Science Tuesdays for March will focus on watersheds.
During the month of March, visitors can join the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) for hands-on Watershed Science. As part of monthly Science Tuesdays, hands-on science activities will highlight the Grand River watershed and its impact within the community.
Learners of all ages will be engaged by interactive activities including watercolor map painting, identifying and viewing aquatic organisms, and learning about indicator species whose presence alone give indication of the water quality. See GRPM artifacts, including historic log ends and specimens that live in our Grand River watershed.
Science Tuesdays take place throughout the day every Tuesday in the Museum’s Galleria and include a variety of activities and interactive displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities are free with general admission to the Museum.
Special Saturdays at the GRPM will have Science Saturday with hands-on activities related to that month’s Science Tuesdays theme. Science Saturdays will take place in the Museum’s Galleria and be free with general admission. Science Saturdays will take place March 4 and 11.
On Saturday, March 11, join the GRPM for Glow Lab – this month’s Curiosity Lab. Kids will explore and interact with organisms and objects that use a variety of strategies to produce intriguing lights and colors. This lab features glowing dinoflagellates, fluorescent minerals, color-changing plant material and other unexpected objects that kids can view in the dark and under UV light. Curiosity Labs take place at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m. Limited tickets available, recommended for ages 8 and older. Tickets are available at grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.
Future Science Tuesdays are themed around activities happening in the community and at the Museum. For upcoming themes and activities, please visit grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.
Grand Rapids Symphony, conducted by Marcelo Lehninger, will present “Pictures at an Exhibition” next week. (Supplied/Stu Rosner)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Marcelo Lehninger, in his first full year as Grand Rapids Symphony’s Musical Director, has a long history with Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” — ranging from hearing it in its original piano solo form as a youth, to it being on his debut program at the famous Tanglewood Festival, to his now conducting it on both sides of the Atlantic in the span of a month.
But as he prepares to bring Maurice Ravel’s orchestrated version of the work to Grand Rapids’ DeVos Performance Hall on Friday and Saturday, March 3-4, he admits to having only a cursory knowledge of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s progressive-rock, synthesizer-driven version.
And who is to blame him? He was raised in Brazil, surrounded by classical and Latin music — his father is German violinist Erich Lehninger and mother Brazilian pianist Sonia Goulart — and he was born in 1979, eight years after EL&P’s vinyl version debuted.
“I first heard the piece on its original piano solo version, and I felt in love with it,” Lehninger said in a email interview this week. “I’ve conducted many times — in fact I just conducted it in Europe (Slovenia) where I am right now. It was also on my debut program in Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony.”
The cover of Emerson, Lake and Palmers vinyl recording to “Pictures at an Exhibition”.
And, despite his only passing familiarity with the rock variation, he is all for even old rockers giving Ravel’s version a listen.
“I heard about the ELP version, but never got familiar with it,” he said. “In any case, we will rock with ‘Pictures’ next week in Grand Rapids!”
Ravel’s version, with its virtuoso violin work required, is the most “colorful” of all the versions, Lehninger believes, despite the fact that he studied both violin and piano early in his career.
“I definitely have an affinity for both violin and piano, not only because I studied these instruments, but because I grew up listening to them,” he said. “However, one instrument was never enough for me. I loved playing the violin and piano, but I needed more colors, more sounds; therefore I exchanged the 88 keys of the piano for 88 musicians in the orchestra.
“I believe that many composers that orchestrated the piece felt exactly how I felt playing just one instrument. This is a piece with so many sounds and colors possibilities, somehow the piano alone doesn’t achieve that. Therefore many composers orchestrated the piece. Although Ravel’s orchestration is criticized for not ‘sounding Russian enough’, it is my favorite orchestration of the piece. Ravel was a master of orchestration and with ‘Pictures’ he explores all the sound palette of the orchestra. I have to confess that I like Ravel’s version much better than the original piano solo version.”
In addition to “Pictures at an Exhibition”, also on the symphony’s upcoming program are Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D Major with guest soloist Stefan Jackiw, as well as Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and “John Corigliano’s Promenade Overture from 1981.
Violinist Stefan Jackiw. (Supplied)
Jackiw’s career has included performing at the grand opening of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall alongside pianist Emanuel Ax, soprano Renée Fleming and conductor James Levine. He may be best known to younger audiences for his performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Australia’s Sydney Opera house, seen live on YouTube by more than 30 million people worldwide.
For more information on Grand Rapids Symphony concerts visit GRSymphony.org
By Karen Herringa, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main
In the throes of becoming an adult, Lucy Knisley has an idea: she and her mother shall move to Paris. For a month. For both of their birthdays. Through some planning and words lost in translation, the mother-daughter trio start their adventure.
Knisley gives the reader a look into what it would be like for an American to uproot life for a month and travel to a foreign country. Visiting museums and visiting the Eiffel Tower are obvious places they visited, but buying gourmet cheeses and delicacies only found in Europe are also highlights. Filled with intricate drawings and photographs, Knisley creates a unique story that will make the reader want to move to a foreign country themselves.
The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is transformative. It has motivated the work of nearly every great composer to follow in the history of Western Classical music. It continues to inspire those who hear it more than 267 years after Bach’s death. The 11th Grand Rapids Bach Festival, which opens March 5, acknowledges that the music of J.S. Bach not only has staying power, it also has the ability to turn out an audience.
“The Grand Rapids Bach Festival was founded to infuse the community with opportunities to discover the works of Johann Sebastian Bach,” said David Lockington, Music Director Laureate of the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2013, following his appointment as the Festival’s director.
“We’re thrilled to share the transformational power of Bach’s music in an array of traditional and unexpected settings, said Lockington, who conducts three programs during the festival.
The 2017 Grand Rapids Bach Festivalreturns in March with a week of events celebrating the life and music of the composer whose music represents the pinnacle of the Baroque Era. The biennial festival launched in 1997 by Grand Rapids mezzo soprano Linn Maxell Keller, a singer, actress, organizer, advocate and devotee of the music of Bach. Keller, who died in June 2016, will be remembered during this year’s festival directed by David Lockington.
David Lockington, Music Director Laureate
The Grand Rapids Bach Festival, presented by the Grand Rapids Symphony, welcomes guest organist Isabelle Demers and harpsichordist Ian Watson to Grand Rapids and features solos by Grand Rapids Symphony’s concertmaster and violinist James Crawford, principal flutist Christopher Kantner, and principal oboist Ellen Sherman.
The culminating concert, titled Joyful Bach: Choral Celebration on March 11, features highlights of several of Bach’s cantatas including “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” from Cantata No. 147.
Expect some surprises during the 11th biennial festival. Visitors passing through the Gerald R. Ford International Airport on March 8 will be greeted by the music of J.S. Bach and others performed by the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Woodwind Quintet. Flutist Chris Kantner, oboist Sarah Peterson, clarinetist Suzy Bratton, hornist Erich Peterson and bassoonist Victoria Olson will play light classical music plus music by Bach from 2-5 pm in the Ford Airport’s Grand Hall adjacent to its food court.
Many area churches will include the music of Bach in Sunday services on March 5 and March 12.
The 2017 Grand Rapids Bach Festival also will remember its founder and champion, Linn Maxwell Keller. Grand Rapids Bach Festival originated in 1997 as a three-day celebration of the music of Bach, organized by Keller, a Grand Rapids resident, who had performed in major Bach festivals nationally and internationally. She engaged German organist, scholar and conductor Karl Hochreither, a noted authority on Bach’s church music, to serve as music director for several of the early festivals.
Isabelle Demers
Past guest artists at the Grand Rapids Bach Festival have included Jeannette Sorrell, harpsichordist and musical director of Apollo’s Fire in 2011. But many of the performers have been local musicians.
Keller’s vision for the festival included not only performances, but educational opportunities and explorations of Bach’s genius. Despite her loss, the Grand Rapids Bach Festival lives on.
“It’s established as long as the people of Grand Rapids want this festival,” Keller told The Grand Rapids Press in 2003. “As long as people are blessed by it and enjoy the music, it looks like we’ll be around for a while.”
The 11th biennial celebration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach features five separate programs over six days in four churches and one museum in Grand Rapids.
Here’s the lineup:
The Bach Choral Celebration program will be rebroadcast on May 14, 2017, at 1 p.m. on Blue Lake Public Radio 88.9 FM and 90.3 FM.
Tickets
Tickets are $15 for either the Creative Keyboards concert on March 7 or the Cantatas program on March 9. Students can get tickets for $5.
