State of the Arts Category Archive: Music

Next Walker Performing Arts season takes collaborations to new heights

Posted at 12:01 AM on May 17, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Jazz, Museums, Music, Theater

Philip Bither may have done the unforgivable in announcing the Walker's 2013-2014 performing arts season - he's named a favorite.

"Uh-oh, you caught me on that - don't tell any of the other artists" he laughs.

Perhaps luckily the curator's top pick comes up first in the new season announced today. The Nature Theater of Oklahoma -- "They actually took their name from a Kafka novel," said Bither -- will perform "Life and Times," a multi-part show based on a mammoth phone call with an ordinary American woman.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma performing "Life and Times" (All images courtesy Walker Art Center)

Bither says that when they began talking, they thought they would just chat for about 60 minutes.

"They ended up with 11 hours of her life," which they took, "ums" and all, and created a musical theater piece about everything the woman could remember, he says. The final show lasts eight hours. Bither saw it in Europe and was enthralled.

"I found myself remembering my earlier childhood memories while watching this woman's struggle to bring to life her earliest memories:The neighbor who scared her next door; What her dad smelled like when he came home from work. And I sense that the entire audience was going through a similar process," he said.

Bither isn't bringing the full "Life and Times" to the Walker, just the early part, which runs three hours.

"And it takes you from the earliest baby memories to the third grade. And you end at the third grade," he said.

Bither clearly takes great joy from his work, and delights in describing it all. He points out the way performance has changed in recent years, and how the convergence of disciplines is apparent in the season.

"I think the age we live in is an age of intense content and the digital era allows people to draw from many sources, and the notions of a defined type of artform just called dance or just called theater is going away," he said. "Younger artists and I think very contemporary artists are thinking about just creating performances, and it draws from many disciplines that we used to think of as separate, including visual art, and architecture, and literature and movement."

Another element which is great to see in the season is the number of performances which feature national or international figures collaborating with Minnesota artists.

"If there's opportunities for leading forces in our community to collaborate with someone nationally or internationally and the Walker can help play a role of bringing people together, we think it's a fabulous thing for us to be able to do," said Bither.

Thus Minnesota composer and director Aparna Ramaswamy, and her choreographic partner and co-artistic director, Ranee will work with award-winning jazz saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa to create a new piece called "Song of the Jasmine."

Also several local musicians including Polica lead singer Channy Leaneagh will collaborate with Seattle-based songwriter Jherek Bischoff for a piece called "Composed"

One of photographer Mitch Epstein's images for "American Power"

Cellist Erik Friedlander will perform a piece "American Power" using photographs and videos by Mitch Epstein to explore American's relationship with energy.

And in January there will be the 26th year of the Walker's exploration of the cutting edge of theater in "Out There."

"What we love about 'Out there ' is it gives people a passport to try the unexpected," Bither said. "Our audiences usually have never heard of these companies, but they know that January is a month of great adventure and great fun at the Walker."

Bither also highlights the visit by the Trisha Brown Dance Company which will disband soon, and will perform its final midwestern concert at the Walker in March. There will also be a 20th anniversary celebration of Twin Cities choreographers Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder, known as HIJACK (seen left.)

And there is the latest visit by French performer Jerome Bel who will come with Theater Hora, a Swiss company featuring actors with disabilities, who don't play characters in the production, but instread, themselves.

"And it makes I think in some ways the audience both feel quiet voyeuristic and uncomfortable and at other times you realize that the company are the voyeurs and they are all lined up looking at us," said Bither.

Bither will explain it all and provide more than a few clips at a season preview on Thursday Sept. 5.

OCTOBER

THEATER: Nature Theater of Oklahoma Life and Times, Episode 1.
Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 26-28, 7 p.m.

MUSIC/FILM: Sam Green and Yo La Tengo, "The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller."
Friday, Oct.11, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

MUSIC: "Composed," by Jherek Bischoff, with special guests Sondre Lerche, Greg Saunier, Ólöf Arnalds and Channy Leaneagh and others.
Friday, Oct. 18, 8 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange Street, St. Paul. Co-presented with the SPCO'S Liquid Music series and in association with Minnesota Public Radio.

MUSIC: CocoRosie Saturday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.
The Cedar, 416 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis.

NOVEMBER

MUSIC/FILM: Erik Friedlander and Mitch Epstein, "American Power."
Friday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
World Premiere/Walker Commission

MUSIC: Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never.
Saturday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.
Copresented with the SPCO's Liquid Music series.

DANCE: Jérôme Bel/Theater Hora Disabled Theater.
Thursday, Nov. 21; Saturday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m.

DANCE: Choreographers' Evening Curated by Chris Yon and Taryn Griggs
Saturday, Nov. 30, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

DECEMBER

DANCE: HIJACK at 20 redundant, ready, reading, radish, Red Eye.
Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 5-7, 8 p.m.
World Premiere/Walker Commission.

JANUARY

THEATER: Out There 2014: "New World Visions."
Jan. 9 - Feb. 1, 2014

Wunderbaum and LAPD Hospital
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 9-11, 8 p.m.

Niwagekidan Penino: "The Room, Nobody Knows."
Thursday, Jan. 16, 8 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Jan. 17-18, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

Clément Layes/Public in Private: "Allege"
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 23-25, 8 p.m.

Lola Arias: "The Year I Was Born"
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 30 -Feb. 1, 8 p.m.

FEBRUARY

MUSIC: Olga Bell, "Origin/Outcome" with special guests Tom Vek and Angel Deradoorian
Thursday, February 13, 8 p.m.
World premiere, co-presented with the SPCO's Liquid Music series and the American Composers Forum.

DANCE: luciana achugar: "Otro Teatro"
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 27 - March 1, 8 p.m.
Walker Commission/World Premiere

MARCH

DANCE: Trisha Brown Dance Company Farewell Theatrical Tour, "Works for the Stage 1983-2011."
Wednesday-Saturday, March 12-15, 8 p.m.

DANCE: Companhia Urbana de Dança Na Pista and ID, "ENTIDADES"
Thursday-Saturday, March 27-29, 8 p.m.

APRIL

MUSIC: Brad Mehldau and Chris Thile, "Intuitive Expression: A Brad Mehldau Celebration"
Tuesday, April 8, 8 p.m.

MUSIC: Brad Mehldau Trio
Wednesday, April 9, 8 p.m.

MUSIC: Burnt Sugar--The Arkestra Chamber, "Any World That I'm Welcome To: The Steely Dan Conductions."
Saturday, April or May, TBD

MAY

DANCE/MUSIC: Ragamala Dance and Rudresh Mahanthappa, "Song of the Jasmine
World Premiere/Walker Commission"
Thursday-Sunday, May 15-18.

Proposed MnOrch talks next week now unlikely

Posted at 6:24 PM on May 15, 2013 by Euan Kerr (9 Comments)
Filed under: Music

6.15pm UPDATES WITH MANAGEMENT REACTION

The locked out musicians of the Minnesota claimed today that management refuses to give them information requested in advance of possible negotiation dates at the end of the month. Meanwhile a letter from management attorney Paul Zech says the lack of a response by 5pm today from the musicians to dates offered for negotiations will be taken as a rejection of the offer.

n In a release from the musicians lead negotiator Tim Zavadil says "The lack of transparency from management is troubling to the Musicians, the public, and Minnesota's legislative auditor, Basic artistic and financial information about the Orchestra is being withheld to seemingly to stall negotiations."

The musicians sent a list of questions last week saying that getting them answered would make talks productive.

The musicians say they have received some of the financial information requested, but no response to some of the other questions including what management proposes to do about the threatened resignation of Music Director Osmo Vanska and the possible departures of Concertmaster Erin Keefe and star player Burt Hara.

A representative of the musicians say they are still likely to meet with management.

However a release from the orchestra management states many of the questions were not germaine to the negotiations, and semed to be part of a pattern to avoid serious negotiations.

Now that the deadline is passed, the release continues, "the Board will proceed with other options for resuming negotiations.".

Meanwhile the Minnesota Chorale, which derives most of its income from performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, says the current lock out is forcing it to cut its staff pay and hours in half. Executive director Bob Peskin says the Chorale's board made the cuts reluctantly.

"With no resolution to the impasse between the Minnesota Orchestra and its musicians, we have to be able to make the plans that will keep the Minnesota Chorale a viable and vital organization," Peskin said today.

He says the lockout threatens the Chorale's future and describes it as "A really painful and almost impossible situation, but the reality is we have no indication as to how things might get resolved at the ochestra and we have to proceed."

Peskin says the cuts will go into effect July 1st, and will apply to six chorale employees. He says despite the financial stress the Chorale is continuing with its 40th anniversary season using grant funds for the performances.

Art Hounds: FOB, Get on the Grid, and Duluth goes 'Underground'

Posted at 8:25 AM on May 16, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Music, Theater

The Underground, a new arts venue in Duluth. (Photo courtesy of The Underground)

This week, a multi-generational perspective on the Chinese immigrant experience, a new venue that's enlivening the Duluth art scene, and a networking party for part time musicians.

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Musician and attorney Gillian Brennan has the desire but not the time to meet similarly situated musicians to collaborate with. Enter local guitar wizard and music educator Mike Michel with Get on the Grid, a networking group that fosters partnerships between serious but not career-minded musicians. Get on the Grid will hold its next networking party this Sunday, May 19 at Icehouse in Minneapolis from 2:30 to 5:30pm.

Minneapolis visual artist and poet Simi Kang is an admirer of the playwright David Hwang, author of "M. Butterfly" and "Yellow Face," as a chronicler of the Asian American experience. Simi says Hwang's first play, "FOB," is being staged at the Southdale Library on Saturday, May 18th at 2pm. It's part of Hennepin County Library's Spice and Slice of Asian America series.

The Underground, says Duluth actor and director Lawrence Lee, has opened just in the nick of time for Duluth's burgeoning art scene. It's in the basement of the Depot, where several local arts groups are headquartered. Lawrence says the space has great architectural beauty and flexibility as a venue.

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Hmong-American hip hop hits a vinyl milestone

Posted at 2:46 PM on May 14, 2013 by Jon Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Music

Vinyl is back... as in vinyl records. And there's a new release that collectors may want to check out.

With the help of a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Minnesota man recently released what appears to be the first vinyl record put out by a Hmong-American musician.

Fres Thao is a hip-hop artist and poet who lives in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. His new album is called Mind Full Of.

Thao said he was drawn to vinyl partly because the medium plays such an important role in hip-hop history.

"When I first started music, I was torn between becoming a rapper/poet and becoming a DJ," Thao said. "I guess this is my way of just combining both of them."

That wasn't the only unorthodox choice for Thao. He also collaborated on the record with a collective of Hmong-American musicians calling themselves The Pupils of the Storm.

"You really have to have a connection, a chemistry with the musicians if you're planning on doing a full live band, versus rapping to a loop or CD," Thao said. "It's just not as dynamic."

Thao said much of the music created by younger Hmong-American rappers echoes traditional forms of storytelling in Hmong culture.

"Although there's a big generation gap, if you really look at a big picture, a lot of these young hip-hop MCs are pretty much doing what our elders are doing, just storytelling in a form of poetry to a certain pattern," Thao said.

In the fifteen years he's been involved in hip hop, Thao said his focus has shifted.

"I started off as an egotistical rapper, a hungry rapper is what they call it, it was always about competition," Thao said. "Now I'm at the point where I've learned to appreciate everything and become a lot more aware of what's happening around me."

Mind Full Of is available digitally online. If you want the vinyl version, Thao said it will be in local shops soon.

Minnesota Orchestra returns $100,000 in unused grant money

Posted at 2:31 PM on May 10, 2013 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

As the Minnesota Orchestra's lockout continues, it's creating a backlog of grant money intended for projects that have been stalled.

According to Director of Public Relations Gwen Pappas, the orchestra has received approximately 20 grants for the 2012-13 season.

Approximately $100,000 in grant money has been returned.

"How we have handled these depends on whether it is a restricted operating grant (for a specific project) or a general operating grant. With restricted grants, in cases where the donor/foundation wishes to move the project and funding forward we have done so. In cases where it doesn't make sense to "relocate" a project, we have returned funding. With general operating grants, in most cases the donors/foundations have continued to support general operating costs."

This week the Minnesota Orchestra announced it's canceling the rest of the concerts scheduled for this season, while proposing a three week summer concert series.

This just days after the National Endowment for the Arts gave the orchestra a grant for $40,000 for a previously planned summer music program.

Pappas says the orchestra is asking for an extension on the grant to be used in the next season. It's already been granted an extension on another NEA grant from last winter.

The Minnesota Orchestra has sequestered its general operating funds from the State of Minnesota until a negotiated settlement has been reached.

Art Hounds: Confess, Rupert Angeleyes, and a fairy tale for fearful parents

Posted at 7:45 AM on May 9, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater, Writing

Nathan Keepers & Christina Baldwin in The Moving Company's "Out of the Pan, Into the Fire" (Photo credit: Dominique Serrand)

The hounds are on the trail of a literary party that coaxes confessions out of revelers, a twisted, fantastical piece of theater and introspective bedroom pop.

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Danette Olson can't shake the experience of seeing The Moving Company's "Out of the Pan, Into the Fire." Not that she wants to. Danette, who's a board member of Festival Theatre in St. Croix Falls, Wis., calls the original work a multi-layered, metaphoric fairy tale about fear which will penetrate the heart of any parent. Through May 26 at the Southern Theater.

Paper Darts co-founder Courtney Algeo is giving props to fellow local literary magazine Revolver for conceiving a party where celebrants spend the evening visiting booths, making confessions and sharing secrets with strangers. The party is called "Confess," and it's happening at the Thorp Building in Northeast Minneapolis on Saturday, May 11 from 8:00 - midnight, with music from DJ Shannon Blowtorch.

Minneapolis printmaker and graphic designer Paige Guggemos has been captivated by the weird, edgy pop of Rupert Angeleyes for a while now. It's the solo project of Minneapolis musician Kyle Sobczak, who makes experimental, inward looking pop in the studio that really comes alive on stage with the help of a backing band. Rupert Angeleyes' next gig is Friday, May 10th, at Icehouse in Minneapolis.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Bruce Coppock returns to lead the SPCO

Posted at 10:27 PM on May 7, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

The former leader of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is returning to his old job. The SPCO has hired Bruce Coppock to re-assume his former position of president and general manager, beginning in June.

Coppock led the SPCO from 1999 to 2008. He left the orchestra after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, which is now in complete remission.

Coppock says healing an ensemble that's been through a bitter labor dispute will be a challenge, but he believes he can provide a steady hand as a manager and leader.

"For all the difficulties of the past year, and we all know this has been an extremely difficult year, the SPCO is a wonderful orchestra, and it's a wonderful organization," said Coppock. "I believe firmly that there's a very bright future for the orchestra and that's why I took the job."

Coppock says the healing process will begin by returning to the music.

"Let's get concerts going back on stage. Let's get the audience back. Let's get the audience, the staff, the board and the musicians all in the same room focused on music. I think that's the place to start."

Coppock says he also wants to instill a culture of kindness and civility at the SPCO.

