A Harvard University scholar and narrative historian, who presents accounts from a time in American history and gives context to today, will give the lecture for the Grand Valley State University Fall Arts Celebration.
Jill Lepore, described as the preeminent narrative historian of her generation, will deliver her talk, “American History from Beginning to End,” November 5 at 6 p.m. at the Eberhard Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. A 5 p.m. public reception will precede the lecture.
Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and also a staff writer at The New Yorker. Her most recent book is “This America: The Case for the Nation.”
She asserts that the United States is an experiment founded on three “truths”: political equality, natural rights and the sovereignty of the people. Nora Salas, assistant professor of history, said Lepore compels audiences to question if America’s mission has succeeded or failed in the past and what the resulting effect on the present day has been.
“Lepore’s work speaks to the significance of history for the health of our democracy and political institutions,” Salas said. “We hope the audience will gain an appreciation for the complexity of American history. As Lepore writes, “A good history should raise questions.”
All Fall Arts Celebration events are free and open to the public. For more information visit gvsu.edu/fallarts.
It wasn’t until artist Leyna Luttrull researched and then painted ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that she fully understood what her daughter was going through.
“I didn’t think she really had it,” Luttrull said as she stood next to a series of paintings that depict mental health diagnosis — bipolar disorder, ADHD, substance abuse disorder, and borderline personality. The paintings were part of Luttrull’s 2018 ArtPrize installation “Disease Does Not Discriminate (Work in Progress)”. “I thought she was just acting out. I had to research it and learn about it. That’s when I truly understood that my daughter really did have ADHD. She was struggling. It wasn’t just acting it out. She wasn’t making it up. She was really suffering from this.”
It was through that 2018 ArtPrize series that Luttrull said she has found art creates a platform for people to openly discuss the disorders and diseases they have personally faced or have faced with loved ones. It is the reason Luttrull decided to partner with the non-profit mental health organization i understand and the local art group Experience Live Art to create the 2020 ArtPrize piece “We UnderSTAND Together.”
Unveiled at the Sept. 10 Pink Heart Day — a family-friendly event that raises awareness about suicide and prevention along with working to erase the stigma of depression and other mental health disorders — the ArtPrize piece brings together the community to paint tiles that Luttrull will then assemble into a giant butterfly.”
“With this piece we are trying to bring awareness of what people face in mental health and the stigmas that are attached to them,” Luttrull said. “So we are hoping by allowing people to express themselves through these tiles we can create a greater picture of how working together as a collective can overcome the stigmas of mental health.”
The goal is to collect about 2,000 tiles with organizers planning to attend various events throughout Grand Rapids to provide opportunities for community members to paint a tile or two. The community also will be invited to help break objects that will be used in the piece as well.
A rending of what the “We UnderSTAND Together” piece will look like when completed. (Supplied)
Vonnie Woodrick, founder of i understand, said the butterfly was chosen because it is a symbol of change.
“That we can be in a dark place but through time and transformation, we can have the ability to emerge into something beautiful,” she said.
Artist Leyna Luttrull at the Sept. 10 Pink Heart Day. (Photo by WKTV)
Along with hosting support groups and providing educational materials about suicide, i understand is working to eliminate the stigma of suicide by changing the definition of the word from “intentionally taking one’s own life” to “suicide’s role as a terminal side effect of mental illness and wanting one’s physical or emotional pain to end.”
Woodrick said she hopes that the 2020 ArtPrize project will help the public understand that everyone has some sort of pain.
“We want to be able to support each other through that pain no matter what it is, whether it is a mental health illness, whether it is cancer, whether it’s physical, whether it’s bullying,” she said.
The “We UnderSTAND Together” project will be visiting various local events to give the public an opportunity to paint tiles. (Photo by WKTV)
Steve Tibbe, one of the founders of Experience Live Art, said his organization looks to host platforms that help to promote local artists and increase exposure for healthy ways for creative outlets. The “We UnderSTAND Together” project fit those goals.
“This particular project focuses on bringing the community together and letting people connect with each other more than they think,” Tibbe said. “I think there is a lot of stuff through social media and just the technology today that we just feel connected but we are actually less connected. So people struggle with expressing themselves and their true feelings and just the ups and downs of life.”
Tibbe said he hopes the piece will be displayed in a prominent Grand Rapids location for ArtPrize 2020 so people can take selfies with the piece and use it let others know that they are not alone and they do understand what that person is experiencing.
Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions. (Supplied by the band)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
If you caught Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions earlier this month when they opened for Michigander at Pyramid Scheme, you know the genre-bending sounds of the local band’s Bottled Up like a Neon Light, released in April, and maybe a cut or two from their up-coming Three on Three EP.
If not, you’ll just have to wait for their CD release party Thursday, Nov. 7, at Mulligan’s Pub on Wealthy Street SE. (Of course, you could check out music from Bottled Up like a Neon Light on bandcamp.com.)
While everybody hears what they hear and calls ‘em like they hears ‘em, my first listen to their early-this-year full-length release definately “Stuck in My Head” — the title of one song ion the release — with its mix of a little alt, a little retro rock and even a little old new wave.
But Jack and the band apparently simply call themselves a “garage” band.
“With their newest set of music, the ‘Three on Three‘ EP, the band is set to take their music to a new level,” they say of themselves and the new music. “The EP showcases some of the biggest sounding songs the band has done while maintaining a consistent feel of Americana Garage Rock.”
Jack Droppers was born in Grand Rapids, but has spent almost all his life outside of the city until recently, according to the band’s own bio, “Like his new home in GR, JD’s latest musical project is a homecoming of sorts. The Americana rock & roll that Jack Droppers & the Best Intentions play reflects a blend of the Springsteen cassettes he inherited and the garage-rock scene of Central Florida where he grew up.”
Droppers is joined by Laura Hobson (of Antrim Dells), Garrett Stier (of Stationary Travelers), Devin Sullivan, Josh Holicki and James Kessel … “for an honest, rough-around-the-edges, and robust rock & roll sound.”
The party at Mulligan’s sounds like a great way to start the fall, and get to know Jack and his best intentions.
Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions will play Mulligan’s Pub, 1518 Wealthy St. SE, with Dawning opening and DJ Oracle spinning the afterparty, from 9 p.m. until they kick everybody out. For more information, visit the band’s Facebook Page or visit Mulligan’s Pub’s Facebook page.
Named one of Yahoo Music’s “Top ten bands to watch,” The Accidentals, a Michigan-based band with a unique style of music, will play in concert on the Tibbits stage on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 7pm.
Traverse City’s female-fronted, multi-instrumentalist power trio The Accidentals (Sav Buist, Katie Larson, and Michael Dause) have been called “Defiant, young-powerful, and undaunted,” by Texas Lifestyle Magazine. Quickly growing regional attention, The Accidentals bring an eclectic blend of Indie, folk, pop, and rock that melds their orchestral roots with classical, jazz, bluegrass, country, and alt-rock influences. This genre-hopping trio puts on an interactive show that has been wowing audiences across the globe.
This regional phenomenon is rising in popularity with a just-released self-titled LIVE album and tour of the UK. They are currently scoring an indie film, teaching workshops across the country, playing with symphonies, and recording their much anticipated Vessel Album to be released in 2020.
Savannah Buist (Sav) was born in Nashville, TN and her love of music began on a tour bus with her multi-instrumentalist father and R&B vocalist mother when she was three months old. At 11, she picked up violin and dove headfirst into improvisational folk and jazz, reggae, funk, and rock. By sixteen, she’d become a versatile session player, composer, arranger, and performer. Later she followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming proficient in a wide range of instruments. Sav has been described by IPR as “one of the most compelling songwriters of our day.
Katie Larson grew up in Northern Michigan. Her musical family encouraged a range of eclectic influences, and in 2006 she started playing cello in her elementary school’s music program. Now she is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who participates in film, design, art, and culinary adventures. Katie graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in 2014, and has since been a full-time studio session player, songwriter, and touring musician. In 2017 she started cataloging her stories about the food she finds on the road in a visual food blog.
Hailing from the suburb of Northville, in Detroit, Michael Dause banged on pots and pans at the early age of one. At the age of four, Dause’s grandfather got him a full-sized drum set and at seven, he began his first lessons. In middle school, Dause taught himself how to play the guitar, and began writing his own songs. Dause joined the Accidentals in 2014 after they met at a Michigan music festival. “They’re fantastic musicians, and I love being able to lock in with them on stage,” Dause said about playing with Larson and Buist.
This one-night engagement will be at Tibbits Opera House, 14 S. Hanchett St. in Coldwater, MI. Tickets range from $15-28 including fees, with a discount for Tibbits members. There is also an “on your feet” section for those who want a livelier concert experience. Tickets are currently on sale and are available at Tibbits.org, at Tibbits administrative offices at 93 W. Chicago St. in Coldwater, or by calling 517.278.6029. This event also features a cash bar.
Editor’s Note: Opera Grand Rapids production “The Mikado” is almost sold out.
Opera Grand Rapids will present Gilbert and Sullivan comedic opera “The Mikado” Nov. 1 and 2 at St. Cecilia Music Center, 24 Ranson Ave. NE. The performances are at 7:30 p.m. both days.
Bass Andrew Potter is in the role of Pooh-Bah, who holds numerous exalted offices, including “First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral … Archbishop … Lord Mayor” and “Lord High Everything Else”.
Where are you originally from? Lynchburg, VA
Who has inspired you/been your greatest influence professionally? Why? Professionally, there are truly too many to mention… so many have been a huge and integral part of my journey. So, the greatest? Not to be cheesy, but I’d have to say my mother. Back when I was first starting and there was no shortage of people telling me to get a “real job.” She was the one that encouraged me to stay the course, and pursue my dream. She taught me to dream, love, be kind, work harder than anyone, and to never quit; and that’s why I’m here.
Who/what brought you into the world of Opera? When I was 9, my father had us all watch the entirety of the Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and I loved it. Many years later, after having gone on to be an instrumentalist, a wonderful voice teacher—Dr. Wayne Kompelien—talked me into “trying out singing.” After a semester of voice, I was officially hooked.
Where do you live now? Lynchburg, VA
What are your hobbies when not performing? I love spending time in the gym, and I also love rock climbing and mountaineering.
What is your favorite Role/Opera/Piece? It’s impossible to choose just one! Wotan in the Ring Cycle; Mefistofele in Boito’s Mefistofele; Blitch in Susannah; John Claggart in Billy Budd, to name a few. My favorite performed role to date has been Mephostpheles in Gounod’s Faust.
What are your favorite things about being a professional musician? Getting to be a part of bringing something timeless and magical to life, and giving that as a gift to others.
Least favorite? Missing things/people due to being on the road (Birthdays, Holidays, etc.).
Where is your favorite place to travel/perform? Why? This is REALLY tough. I’ve been able to visit so many wonderful places. I think, however, I’d have to say Alaska (shoutout to Anchorage Opera). I loved being there in the Spring and being around the mountains, but also a block or two away from the water.
What performances/plans do you have in the next year?: Outside of singing, I’m working on knocking off the highest peaks in each state, so I’d like to bag 3 new ones this year. Career-wise, it’s a busy season ahead, with several exciting role debuts!
The St. Cecilia Music Center Acoustic Cafe Folk Series is usually all about the singer/songwriters, and the list of fine concerts in the series got a bit longer and better recently with the announced return of Grammy award winners Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin, who is currently revisiting her classic 1989 album Steady On.