A freewill donation will be collected for the Bach Choral Celebration on March 11.
A $25 Bach Pass can be purchased for the entire Grand Rapids Bach Festival, and are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 am-5 pm at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)
A new publication spotlights the life and artistic works of Mathias J. Alten, who called the city of Grand Rapids his home. Grand Valley State University owns the largest known single public collection of Alten’s works and papers in the world.
The book, entitled “Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy,” is a hard cover monograph that includes color illustrations and scholarly essays exploring Alten’s artistic legacy.
Grand Valley’s George and Barbara Gordon Gallery currently displays 96 pieces of Alten’s work. His vast résumé of creations has also been exhibited widely at major American art institutions, and many can be seen in various buildings around Grand Rapids.
Stacey Burns, Galleries and Collections program manager, said the book celebrates the ongoing gifts to the university of Alten paintings by individuals from around the U.S., and by lead donors George and Barbara Gordon.
“The book demonstrates Grand Valley’s commitment to active scholarship and visual learning,” she said. “The Gordon’s underwrote the production of this book and share in the Art Gallery’s ambition of enriching the quality of life for students and the community through direct engagement with original works of art.”
A native of Germany, Alten immigrated to Grand Rapids as a teenager. Often referred to as the “Dean of Michigan Painters,” Alten spent his career painting in Europe and across the U.S., but always returned to Grand Rapids, his professional base of operations and home until his death in 1938.
The book will make its public debut during a special community open house Friday, March 3, from 3 – 5 p.m. in the Gordon Gallery, located in Building E of Grand Valley’s DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.
“We planned the open house to be a respite from winter where educators, students, the regional museum community and the public could visit the gallery and share experiences, ask questions and explore ideas,” said Burns.
“Mathias J. Alten: An Evolving Legacy” will be available for purchase at Grand Valley’s Laker Store beginning March 3.
To RSVP for the community open house, contact the Art Gallery at (616) 331-2563 or gallery@gvsu.edu. More information can also be found at gvsu.edu/artgallery.
Authors Vievee Francis and Matthew Olzmann are the next featured writers for the Grand Valley Writers Series set for Mon. Feb. 27.
The presentation will take place at the Grand Valley State University’s Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids. There will be a craft talk from 6 – 7 p.m. at the DeVos Center in room 203 E and then a reading and book signing from 7:30 – 8:50 p.m. at the University Club in the DeVos Center.
Francis is the author of three books of poetry, Blue-Tail Fly, Horse in the Dark and the recently released Forest Primeval, which was a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. She is the recipient of the Rona Jaffe Prize and a Kresge Fellowship. Francis’ work has appeared in numerous publications including Best American Poetry, Poetry Magazine, and Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry, among others. She is currently an associate professor of English at Dartmouth College and an associate editor for Callaloo.
Matthew Olzmann
Olzmann is the author of Mezzanines, selected for the Kundiman Prize. His second book, Contradictions in the Design, was released in 2016. Olzmann received scholarships and fellowships from Kundiman, the Kresge Arts Foundation and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. His poems, stories and essays have appeared in Kenyon Review, New England Review, Necessary Fiction, Brevity, Southern Review and elsewhere. He teaches in the Master of Fine Arts program for writers at Warren Wilson College.
By Laura Nawrot, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main
Sometimes it’s too difficult to select a single book to review. Dead Ex, Firefly Lane, and The Red Queen’s Daughter have nothing in common except for the fact that they’re my most recent reads and well worth recommending.
Dead Ex
I really enjoyed author Harley Jane Kozak’s pace and intrigue in Dead Ex, a mystery that could come from the script of a daytime soap opera and actually involves a cast of characters that are part of a fictitious soap whose producer turns up murdered. Set in California, the story takes the reader back and forth between locations while the bodies pile up and the main character, Wollie Shelley, tries to protect her best friend, Joey who only happens to be the main suspect.
Readers are introduced to Wollie as she muses over her living arrangements; she is currently between homes and living from a suitcase parked in the immaculate closet of her FBI boyfriend, Simon. Wollie’s state of disarray, the quirky humor and the numerous plot twists were just some of the things I really liked about the novel. I was only disappointed by the fact that it took me until page 145 to find out what “Wollie” was short for, something I should have figured out on my own.
Firefly Lane
It’s been a really long time since a book has brought me to tears, but I found Firefly Lane to be worth several tissues. This novel, by Kristin Hannah, follows the relationship of two girls who grow into that once-in-a-lifetime bond that makes them closer than sisters. Set in the Seattle area beginning in the 1970’s and moving to the present, the reader is drawn into the lives of Kate and Tully as they fumble along trying to grow into their respective places in the world. While the story line sounds kind of cliché, I could really feel the connection between two very different women, and that in itself is what made the book so successful for me. If you’re in the mood for a relationship story, Firefly Lane is a must read.
The Red Queen’s Daughter
And now for something completely different; The Red Queen’s Daughter, a historical novel by Jacqueline Kolosov, exploring what could have been the life of Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr who was King Henry the Eighth’s 6th wife. The author makes it clear in her notes that the story is merely speculation, but is historically accurate in capturing the era of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England. The reader gets a sense of what it must have been like to live in a time when social custom dictated the course of a young woman’s life typically directly into marriage and motherhood at about age sixteen. Even the sounds and smells of life at court are described well enough to give a sense of presence to the reader. The Red Queen’s Daughter is categorized as young adult fiction, but I think it could easily be placed in adult fiction as well. This novel is well written and successfully conveys the essence and mysticism of England during a period of religious upheaval and healing.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones will be on the Meijer Gardens concert schedule this summer. (Supplied Meijer Gardens/David McClister)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
The catchline for Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park summer concert series goes something like “It’s how you know its summer.” So it seems appropriate that after an almost summer-like run of weather over the weekend the Gardens gave us a tease of summer with the announcement of three of the acts coming to the Fifth Third Bank Summer Concerts at Meijer Gardens 2017 concert series.
On Monday, Meijer Gardens announced that up-and-coming Southern soul powerhouse St. Paul & The Broken Bones will be in town on June 9; the sweet sounds of Four Voices: Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Indigo Girls will hit the stage on June 12; and the classic rock (and so much more) music of Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson will make a rare small-venue visit on Aug. 18.
Members of Meijer Gardens members pre-sale period will be April 29 through May 12 this season, with general public sale Starting May 13.
The Four Voices concert, led by the grand-dame of folk music Baez, will undoubtedly be a night of lovely songs and lovely voices in harmony, and just hearing Tull founder and frontman Anderson dancing around with flute in hand will be worth the price of admission on a hot August night.
But the scheduling of St. Paul & the Broken Bones will likely be one of those “I heard them first at the gardens” kind of events.
Led by vocalist Paul Janeway, the Bones gained notice with their single “Call Me” off their debut recording “Half the City” from 2013, but after opening for the Rolling Stones on a few dates in 2015 and the playing the Glastonbury Festival last year, they are really getting a buzz going with their second album, “Sea of Noise”, from last year.
For lack of a better label, the band is often called a “gospel-tinged, retro-soul garage” band and hailing from Birmingham, Ala., and the sextet certainly has its southern soul credentials in order — including not being afraid to do an Otis Reading cover to two.
The new album also marks a little more depth of music and depth of songwriting for the band and Janeway.
“Sea of Noise,” Janeway says on the band’s website in describing the album, “is not quite a full-blown concept record. It is focused in terms of subject matter — finding redemption and salvation and hope. (The single) ‘Crumbling Light Posts’ comes from an old Winston Churchill quote, in which he said England was a crumbling lighthouse in a sea of darkness. I always thought that was a really interesting concept — that we’re falling anyway. In this day and age, it is the noise that has defined so many things. We’re going to fall to it eventually, but for now we feel like our heads are above water.”
It is likely that the audience at Meijer Gardens will be glad they dove into the deep southern water with the Bones this summer.
Valentine’s Day may be over, but there are still plenty of fun things to do in the month of February, all of which are free and open to the public. Grand Valley State University has a number of options to fill up the month. Here is a sampling.
GVSU Choral Concert – “Songs of Love”
Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Cook-DeWitt Center, Allendale Campus
This concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature the Cantate Chamber Ensemble and Select Women’s Ensemble, under the direction of Ellen Pool, and the University Singers, under the direction of Shirley Lemon. The concert will feature songs of love from many different genres, including jazz, spirituals and folk songs.
GVSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concert
Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
Great American Voices Series Collaboration Concert
February 25 and 26, at 7:30 p.m.
Park Church (10 E Park Pl NE, Grand Rapids)
Building on the success of the February 2015 Collaboration Concert at Park Church, this year’s collaboration will include the GVSU University Arts Chorale, Park Church Chancel Choir, and West Michigan’s Holland Chorale. The concert will begin with Patrick Coyle, Park Church minister of music, conducting the Park Chancel Choir and the Holland Chorale, accompanied by the GVSU Chamber Orchestra, in a performance of Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass.” The evening will conclude with two sections of Alexander Borodin’s powerful opera, “Prince Igor.” The GVSU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Henry Duitman, will present the rousing “Overture” and then the three choirs, 120 voices strong, will join the orchestra for the opera’s exhilarating “Polovetsian Dances.” Proceeds from the offering will benefit string scholarships at Grand Valley.
GVSU Concert Band Performance
Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
GVSU Jazz Concert
March 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
The GVSU Large and Small Jazz Ensembles will perform during this free concert that is open to the public.
There may be no human faces in art more explored than those of Jesus of Nazareth and the Virgin Mary, and with Jesus there is a certain “historic” image of the man. But in the hands of artists such as Salvador Dali and Otto Dix, the accepted image is altered.
The current show at Calvin College’s Center Art Gallery, located in the Covenant Fine Arts Center, offers both the historic and altered images of the man in “Ecce Homo: Behold the Man”, currently running through March 4.
“Ecce Homo”, along with the companion exhibit “Most Highly Favored: The Life of the Virgin Mary”, are both drawn from the collection of Sandra Bowden, who with husband, Robert Bowden, have established the Sandra Bowden Art Scholarship at Calvin to “encourage Christian artists to prepare to become leaders in the field of art,” accord to the college.
“I feel like a caretaker, so to speak, of each piece in our collection, preserving it for the future,” Sandra Bowden said in supplied material. “The Bowden Collections focuses on religious art for several reasons: first, it is the subject I am most passionately interested in; second, it is a wonderful time to be collecting work with biblical themes because the art market in general is not particularly interested in art with religious content.
“I also feel that religious art needs exposure within the Christian community, and it is my intent to make these pieces available whenever possible for that purpose. I see my collector’s role as a calling — something that is critically important to do at this particular time.”
There are more than 20 works in the exhibit “Ecce Homo” — which is is Latin for “behold the man,” a declaration which refers to the presentation of Christ by the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, before the Jewish mob as described in the Bible in John 19. Among the artists included are Jacques Callot, George Rouault, Max Beckman, Bruce Herman, and Tyrus Clutter.
But it is the works of Dix and Dali that offer a non-traditional images worthy of fresh artistic consideration.
“Christus” (1957) by Otto Dix, lithograph. (Supplied)
“Christus”, by Dix (1891-1969), is a 1957 work shown in lithograph. According to supplied information by the gallery, Dix was “a German Expressionist artist who was defamed as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, created many works with biblical content, especially later in his life. This head of Christ titled, shows Christ with a crown of thorns and blood dripping down his face helping us consider Jesus’ suffering.”
“Ecce Homo”, by Dali (1904-1989) is a 1969 work shown in lithograph by the Spanish artistic giant. According to supplied information, the work is “one from a suite of 105 lithographs on heavy rag paper that illustrate the Bible. Guiseppe Albartto commissioned this suite in hopes of leading Dali to God and the Catholic Church. His Ecce Homo illustration is rich in content and shows the artist’s range of creativity and spontaneity. Dali employed the use of “bulletism,” a Dalinian invention where an arquebus (a type of antique gun) was loaded with ink-filled capsules and then fired at blank sheets of paper. The resulting patterns and designs were then incorporated into the illustration. We are left to imagine parts of the face of Jesus where the splatters merely suggest a crown of thorns and agonizing wounds.”
Camp Curious is now open for registration at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Camp Curious is the Museum’s summer camp program that explores the wonders of science, history, culture, art and fun. For nine weeks this summer, kids ages 4-14 can use the Museum as a learning lab in a variety of camp themes.
Camp Curiousruns from June 19 through Aug. 14 with various sessions available depending on age and interest. Discounts are available for enrollment in multiple camps and by registering multiple campers. Additionally, Museum members receive discounts off each camp.
Camp Curious offers sessions with a focus on a variety of themes from space exploration to building with Legos®, and from fossils to exploring what it was like to grow up in the Victorian Era. Camp options vary for each age group and are suited to their interest. Age groupings are 4-5 years old, 6-8 years old, 9-11 years old and 12-14 years old. To register and to learn more about Camp Curious, visit grpm.org/CampCurious or call 616.456.3977.
Camps range in dates and duration, including Be Curious Day Camp offering one day sessions on Mondays and new this year one day camps on Fridays! Others camps are multiple days and have options between morning or afternoon sessions.
New camps for 2017 include our “Farm to Table” Camp for ages 9-14. Campers will learn about the gardening process from the science of soil to the fun of harvesting! The Museum is partnering with Urban Roots, a non-profit dedicated to connecting people to soil and table, for this one-of-a-kind experience.
Brand new for 2017 is adult camps. This summer adults can be a part of “Date Night Out” where Museum staff watches the kids while the adults enjoy an evening exploring the Museum. Adults can also enjoy “Dinner at the 1895 Voigt House,” one of the Museum’s sites that serves as a time capsule of the late Victorian period.
“Chess Story, also known as The Royal Game, is the Austrian master Stefan Zweig’s final achievement, completed in Brazilian exile and sent off to his American publisher only days before his suicide in 1942. It is the only story in which Zweig looks at Nazism, and he does so with characteristic emphasis on the psychological.
Travelers by ship from New York to Buenos Aires find that on board with them is the world champion of chess, an arrogant and unfriendly man. They come together to try their skills against him and are soundly defeated. Then a mysterious passenger steps forward to advise them and their fortunes change. How he came to possess his extraordinary grasp of the game of chess and at what cost lie at the heart of Zweig’s story.
This new translation of Chess Story brings out the work’s unusual mixture of high suspense and poignant reflection.
Hands down it’s one of the best stories I’ve ever read. It’s a clear, riveting novella, which not only reaches very extreme psychological depths, but also offers a poignant new understanding of Nazi Germany—a period in history which already has a multitude of perspectives and analysis.
Stefan Zweig makes use of the game of chess as both a character in the novel and as a metaphor for his life as he perceived it at the time. Within this narrative, chess is described as, “the game among games devised by man, which rises majestically above every tyranny of chance, which grants its victors the laurels only to a great intellect, or rather, to a particular form of mental ability.” It is a game where there is no element of chance. Where the players are in absolute control and may dispose of their pieces as they like, while on a board with very little room for creativity or mercy.
Zweig utilizes this understanding of chess to a profound degree in order to illustrate how it feels to be someone trying to escape the grasp of a war that will inevitably get to you. It’s a story from an incredibly talented writer about the necessity for creativity to have a place in our lives and the adverse differences between an uncaring ‘intellect’ and a manic, but human, mind.
If you’re in the mood for a quick, and thoughtful read, then you should definitely check this gem out.
Where to take that bundle of energy you call a child? There are many options right here in West Michigan.
The Grand Rapids Treetop Adventure Park has six (soon to be seven) courses that are broken into four different skill levels. These range from very easy to expert. Each course takes 30 to 45 minutes to complete, but you have three hours to do as much or as little as you please. They have activities for kids of all ages with a mini zipline course designed for kids ages 4 to 6, and a main deck which starts with kids that are 7 years old. You may have a hard time getting your kids to come back to the car when you visit this outdoor adventure park.
The Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven is the perfect place for young learners who don’t want to be limited to just reading. Instead, step in, see, touch, and even smell all things history. Each exhibit is housed in a structure that is appropriate for the era. For example, the Woodland Era of Native American history is found inside an authentic birch bark wigwam. While The Tri-Cities Historical Museum is open to all ages, parents and guardians typically find 1st grade and above to be the most invested in the exhibits, though highly engaged parents will find something teachable in each exhibit.
Critter Barn (photo from Facebook)
A visit to Catch Air in Grand Rapids is sure to have your kids jumping for joy. Their indoor adventure park has inflatable slides, jungle gym, bounce castle, and more. Catch Air is also the perfect place for a birthday party. Throw the most memorable and enjoyable party ever without lifting a finger. Whether you’re stopping by for an afternoon of fun, or celebrating a birthday, Catch Air is always a hopping place to be.