Coppock's appointment is expected to be formally ratified by the board on May 21. The SPCO cited Coppock's managerial experience, fundraising expertise and knowledge of the organization in naming him to the post. Coppock will replace interim president Dobson West in June.

The announcement comes as the SPCO is preparing for its first official concert since the lockout ended. The chamber orchestra is scheduled to play a concert May 9 at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley.

This week: Five local arts stories you shouldn't miss

Posted at 12:04 PM on May 3, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Funding, Galleries, Music

It's been a busy week, and I've been off my blogging game because I was filling in on The Daily Circuit. So here's a quick recap to bring you up to speed.

MPR Photo/Euan Kerr

1. SPCO musicians ratify contract, ending months-long lockout

On Monday SPCO musicians ratified a new three-year contract, ending a lockout that lasted 191 days.

The new contract will reduce musicians' annual pay by $15,000, include a retirement buyout for musicians 55 and older, and reduce the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28 players.

Now musicians and management must begin the work of repairing strained relations.

Portrait of Osmo Vanska by Ann Marsden

2. Osmo Vanska threatens to quit Mn Orch if musicians' lockout isn't solved

On Thursday Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vanska sent a letter to management stating the orchestra needs to be rehearsing by early September to have enough time to prepare for an appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall in November.

He called the Carnegie Hall performance one of the most significant goals of his tenure, and said if the appearance is cancelled because Carnegie Hall officials "lose confidence in our ability to perform those concerts as a result of the extended lockout," he will be forced to resign as music director.

Striped Robe, Fruit, and Anemones (1940) by Henri Matisse
Image courtesy of the MIA

3. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts will host a Matisse exhibition in February 2014

This week the MIA announced a new exhibition will be coming to Minneapolis next year featuring 80 works by the French master. The exhibition comes from the Baltimore Museum of Art's collection, which boasts one of the most comprehensive collections of Matisse's work in the world.

Art lovers packed Burnet Gallery Thursday night in support Simpson Housing
Image courtesy of Burnet Gallery

4. Artists raise more than $50,000 for the homeless... in two hours.

Last night Art 4 Shelter held its annual fundraiser at Burnet Gallery in Minneapolis. The event features original works on paper - almost all of it 5x7 in size. The more than 1400 works of art sold for $30 a piece, which happens to be the amount of money it takes Simpson Housing to care for one homeless person for one night (including a clean bed, warm meals, and counseling services). In addition, a selection of 8x10 works sold for $150 each, and generous folks could make additional donations to a "giving tree." As a result, artists and art lovers managed to provide shelter for many of their fellow Minnesotans for the coming year.

John Munger
Photo by Scott J. Pakudaitis

5. The Twin Cities arts community mourns the loss of John Munger.

Early this week the Twin Cities performing arts community learned of the death of longtime dancer John Munger. Munger was a sort of irascible uncle to the local dance scene, continuing to dance when other dancers might have felt too self conscious about their age and physique. He was also a great writer - you can read samples of his work in a lovely remembrance assembled by TC Daily Planet's Jay Gabler.

Art Hounds: Speechless films, inmate artists, and girls who have rhythm

Posted at 7:45 AM on May 2, 2013 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Film, Music, Painting

"Prison Cell" by Schavitz, an inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. The piece is part of "Out of the Abyss: The Prison Art Project" at the Bloomington Art Center.

This week, a Bloomington art exhibition arising out of the despair of imprisonment, a Mankato festival celebrating films which strictly limit dialogue, and another festival which places women who rock on a pedestal.

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Ex-Soviettes drummer Danny Henry has played with and admired women rockers for years. Danny, co-host of the Jazzed Up and Bonkers podcast, is giving advance notice for the Girls got Rhythm Fest Rock and Roll Weekend at the Amsterdam Bar in St. Paul, May 10th and 11th. Danny is particularly interested in San Francisco punk rockers The Avengers, who are appearing at the fest on Friday, May 10. He says The Avengers introduced him to punk rock.

For revealing, disturbing, sometimes painful insights into life behind bars, artist and curator John Schuerman highly recommends "Out of the Abyss: The Prison Art Project" at the Bloomington Art Center. John says the exhibition was expertly curated by William Murray, an instructor at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater for 30 years. Murray has divided the show into his personal collection of art gifted to him by inmate students, and his own unsettling mixed media pieces reflecting on his tenure at the prison.

Gibbon, Minn. painter Gwen Ruff thinks that removing an essential component from an art form can pose an interesting creative challenge for artists. So it makes sense Gwen would be drawn to the Speechless Film Festival in Mankato, which consists of films which have little or no dialogue. The Speechless Film Festival is being presented by Bethany Lutheran College at the Mankato Place Theater and the Mankato Event Center on May 3rd and 4th.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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SPCO lockout comes to an end

Posted at 9:44 PM on April 29, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians have voted to ratify a new three-year contract with management. The vote means the seven month musician lockout will end at 12:01 Tuesday morning. The SPCO will also resume its concert schedule on May 9th.

"We really look at this now having the SPCO positioned where we will be financially sustainable and we will be able to be artistically vibrant as we move forward," said SPCO Interim President Dobson West. West says the agreement puts the orchestra on a more sustainable path.

The new contract reduces musician pay by approximately $15,000 a year, cuts the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28 players, and offers a voluntary retirement buyout to musicians 55 and older.

Musician negotiating committee member Carole Mason Smith says the musicians voted in favor of the settlement because they knew how important it was to resume the concert schedule before this season ended.

"If we didn't get back on the stage this spring, it would cause even more harm to the organization down the road. And because we care about the future of the orchestra, the negotiating committee strongly recommended this agreement, and the orchestra voted to approve it."

Meanwhile, musicians say to move beyond the bitter lockout, the SPCO needs to find a new leader with proven orchestra management experience who can greatly increase revenues.

Art Hounds: Jace Clayton, MSPIFF, and the hills are alive in Nordeast

Posted at 7:45 AM on April 25, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music

DJ Rupture (Photo by Erez Avissar/Courtesy of Pitchfork)

This week, globalization as interpreted by the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, The Morris Park Players are dressing like nuns, and a producer drops his DJ moniker and embraces minimalist piano at the SPCO.

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Charisse Gendron thinks the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, even in its remaining four days, has a lot to teach would-be citizens of the world. Charisse, an MIA grant writer and local film blogger, advises to pick films and directors from countries with the richest film traditions. Through April 28th at St. Anthony Main Theater in Minneapolis.

Arts public relations consultant Christopher James says the St. Paul Chamber Music Series Liquid Music Series provides a unique glimpse at the broadening horizons of classical music. Christopher is especially excited about the next installment, which features Jace Clayton, aka DJ Rupture, electronically experimenting with the minimalist piano pieces of African American composer Julius Eastman. Tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow at 8pm at the SPCO Center.

Twin Cities costume maker and visual artist Kathleen Richert was caught a little by surprise by the Morris Park Players' production of the classic musical, "The Sound of Music." Kathleen says the more-than-40-performer production by the more-than-50-year-old Northeast Minneapolis community theater was absolutely top notch, even though there were no Alps in the background.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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SPCO contract deadline pushed back

Posted at 2:20 PM on April 22, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Today's 5pm deadline for a vote on a new St. Paul Chamber Orchestra contract has been pushed back to April 29th.

SPCO musician negotiators told management over the weekend they couldn't present the new contract offer for a vote until it was in its final form.They wanted some language in the agreement, especially pertaining to the increased role the musicians want to play in managerial decisions, to be more specific.

An SPCO spokeswoman says management has submitted a revised proposal containing some minor adjustments. Musicians will then be allowed to submit their ratification votes through the mail, to be completed by April 29th. The SPCO says the new time frame will still allow concerts to resume on May 9th, provided the agreement is ratified by musicians.

Dreamland Faces bring 'fear and excitement' to kids' songs

Posted at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2013 by Jon Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Music

(Dreamland Faces performs; Photo courtesy of Marcus Metropolis.)

Many parents struggle to find music for their children that can also be tolerated by adults.

But a Minneapolis band called Dreamland Faces will test their serious musical chops against young attention spans in a concert for kids this weekend. And it might appeal to grown-ups too.

Musical saw player Andy McCormick said it's difficult to pin down the genre of Dreamland Faces, which also includes stradella accordion and a host of guest instruments like organs and double bass.

"We sound like an accordion with some kind of whining instrument played over it, that's my musical saw," McCormick said. "And we're not afraid to sound a little strange."

McCormick and accordionist Karen Majewicz began playing in a Rochester, New York piano bar about a decade ago. The group now features a revolving cast of between two and eight musicians, who take their unique sound everywhere from movie theaters to dive bars.

Dreamland Faces performs original material, as well as songs they like from composers they feel are underrated, like Alec Wilder. The group plans to perform many of Wilder's short songs from his collection "Lullabies and Night Songs" at the concert on Saturday.

"We like a lot of them because they're sort of violent," McCormick said. "Some of them are about cannibalism, some are about eating children."

In previous shows where children were present, McCormick said his musical saw has been the star, eliciting a mix of "fear and excitement" from young listeners whose first reactions seems to be to try and touch the very sharp instrument.

"We've done a few kids shows that we really enjoyed, and I think for this one, I'm just going to try to be loud and obnoxious, because I enjoy that," McCormick said. "It is, after all, a kids' show at a bar in the morning."

Dreamland Faces will play the children's concert on Saturday, April 20 at The Icehouse in Minneapolis. It will be hosted by The Current's Barb Abney.

SPCO management announces national deal: sets Monday deadline for local vote

Posted at 1:31 PM on April 18, 2013 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Music

UPDATED 5.45 PM with musician reaction
Management of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra announced today it has reached an agreement on electronic media rights with the American Federation of Musicians.

A tentative local contract agreement with the locked out musicians was dependant on reaching a deal with the AFM. Management says it will end the lockout on Tuesday if SPCO musicians to accept the local deal by 5 PM Monday.

Interim SPCO President Dobson West says the tight timeline is governed by the desire to preserve the remnants of the SPCO season

"It's important for us in order to get as many concerts in as possible that we meet that deadline," he said. "If we meet that deadline we will not need to cancel any additional concerts so that we will be able to start up concerts on the 9th of May."

The musicians however aren't happy about the deadline. Negotiating Committee Co-chair Carole Mason Smith said they only learned about it yesterday. Union regulations require players to be physically present for a ratification vote, and they need a quorum of 20 musicians. Many have been playing in other cities, and even countries, during the dispute, and it is unclear if they will be able to gather to vote in time to meet the deadline.

However West says he is hopeful.

"We have been told that there is a possibility that they could vote this weekend and ratify the contract so that is what we are pushing for and that is what we hope they will do."

Carole Mason Smith says another irritation is the musicians request for sheet music to begin rehearsing for a return to the stage have been denied until there is a deal in place.
(Image: MPR file photo)

MnOrch musicians accept invitation to meet with board

Posted at 3:20 PM on April 17, 2013 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music

After months of asking it looks as though members of the Minnesota Orchestra musicians negotiating committee will meet with the Orchestra Board on April 28th.

The musicians announced the meeting today, a week after receiving an invitation from the board.

Management steadfastly refused such a meeting for several months, but recently had a change of heart in its current effort to remove possible obstructions to reaching a deal.

The news of the meeting comes one day after musicians reacted angrily to a management decision to go forward with an independent analysis of the orchestra's finances without the agreement of the musicians. Orchestra management said the analysis requested by the musicians was overly broad as it was going to examine artistic decisions and board performance.

However musicians argue that information is vital if they are going to make an informed counter-offer to a management contract proposal first put forward in April 2012. They say an analysis done by just one side cannot be considered independent.

"Like klezmer on speed" - Local film maker explores Serbian brass music

Posted at 3:25 PM on April 17, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Music

Adam Pogoff admits he is hooked. His addiction? The Serbian brass music he discovered as a teenager growing up in Minnesota, which he now explores in his new movie "Brasslands" which screens Saturday evening at the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival.

"For people who have listened to klezmer music, I describe it as klezmer on speed," he said from his current home in New York. "It's incredibly contagious. It's incredibly hard NOT to like because of the fast driving rhythms and the interactions between these really fiery, incendiary, virtuosic soloists."

He says when the trumpets start, you can't help but react.

"Something like a switch goes off, and I have to move," he said. "I have to dance and I have to immerse myself in the sound."

"Players in the crowd at the Guča trumpet festival in "Brasslands." (All images courtesy Adam Pogoff)

His musical obsession and his career as a film maker came together with a bang one day about five years ago.

"I found out about the 50th anniversary of this largest brass band competition in the world and it took me about 30 seconds to decide whether or not I was going to go over there and document this occasion."

In "Brasslands" a US musician likens the Guča trumpet festival to Woodstock in its scale and cultural importance in Serbia. Hundreds of thousands of people descend on a small Serbian town to listen drink and dance.

Guča trumpet festival in full swing

Pogoff began filming long before he went to Guča however. The New York based band Zlatne Uste (which means 'Golden Lips' in Serbian) first appeared at the festival almost three decades ago

""I started by signing up to do Balkan folk-dancing classes so I could get to know the members in the band who also taught the classes," Pogoff said.

The band show befriended him and Pogoff arranged for his film crew to travel to Serbia with them. He says they tried to work out which other bands they should film when they got there, but then reality kicked in.

"Once we got to Serbia, it was a case of see what happens as we go along," he said. We got very lucky in who we got matched up with, the best trumpeter in the world in 2010."

"We had a total 10 people in four separate film crews that we would dispatch in the morning and reconvene and find out what we had gathered," Pogoff continued. He admits even as a lover of the music, the festival was overload. "It was overwhelming all the time."

Zlatne Uste joins the parade at the Guča trumpet festival

On returning from Serbia the hard work continued. "Brasslands" was made by the Meerkat Media Collective, an film organization which depends on voluntary work from a lot of people. As executive producer Adam Pogoff worked with a core team of 10 writers, who gathered every week for almost three years.

They knew they had a great story with the music and the musicians, but they always talked about how to mix in Serbia's volatile politics and recent history. Pogoff said as they edited the film they kept showing the cuts to members of the Serbian community, and cultural historians to get their feedback.

"Most people in the States, what they know of the Balkans, and Serbia in particular, is war," said Pogoff. He says the writers wanted to strike a balance where the film acknowledges the legacy of the war, but focuses on the music.

"It de-emphasizes the really complex history, but instead references rather than dwell on it," Pogoff said.

When asked who might be the audience for "Brasslands" he says there are many Serbian music fans out there. He also sees the music's influence in a lot of it in popular music with bands like Beirut, Gogol Bordello, and Balkan Beat Box.

The Saturday night "Brasslands" screening at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival will be the documentary's first public showing.

It's also Pogoff's first trip back to Minneapolis in five years. Is he nervous?

"Hell, yeah I am nervous. I am super nervous," he laughed. But he also thinks it will be fun.

"I am going to be reconnecting with a lot of people who I haven't seen since high school," he said. He's looking forward to hearing reactions to the film. "I think the scale of the movie will be a surprise to everyone. It's really an epic journey, and I can't wait to bring it home."

