By Dale King The final evening of this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton on March 8 was damn cold, with a biting wind that made ambient temperatures in the 60s feel even frostier. Still, the not-too-comfortable folding chairs on the amphitheater lawn were nearly filled, thanks, in large part, to the appearance of Postmodern … [Read more...]
40,000 stories later, The Moth is going strong – and coming to Boca fest
By Christina Wood Stories fill the pages of books, play out on movie and TV screens, and keep us coming back to social media time and time again. But nothing communicates a story quite like the voice of a person standing right in front of you. Maybe that explains the popularity of The Moth, an acclaimed nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of … [Read more...]
Boca’s arts fest wraps, with hints of Beethoven for next year
By Dale King If you’re planning to attend Festival of the Arts Boca in 2020, you have just a shade less than a year to gather up 250 birthday candles. While commenting on the recently concluded 2019 Festival of the Arts Boca, which wrapped up March 10 on a literal high note with a performance by jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and his blazing-hot sextet, Festival Director … [Read more...]
Pink Martini and Nu Deco Ensemble: Bending genres, building community
By Christina Wood You won’t find many places where people of diverse opinions gather peacefully these days. Where young and old sit, amicably, side by side. Where people come together – regardless of labels or affiliations – to celebrate life. With Pink Martini and the Nu Deco Ensemble both performing, this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca might be an exception. The … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2018-19: Books
South Florida has a perhaps surprisingly strong books culture, and not just because it has been home to major writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Zora Neale Hurston. It also is home to Books & Books, a remarkably successful Miami-based chain of independent bookstores, and as the Miami Book Fair it helped found has grown, newer players have appeared on the scene to celebrate … [Read more...]
Mizner Park’s symphony of outside noise muffles two fine soloists
By Dennis D. Rooney A concert featuring two young soloists with the Symphonia Boca Raton that took place in the closing days of this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca was themed “Russian Festival,” but might better have been styled “Festival of Extraneous Noises.” The Count de Hoernle Amphitheater is not a congenial environment for the performance of classical music. … [Read more...]
Unlikely partnership of comedian and cellist born on an airplane
In an unlikely pairing that is getting top reviews, actor Bill Murray, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and films like Ghostbusters and Lost in Translation, has joined forces with a classical music trio led by renowned German cellist Jan Vogler, his wife and violinist, Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Pérez in a mélange of songs, music and literary readings. They … [Read more...]
Festival of the Arts Boca offers Battle, Perlman, Tinti, Haass, ‘E.T.’ — and Bill Murray
With its starting dates moved up a couple weeks this season, the 12th annual Festival of the Arts Boca opens Feb. 23 with a renowned American operatic singer and closes March 4 with a classic Steven Spielberg movie accompanied by a live orchestra. Opening the festival at the Mizner Park Amphitheater will be soprano Kathleen Battle, a five-time Grammy Award winner who will … [Read more...]
Mendes, ‘Pink Panther’ close Boca Fest in engaging fashion
By Dale King Festival of the Arts Boca wrapped up its 11th annual celebration of artistic, cultural and musical endeavors Sunday with a concert by South American jazz performers Sérgio Mendes and Brazil 2017, completing the 10-day installment of lectures, song, instrumentalists, one film and an opera. The 76-year-old Brazilian keyboardist whose high-amped, bossa … [Read more...]
Despite noisy venue, amplification, Chang triumphs at Boca fest
By Dennis D. Rooney Presented as part of Festival of the Arts Boca, now in its 11th season, the March 10 concert featuring violinist Sarah Chang took place in an open-air structure at the north end of Mizner Park that was covered with a plastic tent. I have never found the experience of hearing classical music outdoors to be enjoyable. Its textures and sonorities require … [Read more...]