The Critter Barn in Zeeland is a nonprofit educational farm spanning three acres. Their curriculum focuses on promoting an understanding of agriculture, food sources, animal care, animal science, volunteer initiatives, and the farmer’s role in feeding the world. They have an authentic learning environment with many friendly animals. Working on a farm, even visiting a farm, develops character and deepens an appreciation for the world around us.
Windmill Island Gardens (photo from Facebook)
A palette of colors await you as you wind along the entrance to Holland’s treasured Windmill Island Gardens. Tour five stories of the DeZwaan windmill, the only authentic Dutch windmill operating in the United States. From the top, you can survey 36 acres of manicured gardens, dikes, and canals. Complete your immersive Dutch experience with their costumed guides, hand-painted Dutch carousel and children’s gardens, gift shops, and more. Mark your calendars for Opening Day on Saturday, April 15th, 2017!
Robbie Bell has dreamed of working for the Walt Disney Company since his childhood.
“Ever since I discovered my true passion for theater, I decided that I could combine the two,” he recalled. “I would love to be a show designer or director for one of the Walt Disney theme parks, or maybe even Disney on Broadway.”
Bell, a senior majoring in theater, is taking one step closer to achieving his dream by sitting in the director’s chair for the first time for the Theater Department’s upcoming production of “Detroit.”
The production is a part of the department’s annual Performance Studio Series, which gives upper-level theater students the opportunity to use the practical skills they have learned in the classroom. During P.S. Series productions, students have creative control over directing, acting, backstage production, set design and costume design.
“Detroit,” a play written by Lisa D’Amour that, ironically, has nothing to do with Detroit, depicts Mary and Ben living in a suburb near an unnamed mid-sized city. Mary and Ben are hosting new neighbors, Sharon and Kenny, who live next door in a rented house, for a friendly backyard barbecue. The gathering spirals into a deliriously dangerous revelry when themes of suburban troubles related to upward mobility, spousal relationships and economic anxiety take over.
Bell said he chose “Detroit” because it takes place in the unique and intimate setting of a backyard, but also for its message.
“I love this play because it is genuinely funny, but, most importantly, I chose ‘Detroit’ for its message that everyone has a secret struggle that they’re dealing with,” he explained. “This is what I believe makes us all the same on some level, and you really cannot judge a book by its cover for this reason.”
“Detroit” will not be Hannah Frank’s first time acting as stage manager for a Grand Valley production. She filled the same production role for 2016’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” and 2015’s P.S. Series production of “Café Murder.”
Frank said she enjoys “Detroit” for its dynamic cast of characters.
“I love the complexity of ‘Detroit.’ You think you know who the characters are, but by the end of the show, you’re questioning them,” said Frank, a senior majoring in theater. “I love how crazy the characters are and how much they contrast against each other.”
Performances of “Detroit” will take place Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in Louis Armstrong Theatre in the Performing Arts Centers on the Allendale Campus. Tickets are $6 for general admission. For more information, call the Louis Armstrong Theatre box office at (616) 331-2300.
If you are thinking about attending the Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival, held each year at the Grand Rapids area’s Fifth Third Ballpark, you might want to stop thinking about it and do it.
According to the event’s website, the second day of the two-day event scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, is sold out. But tickets to the Friday night event, running from 5-9 p.m., are still available.
Tickets are only available online and, according to supplied information, once online tickets are sold out, no additional tickets will be released.
The 2017 Winter Beer Festival, the 10th anniversary of the festival, will feature more than 100 Michigan breweries and approximately 1,000 different craft beers. There will also be music from local bands and a selection of food available for purchase. Friday night’s music will be The Concussions’ surf-instrumental-rock-n-roll sound, as well Big Dudee Roo self-described “oft-psychedelic, Neil Young-styled folk rock” sounds.
Experience Grand Rapids has announced it will partner with the GR Hopper to offer a $10 shuttle service to and from the festival from participating hotels. (Email staff@GRHopper.com or call 616-606-0467.)
Mason Street Warehouse “alumnus” and The Lion King actor Russell Joel Brown visited Saugatuck Middle School and recently met with 6th grade students to present his outreach program, Project: Inspire. The Saugatuck Center for the Arts worked with Brown to bring this very special creative educational opportunity to students.
“As I travel around North America with the The Lion King, I present my own outreach program, Project: Inspire to elementary, middle, and high school students,” Brown said. “While I present to schools, it is imperative to me that I reach at least one economically disadvantaged school or program per city I visit.” Brown was in Detroit with The Lion King and reached out to the SCA for assistance connecting with schools.
Russell Brown at Saugatuck Middle School.
“We love playing the role of ‘connecter’,” said SCA Executive Director Kristin Armstrong. “Russell is so talented – it’s very exciting when a performer of his caliber visits West Michigan to connect with students. We were thrilled to be able to help him work with several regional schools.”
Brown, who is an actor-dancer-singer, played the role of Horse in MSW’s 2009 production of TheFull Monty and after, went straight to Broadway where he has been performing as a bass in the singing ensemble, and serving as an understudy to the actor who plays “Mufasa” in The Lion King for the past 12 years.
Brown uses the power of creativity, during Project: Inspire, to activate the imagination, inspiring students to achieve excellence in their personal, educational, and artistic lives. Drawing from his experiences in The Lion King as well as other productions, Brown talks about what it takes to be a working performer and to be successful on stage, screen, and in life.
“While this is a unique opportunity for the children in our community who have a passion and interest in theatre, Russel’s program connects with any young person interested in making a difference in his or her community,” said SCA Education & Exhibitions Manager Whitney Valentine. “It’s very exciting to share Russell’s passion for helping young people find their unique voice with our community.”
During his trip to West Michigan, Brown also visited Whitehall Middle School which is currently working on their own production of The Lion King. Brown connected with more than 100 6th-12th grade students in Whitehall.
The Lion King is running through Feb. 26 at the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. For more information on the show, visit michiganopera.org.
Ai Weiwei self portrait surrounded by supporters and police. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
When asked about the artist Ai Weiwei, Ping Liang — board chair of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, international businesswoman, and a Chinese-American with a deep understanding of modern Chinese culture — readily defers artistic questions to the Garden’s chief curator.
But both she and Joseph Antenucci Becherer, who serves as Meijer Gardens vice president in addition to his curatorial duties, understand that to appreciate Weiwei one must go deeper than simply his art. One must understand his history and his culture, especially his social activism both inside his rigidly controlled home county and around the world.
Ping Liang, board chair of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, and chief curator Joseph Antenucci Becherer, in the main gallery of the exhibit “Ai Weiwei at Meijer gardens: Natural State”. (WKTV)
“I came to know Ai Weiwei’s reputation through the 2008 Olympic stadium, called the Bird’s Nest. At that time, his name wasn’t taken in a very good light because of the Chinese media, which is very controlled,” Liang said, as she and Becherer sat together with WKTV recently and dove deep into the exhibition Ai Weiwei at Meijer Gardens: Natural State, which is running though Aug. 20.
Detail “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” in Legos image. (Supplied)
“We only knew him, according to the Chinese media, as a person who purposely broke a very valuable antique jar. We also heard he used vulgar language, kind of insults, purposely. So, I didn’t really know too much about him. Of course, when Joe, here, talked (to us) about Ai Weiwei, as an artist, I was like ‘Wow!’”
And as she dug a little deeper, what Liang found was much more than simply an artist as portrayed by the Chinese media.
“He has this very famous family, particularly his father, Ai Ching, a very famous poet in China, and how his family suffered during the Cultural Revolution, even though his father was a very prominent and early Communist Party member,” she said. “And when we look at some of (Weiwei’s) artwork, the insults, and some of the themes, I started to understand. He is actually a social activist. That was very rare in China.”
‘Everything is politics’
Becherer, too, advocates for an understanding of the artist’s politics as well as his art — it is no coincidence that one of Ai Weiwei’s most well known sayings is “Everything is art. Everything is politics.” Blending his art and his politics is, in fact, the “natural state” of Weiwei’s world.
Joseph Becherer, Meijer Gardens vice president and chief curator. (WKTV)
“I think it always makes it more meaningful to know something about an artist’s biography when you are looking at their painting or their sculpture or whatever their work happens to be, because we all carry some part of us with us into whatever it is we do for a profession,” Becherer said. “With someone like Weiwei, it is probably more of an extreme, because for him art and life are inseparable.”