MnOrch management launches its own financial analysis, cancels concerts

Posted at 6:42 PM on April 16, 2013 by Euan Kerr (12 Comments)
Filed under: Music

UPDATED WITH MUSICIAN REACTION 6.45pm
Citing frustration over lack of progress in discussions with locked-out musicians over an independent analysis of the orchestra's finances, management at the Minnesota Orchestra today announced it has launched a study on its own. The musicians are however crying foul, saying it's management doing the foot-dragging

Management also canceled concerts through May 12th.

If you haven't been following this closely, here is a quick play-by-play: today's move is the latest twist in an argument which has been going on for months. Musicians requested the independent analysis back in August, saying it needed the information to make an informed counter-proposal to the management contract offer presented in April last year. Management refused for several months, saying the organization's annual audits should be sufficient. After the last contract lapsed at the end of September management locked out musicians on October 1st.

Things seemed to be taking a turn for the positive in early January when management said it would join with the musicians for the analysis in order to move the negotiations forward. However discussions since then have only produced an agreement on who would do the analysis. Even then the two sides had to pick two analysts because they couldn't agree on one and, on top of that, the names were kept confidential.

Today's development comes after management says it grew frustrated with the lack of progress. Orchestra President Michael Henson says the orchestra board decided to move forward on its own when the musicians insisted the scope of the analysis extend beyond simple finances.

"And unfortunately we began to see those parameters expand to include an examination of our artistic decision-making process and the quality and effectiveness of the board," Henson said this afternoon. The board decided to move on with an analysis on narrower terms.

However musicians say management has stepped out of line. They say management and musicians had agreed to a framework for the study. Then the players say management wanted the following language inserted in the agreement. "It is understood that this financial analysis/review is not intended nor will it encompass subjective matters such as the artistic quality of the music director or the musicians, the comparative quality of other orchestras, programming decisions, performance of management or staff, or board quality/competency."

The musicians objected to this language, and said so.

Tim Zavadil, chair of the Musicians Negotiating committee says the examining the artistic decisions, board performance and making the comparisons with other orchestras is what makes this an analysis as opposed to an audit.
He says the musicians were under the impression they were still talking about how to do the analysis and he was flabbergasted to hear management has decided to go ahead on its own instead of together with the musicians
"That would be the best way to go, to do it jointly," Zavadil said this afternoon. "I am sure if we did one they would say well that's just one that the musicians did on their own. I don't know what our response will be if they release this information."

Management hired Anthony Knerr, managing director of AKA Strategy to do the analysis. He has had no connection with the Minnesota orchestra up till now. Henson says he expects the results of the study to be available by the end of May and they will be shared with the musicians. A fundraising feasibility study to judge whether there might be more fundraising capacity within the Minnesota community for classical music is already underway, with results expected by mid-May.

Henson says he remains hopeful that musicians will present a counterproposal soon so negotiations can begin.

He says the round of cancellations announced today through May 12th are an extension of that hope.

"It's important to stress we still have concerts that go through to early June," he said. "And we are still very much hoping to stage Sommerfest. So there is potentially very much music-making in the summer."

However the musician's Tim Zavadil says he doesn't know how this can go forward. He says the paycuts management wants to make in the musicians contract is like asking the players to make a $5 million investment in the orchestra, and any investor considering such an investment would want information about the long-term prospects of a company in question.

He points out how management initially resisted the idea of an analysis. "And now when we thought we were still discussing the parameters, they claim they are going ahead without us. It's almost like they liked the idea so much they have stolen it."

Art Hounds: Fatoumata Diawara, Edward Curtis, and Ibsen in Lanesboro

Posted at 7:45 AM on April 11, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater

Fatoumata Diawara, aka Fatou, will be playing at the Cedar Cultural Center Friday, April 12. (Photo by Youri Lenquette)

This week, a charismatic pan-African performer, a visionary photographer of Native Americans, and a festival dedicated to Norway's most celebrated playwright.

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Scandanavian art, food, fashion and culture will become the obsession of Lanesboro residents this weekend, and sculptor Karl Unnasch can't wait. The 16th annual Ibsen Festival gets underway in the picturesque river bluff town, organized by Commonweal Theatre and anchored by Commonweal's production of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of the Ibsen classic, "A Doll's House." The festival runs April 12-14.

If there is an artist St. Paul photographer Tom Arndt tries to emulate, it's Edward Curtis. Around the turn of the 20th century, Curtis, who at one time lived in St. Paul, began photographing Native Americans in stunning gold tone and platinum prints which to this day haven't lost any of their luster or grandeur. Tom says Curtis' work elevated and celebrated Native culture in a way that wasn't occurring in America back then. Curtis' photographs of American Indians hang at the Minneapolis Photo Center through April 28 in an exhibition called "Driven by a Dream."

The sound of Fatoumata Diawara singing sometimes transports Minneapolis poet Nimo Farah to an African desert where Nimo imagines she's sipping tea and feeling peaceful. Diawara is a songwriter and performer who has become a poignant voice for women across Africa. She's playing the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Friday, April 12.

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SPCO deadline passes: board to discuss orchestra future tomorrow

Posted at 5:06 PM on April 8, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

After a day of apparently frenetic behind the scenes discussions the deadline to save the remainder of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra season has passed at 5 p.m. and it appears the effort has failed.

It was a whiplash day of letters and phone calls flying among the two sides and St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman who for the last three weeks has been trying to facilitate a deal to save the season.

Just before 8 am when the musicians announced they were rejecting a management proposal issued last Friday.

In a letter to Mayor Coleman the musicians said none of the changes in the revised contract proposal offered last week resolve the concerns musicians have with the offer. Those include how to deal with broadcast and Internet usage of SPCO performances, which has become a major bone of contention involving the national union, the American Federation of Musicians

Musician negotiator Lynn Erickson said she was worried by they prospect of a loss of the rest of the season.

"It's a huge deal," she said. "We really want to be back playing concerts and we had hoped that we would be able to come to an agreement by today and we worked really hard to come to 'yes' but we are still not there. And I think that management should look at our proposal from April 2nd and give us a concrete counterproposal."

However management very quickly rejected that proposal last week, and again today because management says it actually adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of the contract which it can't afford.

In Mayor Coleman's response to the musicians sent around noon he asked the musicians to reconsider the management proposal they had just rejected. In his letter he went through the musicians issues one by one, and said he believed the proposal addresses all of them satisfactorily.

He concluded: "None of your remaining concerns...rise to the level of importance that would be worth jeopardizing the long-term viability of this orchestra. I urge all the musicians to work together to save this Saint Paul treasure. "

Both the musicians and management say they are grateful to the Mayor for getting involved in the discussion, and getting more proposals on the table, however it seems his efforts were not enough.

Interim SPCO president Dobson West says SPCO management will now begin serious discussions about what happens next.

"We are having a board meeting tomorrow at which we will be in executive session discussing the future of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra," he said. "As you know the issues go well beyond simply the cancellation of the balance of the season."

West says that because of the dispute the 2013-2014 season has not been announced yet, and usually by this point in the year they would have been selling subscriptions and tickets. He says fundraising is taking a hit, and they may have to look at perhaps even suspending operations.

West said this has been such an unusual dispute with its twists and turns we have learned to never say never, and there may be a way to save the season. However he says it does look bad.

With season cancellation looming SPCO management makes new offer

Posted at 6:32 PM on April 5, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

After another intervention by St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra management offered a new proposal late Friday afternoon in a bid to prevent the cancellation of the rest of the SPCO season.

Coleman relayed the news to the musicians in a letter. He encouraged the musicians to consider the offer which covers five areas of concern: compensation for subs and replacements players, protection from retaliation after the end of the lock-out, use of rehearsal recordings, changes in the artistic review process to protect musicians and finally the so-called Integrated Media Agreement.

The document is not long, but it sets up a series of dates and decisions which management says have to be completed to save the rest of the SPCO season.

Lets go through it.

First management had set a deadline of 5 PM Monday for a deal to prevent the cancellation of the rest of the SPCO season.

Now it's prepared to push that deadline back a week providing musician negotiators agree by 5 PM Monday to put the new proposal to the musicians for a vote along with a recommendation to approve. There will still be concert cancellations for logistical reasons, but only through May 5th

This latest proposal is management's attempt to deal with the thorny issue of the Integrated Media Agreement, or IMA, which governs the use of SPCO material for broadcast and on the Internet. The musicians argue these matters can only be negotiated by the national American Federation of Musicians. In fact the AFM can order the local union not to vote on a proposal if it contains elements which the national union believes are covered by the IMA.

This seems to be a major log-jam preventing an agreement. Management says it has removed all material regarding electronic media covered by the IMA from their local proposal. However musicians said just two days ago management's last proposal was still contingent on a national agreement, and the two could not be linked.

Now management has said it will separate the national from the local by finalizing the AFM deal first, then completing the local deal.

Musician negotiator Carole Mason Smith had only just received the Mayor's letter when contacted by MPR this afternoon. She said the musicians want to take a vote, but need to carefully consider and understand the substance of the new offer. She predicted it would be a busy weekend.

SPCO Interim President Dobson West is also expecting a busy weekend, but neither would predict what is likely to happen by 5 PM Monday.

Both sides in SPCO dispute say the other one doesn't understand

Posted at 5:50 PM on April 4, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Both management and musicians in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra labor dispute say the other side has not fully understood their latest proposals.

SPCO management set a deadline of 5 pm Monday for a deal to prevent cancellation of the rest of the season. However musicians rejected management's latest proposal saying it still includes sections about broadcast and Internet use of SPCO material which they say has to be handled by the national union, the American Federation of Musicians.

Management says it has removed the offending material, but musicians say it is still there. In an e-mail to SPCO board members released to the media this afternoon the musicians negotiating committee indicated there has been a lot of agreement, but not nearly enough.

"At this point this is NOT about the money. We have accepted the economic terms agreed to with the Mayor, and the remaining money differences are very insignificant. In particular, we have accepted the $60,000 salary for three years as well as a 20% reduction in over scale offered in Management's March 29th proposal. We have agreed to Management's reduction of full-time positions in the orchestra from 34 to 28 as a cost savings measure. Our current proposal, plus the lockout will have saved the Society over $5 Million by the end of the contract on June 30, 2016."

However management has rejected a musicians counterproposal saying it adds significant costs which the orchestra can't afford.

Management also argued musicians have misunderstood its offer. Interim President Dobson West was moved to make an unusual offer for a labor negotiation, which he outlines in an e-mail Wednesday, which musicians also released: It is very clear that there are significant misunderstandings about what is contained in our proposal. Since we are at such a critical time, we believe it is very important to clear up those misunderstandings. As a result, we are proposing a meeting, not to negotiate, but to make sure we all understand what is and is not in our proposal. We would not intend to discuss our proposal to the AFM, only our proposal to you. We would invite all of you as well as all Board members, Musicians and senior management.

But the musicians quickly said no, arguing it's management which has misunderstood their offer, which they say gives them job security, and management the savings it needs.

Both sides believe a settlement is possible by the 5pm Monday deadline, although it will be tight, as there needs to be an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians on the electronic media issue, as well as a local agreement with the musicians.

Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus new director on 'It Gets Amazing'

Posted at 9:17 AM on April 5, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

It may have been a long winter in Minnesota, but for Ben Riggs it's been one long honeymoon.

Riggs is the new executive director of the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, and moved to Minnesota from Denver last August.

Since then he's been digging into his new role, replacing longtime director Dr. Stan Hill, who stepped down last summer.

Ben Riggs
Photo courtesy TCGMC

Riggs conducted his first full concert as TCGMC's executive director last December with the holiday show "Our First Noel."

This weekend he directs the chorus in what will likely prove to be an emotional concert, called "It Gets Amazing."

The concert features a performance of "Testimony," a piece written by Stephen Schwartz for the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and first performed in 2012. The lyrics are taken from personal testimonies in the book "It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living," by Dan Savage.

"It's written in two halves," Riggs explains. "The first half is bleak.... with lines such as 'I don't want to be this' and 'I am an abomination' and 'every night I ask God to end my life.' But then it shifts, and the chorus sings about all the things they might have missed."

And now look what a life I've earned
It gets more than better
It gets amazing and astounding
If I could reach my past, I'd tell him what I've learned:
I was more loved
Than I dared to know
There were open arms
I could not see
And when I die
And when it's my time to go
I want to come back as me
I want to come back as me.

For the concert Riggs has enlisted the help of eight young performers from MacPhail's Prelude program for singing and acting.

They join the chorus in the performance of "Testimony," and they also perform a work by Prelude member Kiko Laureano.

"He Could Have Said" examines bullying from the point of view of the bystander who looks on silently.

He could have said, "What do you think you're doing?"
He could have said, "Can't you see that he's in pain?"
He could have said, "Why do you do the things that you do,
"When he's never hurt anyone before?"

We wished we'd said, "We're all right behind you."
We wished we'd said, " We'll catch you when you fall."
We wished we'd said, "Don't let what he says get to you,
"You know it isn't really true at all."

Also on the theme of bullying, the evening includes a spirited remount of "Oliver Button is a Sissy," based on Tomie dePaola's children's book and narrated by Ann Bancroft.

"It was commissioned by TCGMC in 2000," says Riggs, "and it's such a popular piece. In the last year several choruses have revived it, particularly for school outreach. It has a universal theme of acceptance and hope, and it's told in such a whimsical and lovely manner."

Speaking of school outreach, the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus gave its first performance to a student audience at Avalon School this past week. Riggs says it's something he plans to do a lot more of in the months to come.

Max Raabe, Tim Harmston, and something about a bear in northern Minnesota

Posted at 7:45 AM on April 4, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Events, Music, Theater

This week, the golden age of American jazz as interpreted by a German orchestra, a gut busting Minneapolis comic, and a Russian fairy tale comes ferociously alive in a Minnesota forest.

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Twin Cities writer and bagpipe player Adam Kintopf appreciates how Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester have resurrected the timeless elegance of the 1920s and 30s with their re-interpretations of the dance hits from that bygone era. Raabe and his orchestra hail from Germany and are making their debut at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant on Sunday, April 7, at 6pm.

Twin Cities comedian Laura Thorne took it upon herself to end the severe comedy drought on Art Hounds and rave about the stylings of comedian Tim Harmston of Minneapolis. Laura says Tim is hysterically funny, a brilliant impressionist, and slaves like few others in the business to keep his material fresh and relevant. Tim will be at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis April 9 - 13, as part of its "Slash and Burn" series. The series features four headlining comics who over the course of a week try to develop an entirely new set.

Carl Atiya Swanson says Theatre Novi Most will combine veteran acting chops with new talent in its premiere production of "Something About a Bear." Carl, who's a member of Savage Umbrella Theater himself and an arts administrator, describes the play as a Russian fairy tale set in the woods of northern Minnesota which features a bear who becomes a man, a wizard, and other strange magical characters. It's a co-production of Theatre Novi Most and the University of Minnesota department of theatre and dance. On stage and open to all ages at the Stoll Thrust Theatre in the U's Rarig Center from April 11 - 21.

