One could seemingly throw a rock in any direction recently and hit a musical tribute act in South Florida. Which often doesn’t seem like a bad idea, especially when considering the numerous ones honoring artists and bands that are still actively recording and touring themselves. But New York City quartet The PreZence (www.facebook.com/ThePrezence), in offering “An Authentic … [Read more...]
Arts buzz: Kravis posts classical lineup; Buffett in Delray; PB Opera announces season
WEST PALM BEACH — Major performers and ensembles in the classical music world have been scheduled for the coming Regional Arts season at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, in the expectation that vaccinated audiences can return to the West Palm Beach venue. The season, announced April 6, will feature a dozen programs, and include appearances by the much-beloved … [Read more...]
Tommy Emmanuel shows how to be an acoustic guitar hero
If you want to become a guitar hero, history dictates that you should probably play an electric instrument within popular music's broad spectrum of vocal-driven styles. It’s worked for a scroll of icons both living (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Tom Morello) and deceased (Jimi Hendrix, … [Read more...]
Dozen young singers make for a beautiful PB Opera Liederabend
Another night when Palm Beach Opera beats the virus with an outdoor song recital. This time the venue was the spacious veranda of the well-groomed National Croquet Center. Twelve singers, six each from the Benenson Young Artist and Apprentice Artist programs, were accompanied by the distinguished pianist Ksenia Leletkina, whose doctorate is from the Eastman School of Music … [Read more...]
Blackberry Smoke brings welcome Georgia style to Jupiter
Occasionally, a band or artist defies genre-based categorization by appearing on a multitude of different Billboard charts. And many — like Atlanta-based group Blackberry Smoke, which entertained a COVID-be-damned capacity audience at the Abacoa Ampitheatre in Jupiter on Feb. 25 — emerged from Georgia. Late vocalist/keyboardist Ray Charles’ blend of gospel, blues, soul, R&B … [Read more...]
Amid happy innovations, PB Opera mounts beautiful ‘Bohème’
The pundits tells us life will be different after the pandemic. By switching to outdoor performances Palm Beach Opera may have stumbled on a panoply of new ideas for its future. Using the iThink Financial Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds, with singers’s voices slightly enhanced, made for a reproductive quality not usually heard in smaller houses. Also, having … [Read more...]
Superb singers make PB Opera’s ‘Flute’ magical amid pandemic
It was different because of COVID: Palm Beach Opera held its season outdoors at the 6,000-seat iThink Financial Anphitheatre at the Fairgrounds (just one mile from the Florida Turnpike at the Southern Boulevard exit). The first of the major American opera companies to bravely adapt to an untested venue, the troupe’s general director, David Walker, thanked the people who made … [Read more...]
PB Opera ready for outdoor festival, with Met-style casts
By Robert Croan “And then the pandemic punched us in the face.” That’s how it felt to David Walker, in his first season as Palm Beach Opera’s general director – a post he took over after Daniel Biaggi resigned in 2019. “It was going so well,” says Walker, 54. “Puccini’s 'Turandot' [the opening production in January 2020] was our highest-grossing show in 12 years. … [Read more...]
Brewer cooking up live music in Lake Worth Beach
A surprising thing happened as the COVID-19 crisis ran roughshod over the local live music industry throughout 2020. You know, the year in which many performance venues — especially indoor-only ones — closed down from temporarily to permanently. The year in which most able to stay open downsized their calendars from full bands to solo artists, ranging from DJs to … [Read more...]
FGO offers short contemporary operas, special concerts for season
By Robert Croan “Even in this time of COVID and other calamities, our need for music and art is ever present,” says Susan T. Danis, Florida Grand Opera’s general director and CEO. “We are excited to be performing in intimate yet socially distanced spaces that are perfect for a unique storytelling experience." In the time of COVID-19, an opera set during the AIDS crisis … [Read more...]