A two-person chamber opera by a South Florida-based composer had an impact beyond its intimate scale thanks to two powerhouse performances and a beautifully accomplished suite of computer projections. Fairy Tales: Songs of the Dandelion Woman, which had its premiere in early May at the SoBe Institute for the Arts in Miami Beach (and which I saw May 17), is the brainchild of … [Read more...]
Remembering Corey Dwyer, gone before long strange trip was over
In early April, I received what I thought was a casual inquiry on Facebook that turned into a snowballing tragedy. Renee Solis, vocalist and guitarist for the progressive local band Equinox, asked if I knew how to get in touch with Corey Dwyer, the Boynton Beach-based musician who sang and played nearly every instrument, who was a longtime owner, operator and engineer at the … [Read more...]
PB Symphony finale shows Tebar’s orchestra-building success
Ramón Tebar must be exhausted. Twinning conductorships of Palm Beach Symphony and Florida Grand Opera in Miami would sap the energy of another man. Not so the 35-year-old Tebar. He must have the strength of Hercules. Drawing on reserves of a champion soccer player last Sunday afternoon, April 6, he conducted a superb concert at the Kravis Center with the Palm Beach Symphony. … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Dividing the Estate’ and ‘Evita’
Take economic bad times, add a land-rich but cash-poor clan brimming with selfish money-grubbers and you have a recipe for a dysfunctional family play like Dividing the Estate, which landed on Broadway for 50 performances in late 2008 and early 2009, just before its author, the prolific Horton Foote, passed away. He again takes us to fictional Harrison, Texas, the site of so … [Read more...]
For Palm Beach Film Festival, 19th time may be the charm
To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Reports of the death of the Palm Beach International Film Festival have been greatly exaggerated.” Dismissing the naysayers who will tell you that the 19-year-old celebration of movies from around the globe is on the verge of folding, longtime PBIFF president and chief executive officer Randi Emerman insists, “You have to be a believer. Because of … [Read more...]
Sundays: Looking for answers
By Myles Ludwig We seem to be sloshing through a media debris field. The globalization of media, the diversity of delivery platforms and their consequent overarching narratives of mystery, fear and grief involve us all within reach in news stories that seem so close, yet are so far. Those of us not directly affected by catastrophic events are nevertheless drawn into the … [Read more...]
For two-piano sensations Anderson and Roe, it’s all about joy
You could look a long time and you’d be hard-pressed to find a whole lot of musical ensembles with a mission statement. But Anderson and Roe, the two-piano sensation that formed at Juilliard a dozen years ago, have that staple of business culture right on the News page of their website: “To make classical music a relevant and powerful force in society. To connect with others; … [Read more...]
Forte tenor Valera grateful for ‘America’s Got Talent’ opportunities
When the operatic tenor trio Forte gives its first full-length orchestral concert in Mizner Park on March 15, it will be another milestone in a brief but blazing career for three young men thrown together for the reality show America’s Got Talent. But for Fernando Varela, it also will be a return to the area where he first saw his future path while a member of Palm Beach … [Read more...]
Music, science link arms for Max Planck lecture series in Jupiter
If you were to list the names of prominent scientists who also were interested in music, you’d be at it for some time. Along with the more or less well-known examples of chemist-composer Alexander Borodin, physician-organist Albert Schweitzer and physicist-violinist Albert Einstein, you could find any number of physicians, chemists, botanists, surgeons, astronomers and the … [Read more...]
Oscar predictions: ‘12 Years’ for picture, McConaughey for actor
Several of the acting categories in the 86th annual Academy Awards appear to be locked up, but the top statuette for Best Picture is headed towards a photo finish this Sunday evening. By most accounts, 2013 was a solid year at the movies, with an array of first-rate releases. Nine films received the required 5 percent of first-place votes and, therefore, are in the running to … [Read more...]