Cohn, who delivered a great set at St. Cecilia in 2017, will return on March, 19, 2020. Colvin, who last visited Royce Auditorium in 2016, will visit on May 19.
“Since he was last here … Marc has spent time on the road with legendary Michael McDonald, worked closely with David Crosby and other American music greats,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director, said in supplied material. “His appearance will also closely follow the release of his collaborative record with gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama. This will be one of our most exciting concerts featuring a terrifically talented artist and amazing songwriter.”
The two concerts add to an upcoming folk series schedule which includes The Infamous Stringdusters of Thursday, Feb. 6; Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal on Wednesday, Feb. 20; Chris Thile on Tuesday, Feb. 25; and Raul Midón on Thursday, Feb. 27.
Marc Cohn. (Supplied)
While Cohn won a Grammy for his classic ballad “Walking in Memphis” in 1991, he has “solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters, combining the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul man,” according to supplied material.
In August of this year, Cohn released a collaborative record with gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama, Work To Do, comprised of three studio tracks by Cohn and the Blind Boys — two originals, including the title track, and a version of the gospel standard “Walk In Jerusalem” — plus seven intimate live performances recorded at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Conn., during a taping of the PBS series “The Kate”.
Shawn Colvin is expected to perform her newly released album Steady On Acoustic in its entirety. Her original 1989 album Steady On was her first Grammy Award winning album. (She has three Grammy’s to her resume.)
Shawn Colvin. (Supplied/Alexandra Valenti)
“I’ve played these songs countless times, primarily as a solo acoustic artist. All in all, this is the incarnation that feels most genuine,” Colvin said in supplied material. “And so, to commemorate this milestone I decided to celebrate Steady On by recording it again, this time using only my voice and my guitar. This represents who I am as an artist and all I ever wanted to be.”
In promotional material, Colvin also talks about bringing 30-year lens to her treasured songs, casting new light on the stories she first told as a young artist.
“I was 32 years old, and the dream of my life had been fulfilled,” Colvin says, “not only because I made an album but mostly because I had written or co-written every song, an accomplishment that was hard won. I was so proud. My feeling was then — and still is— that if I never made another album, Steady On would have been enough.”
More about Marc Cohn can be found on his website marccohnmusic.com .
More about Shawn Colvin can be found at her website at shawncolvin.com .
Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin and all folk series concert tickets can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at scmc-online.org. A post-concert “Meet-the-artist” reception with a cash bar will be offered to all ticket-holders giving the audience the opportunity to possibly meet the artists obtain signed CDs of his many releases.
The beauty of nature and how water, especially, inspired artists of the Romantic Era is at the heart of the dance performance featured in Grand Valley State University’s Fall Arts Celebration.
“Water: A Vision in Dance” is a multimedia experience that will evoke the power of water through musical selections and the choreography of BODYART, a New Orleans-based dance theater company. The performance is Monday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Haas Center for Performing Arts, Louis Armstrong Theatre.
The musical part of the performance features Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau” and Debussy’s “La Mer,” both of which are inspired by significant bodies of water.
“When Smetana wrote his monumental tone poem, ‘Má Vlast,’ which was the story of his native land, the principal movement was the ‘Moldau’ because that mighty river gave life and sustenance to his friends, family and compatriots,” said Danny Phipps, chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. “Debussy’s ‘La Mer’ is a brilliant evocation of the power and mystery of the oceans.”
BODYART will unite dance, video and the music of the Grand Valley orchestra to bring these pieces to life, said Carrie Brueck Morris, associate professor of dance.
“This timely focus on water explores its aesthetic qualities and our local water landscape as the dance weaves together live performance with video projection that constantly evolves with the action on stage,” Morris said.
All Fall Arts Celebration events are free and open to the public.
Elton John, the number-one, top-performing solo male artist, has announced a new concert date at the Van Andel Arena on April 23, 2020, as part of his sold-out Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour after selling out a previous show in Grand Rapids.
The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour kicked off to sold-out crowds in September 2018 and has received rave reviews in every market.
Transporting the audience on a magical journey through Elton’s career, the show features some of his most beloved songs from his legendary catalog including, Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer, and Philadelphia Freedom. Elton’s music has taken him to many places, opened many doors and inspired many passions in his life. The audience will experience a rare glimpse into Elton’s life and the deeply personal meaning behind some of his greatest hits, with mesmerizing, never-before-seen photos and videos shown throughout the show from his incredible, 50-year career.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, Nov. 1 at 10am local time. Tickets and VIP packages can be purchased at EltonJohn.com.
American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Thursday, Oct. 24 at 10am local time through Monday, Oct. 28 at 10pm local time.
“…The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is the most bombastic, elaborate, high-tech arena show he’s ever attempted.” – Rolling Stone
A limited number of exclusive VIP packages will also be available starting Thursday, Oct. 24 at 10am local time. These exclusive offers can include premium tickets, on-stage photo opportunities at Elton John’s piano, backstage tours, limited-edition lithographs, custom merchandise and much more.
Pre-sale tickets for the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour event will be available through registration using Ticketmaster Verified Fan, a fan-first technology built to help artists combat ticket bots and get tickets into the hands of fans that intend to go to the event. Verified Fan registration is available now through Friday, Oct. 25 at 10pm local time. Verified TM fan pre-sale will begin Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 10am and run through Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 10pm local time, supplies are limited. For more information and to register in advance, visit EltonJohn.com.
Grand Valley State University’s 17th annual Fall Arts Celebration features dance that combines movement and technology; art that challenges perceptions; music that captures the power and mystery of the sea; and more — this year’s events at Grand Valley State University are set to bring out ‘all the feels’.
Zapatos Rojos | Red Shoes, an installation by Elina Chauvet
When: Nov. 1, 2019-Feb. 28, 2020
Where: Kirkhof Center Gallery, Allendale Campus
Zapatos Rojos | Red Shoes is an itinerant installation originally organized in 2009 by artist and architect Elina Chauvet in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Comprising 33 pairs of red shoes donated by the women of Ciudad Juárez — each pair representing a woman who had disappeared in that community — the piece is designed to draw attention to the fact that women were being killed without any consequences.
A bit of back story on the artist’s use of red shoes as the focus of her work: Chauvet researched the disappearances extensively; in the course of her fact-finding, she discovered that many of the women who vanished had worked in shoe stores, had been buying shoes at the time they disappeared, or were looking for a job in a shoe shop.
Chauvet had also used shoes as a metaphor in the past to express her concern for the missing and dead women.
In 2017, Zulema Moret, Grand Valley professor of modern languages, arranged for Chauvet to direct an installation of Zapatos Rojos | Red Shoes in Grand Rapids. This exhibition documents many of the community groups that participated in painting the shoes, as well as the installation at the Richard M. DeVos Center courtyard on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.
The Fall Arts Celebration shines a spotlight on some of the world’s preeminent artists, poets, musicians, dancers, and scholars. Each fall for the past 17 years, West Michigan audiences have enjoyed a series of six free events that celebrate the positive impact of the arts. For more information, visit gvsu.edu/fallarts.
More art
Art of Today: Contemporary Collections from Chicago
When: Through Nov. 1, 2019
Where: Art Gallery, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Working with Chicago-based artists, gallery owners and collectors, Grand Valley has acquired a collection of contemporary art over the last 15 years.
Curated from Grand Valley’s collection and enhanced with additional loans from Chicago, Art of Today comprises more than 40 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works — bold and minimalistic works exploring simplicity in design, society’s relationship to the environment, as well as the intersection of pop culture and art by artists Alex Katz, Ellsworth Kelly, David Nash and Takahashi Murakami.
The challenging imagery of other artists — such as Tony Fitzpatrick, Jane Hammond, Erika Rothenberg and Kara Walker — examines the meaning of identity, race, culture and sexuality.
Lecture
Jill Lepore: American History from Beginning to End
When: Nov. 5, 2019; public reception at 5pm and lecture at 6pm
Where: L.V. Eberhard Center, second floor, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Jill Lepore (Courtesy GVSU)
What do you see when you look at 500 years instead of the last five minutes? Jill Lepore, the leading narrative historian of her generation, offers a different perspective on history. Lepore asserts that the United States is an experiment founded on three ‘truths’: political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. Her thesis will challenge your imagination to put yourself in a place in history to help give context to the present.
Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. One of her latest books is These Truths: A History of the United States (2018), on TheNew York Times Best Seller list. Her most recent book, This America: The Case for the Nation, was published in May 2019.
GVSU Art Gallery
For more information about Grand Valley State University art exhibits, call 616.331.2563 or visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.
Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy
When: Exhibition dates are ongoing
Hours: Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; closed on holiday weekends
Where: George and Barbara Gordon Gallery, DeVos Center, Bldg. E, Room 103 and 202, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Often referred to as the ‘dean of Michigan painters’, the German-born American artist Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) worked in a traditional representational style, incorporating the aesthetics and techniques of the Impressionist Movement in his paintings. Based in Grand Rapids, Alten created more than 3,800 works over his more-than-40-year career, including landscapes, seascapes, portraits and florals, all infused with light and punctuated with deft brushwork. Grand Valley State University holds the largest public collection of Alten’s work in the world.
Wandering Seeds: Experiencing and Engaging Haiti Through Study Abroad
When: Through Dec. 13, 2019
Where: Blue Wall Gallery, DeVos Center, Bldg. B, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
In 2018, a dozen GVSU students and three faculty members traveled to Haiti as part of a study-abroad program, led by Peter Wampler, associate professor of geology. Designed to provide an opportunity to experience Haitian culture and gain an understanding of daily life in rural Haiti, students from various backgrounds participated in a variety of service-learning and community-based teaching experiences, allowing them to contribute their energy toward real-world problems in Haiti.
Included in this exhibition are narratives and reflections by both faculty members and students who participated in the trip. Additionally, a number of photographs document their encounters, and a variety of original Haitian works of art attest to the vibrant and diverse artistic culture in the country.
Carnivals, Cognac and Cycling: Works of Art from the Robert L. Haskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin-de-Siécle Prints
When: Through Dec. 13, 2019
Where: Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall, Allendale Campus
Courtesy GVSU
At the turn of the century, an explosion in print media occurred in Paris, one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Now-familiar artists — Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, and others — made names for themselves producing items such as posters, journal illustrations, theater programs and advertisements.
Drawn from the Robert L. Haskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin-de-Siécle Prints in the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet, Carnivals, Cognac and Cycling provides a view into the visual culture of late 19th-century France.
In 2019, 14 GVSU students conducted research for this exhibition for the course Modern Art and Modernity. Each student focused on one work of art for in-depth study, produced original research, and presented findings to classmates and now to a wider audience.
José Guadalupe Posada: Calavera Prints from the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet
When: Nov. 1, 2019-Feb. 28, 2020
Where: Eberhard Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Courtesy GVSU
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) — a printmaker and engraver who illustrated historic scenes, board games and commercial items, religious images, various books and newspapers — is most famous for his use of calaveras (depictions of skulls and skeletons) to satirize and mock the corruption of the wealthy and political elite.
He created La Calavera Catrina, his most iconic image, in 1910 at the start of the Mexican Revolution. The image shows a grinning skeleton wearing a women’s feathered hat, pointing out that death comes to everyone, even those in the upper class.
This exhibition includes 20 reproductions of his prints, from the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet. The works were purchased in 2002 from the family of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, who printed them using the original plates and press.
Performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance
For more information about performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, visit gvsu.edu/mtd.
