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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Ben Rosenblum Trio will be performing at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport on Friday, April 15, at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available through the theater’s website.
Award-winning New York City jazz pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Sea of Tranquility), an “impressive talent” (All About Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Downbeat Magazine).
Since the release of his debut trio album, “Instead,” Rosenblum has toured extensively with his trio and sextet throughout the United States, including multiple trips to the Northeast, Midwest, South and West Coast, as well as internationally in Canada, Europe and Japan.
He was a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall's Stern-Perelman Auditorium — with Reona Ito's New York Harmonic Band — and has appeared at prestigious venues throughout the world, including at the Appel Room at Lincoln Center, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Ravinia, Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall in Yokohama, Bird's Eye in Basel and the Library of Congress.
Rosenblum's second trio album in 2018, River City, was called “richly romantic” and “well-realized” by JAZZIZ Magazine, which featured the title track as part of their Best of Fall 2018 CD.
Most recently, Rosenblum released his third album, “Kites and Strings,” which is the first to feature him on both piano and accordion alongside his new sextet, the Nebula Project.
In 2020, the Nebula Project was voted runner-up for Best New Artist in JazzTimes' Readers' Poll.
Rosenblum has been privileged to share the stage with many highly acclaimed jazz musicians, including extensive work with Curtis Lundy, Winard Harper, Deborah Davis and Chris Washburne, as well as appearances with Bobby Watson, Sean Jones, TS Monk, Warren Wolf, Eliot Zigmund and many others.
Rosenblum's musical interests also extend beyond jazz to include work in numerous world music scenes, including musical styles from Brazil, Peru, Croatia, Bulgaria, India, Ireland, Jewish traditions and more.
The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
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- Written by: Middletown Art Center
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Art Center welcomes the public to its 45th exhibit, opening “Clusters” on Saturday, April 2, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The opening will take place in-person only at MAC and falls around the anniversary of MAC’s initial opening March 28, 2015.
The title “Clusters” originally was chosen in reference to a series of works connected by an inquiry or exploration of form, subject matter or concept, materials or format.
“As artists began submitting work, additional interpretations and perspectives of the word ‘cluster’ emerged, which we encouraged,” explained Lisa Kaplan, director and co-curator at MAC.
“Come to the opening to see what different artists came up with,” said Kaplan with a smile.
Clusters features work by familiar and new local and regional artists including Cobb Mountain artist Alana Clearlake. Her submission for Clusters came from “a little inspiration applied to some leftovers” from paper-on-felt vessels from her previous series The White Album.
She recently became intrigued with eco printing, a form of natural dyeing where the colors from plant material are transferred to fabric and paper.
“Since I had extra vessels that felt unfinished, I tried eco printing on them”, said Clearlake. “All of the pieces have warm coloration, as many of the leaves that provide good print quality print orange or red. Because I enjoy the play of complimentary colors and the vessels have paper incorporated into the wool, I was able to add cool colors using media, such as watercolor and pencil in some of the vessels,” she said.
Selections from a new series of work by French-American artist Anne Ducrot are also on view. "These evening musings appear spontaneously under my brush, “ she explained. “They are an expression of the deep inner-stirrings of my soul. Fresh. Alive. Full of details and magical marks yet sometimes ambiguous, and continuously surprising me with utterly unexpected delight. The multiplicity of readings they evoke is unique to each viewer and fascinating to me — reflecting as much the viewer's inner life as that of the artist.”
Clusters will be on view through June 26, Thursday through Monday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment by calling 707-809-8118.
A virtual tour will be available on MAC’s website by April 8, and a conversation with the artists will take place in hybrid format in May.
Find out more about programs, opportunities, and ways to get involved, support, and celebrate the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County at www.middletownartcenter.org.
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- Written by: Mendocino College
The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Center Theatre at the Ukiah campus.
This festival marks the return of a beloved Ukiah theater tradition, which was put on hold due to the COVID pandemic.
This year's festival features eight new plays by local playwrights. Each play is approximately 10 minutes long and will be presented at each performance.
The plays were selected from among over 80 scripts submitted by writers from throughout Mendocino and other nearby counties.
The play directors are students in the Mendocino College theatrical directing class taught by Professor Reid Edelman.
Festival actors include students in the college’s conservatory cohort group, as well as other local students and community members.
The short plays cover a wide range of topics and performance styles. The festival also features original set designs, lighting and technical support by students under the direction of college Technical Director Steve Decker.
