light Opera of the NW,
9/7-9/16
- Godspell, Bellevue Civic Theatre, 9/7-
9/22
- Into the Woods, 5th Ave Theatre, 10/19-
11/10
- Jekyll & Hyde, Bainbridge Performing
Arts,
10/11-10/28
- The Importance of Being Earnest, Taproot
Theatre, 9/26-10/27
- Twelfth Night, Seattle Repertory Theatre,
9/13-10/20
- Pericles, Seattle Shakespeare Company,
10/26-11/18
- The Women, ACT Theatre, 10/5-11/19
...for a slice of Americana:
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Intiman Theatre,
9/14-10/21
- Snow Falling on Cedars, Book-It
Repertory
Theatre, 9/27-10/21
- Halcyon Days, Seattle Public Theater,
9/27-10/21
- Moon Over Buffalo, Olympia Little
Theatre,
9/14-10/7
- Birdie Blue, Seattle Repertory Theatre,
11/15-12/16
...for the adventurous?
- Crime and Punishment, Theatre Under
Ground at CHAC, closes 9/30
- Bat Boy: The Musical, ArtsWest, 10/3-
11/10
- Life of Galileo, Strawberry Theatre
Workshop with Seattle University
Theatre Puget Sound supports local
theatre all around the Sound with the most
comprehensive calendar of live theatre
performance at www.seattleperforms.com
.The Puget Sound theatre community
provides a depth and wealth of diverse
experiences just waiting to be shared with
you!Don’t miss your opportunity to tour a
theatre, catch a free performance, or meet
new artists during Live Theatre Week, Oct
15 –21st. Find out what it’s all about at our
Kick-Off Event on Oct 7 from 12-3pm at
Fisher Pavilion, Seattle Center.
Theatre Puget Sound (TPS) is a leadership and
service organization founded in 1997 to advocate for
the region’s growing theatre community’s causes and
administer much-needed services. TPS is now the
Northwest’s premiere arts advocacy and leadership
organization. TPS has a two-fold mission: To
promote the spiritual and economic necessity of
theatre to the public, and to unify and strengthen
the theatre community through programs, resources,
and services. TPS serves more than 1,400 theatre
artists and organizations within our region.
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