Faculty recital — Sookkyung Cho, assistant professor of piano, artist performer
When: Nov. 4, 2019, 7:30pm
Where: Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Pianist Sookkyung Cho uses a thoughtful expressionist style in her performances. A founding member of the New York-based Almava Trio, Cho has appeared at venues that include Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Château de Fontainebleau in France.
Additional recital by Sookkyung Cho
When: Nov. 23, 2019, 4-5pm
Where: Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
The performance will include a variety of piano solo and ensemble music.
ReACT! presents: Difficult Dialogues
When: Nov. 17, 2019, 8-10pm
Where: Kirkhof Center, Room 2263, Allendale Campus
Grand Valley’s anti-violence peer theater troupe will use low-risk, interactive performance and discussion methods to help participants prepare to better engage someone on difficult dialogues about sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Bard to Go: Tossing on the Ocean public performance
When: Nov. 2, 2019, 1-3pm
Where: Keller Black Box Theatre, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
A 50-minute program introducing audience members to Shakespeare, Bard to Go takes the audience on a sea-faring journey with Prospero, a powerful magician, and his assistant Ariel, a magical spirit with strange powers. When Prospero and Ariel conjure a storm to shipwreck Prospero’s enemies, their magic spills over from their own play, The Tempest, and causes havoc for many of Shakespeare’s characters. This production includes scenes from The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Pericles, The Comedy of Errors and The Merchant of Venice.
Grand Valley Writers Series
The Grand Valley Writers Series brings in distinguished and emerging writers to read from their work, visit classes, and interact with students. For more information, visit here.
Craft talk and reading with Stephen Mack Jones
Stephen Mack Jones (Courtesy GVSU)
When: Nov. 5, 2019; Craft talk 1-2pm, Reading and book signing 6-7:30pm
Where: Kirkhof Center Room 2270, Allendale Campus
The first adult fiction novel by Stephen Mack Jones, August Snow, has received wide acclaim, including the 2018 Nero Award from the Nero Wolfe Society; it was also named a 2018 Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. Jones has received the Hammett Prize for literary excellence in the field of crime writing from the International Association of Crime Writers.
A poet, award-winning playwright and winner of the Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship, Jones lives in the metro Detroit area.
A lover of zombie movies, New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Armentrout admitted she was afraid of the walking dead until her teen years.
“As a child I was scared to death of them because my mom, in her infinite wisdom, let us watch horror movies, and my dad would come home and it would always be the worst scene of the worst movie on TV,” Armentrout said during a recent “Locally Entertaining” podcast interview. Armentrout was in town Oct. 10 for a book signing and reading at Kentwood’s Schuler Books & Music.
Some of “those movies were film in Pennsylvania and those areas where they filmed looked very similar to the areas we lived in. It just terrified me, the idea that dead people could just start to come out of graveyards. because of that, I would never live within eye distance of a graveyard.”
Her solution to eliminate her fear was to face it.
“The only way I got over it was by forcing myself to keep watching it,” she said, adding that the would watch such cult classics as “Dawn of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead adding that the process kind of desensitize me from the fear.
“I ended up loving zombie movies then.”
Half angels/half humans, gargoyles, and aliens are creatures that Armentout tends to feature in her books that have an underlying theme of acceptance and working together. Her latest book “The Burning Shadow,” is the second in the second series of the Lux series. This series is about aliens living amongst humans with an underlying theme of just how far people will go to help and protect each other.
“Once [the first] series ended I felt like that really opened the doors in a lot of ways,” Armentrout said. “A lot of times as people, if we don’t understand, we freak out and make things worst. So I really wanted to explore how humans would react to knowing that yes, there is a lot of aliens out there.”
Armentrout is a prolific writer with more than 50 titles all written in the last 10 years covering an array of genres: action, adventure, and romance for both young adults and adults.
In her young adult books, she has the second book in the Harbinger series, “Rage and Ruin” coming out in June. The series follows a half-human, half-angel and her bonded gargoyle proctor working to stop an apocalypse. The next book in the Lux series, The Brightest Night, will becoming out in October.
For more on Jennifer Armentrout, check out the “Locally Entertaining” podcast or visit her website, jenniferarmentrout.com.
Gilda’s LaughFest, the nation’s first-ever, community-wide festival of laughter, and Outback Presents announced that Jim Gaffigan will bring his The Pale Tourist tour to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Gaffigan will open the 10th year of Gilda’s LaughFest on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 8pm.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, Oct. 25 at 10am. Tickets will be available at the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place box offices and online at Ticketmaster.com. A purchase limit of eight (8) tickets will apply to every order. See Ticketmaster.com for all current pricing and availability.
Gaffigan is the first headliner to be announced for the 2020 festival. Tickets for The Pale Tourist will be included in LaughFest ticket packages, which go on sale after LaughFest releases its full lineup on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
The Pale Tourist marks the third appearance for Gaffigan at LaughFest. Both of his previous performances sold out.
One of the nation’s top touring comedians, Gaffigan has proven himself as a major talent beloved to a wide range of audiences while achieving accolades and awards for his stand-up comedy, acting, and writing. He has had an unprecedented number of appearances on late night television and has earned nominations for both a Broadband Emmy and a Webby Award for his writing and voice work on the animated series Pale Force for Conan.
In recent years, Gaffigan has also become a mainstay on the big screen with roles in Going the Distance, Away We Go, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story. He appeared alongside Jennifer Connolly, Ed Harris, Pierce Bronson and Greg Kinnear in Salvation Boulevard, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Further broadening his career, Gaffigan starred in the Broadway production, That Championship Season.
More information about Gilda’s LaughFest and ticket packages is available at laughfestgr.org, or by calling 616-735-HAHA (4242).
About Gilda’s Club
Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids is a free emotional health support community of children, adults, families and friends on any kind of cancer journey or those grieving a death due to any cause. Its comprehensive program, delivered by professionals, includes education, structured sharing times, networking, lectures, workshops and social activities. Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids is one of the largest and busiest of the 42 affiliates in North America. The organization runs entirely on charitable donations and currently serves more than 10,000 individuals each year at its clubhouses in Grand Rapids and Lowell, Mich., in various schools and community centers. For more information, visit gildasclubgr.org.
About Gilda’s LaughFest
Gilda’s LaughFest, the nation’s first-ever community-wide festival of laughter, has quickly earned a reputation for being one of the nation’s marquee events for both participants and artists. This major 10- day Midwest festival is based in Grand Rapids and includes events throughout West Michigan. Created by Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids and launched in March 2011 to celebrate laughter for the health of it, the festival features stand-up, improv, showcases, and a variety of seriously funny stuff.
Following on his just-concluded, wildly successful UK arena tour, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper has just announced his Spring 2020 tour plans. He will extend the Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back show, which debuted in Summer 2019 to the delight of fans, into the new year, including a stop in Grand Rapids on Friday, April 3, 2020, at 8pm in DeVos Performance Hall. The tour will feature special guest Lita Ford.
Presale Alice Cooper tickets available online only Thursday, Oct. 17 from 10am-10pm while supplies last. Presale Password: ROCK. GO HERETO PURCHASE.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, Oct. 18 at 10am, and will be available at the DeVos Place® and Van Andel Arena® box offices as well as online via Ticketmaster.com. A purchase limit of eight (8) tickets will apply to every order.
In other Alice Cooper news, the artist released his The BreadcrumbsEP, a tribute to some of the garage rock heroes from his hometown Detroit, on Sept. 13 via earMUSIC. Inspired by the city’s punk scene in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the Detroit-born icon returned to his roots and the raw garage sound his fans love. The Bob Ezrin-produced EP consists of six brand-new recordings, featuring legendary Detroit musicians, including Johnny “Bee” Badanjek from the Detroit Wheels, Grand Funk’s Mark Farner, and MC5’s Wayne Kramer. It was recorded at Rust Belt Studios in Detroit. The opener Detroit City 2020 is an updated rewrite of Detroit City from 2003’s The Eyes of Alice Cooper and it sets the tone for the EP. Along with Cooper’s own take on Detroit rock classics such as Suzi Quatro’s Your Mama Won’t Like Me, Bob Seger’s East Side Story, the MC5’s Sister Anne, and Shorty Long’s Devil With a Blue Dress On, as well as The Dirtbombs’s Chains of Love, the EP also features the brand-new Alice Cooper original Go Man Go.
Check out Detroit City 2020here. Check out East Side Story, which premiered at Billboard with an exclusive interview, here.
Filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal and sculptor J. Brett Grill talk about the documentary “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra,” which airs on WKTV Channel 25 at Oct. 16 and 18. (Photo credit: WKTV)
By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma joanne@wktv.org
When constructing a statute like the one of former astronaut Roger B. Chaffee on the corner of Sheldon Boulevard and Fulton Street in downtown Grand Rapids, the most difficult part is trying to figure out what the person looked like from behind.
“When you think about it, people never take pictures of people from behind, it is always from the the front,” said filmmaker Daniel Joel Deal, whose documentary, “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra” will premiere on WKTV Channel 25 Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 4 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 18, at noon. The film follows the story of Chaffee’s life and the construction of the statue in his honor.
Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee (Photo supplied by NASA)
Sculputor J. Brett Grill, who was commissioned to create the Roger B. Chaffee sculpture, agreed.
“Figuring out how the [astronaut’s] suit is going to lay, where the folds should be to create the movement, it’s all important to the piece,” Grill said during a recent Locally Entertaining podcast.
The Michigan Military Preservation Society (MMPS), together with the Lowell American Legion Post #152, raised the funds for the statue. The statute was the swan song for the MMPS, a non-profit organization of veterans whose vision was to honor historical contributions made by West Michigan vets. The group officially disbanded after the statute of Chaffee was installed by the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum in May.
The Locally Entertaining podcast with Daniel Joel Deal and J. Brett Grill.
As part of the project, the MMPS hired Deals to create a documentary about Chaffee and the construction of the statute. Chaffee was a NASA astronaut who was part of the Apollo 1 crew. The crew, which included Gus Grissom and Ed White, all died in a flash fire during a launch pad test at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Chaffee was from the Grand Rapids area, having graduated from Central High School in 1953. His parents moved to the Wyoming area after his death. The City of Wyoming’s Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard is named after Chaffee and is the former landing strip of the Kent County Airport which became the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
“He was definitely up and coming,” said Deal of Chaffee. Deal spent about 18 months researching Chaffee’s life, visiting the National Archives and other sources for video. Through that process, Deals said he was able to find quite a bit of video on Chaffee including funeral footage and video of Chaffee talking about his life and career.
“So Chaffee narrates his own story, which was important to me because I wanted people to know who he is and leave some mystery as to what was going to happen,” Deal said.
Deal said having access to a facility like WKTV is vital to a person like himself who pretty much handles all the aspects of film producing.
“I am just a single producer, director, photographer and editor, so you know to have lights, cameras, and even some of the post-production stuff in the editing suites for mixing sound effects and stuff like that is important,” Deal said.
“All the rocket sounds are silent, so we added that,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I think we shook the building and someone came and told us that that rocket is too loud.”
For both Deal and Grill, the reason they wanted to work on this project was the opportunity to preserve a piece of history that was starting to fade.
“I like projects that I can keep the story alive,” Grill said. “This was one of those stories which was what drew me to being a part of this project.”
Other showings of the documentary “Roger B. Chaffee: Aviator Ad Astra” are planned, so check out the WKTV schedule on the wktvjournal.org and on wktv.org.
Grand Rapids Symphonyhas canceled its scheduled Oct. 31 performance of Ghostbustersin Concert.
The presentation of the full-length film starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroydand Sigourney Weaver, accompanied by live music performed by the Grand Rapids Symphony, had been scheduled to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the film’s release in 1984.
Due to the concert falling on Halloween, ticket sales were slow, especially compared with sales for Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixorHome Alone, and other films plus live music that are part of the Grand Rapids Pops’ 2019-20 season.
Ticket sales for a well-known film such as Ghostbusterscould have gone either way, said Denise Lubey, Vice President for Marketing and Communications.
“Ghostbustersmight have been a popular alternative for Halloween fans looking for a new experience,” Lubey said. “It’s likely it’s simply the wrong night for a great, new experience.”
Oct. 31 was the only date available for the Grand Rapids Symphony to present the film nominated for two Academy Awardsincluding for Best Original Song for the main theme, “Ghostbusters.”
The program won’t be rescheduled for later this season. The Grand Rapids Symphony’s 2020-21 season still is in development.
If you’ve already bought a ticket for Ghostbusters, you have several options:
Anybody who has seen West Michigan’s own May Erlewine in concert, either during her in-process local and national tour or at any number local gigs in recent years, know she sings her songs with a gentle passion.
On her latest full-length studio album release, Second Sight, set to hit the streets Nov. 1, she maintains her sweet, gentle delivery but she packs a musical heavyweight’s punch with songs about an American society at risk if not in peril.
For evidence of her intent to push her music into the realm of socio-political commentary of the best — and strongest — vein, you need to listen no further than the first single released from Second Sight, and witness the power of its accompanying video, “Whole Again” — which she states was “Written as a testimony for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. And for all of the women who have been ‘unheard’ in their truth.”
Erlewine, an American woman thorough-and-through, is making clear her concern, if not open anger, at the current state of the country. And she does so unabashedly.
May Erlewine (Supplied/Michael Poehlman)
“There was no reluctance to being straightforward because so much care and intention was put into our message from the beginning to the end,” Erlewine said to WKTV in an email interview. “I also feel very at home with the truth. It’s not something that we can really avoid, so it feels relieving to me to create art that feels true and relevant to the times.”
“Whole Again” is about “the pain of women’s history,” she said in supplied material. “It’s about the fact that we have continued to repair and make whole what has been broken so many times, all while continuing to suffer abuses and silencing, without truly equal rights in our own country.”
That, as they say, is a punch to the heart of the matter.
The song was first written by Erlewine as a poem while watching the widely televised testimony of Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. Erlewine brought the poem to musical co-conspiratorTyler Duncan and together they crafted the song.
Undoubtedly, if you heard Erlewine in concert in Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids last weekend, or plan to catch her at Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake on Sunday, Oct. 13, your witness to her new songs and the stories of how they came about.
From the opening track on Second Sight, the instrumental “New Morning”, with Erlewine plays piano on what seems almost like a prelude to a larger work — a play or an opera — to the final song, “Afraid”, which feels a lot like a requiem, the collection seems thematic.
Cover art May Erlewine Second Sight
“The album is a journey through what feels like a time of great regression in our leadership,” she said. “This country was founded in pain and injustice, and a lot of that pain has been passed down through the generations. We are living in a time where we are inundated with media, consumerism and distractions from being connected to our deeper visions.
“The songs are a journey to reconnecting with our home, ourselves and each other while grieving the incredible trauma of our history.”
Another punch where it hurts.
While Second Sight, taken in its entirety, has an almost all-encompassing level of quality, in its music and its messages, to me, the heart of the recording is the trio of songs “Eyes on the Road”, “How Can I Return” and “Together in My Mind”.
Sticking in my mind’s eye after first listen, “Eyes on the Road”, for many reasons, seems to me to be saying there are good things coming down the road if you just stay true to the journey.
“This song is about holding our vision for the future and not being distracted by the insanity that is surrounding us right now,” Erlewine said. “It is when things are not right that we must hold on to our dreams. Our vision is needed when the way is unclear.”
And while “How Can I Return” … which includes the lyric “all the bridges have been burned” … seems talks about the destructive path our country is on, “Together in My Mind” … “Even when the sky is falling, there is stardust to find” … finds Erlewine remaining optimistic about the future. Maybe.
“How Can I Return” is “about colonialism and the pain of how we got to where we are as a country,” she said. “When we look at the injustice of our history and all of the people our victories have wounded, it feels very hard to connect to this country, this flag. The question is, ‘How could I return after understanding what the foundation of our country is built upon?
“… ‘Together In My Mind’ is about overcoming isolation and remembering that we are all connected to each other and all living things. This song is leading into ‘Afraid’ (the final track) which asks us to dig deep into courage and love as we move forward into uncharted territory.”
Clearly, Erlewine is not afraid to look at the American landscape, the mirror of our times, and see the good and the bad. And we, her listeners and admirers, should do so as well.
“I believe in our ability to make change happen,” she said. “I believe in the power of our hearts. I believe that we have a choice, to wake up and dig in, or remain in this nightmare. I believe in the work ahead and I am committed to it.”
For more information on May Erlewine, her music and the current tour, visit mayerlewine.com .
The Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York, manufactured and shipped Opus #1836, a “3 manual special”, to the Stanley Theater of Jersey City, New Jersey, on February 9, 1928. The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ spent two decades entertaining customers at the Roaring 20’s Pizza Parlor on 28th Street in Grand Rapids, before it was moved to its current location at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Public Museum)
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced the 2019 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concert series, beginning Oct. 18 and 19 with a special Halloween-themed Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concert by Dale Zieger to the 1920 silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
In the silent film, viewers will meet Dr. Henry Jekyll, his fiancé Millicent and her father. Upon the challenge of there being two types of self, good and evil, Dr. Jekyll experiments with scientific means to reveal the hidden, dark side of man, in turn releasing a murderer within himself.
Dale Zieger will be accompanying the silent film on the GRPM’s 1928 Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ. Zieger was born in St. Louis, Missouri and has been playing music from a young age. He began piano lessons at five years old, and organ lessons at ten years old, and he played the Fox Organ for the first time age ten in 1955. At age sixteen he began playing the organ professionally, and became Stan’s Assistant organist at the St. Louis Fox Theater at age eighteen, a position that continued for six years. Zieger was a music major at Webster College and Washington University in St. Louis, and in 1970 he joined Conn Organ Corp. as Concert Artist, Product Specialist and Organ Designer. Zieger has traveled internationally for Conn in Europe, South America, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, and Canada. He is currently co-owner of “Dale and Gail’s Music and Art Gallery” with his wife Gail in the 1927 Hart Theater in Hart, Michigan. There, they perform organ and piano programs along with silent movies with live theater organ accompaniment. He is now in his 55th year of professional organ performance.
Shows will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, in the GRPM’s Meijer Theater.
Tickets for individual concerts are $8 for Museum member adults, $4 for Museum member children, $10 for non-member adults and $5 for non-member children. Tickets are available by visiting www.grpm.org/Organ or by calling 616-929-1700.
The second concert of the series will feature Andrew Rogers playing Classic Melodies including Cinderella’s Waltz, Chicago, Bye Bye Blues, The Carousel Waltz and more on Friday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m.
The third and final artists in the 2019 series will be Dave Wickerham performing a collection of Christmas and seasonal favorites in his concerts Holiday Classics on Friday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum will present a colorful survey of award-winning author and illustrator, David Wiesner, opening at the Museum Oct. 12. The Art of Wordless Storytelling will be on view at GRAM through Jan. 12, 2020, and features over 70 original watercolors from Wiesner’s most beloved books, including Caldecott Medal winners Tuesday (1991), The Three Pigs (2001), and Flotsam (2006).
His many books have delighted readers of all ages for three decades with wildly imaginative tales that capture the joy of pictures and stories. Wiesner’s body of work explores the complexity of human imagination through colorful, layered imagery, clever composition and humor.
“With GRAM’s mission focused on art, creativity and design, we’re thrilled to present The Art of Wordless Storytelling at the Grand Rapids Art Museum,” commented GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “Wiesner draws from such diverse pictorial narrative inspirations including Surrealist painting; cinema from silent film to 2001 and beyond; and comic books, graphic novels and Japanese anime.”
David Wiesner (American, b. 1956), Bugs, 2009. Watercolor on paper. Collection of Zora and Les Charles.
Examples of Wiesner’s earliest artistic successes are on view in The Art of Wordless Storytelling, as well as sketches and notebooks revealing his time-consuming creative process, which culminates in the dreamlike watercolor paintings that anchor the exhibition.
“Wiesner’s picture books often take years to complete and develop from a process of sketching, drawing, creating 3D models and finally, painting the richly layered watercolors that will be on view,” said GRAM Assistant Curator Jennifer Wcisel. “In working on this exhibition, I have been continually amazed by the power of Wiesner’s imagination and many connections to childhood. He doesn’t simply write a story and then conceive images for it, rather his stories grow from a memory or visual idea and are ‘written’ entirely with pictures.”
When asked about his wordless narratives, Wiesner shared, “By removing the text, I am removing the author’s voice. This lets each reader tell the story in their own voice. It puts readers in the position of collaborating in the storytelling process, asking them to use their imagination along with mine.” He hopes viewers will actively engage with his work, making connections and creating their own meaning, an engagement that is particularly important for young children, who develop visual literacy well before they are able to read.
On view concurrently with The Art of Wordless Storytelling on the Museum’s Level 2 is a parallel exhibition, Worth A Thousand Words: Storytelling with GRAM’s Collection. Comprised of paintings, drawings and sculpture drawn from GRAM’s Collection, in this interactive exhibition, viewers are invited to invent and share their own stories in response to the works on view, all specifically selected for their storytelling potential.
Activities within the galleries for children, families, and adults have been created to inspire visual literacy and storytelling skills and create fun experiences for visitors of all ages. In addition to the exhibition’s interactive spaces, guests are invited to participate in a full calendar of family-friendly events, including the Member Exhibition Opening, Coffee with the Artist, Community Conversations: Storytelling Beyond Words, Family Day, a Parent and Child Workshop, and more.
Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival announces special guests scheduled to appear at the 2019 festival taking place next week from Oct. 8-12 at the Wealthy Theatre. In addition to the special guests, over two dozen filmmakers are scheduled to be in attendance.
On Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30pm,Shelley Irwin, 2013 recipient of The Storey Award, presents the 2019 Storey Award to Elizabeth Merriman, multi-talented media maven and skilled coordinator of chaos, who has over a decade of experience in the film industry in both producing and production management roles. Merriman currently serves as Manager of Recruiting & Career Advancement for Compass College of Cinematic Arts.
Irwin is the host and producer for The WGVU Morning Show, a news magazine talk-show format on the local NPR affiliate Monday through Friday. The show, broadcast from 9-11am features a wide variety of local and national newsmakers, plus special features.
The Storey Award is a community award created by Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival, and is presented in honor of journalist, friend, and community activist Drew Storey who passed away unexpectedly in 2009. The recipient is awarded based upon their body of work, their selfless contribution and its impact on building community relationships, which promote and connect Michigan’s artists to a larger audience around the world.
Bride of Frankenstein Drag Performer Veronica Scott puts on her neck bolts and performs a special number fit for the bride of the monster on Friday, Oct. 11 at 8pm.
Veronica Scott has been performing in the art form of female illusion for over 8 years. In that time she has had the opportunity to take the stage all over the state of Michigan, Illinois and New York.
Filmmaker Inchun Oh from South Korea will attend Thursday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 12. His film, Friday the 13th: The Conspiracy Begins, screens Saturday, Oct. 12 at Noon. Link to his movie’s trailer: https://youtu.be/dVSfvLwam5A
Visiting Artist, SFX & Animation, The Evil Dead, Tom Sullivan, Saturday, Oct. 12.
