WEST PALM BEACH ― The Jazz Arts Music Society of Palm Beach, which has presented more than 250 concerts in its 13 years of existence, is suspending operations for the season, the society said in a news release.
“Due to lack of available resources and community support, it has become too difficult to continue to present performances at the level that is expected from JAMS management and members,” the release said.
This past season, JAMS presented six concerts at the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace, including appearances by Rick Krive, Jackie Ryan, the Dave Bennett Quartet, Claudio Roditi, the Ted Rosenthal Trio and Angela Hagenbach. The society was founded by bassist Susan Merritt, who also ran a club called Jazz Showcase in West Palm Beach from 1993 to 1996.
The release said that keeping the society going has fallen “on the shoulders of just a handful of dedicated people. Relying on these people to continue year after year has taken its toll,” the release said. “Over the years, the membership has declined and attendance has decreased. Donations and sponsorships have diminished, in spite of the incredible talent JAMS has brought to this community.”
The continued economic downturn has been hard on arts organizations, and JAMS felt the pinch, as Merritt said in an April 2009 Palm Beach ArtsPaper profile.
“Jazz has to be recognized as a true art form, and get the same respect and recognition as other cultural art forms. And people still balk at a $5 cover charge, let alone a $35 concert ticket, even if the price helps pay quality musicians,” Merritt said at the time. “South Florida may just have too much free stuff for them to accept that.”
JAMS said it would pause to reassess its future, and “may opt to regroup and reorganize with new energy and new faces,” the release said. The group’s website is jamsociety.org.
Billy Collins to headline Palm Beach Poetry Festival
DELRAY BEACH―Former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins will be the special guest at the Ninth Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival in January.
The festival – honored by a Muse Award earlier this year ― scheduled for Jan. 21-26, 2013, in Delray Beach, will include discussions, interviews, readings and workshops conducted by modern poetic masters including B.H. Fairchild, Terrance Hayes, Jane Hirshfield, Tony Hoagland, Laura Kasischke, Thomas Lux, Marty McConnell, Rives, Tracy K. Smith and Lisa Russ Spaar.
Collins, a longtime professor of English who was poet laureate between 2001 and 2003, is the author of 13 books of poetry including The Art of Drowning, Sailing Alone Around the Room, and Ballistics, and has been honored by organizations including the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“They are a diverse group, ethnically, demographically and aesthetically. When people hear them, they will hear America singing,” Miles Coon, the festival’s founder and director, said in a news release.
Eight workshops will be available during the event, which will take place at the Crest Theatre and the Vintage Gymnasium in Delray Beach’s Old School Square. Each workshop will contain a small group of 12 qualified poets as well as three auditor spots for novices. Four open-mic events are planned to give chosen workshop participants the chance to share their work with the public. Admission to the workshops involves an application process; qualified attendees must submit three poems to be reviewed by an experienced reader. The deadline to apply is Nov. 9.
Also on the list of events are two evening coffeehouse performances to be presented by Marty McConnell and Rives, both renowned performance poets. Tickets will become available a bit later in the year and can be purchased on the festival website or at the Crest Theatre box office. Per event ticket prices are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students, with group rates available. For more information or to apply for the workshops, visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.
Seraphic Fire signs with Naxos
MIAMI ― Grammy-nominated concert choir Seraphic Fire has signed a three-year deal with classical music giant Naxos of America to distribute its recordings.
Founded in 2002 by conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley, the 13-voice ensemble was nominated earlier this year for two Grammy awards, one for its disc of the so-called London version of Brahms’ German Requiem and another for and album of Christmas music.
The deal with Naxos of America, the Franklin, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Naxos, founded in Hong Kong in 1987 by the German entrepreneur Klaus Heymann, will allow the choir’s recordings on its own Seraphic Fire Media label to be distributed around the world to retail outlets and on digital download sites.
“The entire Seraphic Fire team is elated to join Naxos’ roster of musicians,” Quigley said in a news release.
Jim Colby, CEO of Naxos of America, said in a release that the company was “thrilled” about the deal, for which financial details were not specified.
“We look forward to working with this enthusiastic and forward-thinking group in promoting the wonderful recordings that they work so hard to create,” Colby said.
Seraphic Fire’s next recording will be a Christmas album, released in November, followed by a disc tentatively titled This Is Seraphic Fire, early in 2013. The group’s 11th season, which begins with a program of American choral music in October, includes a performance of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in February and a program of Spanish choral music in April to mark the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Juan Ponce de Leon in what became Florida.
More information is available at www.seraphicfire.org or by calling 305-285-9060.
Palm Beach Opera appoints new development director
WEST PALM BEACH―Palm Beach Opera has settled on the newest member of its creative family.
Lisa Huertas, a development officer at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, joins the West Palm Beach-based opera company as its development director this month.
“Lisa Huertas is a great addition to the Palm Beach Opera family,” said Daniel Biaggi, the opera troupe’s general director, in a news release. “She brings a broad range of development experience and has a strong background in the arts.”
Huertas earned her B.A in art history at Yale and an MBA in arts administration at SUNY-Binghamton.
“Since becoming a season subscriber three seasons ago, I have been continually impressed by the quality of the live opera experience that is being offered to our community. The productions have been imaginative and inspiring,” Huertas commented. “I look forward to creating more opportunities for our residents to support our local opera company.”
Huertas moved to Florida in 2001 and has been an active community leader ever since, serving on several boards including the Miami City Ballet.
The opera company begins its 51st season in January with performances of Verdi’s La Traviata, followed by Rossini’s La Cenerentola in February and Richard Strauss’ Salome in March.
It also will offer two Young Artists performances of Britten’s Turn of the Screw at Lynn University in April, and workshop abridgements of other operas in its One Opera in One Hour series at the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace. The operas will include Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (Jan. 25) and American composer Ben Moore’s Enemies (Feb. 22).
For more information, visit www.pbopera.org or call 561-833-7888.
Dramaworks’ Hayes named president of state theaters group
WEST PALM BEACH ― William Hayes, producing artistic director of Palm Beach Dramaworks, has been named president of the Florida Professional Theatres Association (FPTA).
Fellow executive board members include Vice President Jon Moses, managing director at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach; and secretary/treasurer Rachel Blavatnik, associate producer and manager at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter.
“FPTA’s focus over the next several months will be on the development of new programs to better serve the professional theatre community during these rapidly changing and challenging times,” Hayes said.
Hayes said the new executive board of the West Palm Beach-based FPTA will “work collaboratively to establish partnerships to create opportunities for professional theatre companies and professional artists throughout Florida, and promote a greater awareness of the high-quality live-professional theatre experiences available to the residents and tourists of our state.”
The FPTA has been developing and nurturing theatre organizations, artists and professionals in Florida for 32 years. The organization’s annual auditions and workshops event is scheduled for May 18-20, 2013, at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota. For more information, visit the group’s website at www.fpta.net.
— Compiled by Katherine Concepcion and Greg Stepanich