Becherer, in an essay accompanying the exhibit, states that Ai Weiwei’s art was influenced by, among others factors, his father’s life and clashes with the government, the artist’s growing up isolated from modern industrial China and being influenced by “traditions and artisan efforts of rural China,” followed by his emersion into Beijing’s late 1970s youthful avantgarde and his spending much of the 1980s in New York City before retiring to Beijing in 1993 when his father fell ill.
Maybe most importantly, however, Ai Weiwei’s art is influenced by increased use of social media and increased social activism — including his criticism of the Chinese government in the aftermath of the 2008’s Sichuan earthquake.
“In the following years,” Becherer’s essay states, “Ai Weiwei came under surveillance and was beaten, hospitalized and denied the right to travel. In 2011, he was arrested and mysteriously detained for 81 days, to the shock of the international cultural community.”
It was not long after that Ai Weiwei become a worldwide cause célèbre — and Becherer and Meijer Gardens began their interest and relationship with the artist as part of the the Garden’s pursuit of acquiring the massive sculpture “Iron Tree”.
Ai Weiwei’s “Iron Tree” has been on display for two years, but now an extensive exhibition of the artist’s works is on view. (Supplied)
“We started visiting Weiwei more than three and a half years ago, it was initially about acquiring ‘Iron Tree’,” Becherer said during the recent interview about his first meeting with the artist, who was practically under house arrest at the time. “Our process has always been that we try to engage directly with the artist. We want to understand, obviously, how the artist is living, how things come together, how things came to be. So, we began out of that, the very beginning, a sincere desire to know more about him. … It started out in one way, but it evolved and this exhibition was the result.”
And the exhibition is another example of Ai Weiwei’s continuing evolution.
“He seems to be more and more engaged in universal ideas,” Becherer said. “He seems to be more engaged with global concepts of freedom of speech and human rights. So it (his art), yes, is still related to his biography and, yes, it is related to his nationality and his heritage. But he seems to be more comfortable with the world stage.”
Now on the world stage
In July 2015, Ai Weiwei’s passport was returned and he was able to travel once again. Today, he divides his time between Beijing and Berlin, where he maintains studios.
It was in Berlin, in 2009, that Ai Weiwei created a massive exhibit of 9,000 children’s backpacks on the side of a building, backpacks which represented the number of children who lost their lives in the Sichuan earthquake — with colored backpacks spelling out “For seven years she lived happy on this earth,” a sentence with which a mother commemorated her daughter.
And the artist’s focus on social activism, and his influence both in and outside of China, has not changed according to Liang, who has more than 30 years experience in international business including extensive work in China and throughout Asia as managing director of AlphaMax Advisors LLC as well as serving on the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan. She says Ai Weiwei’s example and causes have greatly impacted her and many of her friends and business associates around the world.
Ping Liang, board chair of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. (WKTV)
“Now I realize he actually inspired the birth of modern social activism in China,” Liang said. “He and his friends were so active when Sichuan earthquake took place, and the aftermath, when thousands of young children were killed. I remember seeing, on global media as well as Chinese media, the devastation, the building collapsed, and the cry of parents whose only children lost their lives in this earthquake. … Now I look back, I understand that he was trying to raise people’s awareness about what really happened. What you really need to know. This should not be kept as a secret. That is why I describe him as an inspiration for the very beginning of social awareness and activism.
“In terms of his impact on the world, it is huge,” she added. “When I travel around the world, everybody talks about Ai Weiwei … People realize he was actually trying to get social justice for the earthquake victims. Actually, because of that a lot of Chinese, overseas Chinese, started donating to the earthquake victims. And a lot of young people started volunteering for non-profit organizations. I thought that was just tremendous. This is the impact he has had.”
Ai Weiwei at Meijer Gardens: Natural State is more than 30 works including iconic works from the artist’s repertoire and work specific to Meijer Gardens located in galleries, conservatories, public spaces and the auditorium. For more information visit meijergardens.org .
Loren Fishman brings his colorful technique and musical sensitivity to the Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ Hempy Keyboard Series on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver Ave., Saugatuck.
During his concert Fishman will perform music of great composers from the United States, including George Gershwin and Louis M. Gottschalk. Fishman combines the worlds of classical music, ragtime, and jazz to create an innovative, distinctly American musical language, bringing the colorful tapestry of American piano music to life.
Beginning piano lessons at the age of nine with Capital University Professor John Carter, Fishman later studied with Richard Lopez and Nina Polonsky. He received his Bachelor’s degree with honors in 2006 from Northern Kentucky, where he received a full scholarship and studied with Ukrainian pianist and master teacher Sergei Polusmiak. While there, he was the recipient of the prestigious Dean’s Scholarship and the Commonwealth Scholarship for Academic Excellence. He received his Master’s degree in music in 2009, and a doctorate in 2011 from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with the distinguished pianist Lydia Artymiw.
Fishman has won top awards in various competitions, including the Graves Regional Young Artist Competition, the KMTA/Bluegrass Young Artist Competition, the NFAA National Arts Recognition Talent Search, the Paducah Symphony Concerto Competition, the MTNA Kentucky State Piano Competition, the Columbus Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Bexley Summerfest Young Artist Competition.
Fishman currently maintains an active piano studio and performance schedule in Minneapolis, and is an adjunct professor of piano at Carleton College.
Tickets for this event are $10 for adults and free for students 18 and under. For more information on this event please visit sc4a.org or call 269-857-2399.
“Before Nic Sheff became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied repeatedly, stole money from his eight-year-old brother, and lived on the streets.” (Book jacket)
What’s different about Meth? Why is it worse than, say, cocaine or heroin? Why did all the drug recovery experts sigh so deeply when they heard that the “drug of choice” was Meth? David Sheff found his answers to these and many other questions concerning one of the latest drug scourges to reappear. Like a medical thriller, the story weaves many plot and research lines into a complex tapestry. And like a horror story, the drug takes on a persona: a vampire feeding on its willing victim, who seeks out the source that is draining them of life.
Drug addiction of any kind can bring families to their knees, leaving wreckage far beyond the principal player. Al-Anon has their 3 C’s: You didn’t cause it, you can’t control it, and you can’t cure it. The author, resistant at first, finds the family support groups an unbelievable source of comfort. Who else will understand when a parent says that they are happy that their child is in jail?
Sheff’s work grew out of a piece that he wrote for the New York Times Magazine, “My Addicted Son”, which won the American Psychological Association’s award for “Outstanding Contribution to Advancing the Understanding of Addiction”.
To tell the truth, I didn’t know if I’d like it so much — it sounded like a real downer. Once I started, though, I found it an extremely compelling book. It’s not just about one family’s tragedy, but it connects to every aspect of our own lives. Sheff constantly involves all of us in his Dantesque journey — seeming to ask, without putting it so bluntly, “so you think this does not, will not, ever touch you?”
As an example, while the author is staying at yet another hotel, waiting for yet another rehab visit with his son, he begins reading the epigraph from Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster, “Every little trifle, for some reason, does seem incalculably important and when you say of a thing that ‘nothing hangs on it’ it sounds like blasphemy. There’s never any knowing–how am I to put it–which of our actions, which of our idlenesses won’t have things hanging on it for ever.”
The author ponders this late at night, “I read it and read it again…. I am almost shaking. I think, ‘How innocent we are of our mistakes and how responsible we are for them.’”
The narrative alternates with his research into every aspect of drug addiction: the rehab industry, support groups, crime statistics, environmental damage and the neuroscience of the brain physiology. And the history — Meth was synthesized from amphetamine in 1919 by a Japanese pharmacologist. It was commercially available and marketed as a bronchodilator for asthma or an appetite suppressant, among other things. Ads featured slogans like, “Never again feel dreary or suffer the blues.” Used by the military in World War II, mild formulations were still sold over the counter until 1951, when it was finally upgraded to a controlled substance. Well, who knew…?
If you ever buy “Sudefed” for allergies, you’ve experienced how diligent the selling, signing for, and tracking of, this product has become — due to its main ingredient, pseudoephedrine. Here’s a real surprise though. According to the author, while he is laying out how the mom and pop labs have been essentially preempted by international drug cartels, operating their own “super labs”: “Only nine factories manufacture the bulk of the world’s supply of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, but pharmaceutical companies — and legislators influenced by them — have stopped every move that would have effectively controlled the distribution of the chemical so they could not be diverted to meth super labs.”
Meth seems to be a particularly unfortunate drug, since while all the drugs of abuse affect the dopamine reward circuit; Meth quickly causes more serious harm to the brain. The dopamine system becomes so ravaged that it takes months for partial recovery, and a full two years for an almost normal brain PET scan. In the meantime, in the first weeks of recovery attempts, when a Meth user is without the drug, the areas of the brain that light up are the ones that are active when people experience intense pain.
At one completely chilling point in the story (and there are many of these) another parent tells him that the only thing that will get him through is God; and the author says he’d like to believe, but he’s just never been able to. “Before this is over,” they reply to him softly, “you will.”
The cover quote by Anne Lamott says, “This book will save a lot of lives and heal a lot of hearts.”
If any book could discourage a person from trying drugs, this would do it.
Last year’s Beer Explorers program at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Supplied)
WKTV Staff
The Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Beer Explorers program will team with Founders Brewing Company and Brewery Vivant for a “learn while you taste” class where participants will sample barrel-aged beers on Thursday, Feb. 16.
The program includes discussion the topics of what makes barrel-aged beers unique, including sampling barrel-aged beers along with a non barrel-aged beer to taste the differences, according to supplied material. Representatives from Founders Brewing Company and Brewery Vivant will lead this tasting and answer any questions participants have on beers. Brewery Vivant will give participants an even more unique experience by offering a sour barrel-aged beer to taste.
The class begins at 6 p.m. Admission to each class includes general admission to the museum as well as three beer samples. A cash bar will also be available. Tickets are $8 for museum members and $18 for non-members. Participants must be 21 and older.
Tickets and information available by visiting grpm.org.
After chronicling his escape from rural life growing up gay in the Ozarks with his memoir, America’s Boy, Wade Rouse finds himself on three acres in the middle of the woods just outside of Saugatuck, Michigan. While vacationing in Michigan, Wade and his partner, Gary, decide on the spot to leave their hectic urban life in St. Louis, build a home and create “Wade’s Walden.”
Wade faces raccoons (literally head-on), wild turkeys (which he comes to adore), his addiction to tanning, cable and lip gloss and his real relationship with Gary. In the end, he finds himself disgusted with the tourists who act . . . exactly like he did when he first arrived in the country. Reading and re-reading Thoreau, Wade sets out to learn ten life lessons along the same path as Walden.
At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream is a funny, heartfelt, sincere memoir that will appeal to anyone, gay or straight, who finds themselves outside of their comfort-zone.
It’s February! (And you know what that means.) Downtown Market celebrates Valentine’s Day with a bevy of culinary classes.
SINGLES VALENTINE’S DAY KICK-OFF
Fri, February 10, 6p-8:30p • $65/person
Looking for a fun way to kick off Valentine’s Day weekend? Arrive early to this class and enjoy your first drink at the Downtown Market Ice Lounge. Then make your way to the Teaching Kitchen to meet new people, cook in groups and socialize—all while making seasonal crostini small bites, pomegranate lamb chops, herb cous cous and heart-shaped whoopie pies.
I LOVE SUSHI
Sun, February 12, 6p-8:30p • $65/person
A Valentine-themed sushi class! Learn how to make three sushi favorites: a sweetheart roll, salmon roll, and spicy tuna roll—each will have you falling in love instantly!
VALENTINE’S COUPLES COOKING AND WINE (21+)
Tue, February 14, 6p-8:30p • $150/couple
If you love drinking wine, then you’ll love cooking with it! This class will explore the new dimensions you can add to your culinary repertoire by incorporating the legendary beverage into your meals. The menu will include classic creamy cheese fondue, white wine tomato mussels, coq au vin with herb rice, and double-chocolate profiteroles.
WINTER COMFORT FOODS
Thu, February 16, 6p-8:30p • $65/person
Cook away your winter blues! In this class you’ll make it happen as you create a velvety butternut squash soup, deliciously perfect braised short rib ragu on whipped cheese polenta, and a most comforting warm sticky toffee pudding with whipped cream.
MEDITERRANEAN VEGETARIAN
Sun, February 19, 5p-7:30p • $60/person
In this Mediterranean cuisine class you’ll take a journey with a few of Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s famous vegetarian dishes such as sundal, mee goreng, seaweed ginger carrot salad, tahini and halva brownies.
WINTER NIGHTS IN THAILAND
Thu, February 23, 6p-8:30p • $65/person
Take a trip to Thailand with hands-on Thai roll instruction and other tasty traditional dishes. You’ll craft Thai spring rolls, a vegetable gang gai (vegetables in red curry), tom qha gai (coconut curry soup) and an unbelievable lemongrass custard.
BIG EASY COOKING AND COCKTAILS (21+)
Tue, February 28, 6p-8:30p • $50/person
Celebrate Fat Tuesday like you’re in the Crescent City with the Downtown Market Teaching Kitchen. We’ll be demonstrating traditional jambalaya and king cake while sipping on hurricanes and sazeracs. Good food and good cocktails, just like NOLA.
Join the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) Thursday, Feb. 9, for the next performance of Concerts Under the Stars – a new series in the Chaffee Planetarium. Visitors enjoy a live concert with a fully immersive audio and visual experience.
Following a sold out performance on Jan. 19, Janga will be performing funk music accompanied by a live full-dome light show, while visitors sit back and experience the wonder of the cosmos with the wonder of music.
This show will feature the music of Janga, the solo project of Grand Rapids-based composer, keyboardist, percussionist and cyclist Theo Ndawillie II, accompanied by musicians from Vox Vidorra and the Grand Rapids Symphony. Theo spends most of his time performing and writing with his band Vox Vidorra, teaching at Triumph Music Academy, and working on commissions. Theo has been commissioned by the Grand Rapids Symphony, Symmetry Films (shehimher), ADAPT Theatre Company and others. His hobbies include finding ways to combine musical endeavors with various forms of environmental and social activism. Theo has been a member of the Well House Board of Directors since January 2016.
The Concerts Under the Stars series features visuals by Nate Eizenga. For the past decade, Nate has been fascinated by performances that use visual imagery to enhance the experience of live music. Frustrated with preprocessed, press-play videos, he taught himself to mix and manipulate video in real-time, finally playing his first live show with musician Darkly in early November 2015. Since then he has continued to refine his craft, playing alongside Darkly as well as DJs from Rocksteady Disco, FourFour SoundSystem and Vinyl Fetish. Possessing both musical synchronization and artistic spontaneity, his work is guaranteed to mesmerize even the most reserved viewers.
Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments, beer and other beverages will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $10 for GRPM members, $12 for non-members if purchased in advance, and $15 for non-members on the day of the concert. Tickets are currently on sale at grpm.org, by calling 616-929-1700 or at the Museum’s front desk.
The 2017 Concerts Under the Stars Series will continue on March 16 with jazz-inspired electronic by Mishigami, and on April 6 with folk music by Emma Loo and Sam.
The Chaffee Planetarium is located at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW.
Pokey LaFarge bring his sound and songs to the St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Café stage this week. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
What kind of music will Pokey LaFarge bring to the St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Café stage this week? Well, that’s a straightforward, but kind of complicated story.
Pokey LaFarge
The easy answer is that the St. Louis-based singer songwriter incorporates early jazz, ragtime, country blues and western swing into his music. The complicated answer is that his music has attracted the attention and admiration of both Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor and The White Stripes’ Jack White. Think about that for a minute.
The audience at St. Cecilia will make their own decision — likely a joyfully complicated one — when LaFarge hits the stage Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are still available.
LaFarge has a will charm the audience with his down-to-earth unique sound all his own,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director said in supplied material. “He’s a fabulous musician and totally engaging entertainer.”
White added LaFarge to his Third Man label and included him as his opening act on his North American Tour in 2013, according to supplied material. LaFarge performed on “The Prairie Home Companion” radio show in 2013 and 2014.
Two of LaFarge’s albums have been named Best Americana Album by the Independent Music Awards.
A post-concert “Meet-the-artist” reception, with a cash bar, will be to meet LaFarge and obtain signed CDs of his releases.
Next up for the Acoustic Café Series is Grammy nominated Texas-trio Los Lonely Boys will bring their unique acoustic performance to St. Cecilia on March 14. Margo Price will bring her Nashville country/soul sound to to town on April 6. And Grammy Award winning Marc Cohn — of 1991’s Grammy winning ballad “Walking in Memphis” — will perform on April 13.
For more information and tickets, call 616-459-2224 or visit scmc-onlilne.org.
In the early 1960s, a team of African-American women supplied critical calculations that launched astronaut John Glenn into orbit and brought him home safely. The movie “Hidden Figures,” starring Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer, tells their story in the film nominated for the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture.
Its soundtrack, which evokes the 1960s R&B sounds Stevie Wonder and Smoky Robinson, includes Lalah Hathaway singing an up-tempo duet, “Surrender,” with the film’s soundtrack producer, Pharrell Williams.
Three-time Grammy Award winner Lalah Hathaway, nominated for two more Grammys this year, is the special guest for the Grand Rapids Symphony’s “Symphony with Soul” Saturday, Feb. 18.
Principal Pops Conductor Bob Bernhardt leads the Grand Rapids Symphony in the 16th annual evening of gospel, spirituals, jazz, blues, and R&B, celebrating diversity and inclusion in West Michigan, featuring community musicians performing on behalf of the wider community.
The Grand Rapids Symphony Community Chorus an ensemble of singers who sing in the gospel tradition, directed by Duane Shields Davis, will perform.
Lalah Hathaway, daughter of soul singer Donny Hathaway, often called the “first daughter of soul,” will showcase her incredibly powerful voice in DeVos Performance Hall.
Hathaway made her solo debut in 1990 and gained a Top 10 single with “Heaven Knows,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard R&B charts. In 2013, she collaborated with R&B/Soul group Snarky Puppy on the song “Something,” which led to her first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance in 2014.
The Chicago native released her sixth and most recent album in 2015, recorded live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. “Lalah Hathaway LIVE!” proved to be a turning point for the soul singer. The album is raw and unedited, giving an authentic look into Hathaway’s style, voice and life. Nominated for the 59th Annual Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, her new single, “Angel,” also was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance in the awards ceremony that will be presented on Feb. 12.
Each year, the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Symphony with Soul is preceded by the Celebration of Soul, a gala dinner honoring the accomplishments of individuals and organizations in the community that emphasize and celebrate the importance of cultural awareness and inclusion in West Michigan.
This year’s recipients of the Dr. Malinda P. Sapp Legacy Award are Elias Lumpkins, Grand Rapids City Commissioner; Christina Arnold, director of The Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center for Equity and Inclusion at GRCC; and Cherry Street Health Services. Each are leaders in successfully advancing multiculturalism and multicultural awareness in their profession or industry and are role models of consistent, creative encouragement in the community to become more culturally competent.
Gala tickets for Celebration of Soul are $150 per person, which includes the reception, dinner and awards at the International Ballroom of the JW Marriott in Grand Rapids plus a ticket to the Symphony with Soul concert and admission to the after party at 10 p.m. Call 616-454-9451 ext. 124 for tickets.
Performers for Symphony with Soul include young musicians from the Mosaic Scholarship Program. Made possible through a gift from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Mosaic Scholarships provide talented African-American and Latino students with musical instrument rental, private, one-on-one lessons with a professional musician from the Grand Rapids Symphony, and tickets to Grand Rapids Symphony concerts.
At Symphony with Soul these young instrumentalists will perform on stage as part of the Creative Connections program started by Jill Collier Warne.
Tickets start at $18 and are available at the GRS ticket office, weekdays 9 am-5 pm at 300 Ottawa Ave. NW, Suite 100, (located across from the Calder Plaza), or by calling 616.454.9451 x 4. (Phone orders will be charged a $2 per ticket service fee, with a $12 maximum.)
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place box office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
Full-time students of any age are able to purchase tickets for only $5 on the night of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Passport program. This is a MySymphony360 eligible concert.
Summers in the late ’60s, with the extended family at the idyllic log cabin on Sugar Creek in the Missouri Ozarks, always include a special 4th of July beauty pageant. Wade, now age 5, has always been a judge, when what he really wants to be is a contestant. So, taking matters into his own young hands, when his family comes back from fishing he announces in all his finery, “I am Miss Sugar Creek!” He’s decked himself out in his grandma’s red heels, his mom’s bikini (fitted with duct tape), jewelry, and has a tin foil crown, sash and scepter.
“The moment my family comes in, I wave my scepter and graciously thank them for their decision. They stare at me, blinking in slow motion, trying to act like nothing is wrong, like it is perfectly natural for me to be standing there in a bikini and heels, like a tiny boy Phyllis George.”
Eventually, his adored older brother, springs into action:
“Todd, a true country boy, moves toward me, shaking his head, grabbing the scepter from my hands and motioning with it for me to walk the length of the cabin.
“There he is, Miss Sugar Creek,” he sings off-key.”
I liked Rouse’s memoir so much that I read it twice in one week. It’s a short book, telling the story of one of those families that are both ordinary and extraordinary.
You might be fooled into thinking it’s just a humorous book at first, because Rouse is just rib-achingly funny, but, much like Bill Bryson’s Thunderbolt Kid, it’s an extremely well-written look at another time in America, involving three generations and their interactions within their changing culture. I hate to say trite things like, “I laughed, I cried”, but that’s exactly what I did. A must read!
During the month of February, join the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) for hands-on Zoology Science Tuesday programming. Each month at the Museum highlights a different science topic all part of the ongoing educational experience offering, Science Tuesdays, based on changing themes each month.
Explore the diversity of the animal kingdom by viewing a variety of animal skins, skulls, and specimens out of the Museum’s education collection. Identify various teeth structures based on an animal’s diet, try your hand at investigating a barn owl’s prey by dissecting owl pellets and use a microscope to get an up-close view of some interesting animal features.
Science Tuesdays take place throughout the day every Tuesday in the Museum’s Galleria and include a variety of activities and interactive displays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities are free with general admission to the Museum.
New beginning the month of February, Special Saturdays at the GRPM will have Science Saturday with hands-on activities related to that month’s Science Tuesdays theme. Science Saturdays will take place in the Museum’s Galleria and be free with general admission. Science Saturdays will take place Feb. 18 and 25, and Mar. 4 and 11.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, join the GRPM to help solve mysteries in February’s Curiosity Lab.
In this lab, kids will search clues to find out who stole a missing artifact from the Collection, using the hands-on scientific technique of chromatography. This Curiosity Lab will take place at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m. Limited tickets available, recommended for ages 8 and older. Tickets can be found at grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.
Future Science Tuesdays are themed around activities happening in the community and at the Museum. For upcoming themes and activities, please visit grpm.org/Science-Tuesdays.
Harmony Brewing Company celebrates its fifth year of business this weekend, and, yes, there is something special on tap. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Keep it straight: the magician is for the kids and the barleywine is for the adults — unless the adults like magic too.
As Grand Rapids’ Harmony Brewing Company celebrates its fifth year of business this weekend, it will offer an hour of kid-friendly family fun and then a little something special for the older crowd.
On Saturday, Feb. 4, Harmony will host a party and a limited edition bottle release of their annual brew, Birthday Barleywine, according to supplied material. Festivities include an hour of family fun, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. with brunch and kid-friendly magician and comedian PJ Weber in attendance.
The celebration will get a little more loud at night with the Vinyl Night All Stars featuring a line up of the most popular DJ’s from Harmony’s weekly event, Vinyl Thursday.
For those unfamiliar with Harmony’s barleywine, the brewery describes it as “a brilliantly clear ruddy copper color with a lingering lacey off-white head. Deep earthy, spicy, resiny hops are balanced with a hint of caramel maltiness in the aroma. The first sip is surprisingly light, and balanced for such a large beer. As the glass warms up, assertive hop bitterness interplays with a delicately malty body and a characteristic alcohol warmth. The aftertaste lingers clean and bitter as the beer creates legs and lace down the sides of the glass.”
Seems a little like magic for me.
Harmony Brewing’s Eastown brewpub was opened in 2012. Harmony later opened a second location, Harmony Hall, on Grand Rapid’s West Side. (Supplied)
Harmony Brewing’s Eastown brewpub was opened by siblings Heather Van Dyke-Titus, Barry Van Dyke and Jackson Van Dyke in February 2012. Harmony later opened a second location, Harmony Hall, on Grand Rapid’s West Side.
“Its been an amazing five years,” Jackson Van Dyke said in supplied material. “Opening Harmony gave us the opportunity to pursue things that we’re truly passionate about: inventive, creative beer, simple but delicious food and being a part of building our community and city.
“Since we’ve opened Harmony has been a part of, and witnessed, Grand Rapids being recognized as Beer City USA, a national and even global beer destination,” he said.
Benjamin Barker is a barber unjustly imprisoned for years by a corrupt judge. He returns to London bent on revenge under the guise of Sweeney Todd.