Thriller! Chiller! International Film Festival in partnership with ASIFA Central (asifa.org) presents film artist and Michigander Tom Sullivan who will give an artist presentation on Special FX history and the Evil Dead film series. Sullivan is the makeup, props and SFX artist for the Evil Dead franchise.
The Evil Dead event begins at 7pm 7pm – Tom Sullivan presentation 8pm – The Evil Dead screening.
This is the exclusive theatrical release of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead by Grindhouse Releasing featuring the reimagined score by original composer, Mr. Joseph LoDuca and an all-new 5.1 surround-sound mix.
Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival, which takes place Oct. 8-12 at the Wealthy Theatre, is Michigan’s international film festival celebrating fantastic movies. The festival screens films from the U.S. and around the world in the categories of action, horror, sci-fi and suspense. 64 movies from 8 countries are represented at this year’s festival.
Ticket information
Entry is priced two ways for maximum access: All Access to the entire festival; or access by the day in the form of a Day Pass. There will be no tickets to individual screenings available except for the Evil Dead screening and lecture sold separately at $8.
All-Access Festival Pass, $50
Day Pass, $12 Tuesday – Friday
Day Pass, $20 Saturday
The Evil Dead, $8 for only this film + Tom Sullivan presentation
“We would hit as many halls as we could,” said Mike Boruta about one of Grand Rapids’ most popular events, Pulaski Days, which is this weekend, Oct. 4-6.
Since a young age, Boruta has headed out to check out the halls and all the activities that take place.
“We would hit the Falcons and end up at Kosciusko, that would pretty much end it,” Boruta said, adding he now goes with a family member after the Polka Mass (which he organizes), “after everything has settled down, take a ride and have a beer per hall to check things out.”
Boruta is just one of 11 people who serve on the board that oversees the annual event that features Polish food, entertainment and fun. Recently, Boruta and board member Chip Kozal joined Polish Pod Café host Laura Szczepanek to talk about all things Pulaski Days.
To listen to the entire Polish Pod Café, click here.
“Pulaski weekend that is what it is all about,” Kozal said during the show. “You go to all these clubs to eat all this Polish food because when is the next time you are going to eat Polish food?”
The food is definitely the star with the 14 halls that participate in the annual event featuring an array of Polish options such as Szcepanek’s famous Dill Pickle Soup at The 5th Street Hall, 701 Fifith St. to NW, to the Lithuanian food at the Vytautas Aid Society, 1300 Hamilton NW.
“You know what is really cool about Pulaski weekend?” Szcepanek said. “There are 14 halls on the east side and the west side and every single one of these halls has something unique, something different. So you want to try and make it to every single one of these places.”
The entertainment is just as plentiful with both Friday and Saturday backed with musicians performing at several of the halls.
Boruta pointed out that this event is specifically for the halls with Pulaski Days being the key weekend for many of them to sustained their operations throughout the year. The halls seek special licenses to sell to the public during this time. Normally, the halls are only allowed to sell to members. Memberships at many of the halls runs about $25 and is open to the general public.
Kozal noted that many of the halls are walkable. On pulaskidays.org, there are four routes offered for residents to plan their activities. There is also a shuttle available with the main hub at Sibley School, 921 Jackson NW. (Enter through the exit.)
Key events for the weekend:
Saturday, Oct. 5: The Pulaski Day Parade is at 11 a.m. starting at Fulton Street between Seward and Valley. The awards presentation is after the parade at Laddies Hall, 58 Lanes SW.
Sunday, Oct. 6: The Polka Mass is at 10 a.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 1140 Muskegon NW.
All the halls have children’s activities up until about 9 p.m. For complete details, visit pulaskidays.org.
A special exhibition open at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM), Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963 examines the relationship between two great people’s movements, which both grew out of decades of bold actions, resistance, organization and vision. Changing America is only open through Sunday, Oct. 13.
One hundred years separate the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington, yet they are linked in a larger story of liberty and the American experience – one that has had a profound impact on the generations that followed.
Created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History, the exhibit was toured nationwide by the American Library Association’s Public Program Office. The Changing America exhibit is now a possession of the GRPM.
In presenting and hosting it, the GRPM has enhanced it for West Michigan by including artifacts and stories from a local perspective. In addition to artifacts from the GRPM Collections, many artifacts on display are on loan from the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA). Local stories are told through the eyes of our community, including oral histories. The exhibition includes a place for visitors to share their own stories, which are then added to the GRPM’s digital archive found at grpmcollections.org.
In addition to the exhibition, the GRPM collaborated with several community groups to offer community programming as part of the exhibition. Collaborations with local partners included Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives, Grand Rapids Urban League, Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Inclusive Performance Strategies, Westside Collaborative, Mosaic Film Experience, City of Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission, George Bayard, Jamiel Robinson, Rob Yob, Michael Curtis, Ellen James, Senita Lenear and Cynthia Bailey.
GRAAMA curated a corresponding exhibit 1863-1963 American Freedom at its 87 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, location featuring local civil rights activists, quilts and interviews. For more information, visit graama.org.
Changing America at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is open through October 13, 2019, and is free with general admission. Kent County adult residents receive reduced general admission and Kent County resident children aged 17 and under receive free general admission to the GRPM thanks to the county-wide millage passed in 2016.
Changing America at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is sponsored by the David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and Steelcase Inc. The media sponsor for Changing America is Magic 104.9.
A new exhibit titled, “Sunny Ways,” by local artist Ann Teliczan, opens at the Leep Art Gallery on Oct. 3 at the Postma Center on the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services campus in Grand Rapids.
Teliczan is a nationally acclaimed artist and photographer whose work is influenced by her love of nature. She is known for her unique and beautiful composite art that intrigues admirers and artists alike because of its extraordinary creation process.
Until 2003, she kept her work private as a form of personal expression. Teliczan’s technique continues to evolve, as she experiments with her unique creative process which is based on blending traditional painting using minerals, with cameraless, filmless digital captures that are printed on various substrates including canvas, art paper and acrylic.
Teliczan’s art is featured around the world in private collections, galleries, corporations, medical centers and military hospitals. Her art is known for its uplifting and positive energy.
The Pine Rest Leep Art Gallery exhibit will be on display at the Postma Center located at 300 68th Street, SE, Grand Rapids, Mich., from Oct. 3, to Jan 6. The Leep Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 616-222-4530 or go to www.pinerest.org/leep-art-gallery .
Thriller! Chiller! International Fantastic Film Festival announces its official selections and final schedule for this year’s festival on Oct. 8-12 at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids.
The action, sci-fi, suspense and horror-themed film festival will screen a total of 64 independent movies from 8 countries in the genres of sci-fi, action, suspense, and horror at the five-day event. The lineup includes: 13 features and 40 shorts, including 10 Michigan movies. Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Republic of Korea, Sweden, U.S., UK are represented at this year’s festival.
Cult classic screenings of five, fun, fantastic films round out the event:
Night of the Living Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Bride of Frankenstein
The Evil Dead (First-round, limited-release EXCLUSIVE screening of digitally remastered, with a new reimagined scoreby original composer, Mr. Joseph LoDuca.)
The Evil Dead SFX and Makeup arts TOM SULLIVAN to appear and give a presentation on his art created for the Evil Dead franchise (Saturday)
* Zom-Com DOUBLE FEATURE – Night of the Living Dead & Shaun of the Dead (Tuesday) *BRIDEZILLA!! – (yes, there will be costumes & cake!) Featuring Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Thursday) + Bride of Frankenstein (Friday Night Freak-out) *Cosplay and costume contests. Private Party & Online screenings available for Passholders only.
2019 Thriller! Chiller! Pass Information
All-Access Pass or Day Pass
Individual Tickets available for “The Evil Dead” screening & presentation
Pricing
Entry is priced two ways for maximum access: All Access to the entire festival; or all access by the day in the form of a Day Pass. There will be no tickets to individual screenings available except for the EVIL DEAD screening and Tom Sullivan talk sold separately at $8.
All-Access Festival Pass, $50
Day Pass, $12 Tuesday – Friday
Day Pass, $20 Saturday
The Evil Dead, $8 for only this film + Tom Sullivan presentation
THEATRE A – MEANWHILE MOVIES presented by Thriller! Chiller! – 8pm, Night of the Living Dead – 10pm, Shaun of the Dead
THEATRE B – 8pm, The Tangle with The Call – 10pm, Volition with Zero
Wednesday, Oct. 9
THEATRE B – ONLY – 6pm, SHORTS BLOCK: Rebecca Gold, Boy!, Kiss the Devil in the Dark, Exhibit Man – 8pm, Ascension (feature) with The Phone Call
Thursday, Oct. 10
THEATRE A – 6pm, MICHIGAN SHORTS BLOCK: Emergency Alert, Puppet Dimension, Roulette, Living Deadhead, Keeper of the Light, Poaching Death, Emma, Bury Me, The Hunt for the GorillaDactyl
Michigan Film & Digital Media Office’s $250 Filmmaker Grant to be announced!
– 8pm,Rockford Brewing Company presents Godzilla vs. Destoroyah – North American Big Screen Premiere of this cult gem!
THEATRE B – 6pm, The Invisible Mother with The 404 Diner – 8pm, Fugue with Madame
Friday, Oct. 11
FRIDAY NIGHT FREAK-OUT The wildest, bloodiest, most offbeat movies screen on Thriller! Chiller!
THEATRE A – 6pm, Bob Freeman: Exterminator for Hire with Night of the Fluffet, Braineater, Five Course Meal
Storey Award presentation will take place prior to the Bride of Frankenstein event.
– 8pm, “Bride of Frankenstein” with “Filth“
Including a Best of Bride of Frankenstein cosplay and a special guest Emcee to be announced later this week.
THEATRE B – 6pm, To Your Last Death with The Devil’s Fire – 8pm, Barney Burman’s Wild Boar with Rough Love, Lost Lake
Saturday, Oct. 12
Saturday Spook-a-thon
THEATRE A – 12pm, The Dark Red with Bad Dream – 2pm, Super Shorts – Block One Bad Dreams, Anacronte, Ripple, Heads will Roll, Atomic Ed, Lili Sees You, Jacindu – 4pm, Attack of the Demons with Don’t Croak and Moon Ghost – 6:30pm, Film Awards Ceremony –7pm, THE EVIL DEAD event: TOM SULLIVAN. Make-up, props and SFX artist for the Evil Dead series, Tom Sullivan, presentation on his art created for the Evil Dead franchise. Sponsored by Asifa.org. – 8pm – EVIL DEAD screening.
This is the EXCLUSIVE theatrical release of Sam Raimi’s EVILDEAD by Grindhouse Releasing featuring the reimagined score by original composer, Mr. Joseph LoDuca and an all-new 5.1 surround-sound mix.
THEATRE B – 12pm, Friday the 13th: The Conspiracy Begins! with Friday Night Death Slot -2pm, Straight Edge Kegger -4pm, Beast Mode with Blank Verse -6pm, Super Shorts – Block Two Zero, Miracle Desert, Last Trip, The Hand, Bleeding Backs, 12/14, The Alluring Frontier, The Furious Gospel of Johnny Tan
For continuing coverage of Thriller! Chiller! news:
The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today the 2019 dates for its annual Ethnic Heritage Celebration, bringing cultural immersive experience to school groups during the last week of October and culminating with a public celebration of Ethnic Heritage Festival on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The City of Grand Rapids and the surrounding region have a long-standing history of diversity and various cultural traditions dating back from early explorers and fur traders, to modern day cultural rituals from new residents of the region.
