A painting by Anthony Burks.Art: The EG2 Northwood Gallery is hosting a brief solo show for painter Anthony Burks that begins tonight and lasts through Sept. 30. Tonight at 6 p.m., Burks' wife, Trina Slade-Burks, will also be debuting and signing her book of poems, affirmations and art titled What Is My Priority? The book deals with the emotions of a multi-disciplinary artist. … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 10-13
Dogluver I, by Nancy Spielman.Art: The South Florida Cultural Consortium Media and Visual Arts Fellowship offers stipends of $7,500 and $15,000 to its winning fellows, and the $15,000 awards are the largest such awards given to individual artists by any local arts agency in the United States. Tomorrow night at Florida Atlantic University's Boca Raton campus, an exhibition of … [Read more...]
ArtsPaper Interview: Jon Robertson making a difference at Lynn
Jon Robertson.(Illustration by Pat Crowley) By Greg StepanichIt is perhaps not generally realized in the wider world of area classical music that Palm Beach County has a thriving music conservatory, that it is in the middle of building a $15 million concert hall that will be a major addition to the area’s art scene, and that its dean, Jon Robertson, used to run the school of … [Read more...]
Music review: In semi-darkness, a good recital of Schumann, Tchaikovsky
Pianist Yang Shen.By Greg StepanichEven the most devoted of piano fans could have been forgiven Saturday afternoon for taking a raincheck on a recital at the Steinway Gallery in Boca Raton.Moments before Lynn University pedagogue and pianist Yang Shen took the stage in the small recital room, a lightning strike took out the power, leaving the gallery in a semi-darkness that … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Aug. 28-30
My Life as a Dog, by Robert Arneson.(Photo by Katie Deits)Art: If you haven’t seen the sculpture exhibit at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, you have a few more days to see it before it closes Sept. 6. Viewers of Off the Wall: The Human Form in Sculpture can follow the evolution of the human form in American and European sculpture from the mid-19th century to … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: August 13-16
Womanchild, a sculpture by Armory student Vivian Wang.Art: You can see what the kids got up to at summer camp Friday night when the Armory Art Center showcases the work of 700 of its summer students from kindergarten through high school. Participants in classes such as Adventure in Art and Studio Artshops for Teens produced work including drawing, painting, mixed media, … [Read more...]
Music review: Casella work stands out on chamber fest’s challenging final concert
Alfredo Casella (1883-1947).By Greg StepanichThe Italian composer Alfredo Casella was a major figure in European music right up until his death in 1947, but his work rarely if ever gets a hearing today, at least on these shores.All the more reason for a tip of the hat to the organizers of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, who programmed Casella's Serenata (Op. 46), written … [Read more...]
Weekend picks: July 30-August 2
Gabrielle Chou, a musical triple threat.Music: Earlier this year, the now-defunct Boynton Regional Symphony Orchestra featured a performance by a 13-year-old Hollywood violinist in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Gabrielle Chou proved to have a good command of the concerto, demonstrating thorough technique and some attractive elements of personal style. She's a triple threat, … [Read more...]
Music review: Tableau Baroque elegantly demonstrates roots of Handel’s art
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759).By Greg StepanichA young four-man Baroque ensemble that was formed on the sidelines of a Seraphic Fire concert showed Saturday night that it approaches this music with the same sort of demystified engagement and crisply achieved performance of the choir that godfathered it.Tableau Baroque, formed when longtime Seraphic Fire continuo man Henry … [Read more...]
Music review: Cohesion hard to come by in chamber performances
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).By Greg StepanichTwo intimate works vied for contention with one of extrovert character Friday night as the third week of Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival concerts opened, but precious few of either kind of moment were satisfying for long stretches of time.The best performance of the concert at Palm Beach Atlantic University's Persson Hall came … [Read more...]