GVSU Opera Theatre presents the darkly hilarious and indiscriminately dangerous “Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” Feb. 2 – 5 and 10 – 12 at Grand Valley State University’s Performing Art sCenter, located on the GVSU Allendale campus. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets are $14 for adults; $12 for alumni, seniors, faculty and staff and $6 for students and groups.
For more information, contact the Louis Armstrong Theatre Box Office at 616-331-2300.
The final novel of Tom Rob Smith’s Soviet trilogy (Child 44, The Secret Speech), Agent 6 spans the time from the Cold War through the Soviet Union’s disastrous invasion of Afghanistan. Smith’s combination of a lightning plot and a cautionary tale, added to the history and psychology, create an engrossing read.
Leo Demidou, former KGB agent, has tried to put past regrets behind him, and now lives for his wife and daughters. When they take part in a goodwill trip to the U.S. and his wife is the victim of a terrible incident, Leo vows to find out the truth. His attempts to get to the bottom of this deep-rooted scheme entwine throughout the rest of the book, although he has been banished to Afghanistan.
The complicated plot races along, with Leo reminiscent of a Camus or Kafka anti-hero struggling in his bleak universe. The irony of Leo’s Afghan assignment is that he is to help create a secret police force for them when he has come to believe in the malignant harm it does to a society. He sees his younger self in the idealistic young woman who is his chief aide, and believes fully in the destruction needed to create a new order.
Ai Weiwei’s long-anticipated show at Meijer Gardens will open to the public on Jan. 27. (Supplied)
By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
Two years after giving the West Michigan arts community a beautifully patinaed example of the power of renowned Chinese artist and social activist Ai Weiwei, in the form of the stunning “Iron Tree”, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will open to the public its long-anticipated exhibition Ai Weiwei at Meijer Gardens: Natural State on Friday, Jan. 27.
Ai Weiwei’s “Iron Tree” has been on display for two years but now an extensive exhibition of the artist’s works will be on view. (Supplied)
In total, more than 30 works — including iconic works from the artist’s repertoire and work specific to Meijer Gardens — will be sited in galleries, conservatories, public spaces and the auditorium.
“I am looking forward to the exhibition at Meijer Gardens and to share my work and ideas in this unique place,” Ai Weiwei said in supplied material. “I appreciate that they are so committed to my work; they even acquired Iron Tree in 2015. This opportunity to bring an exhibition to Michigan is something I greatly anticipate.”
The public should also “greatly anticipate” the show as well, according to David S. Hooker, President and CEO of Meijer Gardens — for purely artistic enjoyment as well as intersecting with the artist’s unique political and social esthetic.
“Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is pleased beyond words to host this major exhibition, Ai Weiwei’s first ever in a botanical garden or sculpture park,” Hooker said in supplied material. “It will be an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy his vision and boundless creativity … (and his) compelling life story that is told through his art.”
The title of the exhibition — “Natural State” — underscores the relationship between the artist and the venue, according to supplied material, combining the artist’s use of the natural materials in his works, set in the often natural settings of Meijer Gardens, but pushing those natural materials into unique states of being: personal, historical, social, political. Materials such as ceramics, silk, bamboo and wood become symbols of Ai Weiwei’s views on humankind in his native China and around the world.
Ai Weiwei’s “Taifeng” will be part of a series of natural material sculptures on display. (Supplied)
The exhibition will use four gallery spaces, four indoor conservatories, the auditorium and numerous public areas at Meijer Gardens. And many of the works will be placed not only in the artist’s unique vision but in context to their surroundings, including having five monumental sculptural bodies derived from ancient Chinese mythological text — “Taifeng”, “Dijiang”, “Shuyu”, “Mingshe” and “Shusi” — shown in a “scenic corridor” outside the normal gallery spaces.
“Having worked with Ai Weiwei for many years and in venues across the world, it has been a pleasure to see him focused on the very distinguished and unique circumstances of Meijer Gardens,” Greg Hilty, curatorial director of Lisson Gallery, said in supplied material. “The work carefully selected by the artist and thoughtfully installed at this venue offers a truly memorable experience.”
Lisson Gallery, out of New York City, collaborated with Meijer Gardens on the Ai Weiwei exhibition, as it did with a previous show of the works of Anish Kapoor.
The Grand Valley Writers Series, which brings award-winning authors from around the world to campus each year, continues for the winter season with a two-for-one showcase of works by two Grand Valley faculty members: Amorak Huey and Caitlin Horrocks.
Grand Valley Writers Series presents Amorak Huey and Caitlin Horrocks Tuesday, Jan. 31, from 6 – 8 p.m., Cook-DeWitt Center located on the Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus.
Huey, assistant professor of writing at Grand Valley, is the author of the poetry collection Ha Ha Thump (2015) and the chapbook The Insomniac Circus (2014). His poetry and essays have appeared in The Best American Poetry 2012, The Southern Review, Brevity, Poet Lore, The Collagist, The Cincinnati Review, and many other print and digital journals. The written works of Huey recently received prestigious validation when he was one of 37 authors out of a pool of 1,800 to be awarded a Creative Writing Fellowship in poetry from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). Huey said the $25,000 fellowship grant will provide him with the time and space needed to create, revise, conduct research and connect with his readers. Before coming to Grand Valley, Huey worked for more than a decade as an editor and reporter for newspapers in Florida, Kentucky and Michigan, including serving as assistant sports editor for Grand Rapids Press.
Caitlin Horrocks
Horrocks, associate professor of writing, is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. Her debut story collection, This Is Not Your City, was named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, a Barnes and NobleDiscover Great New Writers selection, and one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle. Her stories and essays have appeared in anthologies, such as The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O, Henry Prize Stories, and True Stories, among others. Horrocks’ works have also appeared in journals, such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, and One Story. She also currently serves as the fiction editor of The Kenyon Review while crafting a novel and a second story collection.
A good, hearty stew prepared with the right combination of vegetables, spices and meat can combine into a gourmet winter delight, tasty from the first bite to the last. Gary Schmidt’s youth book Okay for Now is like wonderful winter comfort food. The ingredients of this story combine to produce a most hearty read, from the first page to the last.
Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck has no choice when his family relocates to a small town in upstate New York. His troubles stay with him, like a bad aftertaste. His emotionally abusive father, his delinquent brother, and a reality he soon loves to hate. The people who surround him are so often completely caught up in their own pain that they are unable to reach out to him. Doug meets townspeople who take a special interest in him, and in turn, he begins to take an interest in others. He stumbles into the local library where expensive Audubon art prints and drawing lessons are savory tidbits that begin to transform his life, forever.
The author artfully stirs together an emotional but satisfying mix of humor, pain, redemption and hope into a memorable story. This combination of humor and pain create that same scrumptious blend of a sweet and salty dish.
Okay for Now is one of those books that cross generational lines. After you devour this novel, please recommend it to a teen you know, perhaps a grandchild or a friend — you will be full and completely satisfied!
After chronicling his escape from rural life growing up gay in the Ozarks with his memoir, America’s Boy, Wade Rouse finds himself on three acres in the middle of the woods just outside of Saugatuck, Michigan. While vacationing in Michigan, Wade and his partner, Gary, decide on the spot to leave their hectic urban life in St. Louis, build a home and create Dz Wade’s Walden.
Dz Wade faces raccoons (literally head-on), wild turkeys (which he comes to adore), his addiction to tanning, cable and lip gloss and his real relationship with Gary. In the end, he finds himself disgusted with the tourists who act . . . exactly like he did when he first arrived in the country. Reading and re-reading Thoreau, Wade sets out to learn 10 life lessons along the same path as Walden.
At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream is a funny, heartfelt, sincere memoir that will appeal to anyone, gay or straight, who finds themselves outside of their comfort zone.
By Matthew Makowski, Grand Valley State University
Yoo Jin Noh made her debut with the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in 2017. She also performed at the United Nation Headquarters in New York City for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2015. Her recent performances include appearances with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Halfner Symphony and a solo recital at Azusa Pacific University.
Noh, who was born blind, pursued her interest in music in early childhood and began her piano study at age 14. Despite her late start, she has received many awards from local competitions. In 2005, she received a grand prize at the U.S. String and Piano Concours of Hymn and played at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York City. In 2008, she received the VSA Young Soloist Award and was invited to play at the National Federation of the Blind Convention.
What: Yoo Jin Noh, piano
When: Jan. 31, at 7:30 pm
Where: Sherman Van Solkema Hall (room 1325), Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus
