Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lori falls hard for the Philharmonic
So last week we met with the conductor of the Philharmonic and two of the instrumentalists: first chair clarinet and first chair viola. Confession number three: I have a crush on all of them. Let me tell you why.
First, the Japanese conductor is a ball of what appears to be buzzed-on-adult-beverages energy, but I asked around and the guy was sober. He was hilarious! I heard him say the word shit, kinda priceless for a grown man that carries around a tiny little baton. He also explained that conductor jokes are to lawyer jokes as viola jokes are to blonde jokes. I found these both interesting as I considered the parallels and as I was simultaneously catapulted to my GRE analogy studying days. The clarinet guy was mister sauvé himself. First he has been doing this, playing music, forever. He has like 12 clarinets and I think one cost like 5,000 dollars. Plus he played for us this super cool little piece that made his face turn really red, which I for one totally appreciated the effort. Lastly, is my boy Jared. For some reason his is the only name I remember. Does this mean I like him more? I can’t say, maybe I shouldn’t say. But anyhow, Jared was super informative and really witty. Picture this: a professor/instructor that you didn’t mind listening to, who actually said things that were funny and during breaks he played a little ditty on the only viola he owns, not too bad.
Also, we learned that the SC Philharmonic operates on a budget of about a million dollars. Holy cow! And mostly they get their money from generous donors. Now how do I get these donors to donate to the Lori Student Loan Foundation? Ok I digress. So, the short of the long is that it takes a lot of money and a lot of talent, and being cute and funny goes a long way.
Ok, so I want to say something about last night. Last night we watched them all rehearse for the first time for this weekend’s performance. Did I mention that we first ate yummy dinners courtesy of Tio’s? I still have half a wet burrito in my fridge. Dinner fantasies! Focus Lori. So, during rehearsal there was this older man playing the drums and cymbals. The guy was a riot. First, he didn’t have any shoes on and I pretty sure his socks were purple. Secondly, the guy was dancing. Moving and shaking the way I only do after throwing back a few. Actually, he did way better than that. He definitely had Salsa Meringa rhythm. Mad props drum player!
And though we only heard one piece during the hour and a half rehearsal, the piece is like 22 minutes long. And watching our Japanese conductor man was fun. I am pretty sure his legs are sore after a rehearsal because he moves around a lot. Apparently being a conductor is kind of aerobic. Favorite parts: when mister conductor man shrieked from pretend pain, or maybe real pain, from the cello section, at least I think it was the cello section; when mister conductor man made a joke about pirates, which was funny because the thought it was hysterical; and when a light went out and he thought it was a bat, a flying black bat.
So in summary, the Philharmonic rocks! Roadies rock! And I can’t wait till Saturday to go see the performance. And I leave you with this mild yet jovial threat: be there or be square, because my ticket purchases are a drop in the ocean of a million dollar goal! And PS apparently you can wear jeans!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
John Experiences the Power of Imagination
When you think of modern/contemperary dance do you think of lots of random movements with no apparent story line? This was my intepretation of this mysterious art form...before i met The Power Company.
As cloudy as it seemed this mystery was clarified when I was informed that I did not have to understand a single thing. It was perfectly ok to come to a performance, sit through each piece, and not understand a single thing or relate to anything. This in and of itself could be your experience.
However, I found it really helpful to have some emotion handy when I watched these rehearsals. You see, each audience member will have their individual experience and interpretation of the performance. Everyone has their own emotions and imagination and to bring this to a modern/contemparay dance performance is exetremly important. Let your emotion sit on one side of you and your imagination sit on the other and you will have a great advantage in interpreting the art form. Personally, I was better able to get something from the rehearsals when I pumped a little imagination and emotion into what my eyes were seeing.
Think of it like watching an old TV show with the sound turned down and making up your own story.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The Power (Company) to Change Minds
trip to see a contemporary dance company would be equivalent to castration
without the benefit of anesthesia.
I couldn't have been more wrong if I told you that five plus two
equals bagel. Quite frankly, I was more engaged and interested in this artistic
medium than I ever imagined I could be.
Allow me to elaborate: As someone with a background in physics, I
marveled at the dancers' ability to craft motion to music. More
specifically, and interpretative motion formulated by a human mind in
response to a mechanical wave passing through matter which, in itself,
generates its own motion.
Could I grasp the entire story behind the dance? No! And I didn't
want to, either. As the proud owner of a scientific mind, I was
delighted to be presented with a performance that would be organic,
mysterious, unique, and yet choreographed to the most minute detail.
Life is no fun if the answers are spoon-fed to us. I found the Power
Company provided a vibrant and enigmatic artistic medium that even a
die-hard gearhead like myself could appreciate. I look forward to
their performance later this month!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Rachel Wraps Up our Time at the Museum!
As if a trip to "the vault," a sneak peek at Dale Chihuly's exhibit, and an invite to the show's official opening, where we had the chance to rub elbows with Columbia's elite all the while stuffing our faces with yummy finger sandwiches (but stuffing in an "artsy" way), weren't enough, the New Audience Road Show had one more treat for us at the Columbia Museum.
On our third visit to the museum we were treated to a private and guided tour of the permanent collection. The tour began after a very interesting talk on the business end of running a museum—where the funding comes from, how it's marketed, where it fits into the community (apparently much of the funding comes from the money we, the citizens, spend in the community—the taxes on things like eating out goes to funding the museum. So when I eat at a local restaurant, not only am I saving myself the hassle of cooking, I'm also becoming a patron of the arts. Bonus!).
After this talk, we broke into two groups, my group was led by the lovely and charming Leslie, and were given some inside scoop about the works in the permanent collection and some helpful insights that made understanding and appreciating the art easier.
Inside scoop: one piece by Remington had been totally stolen in a real life Thomas Crown Affair-esqe art heist. It was eventually recovered, obviously. Incredibly exciting and I never would have know that without this tour.
Interesting detail that led to a better understanding: I've been to the museum a few times and always loved the armoire with the wooden cat perched on the top. I had never noticed, however, that the inlay on the piece—moving from the bottom to the top—depicts a movement up the food chain. At the very bottom of the piece is a grasshopper, further up are some birds, and topping it off is the cat.
We also talked about details like framing a piece—or "marrying" a frame to a work of art. You want the frame to enhance/match the art without distracting from it. I'd never given this much thought but knowing that even this detail is considered really gave me a deeper appreciation of just how much work goes into presenting an exhibit. They make it all so seamless.
And I have to thank our docent (museum tour guide) Leslie. Often when I go to a museum am I either too timid or too proud to ask for a docent tour, but this really showed me how worthwhile it is. I will definitely ask for the tour on all future trips to any museum
Of course there is much more to tell about our Road trip to the museum—but this is just a blog. If you want every juicy detail, you'll just have to Roadie yourself next time J
Can't wait to see what's in store for us next!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hollar for the Road Show - Herbie Hollar, that is
Brent blogs about the Columbia Museum of Art - One Hot Piece of Glass
The Inaugural Meeting of Columbia’s New Audience Roadshow Class of 2009
At
Shortly after arrival, one of the Museum’s staff members named Leslie escorted us into a back room that featured tables and chairs. In fact, it was one of the “classrooms” that you can witness young children creating art in if you walk down
After eating, the program started with “Coordinator Katie” laying the ground rules for the evening and telling us what we could expect tonight and on Thursday. Then, Leslie introduced herself and told us about what she does at the museum (coordinator of programs). Next was Mark, who works in the curator department and is in charge of installing all of the exhibits. After Mark, Grant introduced himself to us. Grant works alongside Leslie and is involved in teaching the classes at the museum. He documents the happenings at the museum and is in charge of “about face,” a group that meets every week and paints models and landscapes. Grant also organizes the podcasts and cell phone tours that you can take during your museum visits. He will be talking with us more next week. Lastly, alumnus Lauren spoke to us about what she got out of last year’s visit to the museum, what changes have been made to the program, and the advantages that she has seen because of her Columbia Museum of Art membership.
We found out the crux of the evening was going to be a tour led by Mark through all parts of the museum, including the brand new exhibit of glass art done by Dale Chihuly. We left the room with the food and went straight to the padlocked main exhibition space. I am not sure if it was locked just to be locked because it was after hours, but I prefer to think that it was locked up because it is so secret and well hidden from
We were gazing at some of the most beautiful blown glass that I have ever seen in my life. I mean, I’m not one to brag about all of my glass-blowing experiences, but we have all been down to the “Market” area of
Mark and Leslie were able to answer all of our questions about the glass art exhibition, and then they led us through all of the other exhibit halls. They told us interesting stories about some of the most popular permanent pieces in the museum (ask Leslie about how a chandelier became a drag queen one evening), and showed us a “work in progress” that is just about to be re-set up in a few days.
Next, Mark took us to “the vault,” where the museum stores the permanent pieces in its collection. We entered a climate-controlled room in the catacombs of the museum where artwork, sculpture, and even pianos were being stored for future exhibitions. At this point, all of the new class felt at ease asking Mark and Leslie anything that we wanted to know about the museum, its contents, and how to go about enjoying a piece of art and what to look for when meandering through the museum. We were able to ask everything from what differentiates “real” art from “non-museum-quality” art to what is appropriate to wear to Thursday night’s opening gala. By the time Mark led us back up to the street level of the CMA, we all were grateful that he took his time and was so thorough with us in his tour. Leslie took us back to the lobby, where she briefly explained the benefits of becoming a member at the CMA (we will get more information on that next week) and more of what to expect and look forward to on Thursday night.
We concluded our evening back in the room where we began, by Katie rehashing what we did, what we will do, and figuring out where the “after party” was going to be held later that evening (the new Sheraton Hotel’s martini bar, located in the basement of the new hotel on Main Street). We left the museum feeling much more comfortable about how to go about attending an art show and feeling generally knowledgeable about what goes into putting on such an exhibit. I personally also left excited about telling my friends about the insanely impressive glass art that they will have to see and will be able to view on Thursday night and for the next two months in the main exhibition space at the Columbia Museum of Art. I even left my nametag on in case anyone wanted to know what I was doing at the museum after hours while I was walking to my car.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Trustus - Act 2
It seems fitting that the last official behind-the-scenes meeting for the inaugural season of Columbia’s New Audience Road Show took place at Trustus Theatre. As our small group is like a band of explorers searching for the bastions of the Muses & Graces, Trustus is the full embodiment of that frontier and spirit as Columbia’s only professional theatre and a citadel in the Vista.
At this more advanced rehearsal all actors were "off book" (no longer reading or using the script for lines) and no requests for "line"s were needed. The costumer, Diane Wilkins, was there for some garment fittings, the stage manager, Becky Hunter, was busy making notes on cues and blocking. Jim Thigpen, the director, was giving feedback and notes to the cast. It was interesting to see the cast as their characters then leave character and gather round Jim to process his notes, share laughs and snacks. It was also amazing to hear Jim call out a fragment of a line and an actor rattled off the rest of the line (without the aide of the script). The play, which opens March 28th, promises to be an engaging and moving one. The actors, E.G. Heard, Vicky Saye Henderson, Kay Thigpen, Alec Grooms and Glenn Rawls are wonderfully cast and make their hard work seem effortless. David Lindsay-Abaire’s dialogue is seamlessly delivered by these stage veterans.
Because of my aversion to the spoiler I left before the final act was rehearsed so that I will be pleasantly surprised on opening night. Please join me at this wonderful cultural treasure we have to experience in Trustus. You come to the theatre to be entertained –to laugh, to cry, to dream, along the way you can be renewed, challenged, and inspired. Support this non-profit organization with your patronage. Travis