Schools groups are invited to visit the GRPM for Native American Cultural Days as part of the Celebration on Oct. 23 and 24, and the public is invited to the Ethnic Heritage Festival on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Native American Culture Days invites field trips to learn first-hand about Native American regalia, dance and music and immerse in the rich history of local Native American cultures.
Ethnic Heritage Festival is a day-long celebration of music, dance, crafts and food representing the various ethnic groups that call West Michigan home. Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 26, the event features a variety of traditions, performances and presentations. The Museum Café will feature ethnic food selections. Event activities are included with general admission to the Museum.
Organizations participating in this year’s festival include Grand Rapids Scottish Society, End of Trail Jewelry, The Gaelic League/Irish American Club of West Michigan, ASSE International Student Exchange Program and more. Performers include Motherland House Concerts, Woodland Boys Drum, Red Cloud Dance Group, India Link, Shimmy USA and more.
Visitors will be able to view the Museum’s exhibitions, with two specific exhibitions having a primary focus on diversity and culture: Newcomers: The People of This Place which highlights the ethnic groups that have settled the Grand Rapids area, and Anishinabek: The People of this Place which focuses on the Native American culture in the region.
Please visit grpm.org/EHF for additional information about the Ethnic Heritage Festival, and more on the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s exhibitions and programs.
In 2001, Pianist Olga Kern was the first women in 30 years to win the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She performs with the Grand Rapids Symphony Oct. 4 – 5. (Supplied)
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was launched after American pianist Van Cliburn in 1958 won the Gold Medal at the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition, shocking the world by playing Russian music better than Russian pianists.
Russian-born pianist Olga Kern’s first attempt at the Van Cliburn competition in 1997 didn’t go as well. Eliminated in the preliminary rounds, the 22-year-old pianist returned to Russia, newly divorced with an infant to support.
Four years later, Kern, returned to Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the first woman in more than 30 years to win the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn Competition. Her story is told in the award-winning TV documentary, “Playing on the Edge” about the 2001 Van Cliburn.
“Van Cliburn could play Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky’s music like nobody could before him, and it was in such a great Russian way,” Kern said in an interview in Playbill in June 2018. “I say ‘Russian way’ because the Russians are always sad, even if they are happy.”
Widely acclaimed for her interpretations of Tchaikovsky among other composers, Kern joins the Grand Rapids Symphony for Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet, a program entirely devoted to the music of the great Russian composer, at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4-5, in DeVos Performance Hall.
Music Director Marcelo Lehninger leads the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s final work, the magnificent “Pathetique” Symphony No. 6. The evening opens with the romantic Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.
Kern, a naturalized American citizen who has lived in New York since her Van Cliburn prize, will be soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat.
“Tchaikovsky took Russian music to another level through his use of Russian folk music,” told Playbill in June 2018. “It is what makes his music sound so Russian. But because he learned so much from Europeans and ultimately took so much from all over the world, this lends his music a universal quality.”
“The way he used piano and orchestra together in a concerto is a totally different level of concerto composition,” she said. “Because before then it was a competition between the instrument and the orchestra. But Tchaikovsky really blended the piano with the orchestra.”
Kern, who won first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition at age 17, comes from a long line of eminent musicians. Her parents are pianists, her mother teaches at Moscow Conservatory of Music, and her brother, Vladimir Kern, is a conductor.
Kern’s great-great grandmother was a friend of Tchaikovsky’s. Her great-grandmother was a mezzo soprano who, by accident, became a collaborator with Rachmaninoff.
“One day, she was on tour with Rachmaninoff songs, and her accompanist got sick. These songs are very difficult for the pianist, and she had to find somebody to accompany her,” Kern said.
As fate would have it, the composer himself, also on tour, happened to be in the same town. When word reached him, Rachmaninoff himself offered to step in.
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 began with sketches the composer meant for his Symphony No. 6. Eventually, he decided to recast it as a concerto for piano and orchestra.
Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony No. 6 was his final work. After completing it, he confessed, “I consider this symphony the best thing I have ever done. In any case, it is the most deeply felt. And I love it as I have never loved any of my compositions.”
He died nine days after its premiere, a victim of cholera. He was 53 years old.
Inside the Music, a free, pre-concert, multi-media presentation sponsored by BDO USA, will be held before each performance at 7 p.m. in the DeVos Place Recital Hall.
Tickets for Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet start at $18 and are available at the Grand Rapids Symphony box office, weekdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Call (616) 454-9451 x 4 to order by phone. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum).
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place ticket office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours before the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
Special Offers
Full-time students of any age can purchase tickets for $5 on day of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Ticketsprogram, sponsored by Calvin University. Discounts also are available to members of MySymphony360, the Grand Rapids Symphony’s organization for young professionals ages 21-35.
Students age 7-18 also are able to attend for free when accompanied by an adult. Free for Kids tickets must be purchased in advance at the GRS Ticket office. Up to two free tickets are available with the purchase of a regular-price adult ticket. Go online for more details.
Symphony Scorecard provides members up to four free tickets for most Grand Rapids Symphony concerts. Members of the community receiving financial assistance from the State of Michigan and members of the U.S. Armed Forces, whether on active or reserve duty or serving in the National Guard, are eligible. Go online for information on signing up with a Symphony Scorecard Partner Agency.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced this week its new exhibition, Relevant: Abstraction from GRAM’s Collection, curated by Exhibitions Curator at UICA, Juana Williams. Relevant will be on view in GRAM’s Level 3 permanent collection galleries through Jan. 5.
GRAM periodically invites guest curators to work with the Museum’s collection to bring new ideas and perspectives to its members and visitors.
“We’re excited to partner with UICA’s Juana Williams to present Relevant at the Grand Rapids Art Museum,” commented GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “She brings a fresh perspective to curating the Museum’s collection, and the exhibition offers our visitors the opportunity to experience the artwork through a new lens.”
For Relevant, Williams has assembled eleven abstract paintings and works on paper from GRAM’s permanent collection, most created by artists half-a-century or more after abstraction’s invention in the early 20th century. During the 1950s through the 1970s, when most of the works in the exhibition were created, artists were evaluating whether abstraction could still be a relevant form of expression. Two works by African American artist Mavis Pusey are on view for the first time in Relevant. Pusey’s abstract screenprints are inspired by the energy and chaos of the strikes and demonstrations which occurred in Paris during the summer of 1968, illustrating how artists can use abstraction to reference real-world events.
“As an art curator, I’m always looking for ways to use art to collaborate, start conversations, and build relationships,” shared Juana Williams, Exhibitions Curator at UICA. “Having the opportunity to curate Relevant at GRAM and SPECTRA at UICA embodied those interactions, and our partnership encourages the West Michigan community to explore both venues while previewing a sampling of the history of and continued relevance of abstract art.”
Relevant is on view concurrently with the UICA’s exhibition SPECTRA, also curated by Williams. While Relevant focuses exclusively on two-dimensional 20th century abstraction, SPECTRA features works of contemporary abstract and non-representational art that break from traditional mediums and concepts and provide insight into alternative modes of expression.
Conceived together, Relevant and SPECTRA examine abstract art through historical and contemporary lenses. Together, they show how abstraction has remained relevant for over 100 years by both addressing its own history and legacy and by continually adapting and diversifying with the times.
A scene from rehearsals of Ballet 5:8’s “Butterfly”. (Supplied/Ballet 5:8)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
Ballet 5:8, the Chicago-based dance company known for providing audiences with “a unique opportunity to engage in conversation on relevant life and faith topics addressed in the company’s repertoire”, will return to Grand Rapids Oct. 5 with a program both emotionally heavy and delightfully spiritual.
The three works including the world premieres of “Butterfly”, which evokes the emotional scenes of the World War 2 Terezin ghetto, but also “Brothers and Sisters”, which explores the “Creator’s handiwork — the simple beauty of male and female.”
The show, held at the Devos Center for Arts and Worship on Saturday, Oct. 5, starting at 7 p.m., will include both artistic director Julianna Rubio Slager’s newest works as well an older work, Slager’s “Meditations”, inspired by C.S. Lewis’ essay “Meditation in a Toolshed”.
(Last season Ballet 5:8 also held a world premiere last year in Grand Rapids; read the review here).
“Butterfly”, according to supplied material, explores the Holocaust tragedy of Terezin, “where residents created masterful works of art in defiance of their oppressors … where, from the ashes of this hellscape, glimmers of hope emerge.”
Terezin, according to the website terezin.org, was a concentration camp 30 miles north of Prague in the Czech Republic during the World War II. It was originally a holiday resort reserved for Czech nobility.
“By 1940 Nazi Germany had assigned the Gestapo to turn Terezín into a Jewish ghetto and concentration camp,” the website’s history page states. “It held primarily Jews from Czechoslovakia, as well as tens of thousands of Jews deported chiefly from Germany and Austria, as well as hundreds from the Netherlands and Denmark. More than 150,000 Jews were sent there, including 15,000 children, and held there for months or years, before being sent by rail transports to their deaths at Treblinka and Auschwitz extermination camps in occupied Poland, as well as to smaller camps elsewhere. Less than 150 children survived.”
The Ballet 5:8 work tells the story of a Jewish art teacher refused to let the children die without hope. “She challenged her students to create art that spoke of their misery but also of the hope that lies within,” according to supplied material. “Every human, male or female, desirable or marginalized, born of privilege or born of poverty, each one is precious and created with purpose.”
“The remnants of art from the nearly forgotten children of Terezin challenge us to look with clear eyes upon our potential for both evil and beauty,” Slager said in supplied material.
A scene from a previous performance of Ballet 5:8’s “Meditations”. (Supplied/Ballet 5:8)
“Brothers & Sisters” is described in supplied material this way: “We are living in an age of culture war over gender identity and ethics. In ‘Brothers & Sisters’, choreographer Julianna Rubio Slager takes a moment to step aside from the chaos and strife to revel in the Creator’s handiwork — the simple beauty of male and female. Contrast and subtlety. Difference and similarity. Overlap and distinction. The Creator must have moved with delight as he drew his children with contrasting and complementary strokes.”
The Devos Center for Arts and Worship, at Grand Rapids Christian High School, is located at 2300 Plymouth Ave SE, Grand Rapids. The performance includes a post-performance Q&A with Slager and artists from the cast. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for students and seniors, and $15 for children ages 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased at ballet58.org or by calling 312-725-4752. Performance information is available at ballet58.org/Grand-Rapids.
Managing Editor Joanne Bailey-Boorsma talks to St. Cecilia Music Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook. (WKTV)
For more than a hundred years, St. Cecilia Music Center had been known for its promotion of the appreciation, performance and study of music. When Cathy Holbrook returned to Grand Rapids 13 years ago to take over the helm of one of the oldest music institutions in the nation, she had no intention of changing that mission, just expanding on it.
Thirteen years later, the fruits of her labor can be seen and heard as the building at 24 Ranson Ave. NE has been renovated and through partnerships with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Acoustic Café radio show, St. Cecilia’s music offerings have grown as well.
In this edition of “Locally Entertaining,” Holbrook talks about her journey as St. Cecilia’s executive director and how chicken wings, martinis and thinking outside of the box allowed her to bring in some of the biggest names in the musical world, from David Finckel (who with his wife Wu Han serve as artistic directors for St. Cecilia’s classical series) to legendary singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash, while keeping ticket prices, $40 – $55, so reasonable.
Host Joanne Bailey-Boorsma sits down with St Cecilia Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook. The two discuss the center’s rich history and preview upcoming shows schedule for the fall and winter months.
The St. Cecilia Music Center season kicks off with country and folk singer Lee Ann Womack on Oct. 3. Also in October is Judy Collins on Oct. 20. For a complete list of performers for each of the series, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Spectacular Jazz Series, and the Acoustic Café Folk Series, visit scmc-online.org.
The new Robin Connell Trio (shown is promotional graphic) will debut on the local scene in October. (Supplied)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
Local jazz pianist and singer Robin Connell’s new trio, with Rob Hartman on bass and Keith Hall on drums, will debut at Grand Rapids One Trick Pony on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 8-11 p.m.
Connell, the Artprize 2016 jazz music award recipient and the West Michigan Jazz Society’s 2017 Musician of the Year, is no stranger to the local jazz and music education scenes.
Originally from Detroit, Connell spent more than a decade in New York City, at places such as The Waldorf-Astoria and The Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, and performs regularly as bandleader or sidewoman throughout Michigan and the region, according to supplied material. She is also a music educator, having taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp for 20 years (did-you-know fact: Norah Jones studied with Robin for two summers) and she currently hosts a jazz piano concert series, Jazz in the Sanctuary at Fountain Street Church, and co-directs the St Cecilia Music Center’s Youth Jazz Ensembles.
Hall, when he is not playing professionally, is the director of the Keith Hall Summer Drum Intensive and is the Jazz Drum Set Professor at Western Michigan University, according to supplied material. He is the author of Jazz Drums Now! Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and is the radio host for Jazz Currents on WMUK. As a musician, he has toured with singer Curtis Stigers (for 12 Years) and leading his New York trio TRI-FI (for 15 years). He also spent 8 years in New York City where he played drums on Broadway’s “Lion King” and has performed with Betty Carter, Wycliffe Gordon, Sir Roland Hanna, Joe Lovano and Wynton Marsalis.
Hartman performs regularly all around west Michigan with a variety of jazz trios and bands.
One Trick Pony is located at 136 Fulton St E. There is no cover charge on jazz nights. For more information visit onetrick.biz or call 616-235-7669.
Detroit’s own Aretha Franklin truly was the “Queen of Soul,” recording more than 100 charted singles including 17 Top 10 Pop singles and 20 No. 1 R&B singles. The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Franklin was ranked number one Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2010.
Tina Turner, dubbed the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” is a 12-time Grammy Award winner, ranked 17th on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Her 50th Anniversary Tour in 2008 became one of the highest-selling ticketed shows of all time.
Franklin died last year at age 76, and Turner celebrates her 80th birthday in November. But their music lives on. Together with their contemporaries, Patti LaBelle, Thelma Houston, and the late Etta James, they ruled the pop and R&B charts in the late 1960s and 1970s, paving the way for singers such as Whitney Houston, Adele, Alicia Keys and Amy Winehouse.
The Grand Rapids Pops pays tribute to the voices that revolutionized rock and revitalized R&B with Queens of Soul on September 27-29 in DeVos Performance Hall, 303 Monroe Ave. NW, to open the 2019-20 Fox Motors Pops series. Guest Artist Sponsor is Carter Products.
Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt (Grand Rapids Symphony)
Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt will be on the podium for concerts at 7.30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday. Please note that 7:30 p.m. is a new start time for concerts on Fridays and Saturdays in the Fox Motors Pops series.
Special guest vocalists Shayna Steele, Kelly Levesque and Brie Cassil join the Grand Rapids Symphony for songs such as Respect, as recorded by Aretha Franklin; Proud Mary, as recorded by Tina Turner; and New Attitude as recorded by Patti LaBelle.
The concert also includes such songs as Rolling in the Deep, as recorded by Adele; Girl on Fire, as recorded by Alicia Keys; and You Know I’m No Good as recorded by Amy Winehouse.
In all, 18 songs covering six decades of pop and R&B come to the Grand Rapids Pops stage in the show co-produced by Schirmer Theatrical and Greenberg Artists with musical arrangements by Grammy Award-winning arranger, composer, conductor and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik.
Guest vocalist Shayna Steel, who made her Grand Rapids Symphony debut at the D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops with Women Rock! in 2017 and who returned to Cannonsburg Ski Area this past summer with Dancing in the Streets: Music of Motown, has appeared on Broadway in the original cast of Hairspray as well as revivals of Rent and Jesus Christ Superstar.
In December 2016, Steele reprised her role with the Dynamites in NBC TV’s broadcast of Hairspray Live. She has been a featured singer with Snarky Puppy in 2014 at the Nice Jazz Festival and has worked as a sideman with Bette Midler, Natasha Bedingfield, John Legend, Matthew Morrison, Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Rihanna and Kelly Clarkson.
Vocalist Kelly Levesque has shared the stage with such artists as Sting, Jamie Foxx, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, and many more. She has been featured on several film and television soundtracks, including America’s Sweethearts starring Julia Roberts, and the title song on the new Inspector Gadget series. She also has been a featured vocalist on numerous national TV and radio commercials.
Vocalist Brie Cassil has appeared in New York Off Broadway as Suzy in The Marvelous Wonderettes and as Blast in the new rock musical Chix 6. She has performed as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, as Little Sally in Urinetown and as Mimi in Rent. She is lead singer with her band Rebel, and she has opened for Adler, the original drummer for Guns & Roses.
Tickets
Tickets for Queens Of Soul start at $18 adults, $5 students, and are available at the Grand Rapids Symphony box office, weekdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across the street from Calder Plaza). Call (616) 454-9451 x 4 to order by phone. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum).
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place ticket office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours before the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
A familiar Grand Rapids artist; a famous Mexican printmaker and engraver who lived and worked during Mexico’s social and political upheaval; and a beloved Michigan artist all have works that are being featured in Grand Valley State University galleries.
For more information about Grand Valley State University art exhibits, call 616-331-2563 or visit gvsu.edu/artgallery.
The work of José Guadalupe is featured through Oct. 25. (Supplied)
“José Guadalupe Posada: Calavera Prints from the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet”
Kirkhof Center Gallery, Allendale Campus
Exhibition Dates: Through Oct. 25
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was a printmaker and engraver, who lived and worked in a period of Mexican history characterized by social and political upheaval. In 1888, he moved to Mexico City, where he quickly established himself and created some of his most important work. Posada illustrated historic scenes, board games and commercial items, religious images, various books and newspapers. He is most famous for his use of calaveras (depictions of skulls and skeletons) to satirize and mock the corruption of the wealthy and political elite. “La Calavera Catrina,” his most iconic image, was created in 1910 at the start of the Mexican Revolution. The image shows a grinning skeleton wearing a women’s feathered hat, pointing out that death comes to everyone, even those in the upper class. This exhibition includes 20 reproductions of his prints, from the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet. The prints were purchased in 2002 from the family of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, who printed them using the original plates and press.
“Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy”
Exhibition Dates: Ongoing
George and Barbara Gordon Gallery
DeVos Center, Building E, Room 103 and 202, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Gordon Gallery hours: Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; closed on holiday weekends
The German-born American artist Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) is often referred to as the dean of Michigan painters. Working in a traditional representational style, Alten incorporated the aesthetics and techniques of the Impressionist Movement in paintings infused with light and punctuated with deft brushwork. Based in Grand Rapids, Alten created more than 3,800 works over a more than 40-year career, including landscapes, seascapes, portraits and florals. Grand Valley State University holds the largest public collection of Alten’s work in the world.
“Watering Seeds: Experiencing and Engaging Haiti Through Study Abroad” will run through Dec. 13 at Blue Wall Gallery. (Supplied)
“Wandering Seeds: Experiencing and Engaging Haiti Through Study Abroad”
Blue Wall Gallery
DeVos Center, Building B, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Exhibition Dates: Through Dec. 13
In 2018, a dozen GVSU students and three faculty members traveled to Haiti as part of a study abroad program. The course, led by Peter Wampler, associate professor of geology, was designed to provide students from various backgrounds the opportunity to experience Haitian culture and gain an understanding of daily life in rural Haiti. In addition, students participated in a variety of service-learning and community-based teaching experiences, allowing them to contribute their energy toward real-world problems in Haiti. Included in this exhibition are narratives and reflections by both the faculty and students who participated in the trip. Additionally, a number of photographs document their encounters, and a variety of original Haitian works of art attest to the vibrant and diverse artistic culture in the country.
A French printed fan is part of the “Carnivals, Cognac, and Cycling: Works of Art from the Robert L. Haskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin-de-Siécle Prints.” (Supplied)
“Carnivals, Cognac and Cycling: Works of Art from the Robert L. Haskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin-de-Siécle Prints”
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall, Allendale Campus
Exhibition Dates: Through Dec. 13
During the period spanning the turn of the century, Paris, one of the most vibrant cities in the world, experienced an explosion in print media. Now-familiar artists, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, and others, made names for themselves producing items such as posters, journal illustrations, theater programs and advertisements. Drawn from the Robert L. Haskins and Erwin A. Raible Collection of Fin-de-Siécle Prints in the GVSU Print and Drawing Cabinet, “Carnivals, Cognac and Cycling” provides a view into the visual culture of late 19th century France. In 2019, 14 GVSU students conducted research for this exhibition for the course Modern Art and Modernity. Each student focused on one work of art for in-depth study, produced original research and presented findings to classmates and now to a wider audience.
“Pearl Walk” Make W. Wilkins is part of the exhibit featuring Wilkins work. The exhibit runs through Oct. 25. (Supplied)
Mark W. Wilkens, 1955-2017
“A Life in Paint”
West Wall Gallery, Eberhard Center
Exhibition Dates: Through Oct. 25
Born in America’s heartland, Mark Wilkens’ passion for nature and the environment blossomed in the sun-drenched countryside of the Iowan farmlands. Wilkens traveled often after his schooling in Iowa, Arizona and South Dakota, using the opportunity to visit museums and learn about different cultures. In 1990, after a number of years painting independently and working in graphics and illustration, Wilkens moved to Michigan, which would serve as his creative home for nearly 27 years before his death on March 17, 2017. This exhibition includes 25 works of art from the last three decades of his career, including a variety of watercolors and oils. It honors a passionate artist, whose commitment to paint was evident throughout his life.
GVSU DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL AND MEDIA ARTS FACULTY EXHIBITION
“Endless Possibilities”
Exhibition dates: Through Oct. 27
NOMAD Gallery by Richard App
74 Monroe Center St. NW, Grand Rapids
Hours: Noon-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays
This unified show will showcase the media in which faculty members work. The exhibition will showcase works across animation, ceramics, digital art, film, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, video art and more. Special performances, artist talks and workshops will also be offered in conjunction with the exhibition. Visit gvsu.edu/vma for more information.
The Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival is the oldest and largest festival celebrating the Bard’s life and works in Michigan. Now in its 26th season, the festival has attracted thousands of people of all ages to the campuses of Grand Valley State University and to West Michigan to enjoy the legacy of Shakespeare. For more information about the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival, visit gvsu.edu/shakes
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Sept. 27, 28 and Oct. 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and 6 at 2 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Tickets: $16 for general admission; $7 for students; $14 for seniors and faculty, staff and alumni. For tickets and more information, contact the Louis Armstrong Theatre box office at (616) 331-2300.
Last year, the GVSU Sharkespeare Festival presented “King Lear.” (Supplied)
Shakespeare’s most magical comedy transports us to a moonlit forest where four young lovers flee to escape the cruel law of Athens that would make a daughter choose between marrying the wrong man or being put to death. In the chaos of the night, the lovers find themselves at the mercy of fairies whose dreamlike power operates just below the level of conscious thought, weaving spells around the lovers and making sport with a troupe of bumbling, would-be actors who come to the woods to rehearse their wedding play about star-crossed lovers. The production will be directed by Roger Ellis, professor of theater at Grand Valley.
Other Performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance
For more information about performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, visit gvsu.edu/mtd.
GVSU OPERA THEATRE
“Mother Goose” (a ballet) and “The Naughty Boy” (an opera)
Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.
Peter Martin Wege Theatre, Grand Rapids Ballet Company, 341 Ellsworth Ave. SW, Grand Rapids
Tickets: Grand Rapids Ballet ticket office at 454-4771, ext. 10
This family-friendly pairing of the stories from “Mother Goose” and “The Naughty Boy” (who wouldn’t do his homework) comes from French composer Maurice Ravel. GVSU students and the Junior Company of the Grand Rapids Ballet School will bring this piece to life.
Margarita Denenburg
MUSIC
Guest artist piano recital: Margarita Denenburg
Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Margarita Denenburg is widely recognized for her teaching effectiveness. She is associate professor of keyboard studies at Heidelberg University and has written a number of articles about teaching music; she also has presented at several conferences on the same topic.
GVSU Symphony Orchestra side-by-side concert
Oct. 24 at 8 p.m.
Grandville High School, 4700 Canal Ave. SW, Grandville
Admission: Free and open to the public
The GVSU Symphony Orchestra will combine with the Grandville High School Orchestra for a joint concert.
20th/21st Century Piano Festival
Oct. 26, all day
Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Admission: Free and open to the public
This celebration of 20th/21st-century piano music will include student recitals throughout the day. The performances include the premier of a commissioned piece by composer Sun-Young Park, who will also be in residence.
THEATER
ReACT! presents: “My Costume is Not My Consent”
Oct. 30, 8-10 p.m.
Kirkhof Center, Room 0072, Allendale Campus
Grand Valley’s anti-violence theater troupe will use peer theater education methods to work with audience members on how to develop safety strategies for Halloween celebrations. The performance will include discussion and dialogue on how the GVSU community can help prevent sexual assault.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today the next installment of its Michigan Artist Series, Billy Mayer: The Shape of Things. The exhibition is on view at the Museum through Feb. 2, and features the work of one of West Michigan’s most acclaimed sculptors.
The late Billy Mayer (1953-2017) created work in numerous media and materials that addressed the mundane elements of daily life as well as bigger, broader ideas about human existence. The Shape of Things brings together a major installation, as well as large and small-scale sculpture that demonstrate Mayer’s creative imagination, his impressive skill with various materials, and his wide-ranging sources—from Surrealism and Pop Art to rock and roll and magic tricks. Mayer painstakingly crafted every element of his art by hand, and mastered many materials and techniques during his lifetime, from glazed ceramics, to glass, and metal.
“Billy Mayer’s artwork reflects just how intensely engaged he was with the world around him,” commented GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “Because of his great facility with materials, he was able to translate his inner vision into complex, delightful, and engaging works of art.”
The Shape of Things features sculpture from three primary bodies of work: brightly-colored aluminum sculptures of figures and objects in unique configurations; realistic trompe l’oeil replications of everyday objects with unusual display; and Mayer’s most ambitious and important work, the large-scale installation, Here.
“Here”: Billy Mayer, 1993-2015. (Supplied)
Here is a shelf-mounted installation of over 400 individual ceramic skulls, each topped with a different everyday image or object—a guitar, a hammer, the McDonald’s arches—all handcrafted in clay. In its totality, Here creates a visual diary of the artist’s daily life, a self-portrait of his thoughts, memories, and experiences.
In addition to his art, Mayer had a distinguished teaching career at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he taught for thirty-nine years. GRAM held an opening reception and panel discussion for The Shape of Things on Thursday, August 29 honoring Mayer’s legacy as an educator. Chaired by GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt, the event featured former students and colleagues of Mayer’s who shared their personal experiences of his impact on their art education and subsequent careers.
Support for the Michigan Artist Series is generously provided by: Steelcase Inc., Beusse & Porter Family Foundation, The Jury Foundation, and Greg and Meg Willit.
“Art of Today: Contemporary Collections from Chicago” runs through Nov. 1. (Supplied)
From dance that combines movement and technology to music that captures the power and mystery of the sea, the 17th annual Fall Arts Celebration events at Grand Valley State University are set to bring out “all the feels.”
Each year, Fall Arts Celebration shines a spotlight on some of the world’s foremost poets, musicians, dancers, artists and scholars. For the past 17 years, West Michigan audiences have enjoyed a series of six free events every fall that celebrate the positive impact of the arts. Below are the four of the signature events that are scheduled for September and October. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit gvsu.edu/fallarts.
ART
“Art of Today: Contemporary Collections from Chicago”
Through Nov. 1
Art Gallery
Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
Working with Chicago-based artists, gallery owners and collectors, Grand Valley has developed a collection of contemporary art over the last 15 years.
Drawn from Grand Valley’s collection and enhanced with additional loans from Chicago, Art of Today brings together more than 40 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media. This curation includes both bold and minimalistic works exploring simplicity in design, society’s relationship to the environment, and the intersection of pop culture and art by artists Alex Katz, Ellsworth Kelly, David Nash and Takahashi Murakami.
Other artists, such as Tony Fitzpatrick, Jane Hammond, Erika Rothenberg and Kara Walker, provide challenging imagery that examines the meaning of identity, race, culture and sexuality.
MUSIC
Water on the Mind: A Baroque Musical Journey
Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Cook-DeWitt Center, Allendale Campus
Water has transfixed the imagination and creative artistry of the human race since the earliest days on earth. To the ancient Greeks, water defined life and was seen as the essential element in the creation of civilization. At the dawn of the Baroque Era, as classical teachings spread across Europe, Baroque composers were as equally inspired as the ancients by the power and mystery of the sea.
See that inspiration come to life through works such as the “Storm Scene” from Marin Marais’s opera, Alcyone, which convincingly delivers the terror and dread from a powerful ocean tempest, and Georg Philipp Telemann’s hauntingly beautiful and imaginative orchestral suite, Hamburger Ebb und Fluth. This piece musically depicts the rise and fall of the ocean while invoking the story of Neptune and his son, Triton.
Rounding out the performance is Handel’s Water Music, composed in 1717 for a barge party given by George I on the River Thames, and Antonio Vivaldi’s fiery violin concerto, La Tempesta di mare (The Sea Storm). Famed Baroque violin virtuoso, Ingrid Matthews, one of the most-recorded baroque violinists of her generation and solo violinist with Toronto Tafelmusik Ensemble, will perform the dazzling composition that concludes the concert.
Poets Ellen Bas and Kevin Young are featured on Oct. 3. (Supplied)
POETRY
An Evening with Ellen Bass and Kevin Young
Oct. 3 with poetry readings at 6 p.m.
L.V. Eberhard Center, second floor, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Acclaimed poets Ellen Bass and Ellen Young will read their works. Bass is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her most recent book, “Like a Beggar” (Copper Canyon Press, 2014), was a finalist for several notable literary awards. Previous books include “The Human Line” and “Mules of Love,” which won The Lambda Literary Award. She co-edited (with Florence Howe) the first major anthology of women’s poetry, “No More Masks!” (Doubleday, 1973).
Young is the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and is poetry editor at The New Yorker. His newest book of poetry is “Brown” (2018). Also an essayist and curator, Young’s “Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels” was the winner of an American Book Award. His work “Jelly Roll: A Blues” (2003) was a finalist for the National Book Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize and winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize.
The dance program “Water: A Vision in Dance” is Oct. 28. (Supplied)
DANCE
Water: A Vision in Dance
Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
In this performance, Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau” traces the path of this mighty river from its origins deep in the Bohemian Highlands to its final journey bringing life and sustenance to the Czech people. Debussy’s “La Mer” presents a musically evocative, suggestive image of the sea in all of its beauty. Bringing these works to life in a brilliant new choreographic vision is BODYART, a New Orleans–based dance theater company founded and directed by Leslie Scott. Focusing on the intersection of movement and technology, Scott and the artists of BODYART will unite dance, video, and the music of Smetana and Debussy performed by a full orchestra in an absorbing multimedia experience.
Lee Ann Womack will bring her six Country Music Association Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and a Grammy with her when she kicks off St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Café Folk Series concerts with a show Thursday, Oct. 3.
Okay, she won’t actually bring the Grammy to the stage, but she will bring her guitar and music from her latest album ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone’.
The show begins a folk music series which includes the legendary Judy Collins later in the month, on Oct. 20, and then a packed February 2020 lineup with Grammy-award winning bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters on Feb. 6; multiple Grammy-award winner Rosanne Cash with guest-musician/composer/husband John Leventhal — maybe the folk series show of the year — on Feb. 19; multi-Grammy-award winner Chris Thile (a member of Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek) on Feb. 25; and guitarist and singer Raul Midón on Feb. 27.
Tickets for Womack and all folk music series shows are still available.
“We are so excited to kick off our new season with Lee Ann Womack, one of the best-known female country singers,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia Music Center executive director, said in supplied material. “From her popular earlier hits like, ‘I Hope You Dance’ to the powerful new rootsy selections from her latest album ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone,’ those who come to this concert will see how Lee Ann masterfully captures her audience with her beautiful voice, presence and skillful execution.”
Lee Ann Womack has performed award-winning duets with everyone from Willie Nelson, John Prine to John Legend.
Her latest album ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone’ has transformed her sound back to her “roots,” the East Texas native said in supplied material. “I could never shake my center of who I was. I’m drawn to rootsy music. It’s what moves me.”
Tickets to Lee Ann Womack and all St. Cecilia shows are available by calling 616-459-2224 or visiting St. Cecilia Music Center at 24 Ransom NE, Grand Rapids, 49503 or online here. The Oct. 3 concert with Womack begins at 7:30 p.m. and includes a post-concert party with wine and beer for all concert ticket holders.
Come hear some of West Michigan’s most intriguing personalities share personal stories of failure, and stick around for an after party outside under our pavilion with music from Code West; there will also be local food vendors, and a cash bar. Failure Lab will be presented Sept. 21, 2019, at Saugatuck Center for the Arts. Doors open 6:30pm, show starts 7:30pm. Tickets are $25 and available at www.sc4a.org/failure-lab.
Head-shaking, eye-blinking moments of “what just happened?” that present some of the most powerful, transformative tales you’ll ever hear. This one-of-a-kind platform integrates storytelling and performance to reveal the vulnerabilities of influential people in order to eliminate the fear, stigma and isolation around failure.
With a refreshing environment of openness, Failure Lab paves the way for change by crushing the isolation and stigma around failure. Failure then takes its rightful place as the crucial first step to the next big thing.
USA Today says that Failure Lab, “Demystifies the process of innovation.” Listen to some words from a former winner of “Chopped” and current chef at Pennyroyal Cafe and Provisions in Saugatuck, Missy Corey.
Failure Lab presenters share adversities behind their success, allowing audience members to learn and grow from their powerful stories.
We’re thrilled to bring you stories from these West Michigan rock stars:
Missy Corey – Chef at Pennyroyal Café and Provisions
Michael Hyacinthe – Co-Founder of Has Heart, U.S. Navy Veteran
