Posts Tagged 'Eric Shea'

CSO spotlights John Williams for night of movie music with Kaufman, Reagin

August 14, 2012·Comments closed

“I don’t think John Williams has ever been into outer space; I don’t think he’s ever ridden horses in the desert like Indiana Jones; I don’t think he’s ever been to Jurassic Park,” said Richard Kaufman, guest conductor of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.

“I think that John is an incredible dramatist,” he said, “and he understands what it is to tell a story.”

Tonight at 8:15 p.m. in the Amphitheater, the CSO will play a pops concert titled “Salute to John Williams: Celebrating the 80th Birthday of an American Treasure.” The concert will be guest conducted by Kaufman and feature CSO concertmaster Brian Reagin on violin.

Morning Lecture Recaps

Romano: Radicalism, philosophical thinking can work hand in hand

August 13, 2012·Comments closed

A radical is the root of a chord in music, the root of a number in mathematics, the root of a plant in botany. Through the centuries, it has become the reflection of an idea as a whole.

“It should not surprise that no less than Karl Marx in 1844 said that ‘To be radical is to grasp the matter by its roots,’” said literary critic Carlin Romano.

True radicals — whether in politics, science, arts, literature or architecture — must take ideas as they are, reflect on them and head toward a new direction, he said.

Romano, professor of philosophy and humanities at Ursinus College, gave a lecture titled “America the Radical” during Monday’s morning lecture in the Amphitheater to begin Week Eight, themed “Radicalism.”

Dance

Dance students showcase season’s worth of progress in Sunday gala

August 11, 2012·Comments closed

Chautauqua School of Dance students will show that they can do more than ballet at the season’s final Student Gala.

The performance at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater will be a culmination of the students’ summer work.

Apprentice, Festival and Workshop II dancers will show their versatility, performing everything from a George Balanchine work to hip-hop.

Community

Photos: Make a wish, Chautauqua

August 11, 2012·Comments closed

Chautauqua Foundation CEO Geof Follansbee, a lifelong Chautauquan, celebrates the Foundation’s 75th anniversary.

Boys’ and Girls’ Club’s SAC Girls, overall champions of the 2012 Air Band competition, perform their routine, “We Are Legends,” just before the evening’s conclusion.

A spotlight shines on Ramona Weissbard as the last Chautauquan standing during Roll Call — she has been coming to Chautauqua for 98 years.

Audience members hold up hankerchiefs and tissues to take part in the traditional “Drooping of the Lilies” exercise to honor Chautauquans “who have joined the great majority.”

To purchase reprints of any Daily photographs published in the print edition or online, please contact the Editorial Office at 716-357-6205.

Recreation & Youth

Chautauqua Golf Club opens doors to Special Olympics

August 8, 2012·Comments closed

Drives blasted down the middle of the fairway, irons struck 5 feet from the flagstick and putts rolling into the cup fill the dreams of every golfer.

At 5 p.m. every Tuesday, the Chautauqua Golf Club hosts a group of golfers who are eager to learn the game and grateful for the opportunity to play.

The Chautauqua Lakers of the Special Olympics New York golf team spend those evenings learning the game and bonding with their friends.

Visual Arts

Open Studios night showcases art students’ season of work

August 6, 2012·Comments closed

Anyone who missed the Student Exhibition in the Fowler-Kellogg Art Center last month has another chance to see the students’ work tonight at School of Art Open Studios. They can see the evolution of the work, talk with the artists about their process and buy the art. The program is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight at the School of Art.

The scene at the Art Quad has been hectic for the whole season, but today marks the beginning of “crit week,” when the students get their final feedback from professors.

“We’ve been working really hard for the past seven weeks,” said student Lynda Diane Brody, “and we’re really excited to share what we’ve done. A lot of the work relates to our experiences at Chautauqua.”

Guest Critic Reviews

CSO, Meyers leave audience amazed at the wonder

August 4, 2012·Comments closed

The noise-makers were out again Thursday evening for Maestro Andrew Litton: the super-sneezer timing an entry with the timpani in the soft beginning of Mahler’s “‘Titan’ Symphony,” and then the dogs and a few of the others.

But at the end of the evening, which included communication with Mendelssohn and Mahler, the audience walked out amazed at the wonder. It was the amazing wonder of a symphony orchestra so well led and so well informed, and of an artist as tuned to the gods as Anne Akiko Meyers, the master violinist who has made such a mark with her global performances of Mendelssohn’s esteemed Violin Concerto in E Minor.

She arrived in flowing summer whites and with her Stradivarius, and she quickly acknowledged her readiness. In this concerto, the solo instrument starts right in, and one knew it was going to be special. Not special based on fancy flourish, though there were plenty of chances for that. With Meyers, it was played not for drama, but for delectation; not for flash, but for all that is fine. Her artistry has no need for razzmatazz.

Opera

Opera’s Apprentice Artists prepare buoyant program to end their season

August 4, 2012·Comments closed

You might sit through an entire opera or Broadway show just to hear a favorite song. You buy a ticket for Carmen to hear the “Habanera” aria; you attend My Fair Lady for “I Could Have Danced All Night”; and when the orchestra swells with the introductory notes of your beloved piece, you are transported.

At 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the Amphitheater, Chautauqua Opera Company’s Apprentice Artists will sing only the favorites in their end-of-season pops concert, “Water Matters: Broadway — The Great Wet Way,” with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.

After programming the Opera Highlights concert to reflect Chautauqua’s “Water Matters” theme during Week Four, the opera staff had a long list of water-related music that did not fit in the July 14 concert. Keeping the water topic for the Apprentice Artists’ second symphony concert seemed like the obvious choice.

Symphony

Chafetz leads CSO, Apprentice Artists in second water-themed collaboration

August 4, 2012·Comments closed

“Two sticks down to one, I say,” said Stuart Chafetz, principal timpanist of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.

Saturday, he will set down his mallets and pick up his baton to conduct the Opera Young Artists Pops Concert with the CSO at 8:15 p.m. in the Amphitheater.

It has been a busy week for Chafetz. Between racing to CSO rehearsal in the morning, to opera rehearsal in the afternoon, and then back to the Amp for CSO concerts in the evening, he barely has time to breathe. But Chafetz does not let it show.

School of Music

Piano competition finalists feel pressure of last round

August 4, 2012·Comments closed

You just made it to the 17th annual Chautauqua Piano Competition finals, how do you feel?

“I feel normal,” Jie Ren said.

Ren, Jiao Sun, Michael Delfin, Rie Tanaka, Yi Qing Tang, and Lishan Xue made it the final round, which will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall. First prize is awarded $5,000 and second prize is awarded $3,000.

“I think it’s a very complicated feeling,” said Ren, who attends Lynn University, studying under Roberta Rust. “I don’t think a lot. I just want to play the music to the audience.”