In particular, student Jordan Wegner, a student in the college’s new Technical Theatre certificate program, is designing lights for the full production. Music and sound effects edited by Theatre Technician David Wolf will help sustain the high-energy spirit of the production.
“This annual festival is one of the college theater program’s most exciting projects, and we are delighted to be able to bring the event back to life once again,” Edelman said.
This year’s festival opens with Logan Silva’s stylized comedy "All Power to the McSoviet" in which Vladimir Lenin spars with an American capitalist in a fast-food restaurant, raising questions about whether any ideology can ever really benefit real people. The director is college theater major Alexander Marsh; the cast includes conservatory cohort students Ari Sunbeam and Dakota Laiwa McKay as well as Julayne Ringstrom and Madison McDonald.
Next, “Little Book of Fears” by David Burton explores the layers of a troubled marital relationship. The cast includes Andrea McCullough and Pat Nunes under the direction of conservatory cohort student Gwendolen van Wyk.
Kyle Whitrock’s play “Match Made” evokes the feeling of a classic black and white Christmas movie as two angels come back to earth to arrange a romance for their surviving boyfriend and brother respectively. The cast includes Dakota Laiwa McKay, Brisa Yepez and Ari Sunbeam. Christian Avalos is the director.
Phaedra Kincaid Swearengin is directing Michael Riedell’s play “Crazier Train Fundraiser” in which a young man hides out in a tax office after the jewelry heist to fund his musical pursuits goes wrong. The cast features Matt McClelland, Maria Monti, Pat Nunes and Gwendolen van Wyk.
“Mari,” by Shannon Sawyer, powerfully and personally confronts the issue of mental illness and its impact on a relationship. The cast includes Joni Marie McLeod and Jasmine Norris. The director is Brittani McKemy.
In Natasha Yim’s comedic play “Salsa Dancing” three generations of characters confront relationships and the enjoyment of life and love at different stages of maturity. Dakota Laiwa McKay directs actors Rosemary Eddy, Megan Regan, and Les Clow.
“Making It” by Chris Douthit and directed by Kelly Alvarez, is a touching drama about two lovers’ final days together as one faces the end stage of a terminal illness. Their shared love and imminent loss is reflected in the food they have been creating together from a special recipe book. The cast includes Jordan Wegner, Todd Hale and Janet Denninger.
Finally, the evening ends with a magical celebration of all who have died before us.
Jessica Lee’s “Amma’s Dance Party” takes place in a kitchen in which food, music and dance unite a family and celebrate the spirits of those who have passed. John Pegan directs a cast which includes Brittani McKemy, Rickie Emilie Farah and Gwendolen van Wyk.
Tickets are available in Ukiah at the Mendocino Book Co. and online at www.ArtsMendocino.org, and at the door as available. This production is recommended for ages 12 and up. Admission is $10. Audience members are encouraged to purchase tickets early. For more information, call Reid Edelman at 707-468-3172.
Please note regarding the Mendocino College Covid Safety Policy: Mendocino College has adopted a vaccine mandate for indoor events. All guests must show proof of full vaccination (two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) in order to enter the theater. Masks are recommended, but not required.
Each audience member will need to present proof of vaccination upon entry. This can include: screenshot of a valid CA digital vaccine card or QR code, physical CDC vaccination card, or a screenshot or photo of a CDC vaccination card on a phone. Photo ID or an accompanying roster for children who do not have identification must accompany all health documents.
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- Written by: Kwame Dawes
Each line in “Visitors” is a gift for meditation that is accessible. In the end we arrive at the conclusion that Joan Naviyuk Kane is seeking to articulate in symbolic language an understanding of the fleeting nature of our brief “visit” to the earth as humans.
The comic tragedy is that we are here for a while, and yet we are here forever when we pass on our rituals of survival to the next generation.
There is, though, a warning at the end of the poem. Often, she says, there are forces — small in spirit in the face of the grand generosity of an open door — that seek to bar our entry. We grow weary, and must be wary of such forces.
Visitors
By Joan Naviyuk Kane
Every door stands an open door:
our human settlements all temporary.
We share together the incidental shore
and teach the young to tend the lamp's wick,
weary of anyone small enough to bar our entry.
American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2021 by Joan Naviyuk Kane, “Visitors” from Dark Traffic (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021.) Poem reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2022 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Kwame Dawes, is George W. Holmes Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska.