How to resolve AdBlock issue? Arts & Life
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A diverse range of musical styles on the keyboard will be presented at the Soper Reese Theatre on Sunday, March 8, by seven well-known professional pianists from the region.
Musicians will combine their talent and years of experience to benefit fundraising efforts for the arts and education in Lake County.
The Lake County Friends of Mendocino College is partnering with the Soper Reese Theatre to sponsor the ninth annual Pianists Benefit Concert.
The afternoon begins at 2 p.m. with a no-host reception featuring fine regional wines from Lake and Mendocino counties, followed by the concert at 3 p.m.
A silent auction of items donated by businesses and individuals will be held during the reception and intermission. All proceeds benefit the two sponsoring organizations.
Lake County artists Tom Ganoung and David Neft will be joined by Mendocino County performers Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Patrick Fitzgerald, Elizabeth MacDougall, and Ed Reinhart. The concert will feature all the pianists on stage throughout the performance as they converse about their life experiences and play a variety of musical selections.
Persons or businesses interested in supporting this fundraising effort are invited to become sponsors. Sponsors receive preference for premium reserved seats. Please contact the Soper Reese Theatre at 707-263-0577.
Sponsors to date include Anonymous Donor, Mike Bielenberg, Bernie and Lynne Butcher, Arlene Hanlon, Susie LaPointe, Jim and Wilda Shock, and Strong Financial Network.
Tickets are $27 for regular reserved seats and $32 for premium reserved, and may be purchased online at soperreesetheatre.com or from the Travel Center, 825 S. Main St. in Lakeport, Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. The theatre is located at 275 So. Main St., Lakeport. For more information call 707-263-0577.
“The Lake County Friends, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation, was created to benefit Lake County students and programs. We are delighted that proceeds from this benefit concert will enable us to continue and expand this support,” said Wilda Shock, chairperson of Friends.
Proceeds from past concerts have funded scholarships for Lake County students at Mendocino College, a science laboratory, math and English tutors at the Lake Center, and supplies for art and ESL classes. This summer’s production of Shakespeare at the Lake in Lakeport and Clearlake will receive funds for student participation.
The Soper Reese Theatre is a restored performing arts venue operated by an all-volunteer management team under the auspices of the Lake County Arts Council. “Concert proceeds will be dedicated to the theatre’s Restroom Re-do renovation project which will modernize and expand facilities, and meet ADA standards,” according to Mike Adams, executive director.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Tolstoy said, "Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness."
I found this poem by Dorianne Laux in Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, published by Grayson Books of West Hartford, CT.
The poet, whose most recent book of poetry is Only As The Day Is Long, lives in Maine.
For the Sake of Strangers
No matter what the grief, its weight,
we are obliged to carry it.
We rise and gather momentum, the dull strength
that pushes us through crowds.
And then the young boy gives me directions
so avidly. A woman holds the glass door open,
waiting patiently for my empty body to pass through.
All day it continues, each kindness
reaching toward another—a stranger
singing to no one as I pass on the path, trees
offering their blossoms, a child
who lifts his almond eyes and smiles.
Somehow they always find me, seem even
to be waiting, determined to keep me
from myself, from the thing that calls to me
as it must have once called to them—
this temptation to step off the edge
and fall weightless, away from the world.
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 ©1994 by Dorianne Laux, "For the Sake of Strangers," from What We Carry, (BOA Editions, Ltd., 1994). Poem reprinted by permission of Dorianne Laux and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