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War of words continues after SPCO musicians vote

Posted at 2:50 PM on April 2, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

The relative quiet after last nights announcement that locked out musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber orchestra had voted to reject management's latest contract proposal has preceded a storm of reaction today.

This morning Interim SPCO President Dobson West released a statement to SPCO supporters raising a disturbing question.

"As you may have heard, yesterday, in a secret "non-binding, non-ratifying" vote, the Musicians of the SPCO rejected the proposal developed with the aid of Mayor Coleman's office. I am dismayed to report we have now learned that a number of Musicians were not permitted to vote yesterday."

"As we have made clear before, if we do not have an agreement with both the Local Union and the American Federation of Musicians by 5:00 pm on Monday, April 8, we will be forced to cancel the balance of this season. Our proposal remains open for the Musicians to accept, and we call on them to take our proposal to a vote in which no Musicians are denied the ability to participate."

The musicians said last night that even if they had wanted to approve the proposal they couldn't because they believe the management offer is contingent on a local agreement on media rights, which the musicians say can only be negotiated by the national union, the American Federation of Musicians.

In a conversation this morning West told me all local references have been removed from the proposal and the offer resubmitted.

All of these issues were then addressed by a release from the musicians in the early afternoon.

It begins by describing the West release as totally misleading, and then continues: "The phrase "non-binding, non-ratifying" is a phrase that Mayor Coleman's office created and not a creation of the Negotiating Committee or the Musicians Union. It was used to assure that the procedure was conducted as the Mayor wished it to be conducted."

"We do not know the sources of President West's information but they are once again wrong. The vote rejecting the proposal was overwhelming. There were five members who did not vote, but even if all of those members had voted for the proposal it would have been rejected."

With regard to the disagreement between the musicians and management (described in its formal title of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra Society) over the negotiation of electronic rights the musicians say this: "The Society's proposals include several ways in which Musicians can be unfairly removed from the Orchestra. The proposals of the Negotiating Committee provide protections to Musicians, and preserves Management's right to remove Musicians for any improper behavior. Such fairness should be accepted by the Society. "

"The proposals of the Society include the contingency that nothing is agreed to unless the Society also reaches agreement with the AFM on electronic media issues. All other orchestras in America negotiate local terms and conditions with their local committees and unions, and separately and independently negotiate electronic media issues with the AFM. The SPCO cannot be treated differently. In addition, the Society proposals include terms and conditions which cannot be considered by the Musicians and the Local Unions without the Society having first reached agreement with the AFM. The issues to be settled with the AFM should not prevent entering into a local agreement which will put the Musicians on stage to present the music that we all love."

Both sides say they are willing to keep talking to save the rest of the season. However with the Monday deadline fast approaching they clearly have their work set out for them

SPCO musicians vote to reject latest management offer

Posted at 9:39 PM on April 1, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Saying they have fulfilled a promise made to Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra this evening voted to reject management's latest contract offer.

The contract proposal, which came together after Mayor Coleman intervened in an attempt to save the rest of the orchestra's season, broke SPCO management's long stated requirement that it save $1.5 million a year from the last musicians contract. The offer includes a base annual salary of $60,000, up from the last offer, but still a cut of more than $15,000 from the previous contract. It also gave musicians a great deal of artistic control in the running of the SPCO, while protecting benefits, and offering a retirement incentive package to players aged 55 or over. Retirements are important because management wants to reduce the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28, but has also agreed that no current player will be fire to attain that reduction.

In a statement released this evening the musicians described the vote as non-binding and non-ratifying, and also said musicians believed that even if they had wanted to approve the proposal, they couldn't.

The statement continues: "The proposal could not be submitted for a formal ratification vote because the entire contract is contingent upon the Society reaching agreement with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) on electronic media issues, and the proposal requires the Local Union and the Musicians to agree to matters which must first be bargained with the AFM."

This is known as the Integrated Media Agreement and it governs broadcast and Internet use of SPCO performances

Management has said it is willing to remove those references as requested.

The musicians say they hope to keep talks going with management, although no sessions are currently scheduled. They says they would like to move forward with the ideas in their counter proposal issued last Friday, although management rejected that almost immediately saying it did not include the issues agreed upon in discussions the two sides had with the mayor.

After hearing about the rejection vote a representative of the SPCO management described it as disappointing. She said the she would have no further comment until they have had a chance to study the musicians statement.

Art Hounds: DIY Printing, Paper Garden and Zedashe

Posted at 7:45 AM on March 28, 2013 by Molly Bloom (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts 101, Events, Galleries, Museums, Music, Printmaking, Theater

Participants at the opening reception of DIY Printing: No Presses Required at the MMAA Project Space in St. Paul. (Image courtesy of the Minnesota Museum of American Art)

The Art Hounds are here this week to whet your appetite with a puppet production that will make you think, an exhibit that showcases inventive printmakers, and a vocal group specializing in ancient harmonies.

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Maria Santiago, who teaches printmaking at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, loved the energy on display at DIY Printing: Presses Not Required. The exhibit at the Minnesota Museum of American Art Project Space shows that limitations often give birth to great creativity, as printmakers find ways to make art without fancy equipment. The show runs through April 28, with many interactive events scheduled in the next few weeks.

In Mad Munchkin Productions' "Paper Garden: Entomos," puppets help tell the story of a girl and her beloved insects that live in her family's garden. Actor and stage manager Al Broeffle loved that this seemingly simple story raised questions of race, finding one's place in the world and the balance between science and nature -- all while making him laugh. There are five more performances of the show this weekend at the California Building in Northeast Minneapolis.

When puppeteer and public artist Soozin Hirschmugl tells her friends about the Zedashe Ensemble, she says listening to their music is like eating really rich dirt or drinking your favorite glass of red wine. The ancient harmonies from Georgia (the country, not the state) may sound foreign to ears used to western harmonies, but Soozin says they will reverberate through you and transport you. They'll be performing a concert of sacred music on Wednesday, April 3 at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis and will also present a concert of both sacred and folk music with dancers and musicians at Concordia University in St. Paul on Saturday, April 6. They'll also be holding workshops at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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MN Original broadcasts Rock The Garden on TV and online

Posted at 2:56 PM on March 28, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Events, Media, Music, Television

MN Original and Twin Cities Public Television are heralding the start of spring with a program that captures one of the glories of summer.

This Sunday MN Original will broadcast selections from last year's Rock the Garden concert, a now annual rite of summer held at Walker Art Center and co-hosted by 89.3 The Current.

The program will include behind-the-scenes interviews with artists as well as their performances. Last year's line-up consisted of Howler, tUnE-yArDs, Doomtree, Trampled by Turtles and The Hold Steady.

My question: how do they plan to stuff all that goodness into one 30 minute episode?

The music special will air Sunday on tpt 2 at 6pm and again at 10pm.

For those fans who can't wait for Sunday, they can check out a special OVEE online screening tomorrow at noon by clicking here, or they can view it online starting tomorrow at MN Original's website.

Group explores SPCO takeover

Posted at 5:50 PM on March 26, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Rice Park in St Paul doesn't scream out as a seat of revolution. Yet this was the site where today a small but serious group of orchestral fans launched what they say could result in a major change at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Audience members and other fans launched Save Our SPCO last year as an attempt to help resolve the labor dispute between management and players at the SPCO.

However after months of what organizers described as a no progress in negotiations the group today announced they have formed an exploratory committee to consider creating an alternative management organization to run a world class chamber orchestra in St Paul.

In other words, they are looking at taking over running the SPCO.

The group's Mariellen Jacobson says they have been hearing from many people saying someone else should just take over, and while she doesn't think it would be easy, the group decided to at least consider it.

Part of it was spurred by frustration with dealings with SPCO management.

"Every overture we made to the SPCO board and management was just really not responded to at all, or was responded with just soundbite kinds of responses, and made us believe that just was not a productive avenue so we should just move ahead and make this announcement," Jacobson said.

Save our SPCO named five people to the exploratory committee: State Representatives Phyllis Kahn and Joe Atkins, former long-time SPCO harpsichordist Skip Layton James, former SPCO principal cello Peter Howard, and U of M School of Mathematics Professor Emiritus Donald Kahn, who in addition to being a keen amateur cellist is also married to Rep. Kahn.

At the Rice Park announcement Rep. Kahn suggested, as she has in the past, that as chair of the House Legacy Committee she is interested in finding ways of getting money from the state's legacy fund directly to musicians. She wants to both get back money unused by the SPCO for this year and any more funding awarded to the SPCO should the dispute continue.

"What we intend to do," she said, "is to set up something so that this funding would be available for any new group that would take over. What it would do would be it would go to musicians to play music," she continued to applause from the crowd. She said however if the dispute is settled the funding would go back to the SPCO.

Such are the complexities of its task, Save Our SPCO has not set a deadline for the committee.

Not surprisingly SPCO management didn't want to say much in response to the announcement.

"We are focusing on getting an agreement," said the SPCO Marketing Director Jessica Etten. "And we hope that agreement is coming."

Earlier in the day Interim SPCO President Dobson West sent out a statement that a clause about an integrated media agreement had been removed from management's latest proposal as requested by SPCO musicians. This agreement governs on-line use of SPCO material and the musicians say it should be negotiated by their national union the American Federation of Musicians.

West said in the statement he hoped the remaining proposal could be put to a musicians vote soon, and that negotiations with the AFM can wrap up quickly too as both agreements have to be in place by April 8th if the SPCO is to avoid canceling the rest of the season.

SPCO management makes new play and talk offer

Posted at 9:12 AM on March 22, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

In an offer apparently precipitated by the intervention of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, SPCO management today proposed a new play and talk offer to its locked out musicians.

In the offer detailed on the SPCO website Interim President Dobson West says conversations with the Mayor and his staff have convinced management it must take a larger financial risk to get the orchestra playing again.

In an interview with MPR West said the Mayor wanted to avoid the cancellation of the entire SPCO season.

"For the good of the SPCO and the City of St Paul he decided he should become involved in the negotiations," West said. "He urged us to make substantial concessions which we did. And he urged the musicians to take our new proposal to their members for a vote, which they have agreed to do, and so we are hopefully heading towards being able to bring the music back."

Until now West has insisted that the SPCO meeds to save $1.5 million a year from the cost of the previous musicians contract. West says Coleman convinced management negotiators it needed to take a larger financial risk to get the dispute resolved.

In the proposal management is offering a higher basic pay level of $60,000 (though still much lower than the previous contract) as well as a number of other concessions requested by musicians over artistic control, and guarantees no current musicians will lose their jobs as the SPCO shrinks from 34 to 28 players. The offer includes a retirement package for musicians aged 55 and older which both sides believe could result in the smaller orchestra while avoiding layoffs.

Musicians began meeting at 9 am to discuss the offer, and will issue a statement afterwards.

Art Hounds: The Gateway District, Robert Finkler and Jackie Robinson

Posted at 7:45 AM on March 21, 2013 by Chris Roberts (2 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Music, Painting, Theater

The cast of Jackie and Me, directed by Marion McClinton at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. (Photo by Dan Norman)

This week's hounds are truly hypnotic as they delve into a children's play about the courageous struggles of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, a Mankato painter who's mastered his own brand of abstract expressionism, and a strictly rock band from Minneapolis that will warm your winter ravaged body.

Oh, and this week's segment is guaranteed to make you forget about winter, at least for a few minutes. We're not kidding. Listen before you kill someone.

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Twin Cities actor and singer Paul Coate has a love for baseball and a daughter who's also fallen in love with the national pastime, which means they're both headed to the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis to see "Jackie and Me." Some magical baseball cards enable a boy to travel back in time and get an eyewitness account of Jackie Robinson striving to become the first African American in Major League Baseball. On stage through April 14th.

Painter and Minnesota State University Mankato art professor Brian Frink doesn't hold back in praising fellow veteran Mankato artist and teacher Robert Finkler. Brian says Finkler has toiled so masterfully in the abstract expressionist realm for so many years he has in some ways reinvented the art form. "Robert Finkler: Before, Middle, Last, First," is an exhibition of his paintings at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato through March 23.

There will always be a need to rock. Annie Sparrows, member of the God Damn Doo Wop Band and the Soviettes, knows you know this, which is why she feels strongly you should go see The Gateway District. Annie says this Minneapolis indie rock band practices the art of kicking out the jams. The Gateway District is releasing a new album, "Old Wild Hearts," at a private house party somewhere in Minneapolis this weekend.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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The reviews are in for Latte Da's 'The Light in the Piazza'

Posted at 5:45 PM on March 21, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Theater

The musical "The Light in the Piazza" revolves around a mother and daughter on a trip to Florence. When the daughter, Clara, falls for a young Italian man, her mother Margaret worries about the future, while simultaneously regretting her own past.

The show won six Tony awards when it premiered in 2005; Twin Cities critics find themselves either gushing or dissatisfied after seeing Theater Latté Da's production.

Jessica Fredrickson as Clara Johnson and Aleks Knezevich as Fabrizio Naccarelli in Theater Latté Da's "The Light in the Piazza"
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

Nobody does musical theater better than Theater Latté Da. Notice I didn't qualify that with an "in the Twin Cities." If theater were a competition (and thank heavens that it isn't) this company could offer courses in how to do it right. I don't gush often, but I'm gushing now.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Teasing this story forth in Craig Lucas' script becomes a tedious affair. Clara is written with frustrating inconsistency. She's sharp and insightful, with a growing grasp of Italian one minute; rash and temperamental as a petulant child the next. Fredrickson labors to navigate this mine field, and the result is a stagy character who never leaves us convinced that something real is at stake. Knezevich's Fabrizio is a young innocent, purposely bland.

Jessica Fredrickson as Clara Johnson and Kathleen Humphrey as Margaret Johnson in Theater Latté Da's "The Light in the Piazza"
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press:

Latte Da's "Piazza" fits perfectly in the Ordway's intimate McKnight Theatre. A chamber-sized musical with a small cast and orchestra, the scale of the production feels exactly right. The moral questions in "Piazza" may be far-ranging, but the musical -- and Latte Da's appealingly modest production -- asks them quietly, without pretending to have all the answers. In fact, the real finale probably will take place not on stage but in theatergoers' cars on the way home, as they debate whether Margaret makes the right decisions.

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

Not that Theatre Latte Da's production wasn't tightly produced or gloriously sung. Instead, the musical from Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel (based on Elizabeth Spencer's novella) can be a difficult ride. If you come in looking for a light, romantic evening about love blossoming in Italy, you're likely to be disappointed. If you meet Piazza on its own terms, you won't be disappointed.

Jessica Fredrickson as Clara Johnson in Theater Latté Da's "The Light in the Piazza"
Photo by Michal Daniel

Theater Latté Da's "The Light in the Piazza" runs through April 7 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. Have you seen the show? What's your review?

After blockbuster debut Mill City Opera director hopes for more

Posted at 9:00 AM on March 16, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Opera, People

Set design for the Mill City Opera's 2013 production of "The Barber of Seville." (Image courtesy MCSO, design by J. Winiarski.) Click on image to enlarge
When asked why the Mill City Summer Opera picked Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" for its July 2013 production, Artistic Director David Lefkowich says he wanted to build on the success of last year.

"With 'Pagliacci' we did a lovely tragedy," he said. "And we wanted to see what comedy would do in a space as dramatic as the Mill."

The first production last summer produced an entirely sold out run which packed the audiences into the stylishly restored ruins of the Mill City Museum on the downtown Minneapolis waterfront, just a stone's throw from the Guthrie.

And as with the 2012 this years selection is designed to attract both hardcore opera fans and operatic novices who will still likely recognize the music.

"And that's the sort of audience that we want to attract in these first couple of years," said Lefkowich (shown left during last years rehearsals.) "People who love opera, or people looking for a new kind of experience and maybe they don't even realize how terrific opera can be."

Putting on an opera on in a ruin presents challenges. The company has to basically build a theater within the walls of the courtyard. Things you take for granted in a regular performance space, like wings and a backstage have to be improvised. And there is also the delight and challenge of having a stage open to the sky and the ever changing Minnesota summer weather.

However Lefkowich says the crowds seemed to enjoy last year. The company got a lot of good feedback, he said.

"Across the board people enjoyed that the evening wasn't very long," he said. The Pagliacci show lasted about two hours.

Lefkowich learned a lot during the staging. There were some sightline problems which made it hard for some audience members to see performers in the corners of the set, but he promises those will be fixed this year. He hopes to redefine the space, by using a design to build platforms on the left and right sides of the stage. The central area will be used for performers entrances and exits.

The Pagliacci production was set to be contemporary with the when the Mill was new. The "Barber" will be set earlier, which Lefkowich believes offers exciting possibilities

"This will be our first time delving more in the past, in a time before the mill was operational and we are hoping to get some dramatic interest out of that combination: a newer space and an older period mixed together in one," he said.

Tickets for the production go on sale May 20th through the Minnesota Historical Society. Last year they sold out quickly, which Lefkowich says was lucky. However it set a high bar he'd like to surpass

"I am shooting for something better, but even if we hit what we did last year that would be great as well," he laughed.

Ultimately though he would like to have longevity for the Mill City Summer Opera, to come back year after year, and establish another summer tradition

"There is a real desire for more opera in the Twin Cities and we are really excited to deliver that," he said.

VocalEssence at 45: Celebrating a rich heritage

Posted at 4:58 PM on March 8, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

At the start of his 45th year as artistic director of VocalEssence, Philip Brunelle shows no signs of slowing down.

"Choral music is just a great way to express yourself and there are thousands upon thousands of choral pieces out there - I will never run out of music to do," said Brunelle in a phone interview this afternoon. "So that's why, although I'm at my 45th year, I can easily see how I can get to the 90th and still come up with new things to say."

Brunelle says in some sense VocalEssence's 45th season is like all the seasons that have come before it, in that it's a celebration of Minnesota's rich choral heritage.

Philip Brunelle
Photo by Ann Marsden

The season begins with a joint performance with St. Olaf Choir in October, and will feature the world premiere of Jonathan Dove's "There Was A Child." Brunelle says Dove is exceptionally talented at writing for the human voice.

"Some people would write for the voice and it sounds like a tuba - he just makes music that sings," attests Brunelle. "And when I saw the text... it was commissioned by a family in memory of their son who had died, and they wanted something that was inspiring, that talked about the importance of life - so he's taken all sorts of different poets to create a multi movement piece. I guarantee the audience is going to be moved by the way he's put this together."

The season also includes a cabaret featuring local talents Greta Oglesby, Simone Perrin, Dieter Bierbrauer and Bradley Greenwald, and will highlight music that the performers particularly love to sing.

Brunelle says this year's Christmas production will serve as a simultaneous celebration of Mexican culture and a tribute to Dave Brubeck, centering around Brubeck's piece "La Fiesta de la Posada."

"Brubeck grew up in a California town that was mostly Mexican," Brunelle explained, "and he loved the rhythm and melodies. When we did it before we did it with orchestra, but Brubeck really wanted it with a mariachi band, so that's how we're going to do it this time. Dan Chouinard will play the piano part that Brubeck originally performed."

Melanie DeMore
Photo courtesy VocalEssence

Probably the most unusual concert of the season, according to Brunelle, is this year's Witness program, "Stomp and Sing."

"There is this group of African-Americans that live on these islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia called the Gullah. The Gullah people never went on the mainland; they stayed on these islands and kept their own identity. So when they sing spirituals it's very different from what you hear on the mainland. In Africa they would have used drums, but the Gullah use these poles that they stomp to keep the rhythm, and they create a mesmerizing sound."

Melanie DeMore, who describes herself as a "vocal activist," will lead the performance.

"She's not a first alto, she's not a second - she's a fourth alto, she's like a BASS," exclaimed Brunelle. "She's amazing and I guarantee the audience will all be on their feet clapping and stomping with her."

Composer John Rutter
Photo courtesy VocalEssence

In March VocalEssence will host British composer John Rutter, who recently penned the anthem for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It will be his first time back with the ensemble in ten years.

"John Rutter is the most performed choral composer from England in the USA - not just at Christmas but all throughout the year," said Brunelle. "Anybody who has sung in a choir has sung John Rutter's music."

The concert will be split between John Rutter's own works and music by his favorite romantic composers.

The 45th season ends in April with a concert celebrating the work of college choirs, specifically those of Luther, Gustavus Adolfus, St. Thomas and Bethel colleges. They'll perform Tchaikovsky's The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

"Listeners who go to concerts all know Tchaikovsky from a symphony or the Nutcracker Suite - they don't associate him with choral music," said Brunelle. "And it's because we always want to open those windows and stretch folks, I thought this is a great time for people to know that Tchaikovsky wrote some beautiful choral music. We'll have almost 400 singers combined and with Tchaikovsky, the more singers, the better."

You can find out all the details of VocalEssence's 45th season here.

George Latimer upbeat about SPCO, Ordway

Posted at 11:30 AM on March 8, 2013 by Eric Ringham (2 Comments)
Filed under: Funding, Music, People

One of the civic leaders posing with shovels when ground was broken on the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts was George Latimer, then mayor of St. Paul. Now in semi-retirement, he continues to promote the city as a point of personal pride -- as when, for example, he brags to old friends from law school. Or when he fires off a few hundred words in a letter to MPR.

Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer photographed in 2008
MPR Photo/William Wilcoxen

"Our dream was for the Ordway to enliven a downtown that had been in decline," Latimer wrote this week. "Nine million visitors to the Ordway later, I can say our hopes for that patch of dirt we were shoveling have been exceeded.

"Downtown St. Paul is different because of the Ordway. And the arts are different too. The Minnesota Opera has become a leader in its field. Last year it won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and its most recent opera was reviewed in the New York Times. I hope my old classmates read what the Times' music critic had to say about the new opera that premiered in downtown St. Paul.

"But what about the labor lockout at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra? What about the future of St. Paul's cultural ambassadors? Well, we seem to be living in an age of lockouts, and none of us are too fond of it. The Wild, the Timberwolves and the Vikings were all locked out in the last two years. Their seasons were disrupted, but they all returned to playing. The same will eventually happen with the SPCO, a point on which management and labor agree.

"Unlike other troubled orchestras across the country, the SPCO has no debt, hasn't taken large draws from its endowment and doesn't own a large building it must run and maintain. However, it did run a sizable deficit last year, its first in more than a decade. So to stay out of trouble - indeed, to continue to grow in quality - its new contract must secure a solid financial base.

"Back in the 1980s, a 'sense of place' was what we hoped the Ordway would deliver. From the day the doors opened it has been a Twin Cities favorite, a gathering place that shows off what is beautiful about St. Paul. It is also the No. 1 cultural destination for public school students, the home of a great Children's Festival, and the state's oldest arts organization, The Schubert Club. One sign of the Ordway's success is the lack of free nights on its calendar.

"Before long this lockout will be over, a blur amidst the other lockouts of this era. By then, the Ordway's new concert hall will be underway, and the finances of those performing at the Ordway will be strengthened by a more robust endowment. The effort to accomplish both of those goals is this generation's contribution to what we built in the '80s. We faced obstacles back then, too, but we persisted. The Ordway has been a winner for this community for decades, particularly for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Their success will continue."

Jazz88 KBEM brings back old time radio drama

Posted at 4:05 PM on March 7, 2013 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

Ah, the good old days of radio... the family gathering around the Zenith console in the living room after dinner, getting ready for the evening line-up of news, comedy and drama. On some nights you could hear your whole neighborhood laugh to the same jokes.

Jazz88 KBEM seeks to bring back some of that old time radio feel with Jazz Noir, a new radio series starring local acting talent.

The first episode, "Charles & Avon," is slated to be recorded live at the Artists' Quarter in downtown St. Paul on April 28. The Playwrights' Center and the American Composers' Forum both helped with this initial production, which features a score composed and performed by George Maurer.

According to a release, "Charles & Avon" is set in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul in the 1920s. Avon Davis, a self-taught savant jazz pianist, has spent her entire life helping her father run his boarding house. The boarding house soon becomes a focal point for the burgeoning Twin Cities jazz scene.

More details about the series will be forthcoming on the Jazz88 website.

SPCO talks stutter: musicians frustrated

Posted at 6:38 PM on March 6, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Talks between management and locked out musicians wrapped up for the week today, after a possible Friday session was cancelled.

Management has promised to put together a detailed report of how it proposes to save $1.5 million a year from trimming musicians salaries, and deliver it to the musicians by Tuesday. Further talks are likely once that information has been shared.

While everyone agrees it's good the sides seem to be still talking, the musicians are clearly frustrated.

Late this afternoon they put out a release headlined "Musicians of SPCO say Management's failure to compromise jeopardizes continued viability of Orchestra."

Reached by phone musicians negotiator Lynn Erickson said "We have made four proposals to management. Each of them has given more concessions, and management hasn't moved of their original position."

The musicians release argues that the SPCO has saved about $1.7 million through the lock out. It says musicians concessions will save about $3.4 million over three years. The musicians argue that the difference between those savings and the management target of $4.5 million in savings can be made through other fundraising opportunities.

However SPCO Marketing Director Jessica Etten stressed that the financial need of the orchestra has not changed, and the $1.5 million must come out of the existing budget if the SPCO is to avoid future problems. She says that management has been willing to negotiate different ways of doing this, and has put forward a number of proposals to that end.

Art Hounds: Degenerate classical music, Howard Christopherson, and the 'N' word unpacked

Posted at 7:45 AM on March 7, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater

Sha Cage in N.I.G.G.E.R. (Image courtesy of Intermedia Arts)

The hounds are active this week, chasing down an upstart band of young classical musicians, a veteran gallerist and artist who's been making a mark for 25 years, and a local performance artist confronting and explaining the 'N' word.

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The movie "Django Unchained" reveled in its repeated use of the 'N' word. Local actor H. Adam Harris thinks we now need to do some serious work developing a deeper understanding of it. He's recommending "N.I.G.G.E.R.," a performance piece in which artist and McKnight Fellow Sha Cage uses puppetry, monologue, music and community interviews to unravel the "N' word. At Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, Thursday, March 7 through Sunday, March 10.

Photographer Vance Gellert credits Howard Christopherson's creative exuberance, artistic craft and uncanny eye for talent as some of the reasons behind his 25 year reign as owner of Icebox Quality Framing and Gallery in Minneapolis. Vance says you can see Christopherson's impact in "The Icebox Years," a new show commemorating the gallery's 25th anniversary.

"The Degenerate Music Club." When Shahzore Shah discovered this group of young musicians he found their name and their mission to perform the most obscure classical music they could find...refreshing. Shazore, who's a member of the male vocal ensemble Cantus, says the group performs at unexpected venues too. The Degenerate Music Club is playing at Hymie's Vintage Records in Minneapolis, Sunday, March 10 at 6pm.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Despite ongoing talks SPCO cancels more concerts

Posted at 2:41 PM on March 5, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Talks between management and the locked out musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are continuing, but without enough progress to prevent more cancellations.

Interim SPCO President Dobson West released a statement this afternoon saying the two sides were getting a better understanding of the complex issues involved in the contract. However, he said it was clear there is still a lot of work to be done.

"Unfortunately, we are at the point where we need to give several artists and presenters final confirmation on upcoming engagements. Therefore, it is with regret that today we must announce the cancellation of concerts through April 21," he wrote.

The musicians had been hoping to avoid more cancellations as they fear the whole SPCO season is now at risk.

Laura Osnes parlays reality TV win into successful Broadway career

Posted at 2:53 PM on March 4, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People, Theater

By all accounts Laura Osnes is not just a 'flash in the pan.' This weekend the actress took to the Broadway stage in the starring role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

Laura Osnes in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella"
Photo by Carol Rosegg

Born and raised in the Twin Cities suburbs, Osnes has long been involved in musical theater, playing numerous roles throughout her youth at Eagan High School, Children's Theatre Company, and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

But as Jeff Lunden report for National Public Radio, Osnes got her big break through a reality TV show called "Grease: You're the One that I Want." As the winner she got to star in the Broadway production.

"I let the whole Grease experience be a springboard for me," Osnes says. "I wanted to use the exposure I got from that very wisely, to continue a successful career. It's taken a lot of work and perseverance."

It's paid off. With Cinderella, Osnes will be playing her fifth lead role on Broadway in six years.

Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, says coming to Broadway from a reality TV show was not a "terribly welcoming circumstance."

"We don't like to be told by television audiences -- well, maybe now with American Idol we can be," he says. "But for Laura to have come to this town in the lead in that Grease production, and then to have turned out to be the real deal is what's so surprising, delightful and wonderful for all of us."

Director Kathleen Marshall compares Osnes to such Broadway greats Shirley Jones and Barbara Cook.

You can read the full NPR story here.

In addition, Osnes was back home in the Twin Cities last year, and sat down for this interview at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

SPCO talks continue: more sessions planned for next week

Posted at 4:28 PM on March 1, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

UPDATED AT 5.05 WITH NEW INFORMATION

Contract talks will apparently continue next week at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Today's negotiations, the third session in five days, began around 9 AM and wrapped up around 3 PM.

Musicians negotiator Carole Mason Smith said she still cannot provide details of the discussions. "But we are still talking," she said, "And I am happy to be saying that."

Shortly afterwards interim SPCO President Dobson West issued a statement to SPCO followers: Today we met with the Musicians' Negotiating Committee for the third time this week. Over the course of the week we have had many productive discussions regarding artistic matters, including how decisions should be made on positions in the orchestra and the artistic review process. Through these conversations we gained a better understanding of our respective positions on these issues.

We have agreed to continue regular meetings and have scheduled times for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of next week, and I will keep you posted as there is news to share.

Smith said Tuesday and Wednesday dates are firm, and but there are some schedule conflicts to overcome for the Friday session.

The contract dispute revolves around a number of issues: pay, the size of the orchestra, artistic control, and the electronic media agreement which governs use of SPCO material online.

The SPCO management locked out the musicians in mid-October, and musicians representatives have said they are concerned if they don't get a deal worked out soon the entire SPCO season is at risk.

Ordway announces 2013-14 season

Posted at 7:00 PM on March 4, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts' upcoming season features a wide variety of performers, including some familiar big names.

Among the more familiar productions are Miss Saigon, The Wizard of Oz, Porgy and Bess, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the return of Las Vegas denizens Blue Man Group.

In addition, the Ordway will host a number of dance companies, from locally based TU Dance to Rennie Harris' hip hop inspired Puremovement. Oakland-based Axis Dance Company will perform its "physically integrated dance," a collaboration between dancers with and without disabilities.

AXIS
Image courtesy of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

The Ordway will also present its "Broadway Songbook Series." The series offers an intimate look into classic Broadway tunes, with performances by some of the Twin Cities' finest talent.

In May, cheerleaders take center stage with the musical Bring It On, inspired by the movie of the same name.

Bring It On
Image courtesy of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Ordway will be a stop on the tours of several musicians in the coming season, including modern spiritual writers Lizz Wright and Raul Midón. West Africa and the Middle East meet in Yemen Blues, while Maria de Barros takes audiences back to her Cape Verde roots.

Yemen Blues
Image courtesy of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Here's the full season:

Miss Saigon
Oct. 8 - 13, 2013

Broadway Songbook Series: Comden and Green
June 13 - 15, 2014

Art Hounds: Dark & Stormy, Duluth art, Autre Ne Veut

Posted at 7:45 AM on February 28, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Music, Theater

"Troposfera/Troposphere" from the "Confluence/Confluencia" exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute (Courtesty of Duluth Art Institute)

The hounds want to bring a new Minneapolis theater company, a ruminative, dual art show in Duluth and a Brooklyn producer with a French name to your attention this week.

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Local actor Jane Froiland says Dark & Stormy Productions, a year-old theater company in Minneapolis has a lot going for it; powerful, professional actors, relatively short, hard hitting productions and a knack for presenting plays in found spaces. Jane is looking forward to Dark & Stormy's interpretation of the David Mamet classic, "Speed the Plow," which is being staged at the Miller Bag Building in Northeast Minneapolis through March 9.

"Confluence/Confluencia," according to Nickolas Monson, is an amazing, ambitious collaboration between two artists, Cecilia Ramon and Carla Stetson. Nickolas, co-founder of the Prove Gallery in Duluth, says among other things the exhibition explores the notion of place without specifically identifying any place. One of the artists is from Duluth but left, the other moved to Duluth and fell in love with it. At the Duluth Art Institute through March 12.

KUOM Radio K DJ Tom Steffes has high praise for Brooklyn producer and auteur Autre Ne Veut, aka Arthur Ashin. Tom says Autre Ne Veut's forward-looking hybrid of pop and R&B is as distinctive and fresh as Prince's music...used to be. Autre Ne Veut makes a stop at the Triple Rock Social Club on Monday, March 4th.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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SPCO talks end for the day - sides will meet again Friday

Posted at 2:53 PM on February 27, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Updated with management statement at 5.25

Representatives of management and locked out musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra have apparently ended contract talks for the day, and the two sides will meet again Friday.

Musicians negotiator Carole Mason Smith declined to reveal details of the talks but said the sides are exchanging information and still have a lot of things to discuss. She again stressed the musicians remain focused on trying to find a deal.

In late afternoon Interim SPCO President Dobson also issued a short statement: "This morning we continued negotiations with the Musician Negotiating Committee. At this time there is no news to report, but we have agreed to continue the discussion on Friday morning."

Friday's meeting will be the third in five days, a burst of negotiation not seen since the beginning of the lockout in mid-October. Outstanding issues in the talks appear to be over pay, how to reduce the size of the SPCO from 34 to 28 musicians, and the electronic media agreement, which governs the use of SPCO performances on-line.

SPCO talks to continue Wednesday - but concert tonight curtailed

Posted at 4:15 PM on February 26, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

After a day of talks Mondays the two sides in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra dispute will meet again tomorrow morning.

Today Interim SPCO President Dobson West sent out a brief message about how the two sides met to discuss the management play and talk offer made earlier this month. The offer was a designed to restart concerts while contract negotiations continue.

In the release West continues: "Unfortunately, in our meeting yesterday the Musicians rejected our play and talk offer and did not offer any new proposals. They did request further information from us, which we will provide this week, and we requested additional information from them as well. We have agreed to meet again on Wednesday morning."

When contacted by MPR musicians negotiator Carole Mason Smith confirmed the Wednesday talks but said the musicians accepted some parts of the offer, and rejected other parts. She said then management withdrew the offer and went back to its January 17th position, which she said "is less of an offer."

However Smith says the musicians still want to talk

"We are continuing to negotiate and trying to reach a settlement," she said.

Meanwhile tonights concert in the SPCO-sponsored Liquid Music Series became a casualty of the dispute when yMusic pulled out of a presentation with Shara Worden.

The American Federation of Musicians local 802 in New York told the ensemble it is against union regulations for the group to perform in the program as is scheduled during the ongoing dispute at the SPCO between management and union musicians.

The 45 minute Shara Worden portion of the concerts tonight and tomorrow will proceed, however all ticket-holders will receive a full refund.

Two sides in SPCO dispute meet to consider play and talk proposal

Posted at 4:53 PM on February 25, 2013 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Media, Music, People

Management and locked out musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra have been meeting all afternoon. It's the first face-to-face talks the two sides have had in some time. They are trying to hammer out an agreement which may get the musicians playing again, and ultimately lead to a settlement in the long-running contract dispute.

The musicians see this week as really important, as they are concerned management may be about to cancel more concerts, and effectively wipe out the rest of the SPCO season. During the dispute management has been canceling concerts about six weeks out.

In recent days management has been pitching an offer to play and talk, that is resume concerts while the final details of a contract are negotiated. However there are some details in that play and talk proposal which are hard for the musicians to swallow, and that is what they are negotiating today.

They have so much to discuss it's unlikely they will have a resolution today, but both sides seem eager to keep the talks alive. The musicians say they are prepared to meet every day until they reach an agreement. Before the meeting management said they hadn't heard the details of how that would work yet, but they want to get a deal too.

The three main sticking points are: pay, how to reduce the size of the SPCO from 34 to 28 positions, and the electronic media agreement, that is the use of SPCO performances online.

The pay issue is complex, because management has proposed not only to cut salaries, but wanted to impose a two-tier system where current musicians will be guaranteed an over-scale payment, essentially a bonus over the rate which any new musicians will get.

The musicians didn't like that because they said it builds in an inequality. So now management is offering two options: one with the base salary plus bonus for current musicians, and one with a higher base salary and no bonus for everyone. This would keep things equal, but in effect mean an even bigger pay cut for current musicians.

When it comes to the reduction of the size of the orchestra, the musicians have apparently said they are willing to consider it, as long as no-one is fired. Management is offering a retirement package for musicians 55 or older. An important question however is how the SPCO maintains its orchestration, that is making sure they have the right combination of players. Management has offered to create a committee of musicians and management representatives to oversee that mix. A big question here is whether there are sufficient people, and in the right combination, who are willing to retire to make this work.

Finally there is the electronic media agreement, which has been contentious. Traditionally this part of the agreement has been negotiated by the national union, the American Federation of Musicians. However the SPCO management wants to have electronic media be part of the local contract. The AFM filed a grievance against the SPCO last year, and last week filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the SPCO leadership of unfair labor practices.

Meanwhile over at the Minnesota Orchestra the two sides are still exchanging suggestions about how to do the independent analysis of the the Orchestras finances requested by the musicians. The players say it is necessary before they can consider a possible counter-proposal to management's current offer.

(SPCO image courtesy SPCO)

Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies names new artistic director

Posted at 2:29 PM on February 25, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

The Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies has named Mark Russell Smith as its new artistic director. The hire takes effect in June 2013.

Conductor Mark Russell Smith
Image courtesy of the University of Minnesota

Smith is director of orchestral studies at the University of Minnesota's School of Music and music director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in Davenport, Iowa.

Smith, an accomplished cellist, currently serves as the GTCYS interim artistic advisor and conductor.

Smith has previously conducted the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony.

You can find out more about Smith and his work here, here, here and here.

Prince parties like it's 1986

Posted at 11:43 AM on February 25, 2013 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

The elusive and reculsive Prince is having a big year. Three nights at The Dakota. Relaunch of his shuttered website. A high-profile appearance at The Grammys. A performance on Jimmy Fallon this Friday.

Even though he's re-emerging on the national scene, Prince has been generating buzz consistently in Minnesota for well over 30 years, with rumors swirling about a surprise local Prince performance at least once a year. This MPR News story from the now-defunct 1986 Minnesota Music Awards gives us an idea of how little has changed.

Transcript:

When Gopher State glitterati turned out in all their splendor last night, it was for the sxith annual Minnesota Music Awards. Almost as soon as audience members arrived at Bloomington's Carlton Celebrity Room, they were swept up in the excitement and expectation generated by rumors that Minnesota's funkiest favorite son might honor the crowd with a surprise concert. Morning Edition's Jim Bickal reports:

A parade of limousines pulled up in front of the Carlton Celebrity Room last night and out of them popped some outrageously dressed people. Women with huge hairdos and shockingly revealing evening gowns were escorted by shirtless men wearing floor-length white robes and sunglasses.

A small crowd waited outside the hall watching for celebrities. The one they were especially looking for was Minnesota superstar Prince. Limousine chauffeur Cameron Smith was out there and he knew what to look for: "Oh, most likely he sneaks in in a yellow Thunderbird with very blacked-in windows or a black BMW with very blacked-in windows. Or he does have his own limousine which is a blue Lincoln. It's pretty easily identified. It has cut crystal headlights and such."

Prince never made his grand entrance but there were rumors he had snuck in a back door.

Inside the Celebrity Room, Don Powell was the master of ceremonies. The show was broadcast live on UHF channel 23. The awards were based on the newly formed Minnesota Music Academy. The Academy is made up of the 300 people who paid $5 to join. Their votes determine the winner in every category except one: Entertainer of the Year. In that category, anybody could vote, but only 50 non-Academy members did. Pop rock band Limited Warranty won the balloting as Entertainer of the Year; Westside was voted best funk band; The Jets won several awards as the best Rhythm and Blues band; Paul Metsa was selected as the best folk artist; and Slave Raider was selected as the best heavy metal band.

Gov. Perpich, who could have easily won the balloting for most conservatively dressed presenter, gave out the Connie Hechter Award to long-time record distributor Amos Heilicher. Most of the recipients who attended the ceremony seemed pretty pleased by the honor, but the band Soul Asylum, which was voted best garage band, didn't quite know what to make of it. They said they didn't know they were a garage band.

"I think it's kind of interesting we haven't been in a garage for, oh, about three years. But it's still kinda nice. At least somebody's paying attention. We were here and we played so they knew we were going to be here so I think they had to give us something so they added this category just so they could do it."

When asked what they thought of the award ceremony, they said, "I think it's not going so well, but what do I know? This is the only one I've ever seen so I can't compare it to anything. I think it's kinda bogus but then I probably shouldn't say that."

As the evening wore on, rumors were circulating that Prince was there and that he was going to play. About an hour before the end of the program, a security officer told guest Angela Watley that she couldn't return to her seat near the stage. He told her that Prince would not perform unless she was removed from the audience. Watley was a bit miffed.

"I'm apparently a threat to The Revolution. I'm not sure how. It's an absurd mix-up." What did they tell you? "Just to leave my table. I was sitting at the Governor's table. To leave my table and that I was a threat to the group." What are you going to do? "I'm going to find out exactly what is the problem here. Because this is a really ridiculous mistake. I've never been so embarrassed in my life and I really deserve a very good explanation."

Finally, after all the awards in the program were handed out, Academy Chair Byron Frank was introduced. It was the moment that everyone was hoping for. Frank announced that Prince would be the first charter member of the Minnesota Music Academy. Prince appeared and he was greeted with a huge ovation. Dressed in a conservative blue suit, he told the crowd he wasn't expecting the award.

"A while back I wrote a line to a song and I said 'I don't care to win awards.' But it was easy to write a line like that because I wasn't up for any. And I won a couple awards since then, but in all honesty I want you all to know that the ones I get from you are the best."

After the award ceremony was over and the television cameras were off and those of us with tape recorders were told not to use them, Prince and the Revolution returned to the stage. For 40 minutes, his royal badness sang, pranced around the stage and threw pieces of his clothing into the audience. It was what everyone was waiting for and they weren't disappointed. I'm Jim Bickal reporting.

Charmin Michelle sings Billie Holiday

Posted at 3:06 PM on February 22, 2013 by David Cazares (1 Comments)
Filed under: Jazz, Music

When Charmin Michelle decided to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist, she was bound to pay homage to one of the greatest voices of all time.

In Billie Holiday, the mesmerizing singer whose haunting interpretations of songs from the Great American Songbook left their mark on history, Michelle found inspiration, and a musical guide.

"The first thing that drew me to her was her choice of songs and how she delivered them - the emotion that she put into them," Michelle said. "Then I started reading about her life and how tragic it was toward the end. But she was very strong considering the time she lived in."

On Sunday, Michelle and the Twin Cities Seven will pay tribute to the famous singer's life in "Portrait of Billie Holiday," at the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis. The free show, set for 2 p.m., is being presented as part of Black History Month.

The concert also will offer listeners an excellent chance to hear the artistry of Michelle, whose sweet tones and artful phrasing make her one of the Twin Cities best voices. For her, however, it's a chance to again draw on the mastery of Holiday, who brought new life to tunes like "I Only Have Eyes For You," "Body And Soul," and "They can't Take That Away From Me."

"When you think about improvisation, hers is not quite Ella Fitzgerald's," Michelle said, "but that's apples and oranges. She could really emote.

"When she was young, her voice was really high and she was on top of the beat a little bit. But as she got older and the drugs took hold of her voice, she got a little gritty. But she worked with what she had."

Michelle also is booked for a show Monday at the Dakota Jazz Club, where she will be joined on stage by guitarist Joel Shapira -- a great pairing of two different instruments.

Photo by JuliAnne Jonker

Libby Larsen on the orchestras

Posted at 6:01 AM on February 22, 2013 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Acclaimed Minnesota composer Libby Larsen spoke to the Westminster Town Hall Forum Thursday.

The Grammy Award-winner's topic was "What You Hear is What You Get: A Composer on Composing." As you might expect her address was both informative and energetic.

And as you might also expect, when she took questions from the audience at the end she received several queries about her thoughts, as a composer, on the current labor conflicts at the Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

This is what she said:

Because I am not an orchestral musician, nor am I an administrator, I can watch and consider the situation from a little different perspective, though I am a performing musician and I sat on the Orchestra League Board of Directors for a number of terms, and also the Minnesota Orchestra Board of Directors for a number of terms.

So I think I see the 100 year situation that is currently afoot here in the Twin Cities. And it's a tragedy, because no music is being made. And to not hear the music and to only hear about the current business situation of the music is really a tragedy.

Now, will it be solved? Yes, it will be solved one way or another. Are there sides? In my opinion there are no sides. It's a huge situation that has gotten out of control. Not with this orchestra, with ALL orchestras in the country. And it needs to find its new footing - whatever that is. And Minnesota is the place where I think we are going to find out. We are after all pioneers. We love great ideas. We love to see how things play out. After all we did elect Jesse Ventura!

So I have high hopes that however the situation plays out, it will be played out in the Scandinavian collective way we do things here in Minnesota. And if it plays out well, which will probably be long term, then we can be a very strong model for really what is about a 100 year problem. Which I'd be happy to lecture on, but probably not today.

You can hear Larsen's entire address on MPR News Presents at noon today and will be posted later on the program's web page.

Here is an example of Larsen's work sung by the San Francisco Girls Chorus:

(Submitted photo of Libby Larsen)

The Iceman cometh (to the Cedar)

Posted at 11:00 AM on February 21, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Wise musicians know they must take careful care of their instruments, but Terje Isungset (right) maybe has to take more care than most.

The Norwegian plays music on marimbas, trumpets and harps all made from ice, some of it thousands of years old carved from glaciers in his homeland.

Isungset brings his Ice Music show to the Cedar Cultural Center on Monday evening. However he will be in Minneapolis this weekend preparing his instruments. He'll be working at a local ice vendor, and possibly cutting ice from a local lake.

However he points out It's not every piece of ice which can become part of an instrument. There is a lot of selection and tuning to be done. You can get a sense of his work from this video.

A further challenge faces the Cedar itself, which it has to be admitted can become quite warm when packed with a crowd of music heads. The Cedar's Mike Rossetto says the stage crew is looking at how it will adjust the heating in the venue, which usually includes vents which blow on stage.

There is also the question of lighting. Ice looks really pretty when it's lit properly, but the lighting guy doesn't usually run the risk of destroying a performer's instruments by making it look good.

Beautiful music mixed with the possibility of disaster: what's not to love?

(Ice trumpet image courtesy of the Cedar Cultural Center)

Art Hounds: Jeffrey Brooks, Tim Eitel, and contra dance in Northfield

Posted at 7:45 AM on February 21, 2013 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Painting

Tim Eitel: Elsewhere (Exhibition installation view), 2013 (Photo credit: Gene Pittman, courtesy of the Rochester Art Center)

The hounds have uncovered an under-appreciated Minnesota composer, a hotshot German artist who's bringing his internationally renowned paintings to Rochester, and the reason Northfield will be a mecca for contra dance this weekend.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

Dance teacher and accordion player Jim Leedham is encouraging people to make room in their packed schedules for The Northfield Stomp. It's a contra dance extravaganza on Fri. Feb. 22 at 7pm, at the Northfield Armory. The Northfield Stomp will feature live music by Contratopia and enough contra dancing to make your head spin.

Tim Eitel is one of the most famous young painters in the world right now and his first large-scale survey exhibition in the United States is currently on view at the Rochester Art Center. Tricia Khutoretsky, curator/director of Public Functionary, was stunned by Eitel's use of color, the scale of his works and his technical prowess. She didn't love every piece, but thinks the show demands to be seen. The show runs through April 28.

Composer Mike Croswell will be at Studio Z this weekend to hear the concert "Playing it Close to Home." He's most looking forward to hearing the rhythmically innovative work of local composer Jeffrey Brooks. Mike loves that Brooks is a contemporary composer who writes with the audience's pleasure in mind and not just as an intellectual pursuit. Zeitgeist will be performing this Friday and Saturday at Studio Z at 7pm and at Roseville High School Sunday at 2pm.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

SPCO violinist leaving for the New York Philharmonic

Posted at 5:05 PM on February 20, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Second Principal Violin Kyu-Young Kim revealed today he is leaving to join the New York Philharmonic.

Locked out musicians at both the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra have been predicting for months that players would leave. Clarinetist Tim Paradise quit the SPCO in September. However this appears to be the first departure from the SPCO as a result of the lock out.

In a release from the musicians today Kim talked about his disappointment at leaving after winning his spot in New York at an audition last Saturday.

"While I am thrilled at this opportunity to play with one of the world's great orchestras, I am saddened to be leaving the SPCO under these circumstances. In the space of four months, the lockouts of both orchestras have changed the Twin Cities from a destination metropolis for musicians to a place that many of us are actively trying to leave. "

Kim was associate concertmaster of the SPCO from 2000-2005, then left for New York to work with the Daedalus Quartet. He returned to St Paul in the fall of 2011 to become the SPCO second principal violin. His wife Pitnarry Shin is a cellist who began playing with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2001, and stayed till 2006. She became a full member of the orchestra in 2011.

The Minnesota Orchestra lost violinist Peter Maguire who left in December to become concertmaster with the Tonnhalle Orchestra in Zurich Switzerland.

While many of the locked out musicians of both the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO have been substituting at other orchestras during the lock outs, and several have reportedly auditioned elsewhere, no other departures have been announced so far.

UPDATE: A note from Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Ellen Smith clarifies that Pitnarry Shin became a full member of the Orchestra in 2001, left in 2006, and then won back her chair in 2001. Smith says Shin will be departing back to New York with her husband.

Smith's note continues: There are several Minnesota Orchestra members who have taken a years leave of absence who will not be returning to Minnesota as a result of the lockout: Matthew Young, viola, Sarah Kwak and Vali Phillips, violin.

MPR news will be following up on developments.

From the Grammys to Bloomington, and beyond

Posted at 3:45 PM on February 20, 2013 by Eric Ringham (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Religion

René Clausen conducts the Concordia College Choir. (Photo courtsey of Concordia College.)

Cognitive dissonance happens when the pastor in a Lutheran church reminds the congregation that the musician leading worship this Sunday morning recently swept three Grammy categories.

René Clausen had brought his Concordia College Choir from Moorhead to Duluth last Saturday to kick off a tour of the central United States. The next morning, the choir performed for the 8:30 service at Duluth's First Lutheran Church. A member of First Lutheran's regular choir, which had the day off, admitted to a visitor that the music wasn't usually this good. "We're pathetic in comparison," he said.

But who isn't? The Concordia Choir has a wonderfully disciplined and blended sound. And its conductor, Clausen, picked up Grammys this month for a new CD of his choral music, "Life and Breath." He's been leading the choir for 27 years.

Minnesota listeners will have one more chance to catch the tour before the choir heads for points south: at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Bloomington. The program includes Bach, Distler, Christiansen and, yes, Clausen. The tour will touch most states between here and Texas before wrapping up with a homecoming performance in Moorhead March 10.

If you can't see them in person, there's always this:

-- Eric Ringham

A string of orchestral developments

Posted at 5:20 PM on February 19, 2013 by Euan Kerr (6 Comments)
Filed under: Music

If ever there was a day you needed a scorecard to follow the wrinkles of the Twin Cities two orchestral conflicts today was that day.

Early on came news that the American Federation of Musicians has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the Saint Paul Chamber Society, the formal name given to SPCO management.

A release from the AFM put it this way:"The SPCO has demanded the AFM agree to permit the unlimited use of all recorded audio and video content made since the inception of the orchestra in 1959, but the employer has repeatedly refused to identify the titles of the recorded works and the identities of the musicians and artists who performed the recordings. The AFM is the exclusive collective bargaining representative for electronic media services for SPCO musicians, and for all other union orchestras throughout the US and Canada."

"Apparently, the SPCO board is more interested in withholding wages, health care, and pension benefits from the orchestra than answering questions about its contract demands," said AFM International President Ray Hair. "Rather than nurture and protect an artistic treasure, the SPCO board has inflicted pain and suffering, destroying the lives of musicians who have brought beauty to the Twin Cities area for more than 50 years."

It took SPCO management a while to respond to this, and before they did came the next orchestral nugget: the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra will play two concerts tomorrow in Forest Lake High School, under the baton of Assistant Principal Bass William Schrickel who is an experienced conductor with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the St Cloud Orchestra. The Young People's Concerts replace similar events cancelled as part of the ongoing dispute between management and musicians.

"One of the most devastating things about this lockout is the impact it has had on our educational concerts. The musicians feel it is vital that we do whatever we can reach as many kids as possible while this lockout continues, and we're happy to bring music to the entire state of Minnesota again." Principal cellist Tony Ross said in a release.

Even as the dust was settling on that announcement, Interim SPCO President Dobson West put out more news in another release to SPCO patrons:

"As you'll recall, we asked the Musicians for a response to our recent play and talk proposal by yesterday at 5 p.m. We did receive a response from them in the form of a request for further information. In this response they also agreed to additional in-person meetings. Last night we provided answers to their questions and offered to resume meetings next Monday, February 25. We look forward to continuing the discussions and remain hopeful that we are making progress toward a solution."

This is actually a much simplified account of what happened. Musicians, who initially questioned whether the management was offering a true play and talk proposal where musicians present concerts while negotiations continue, responded with no fewer than five pages of questions. It's indicative of how many issues are yet to be resolved. The musicians also asked for management to respond to some of their suggestions which have not yet been discussed.

The ball is now back in the musicians court, and they have yet to formally respond to today's offer. However last week they offered to meet with management at any time after Thursday 21st at any time in an effort to prevent the cancellation of more concerts, so it seems likely they will agree to meet next week.

It was only later in the afternoon that the SPCO management responded with a statement about the AFM complaint.

"The SPCO views electronic media as a means of furthering its long-term commitment to reach as many people as possible through its music. Electronic media covers a variety of topics, from our Minnesota Public Radio broadcasts to our innovative free online Listening Library. With the longstanding support of its musicians, the SPCO has been a leader among orchestras in reaching new audiences through media."

"We have consistently requested that the American Federation of Musicians bargain with us over issues important to our negotiations for a new contract. The AFM has refused to do so and its actions in this regard violate the Union's duty to bargain in good faith under the National Labor Relations Act. We look forward to presenting our case to the NLRB and expect our position will be fully vindicated."

In an interview with MPR the AFM's Ray Hair said he expects the NLRB will gather information and decide whether to act upon the complaint within 45 days, unless there are developments in the meantime which change the situation.

High Society: tonight is about love

Posted at 3:14 PM on February 19, 2013 by David Cazares (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Moments before the quartet of accomplished and versatile musicians was set to take the stage for a show of improvised rock, the guitarist approached a stairwell.

Spotting a writer and jazz aficionado in the shadow of great instrumentalists, he couldn't help but toss a playful verbal jab: "Ah, the jazz corner."

It wasn't meant as a slight. Indeed, it's not uncommon for artists who make their living playing today's popular music to jam with jazz musicians, for whom they have the highest respect.

But a growing number of artists whose work touches on jazz but is not limited to it want a musical world free of categories and labels.

Among the Twin Cities ensembles who don't owe their identity to any one genre is High Society, a group that fuses poetry and improvisational music.

Led by poet Lisa Brimmer, High Society offers listeners and readers a place where distinctly different creative worlds intersect to create a new style of creative consciousness. It also aims to offer a musical space for poets to be heard and seen.

Joining her on stage are bassist Andrew Foreman, drummer Kahlil Brewington, trumpeter Steve Kenny and guitarists Evan Montgomery, Todd Clouser and Park Evans.

In a performance tonight at the Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar in St. Paul, the group presents its latest installment, "LoveyDovey: High Society is for Lovers," a show that will include poets Amira Masri, Kevin Kaoz Moore and Saymoukda Vongsay.

Here's my recent exchange with Brimmer on High Society and how the performers aim to connect with their audience.

Can you tell me how High Society has evolved? Is it a rotating cast of performers who bring different elements?

We have a really open door policy as far as players are concern that just keeps giving. Everyone is allowed to experiment with new sounds and riffs and textures. I am certain that I have the right people in the room when what we do is an approach in and of itself. I trust these guys like family up there which is really important when you are improvising. It's a trust fall every show. Not just because I'm reading my poetry and work but because anything could happen. And that's a good thing.

Not everyone plays on each piece and it really works. We have been honored to make music that moves from hip hop to rock to blues to electronic and grunge and folk: it's a circus... a beautiful circus. There are no boundaries because all the folks that continue to work with High Society are not about those notions of genre that are struggling to maintain their relevance in a landscape where the audience can self select.

High Society is impure in that sense. We're not pop, I'm not an r&b singer and the players are certainly not solely jazz artists. Because of the amalgamation of influences even if I start singing, when I start singing I don't think they'll know what to call us, and that's the point. We're just High Society.

Would you say this is about music, poetry or both?

This is about the experience. Every show or episode is different even if I've read a poem before. It is about poetry in that I write poetry and try to deliver it as honestly and clearly as possible. It does not qualify as slam. I don't even know if it is "spoken word" but I know that the poems have a life that is honored when High Society is in session. I find that a "reading" is less accessible than what we can do when there are more of us.

It becomes like film when we partner with a visual artist. We are all tapping into the same energy source. And the audience is in on it too. That is one thing that has surprised me over the last six months. The audience just vibes with us and is just as much a part of High Society as me or an instrument. It's awful and beautiful at the same time.

Tell me about this LoveyDovey concept. Is this about love or love and heartbreak?

Love is heartbreak, isn't it? LoveyDovey is different, even for us. In the past we have done random poems, we did a show called Aesthetic Static about beauty, we did a series of shows called Akademic (POP) Art that explored different schools of art aesthetics (blues, cool, post, folk). LoveyDovey is an opportunity for us to camp out and read some love poems. The ultimate universal: Love. It touches us all in different ways and so I'll be reading some of my love poetry and maybe cover the poems of a few others.

A first for High Society, we also invited a few other poets to come and join us. Kevin Kaoz Moore is one and he is actually celebrating the digital release of his new album on Tuesday, ENTERSEXTIONS vol. 1. Amira Masri, a playful and energetic young voice whom I've recently come to know and Saymoukda Vongsay a Lao-American poet and playwright who is one of the best folks I know. She is also a hyphenated writer (poet and playwright) just like me and we have worked together a few years now on Pillsbury House Theater's Chicago Avenue Project. I can't wait to share a stage with her.

Where are you going, artistically speaking?

I plan on writing some songs with the guys this year so we can play more shows. I believe we are doing something different that is about openness and acceptance and so we want to do it as many places as possible. Mixtape coming soon.

I am a newly selected fellow for the Givens Foundation for African American Literature and am really excited about that. I plan on publishing this year, which is scary but feels very tangible. I'm also working with #group on some new theater projects. #group is a group of new, exciting voices that were hand selected by the folks down at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis. Though we're just getting started and learning about each other I have this feeling we are going to make some really quality work.

Guitarist Todd Clouser doesn't fit into any scene -- and doesn't want to

Posted at 2:34 PM on February 15, 2013 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

From David Cazares:

Guitarist Todd Clouser would be comfortable in a variety of musical settings, from folk and rock to modern jazz. But anyone who expects him to sound a certain way in any particular setting might be surprised.

Drawing heavily on improvisation, Clouser defies musical categories no matter what he plays. In his hands, a rock ballad might strike some as jazz, while tunes seem to be modern jazz are infused with a rock number's electricity.

"I really struggle with genres or labels," Clouser said. "Not based on principal, but because I don't feel comfortable incapsulating anything. Or I don't know how. It's obviously reflected in my music. I don't know how to say, 'this is what we are' or fit in to any scene. That's afforded us a lot of opportunities. It also has its detractors in terms of marketability."

