A quilt from Gee's Bend.By Greg StepanichPieces of music come and go, sometimes just once before disappearing, sometimes aired out only every once in a while like an unfashionable sweater found in the depths of Grandfather’s closet.But many of these works are pieces of real merit, and it’s up to performing organizations to start turning old and new rarities into … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 9-12
Noomi Rapace in The Girl Who Played With Fire.Film: Those who clamored about The Twilight Saga last week can now take in a far better, darker trilogy, now that they have that out of their system. It is the Swedish mystery novels by the late Stieg Larsson, whose introduction on film was the riveting The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, about a Goth computer … [Read more...]
ArtsBuzz: Rival WXEL bidders to present plans at Boynton meeting
Disc jockey Stu Grant.Disc jockey Stu Grant, host of the Jazz Impressions show on Saturday nights at WXEL-90.7 FM, is in limbo.The Boynton Beach-based station is set to be sold, which will make it an arm of American Public Media and change its call letters. And the future of Grant’s show has yet to be decided upon.“I’m hopeful that things will remain the same,” … [Read more...]
Music review: Atlanta Symphony violinists do right by Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953).By Greg StepanichSergei Prokofiev didn’t write a great deal of chamber music, but his two string quartets, two violin sonatas (one originally for flute) and piano quintet are marvelous works, and worthy of the repertory status that only the violin sonatas currently appear to have.The same goes for the Sonata for Two Violins (in C, … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 18-22
Vanille (2010), by Marcus Bickler, of Tamarac.Art: Painters, sculptors, photographers and other artists in this state look forward every year to the All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition, and next week, the 59th edition of this oldest such Florida contest opens at the Boca Raton Museum of Art for a run of seven weeks.This year, almost 1,400 … [Read more...]
Music review: Violist shines in Telemann at Stringendo concert
Violist Stanley Konopka.By Greg StepanichA violist for the Cleveland Orchestra made a persuasive case for the power and versatility of his instrument Tuesday night during a performance of a Telemann concerto at Palm Beach Atlantic University.Stanley Konopka, who has been assistant principal viola of the Cleveland since 1993, was one of two members of that orchestra … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 11-13
The Entr’Acte Theatrix cast of Hair.Stage: There’s a new theater company in the area, Entr’Acte Theatrix, a professional offshoot of the 10-year-old Palm Beach Principal Players, which hangs out its shingle for the first time with a worthy production of Hair, the “tribal love-rock musical” from 1968, the previous time we were mired in a protracted, … [Read more...]
Music review: Pianist Gilbert impressive in Chopin evening
Pianist Leonard Gilbert.By Greg StepanichUnlike many younger musicians these days, Leonard Gilbert doesn’t go in for a lot of demonstrative behavior at the keyboard.The 19-year-old Canadian pianist, who recently won first place in his country’s Chopin Piano Competition, shows admirable form at the instrument, letting his fingers and arms do the bulk of the … [Read more...]
Music feature: Violinist-composer Roumain charts cross-genre path
Daniel Bernard Roumain.(Photo by Julieta Cervantes)By Greg StepanichIt’s not easy to categorize a musician who can write sonatas for turntables and hip-hop etudes, a violin concerto and dance scores, but the world of contemporary classical music is quickly getting used to the cross-genre fluency of people such as Daniel Bernard Roumain. “I think there are a lot of … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: June 5-8
Pianist Leonard Gilbert.Music: Earlier this year, the Chopin Foundation of Miami held its quinquennial competition, which was won by the American pianist Claire Huangci. But that February event wasn’t the last in the foundation’s series of concerts, and this weekend, the young Canadian pianist Leonard Gilbert offers an all-Chopin program in performances in Fort … [Read more...]