That kind of approach has served Clouser well in the last year, helping his A Love Electric band deliver three distinctly different albums: "20thCentury Folk Selections," "Selections in Garage Jazz" and "The Naked Beat."

The band will perform numbers from the new CD Saturday in a show at the Icehouse restaurant in Minneapolis, a performance that will be hard to pin to any style. That's just how the guitarist wants it.

"The most important thing to me, and maybe this sounds trite, is really to create art, honest art, and to continually dig at truth," Clouser said. "I mean, that's what we're going for. Finding a voice or developing a voice and committing to it. Playing with intention. Writing with intention. And that, I think, transcends genre, art, transcends everything."

Listen to David Cazares' story about Clouser

Art Hounds: Vladimir Gorbach, Print Profs, and Emma Woodhouse is not a...

Posted at 7:45 AM on February 14, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Printmaking, Theater

Heidi Goldberg, Past Dark II, Intaglio, 2012 (Image courtesty of Highpoint Center for Printmaking)

This week's hounds chase down a classical guitarist extraordinaire, some Minnesota art profs with incredible printmaking chops, and a play about the richest of Jane Austen's heroines. Don't worry, she's not a...

The idea of a Jane Austen novel getting the Savage Umbrella treatment is tantalizing to Megan Hadley, co-founder the Buoyant Theater Collective in St. Paul. Savage Umbrella's adaptation is called "Emma Woodhouse Is Not A Bitch," and it's on stage at the Cedar-Riverside People's Center Theater through Feb. 23. Megan is excited about the prospects for comedy, gender switcheroos, and portraits of class, political polarization, and love.

Minneapolis artist and Minneapolis Institute of Arts Senior Editor Jodie Ahern has high praise for "Print Profs: Recent Work by Minnesota Faculty." Highpoint Center for Printmaking's latest exhibition features a diverse array of print works from 17 different Minnesota art professors.

Minneapolis classical guitarist Tim Budge says taking his lady to see Russian guitar virtuoso Vladimir Gorbach at Hamline University's Sundin Music Hall Saturday night is like getting an extension on Valentine's Day. Tim, who's also a marketing and development associate at the Schubert Club, says Gorbach's interpretations of Astor Piazzola's compositions are exquisite. The concert is at 7:30pm and is sponsored by the Minnesota Guitar Society.

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SPCO management proposes to 'play and talk'

Posted at 11:25 AM on February 12, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

SPCO President Dobby West says his administration has submitted a "play and talk" proposal to the Musician Negotiating Committee.

The proposal contains several provisos, but if accepted by the American Federation of Musicians and the local union would allow the SPCO to resume its season.

The full proposal can be read here; SPCO musicians have until 5:00 p.m. CST on February 18 to respond.

Chair of the SPCO Musicians Negotiating Committee Carole Mason-Smith says they are still reviewing the details of management's new offer, but that at first review the proposal does not appear to reflect what is customarily meant by the term "play and talk."

'Save Our SPCO' group proposes bridging gap in contract dispute

Posted at 7:30 PM on February 11, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

A group formed to bridge the gap between musicians and management in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra negotiations today proposed raising three-quarters of a million dollars a year to maintain the SPCO at 34 players.

Management wants to reduce the number to 28 for financial reasons, But Mariellen Jacobson of the group Save Our SPCO says a survey of its 2500 members finds they would be prepared to donate money to keep the full orchestral complement.

"We think it is really do-able on a grassroots level to go out and find $750,000 to help the Society to get the funds to continue to employ a full 34 person orchestra at a reasonable salary without employing draconian cuts in the salaries of the musicians."

Jacobson says for the proposal to work the four month long musicians lockout needs to end.

A representative of SPCO management described a meeting with the group as productive, and management will consider the specifics of the proposal.

Editor's note: this update reported by Euan Kerr

Twin Cities violist found dead near Stone Arch Bridge

Posted at 7:52 PM on February 11, 2013 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Violist Eric Larss Peterson has died. He was 42. His body was found on the river shoreline near the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis on Saturday. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office will not be releasing the cause of death, as it was determined no foul play was involved.

Peterson lived most of his life in Minneapolis, and performed in the Loring String Quartet, the Helios Quartet, and the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble. He also filled in with both the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Paul Walsh of the Star Tribune reports that while exceptionally talented, Peterson suffered from persistent bouts of mental illness.

As a teenager, Peterson was in the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies while attending the Academy of Holy Angels High School, where he was in theater. After graduating in 1987, he studied music at the University of Southern California but had to return to Minneapolis when "mental illness reared its ugly head," said his mother, Becky Peterson.

Eric Peterson resumed his studies at the University of Minnesota and received his degree in viola performance. In a nod to his talent, he immediately became the Toledo Symphony Orchestra's principal viola.

According to his family, Peterson was homeless and was at the hospital the day before his body was found.

Barry Kempton's plans for the Schubert

Posted at 12:16 AM on February 9, 2013 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Barry Kempton apologizes for the heat in his office, blaming it on the way bright sunshine through his large windows at the Landmark Center can quickly add a few degrees to the temperature inside.

But generally the man who bears the title of both artistic director and executive director of the Schubert Club is very happy with life. He's announcing the new star-studded season for the state's oldest arts organization, which pulls in big names like pianist Jonathan Biss and violinist Christian Tetzlaff, as well as newer names like Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa.

"A wonderful big personality, I think, in her playing. She has well over 50 million visits to her YouTube sites, and I think that offers us an opportunity to see who's out there visiting YouTube and seeing and hearing performers, who might be curious to come and hear her live. So I think that is a good opportunity for us."

Kempton says there are no themes to the season (listed below) other than for the International Artist series, where he wanted to make sure he had artists of sufficient charisma to work well in the large space of the Ordway Center.

"I guess the slightly unusual pick is Gidon Kremer coming with his chamber orchestra," said Kempton. "Which is something I didn't set out to try and make happen, but it was presented as an opportunity to the Schubert Club and it seemed like too good of an opportunity to turn down."

Kempton has been at the Schubert for about 18 months, returning to St Paul after a stint as chief executive at the City of London Sinfonia. For many years before he served at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as vice president for artistic planning and general manager.

Kempton says the Schubert's series at the Ordway is going very well, with a local following.

"We don't want to make change there," he said. He's also pleased with the more intimate Music in the Park series at the St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ.

"I think the opportunity to us at the Schubert Club is to look beyond that," he said. "And if we are going to look at bringing in newer audiences, maybe younger generations and a broader cultural diversity mix, the opportunity is there for us to think about some different programming."

Kempton says plans are under way, probably for next season and to look for an announcement in a few months.

"But I think there is opportunity for us to use technology in the way of streaming and broadcast, which we are looking into, which allows us to share what is happening at the Schubert Club more broadly within the state and, indeed, nationally."

He also intends to expand the use of the Schubert's museum and its extensive collection of instruments, including events where experts play some of the instruments, and talk about their use in the past and today.

These are strange days for the classical community what with the labor disputes at the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO. Understandably Kempton chooses his words carefully when asked about the impact of the strife as it drags on.

"I think to look for a silver lining in the current lockouts with both orchestras, it would be for me that there is an outcry from the public who love and miss their orchestras, love and miss their classical music," he said.

Kempton says he hopes the disputes are resolved soon so as to avoid hurting the classical community in the Twin Cities in the longer term.

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST SERIES
Ordway Center

Jonathan Biss, piano
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013

Christian Tetzlaff, violin • Lars Vogt, piano
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013

Gidon Kremer, violin with Kremerata Baltica
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014

Valentina Lisitsa, piano
Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Monday, May 19, 2014

MUSIC IN THE PARK SERIES
St. Anthony United Church of Christ

Pacifica Quartet with Anthony McGill, clarinet
Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013

Erin Keefe, violin • Anna Polonsky, piano
Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013

Gryphon Trio
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014

WindSync
Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014

Miró Quartet
Sunday, March 30, 2014

Cuarteto Latinoamericano
Sunday, April 27, 2014

Art Hounds: Bollywood, Detropia, and a theater festival powered by women

Posted at 7:45 AM on February 7, 2013 by Chris Roberts (2 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music, Theater

Still image from "Detropia" (Courtesy of Loki Films)

What Art Hound wouldn't be interested in a festival of playlets written and directed by Minnesota women, a Minneapolis psychedelic rock band whose stage show nearly distracts from the music and a documentary about the Motor City that captures both its decay and potential? None, we tell you. None.

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It's easy to poke fun at Detroit. But if you're a Michigan native such as Trylon
Microcinema projectionist Peter Schilling, you're relieved and excited when a documentary comes along that doesn't exploit Motown's tragic fall as a great American city. Peter says based on advance notice, Detropia is one such film. Detropia is being screened at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis on Feb. 8 and 9th at 7pm as part of its [[ RE ]] FRAME series.

Picture it, says Twin Cities actress Michelle Guertin, an evening of bountiful theater created and directed by women who are fellow Minnesotans, neighbors, maybe even friends. Michelle says that's what the "After the Apple" theater festival promises, with each performance containing nine separate playlets. The festival was put together by Table Salt Productions and is on stage at the Playwright's Center in Minneapolis Feb. 7 - 23.

Chances are pretty darn good that if the Minneapolis indie rock band Bollywood has a local gig, writer, artist and musician Sarah Moeding will be there. Sarah confesses she's been captured by the group's swirling psychedelia and video enhanced stage shows. Bollywood celebrates the release of its new EP, "OK Animal" at Cause Spirits and Sound Bar in Minneapolis on Saturday, Feb. 9th.

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SPCO musicians seek progress by end of week

Posted at 6:01 PM on January 30, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

SPCO musicians say they are trying to speed up the negotiation process, in fear that the 101-day lockout could drag on for several weeks longer.

In their latest counter proposal, SPCO musicians agreed to reduce their annual salary 20% for the 2012-2013 season, 17% for the 2013-2014 season and 15% for the 2015-2016 season.

They are requesting that management responds no later than Friday, February 1.

Representatives of the locked-out musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra say they continue to have objections to a compensation package proposed by management.

They are particularly opposed a two-tier pay system. Under that proposal, any new musicians joining the orchestra will earn $10,000 a year less than current players.

Last week SPCO interim president Dobson West offered some concessions, including a guarantee that no current musicians will be laid off as the orchestra moves from 34 to 28 players.

However, musicians' negotiator Carol Mason Smith said that in reality the major concessions have been on the part of the musicians.

"We have made concessions as far as the complement of the orchestra, the number of musicians," she said. "We've made compensation concessions, and we are still not seeing the similar kind of drastic change that we have made, we are not seeing it from our management yet."

Art Hounds: Jazzed Up, Bob Hicok, and self discovery through acting class

Posted at 7:45 AM on January 31, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Music, Poetry, Theater

This week's hounds lead us to a wild rock n roll podcast broadcasting live from a revered St. Paul bar, a Michigan born poet making a brief landing in Duluth, and a play about budding thespians who find out a lot about themselves.

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Twin Cities actor, director and teacher Sean Byrd has been to more than his share of acting workshops, but none so self-revelatory as the one that's the basis of the play "Circle Mirror Transformation" at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo. Sean says a widely diverse range of characters learn more about themselves than acting through the workshop. On stage Feb. 1 - 24.

Kathleen Roberts, member of Prove Collective and editor and publisher of Proof Magazine in Duluth, is a devotee of Virginia-based poet Bob Hicok. Kathleen says Hicok's freewheeling, deceptively insightful verse takes the reader to unpredictable places. Hicok will be reciting his poems as part of the Warner Reading series at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Friday, Feb. 1, at 7:30pm.

Local music writer Ira Brooker, and current guest editor of Minnesota Playlist, is setting aside Tuesday nights in February at St. Paul's Turf Club as a time to get "Jazzed up and Bonkers." It'll be a weekly live rendition of a podcast hosted by Travis Ramin and Danny Henry, two former local rockers who dive into their whacked out vinyl collection and pull out the weirdest tunes you can imagine.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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MN poetry: Barton Sutter's 'My Mother at Swan Lake'

Posted at 12:00 PM on January 31, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Books, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry

This Sunday at noon Barton Sutter and his brother Ross will perform poetry and music at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis.

The program, titled "This is the Day: Rejoicing Anyway" focuses on the spiritual response to suffering, and is part of the church's "Literary Witnesses" program.

Ross and Barton Sutter
Image courtesy of the artists

Bart says about the performance:

"As the Buddha said, everyone suffers. How we respond to suffering is a crucial spiritual question. Billions of people suffer more than Ross and I do, but art always works with particulars, and in our particular case, when we were just kids we watched helplessly as our mother suffered a gruesome illness and died. Such an experience shatters simple-minded religious faith. So then what? We designed our program around that experience and its spiritual consequences."

One of the poems Sutter will read on Sunday is "My Mother at Swan Lake" from his new collection The Reindeer Camps. Sutter says it took him close to fifty years to write.

"The memory of that picnic haunted me for decades, and I didn't know why. In writing the poem, which is mostly just description, I discovered some of the reasons for the haunting. For one thing, I realized this was the last day I remembered my original family as happy and whole. For another, my dead mother seemed to have a message for me in what she'd said that day, but I hadn't been hearing it clearly."

Sutter says he hopes to move the audience to tears, and to laughter.

"We hope they'll go away humming one of Ross's songs or maybe mumbling a couple of my lines. And since all of us suffer, I suppose the best one-word take-away would be--encouragement."

My Mother at Swan Lake
                    "This is the day which the Lord has made;
                    let us rejoice and be glad in it."
                            —Psalms 118:24

A maniac for picnicking,
     She'd pack us up to go
The very first thing in the spring;
     Sometimes we sat in snow!

But we were well into the year;
     The swans had all long gone.
We'd shed, like leaves, our nagging fears.
     The lake went pink and calm.

Her hair'd come back; her light, low laugh;
     Her cancer in "remission,"
A state that gave us some relief
     From pain and vain religion.

My dad had let me start the fire.
     I saw my mom was proud
Of how the flames kept growing higher;
     They wouldn't flicker out.

I've clutched this day near fifty years
     But always felt so stupid
That it could bring the sting of tears
     When there was nothing to it:

My sister makes a small bouquet
     Of weeds and faded asters,
But I can't hear my mother say
     What she bends low to ask her.

My brother's down beside the shore;
     I see his silhouette.
My father calls out, as before,
     "Now don't go getting wet!"

My mother leans against a tree.
     She sighs. I hear her say
Across the half a century,
     "It's been a lovely day."

- My Mother at Swan Lake, by Barton Sutter, from his collection The Reindeer Camps, published by BOA Editions, Ltd. Reprinted here with permission of the author.

Minnesota Orchestra reunites with Osmo Vanska this Friday

Posted at 2:00 PM on January 29, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Osmo Vänskä will conduct the Minnesota Orchestra on February 1 in a concert celebrating the orchestra's Grammy nomination.

They will perform Jean Sibelius' Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, their recording of which was nominated for Best Orchestral Performance.

The event begins at 8pm in the Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium.

As of this writing, approximately 170 tickets are still available; they range from $20 to $60.

This is the first time they have performed together since July 19, when Vänskä conducted the orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 at Sommerfest.

The event is the brainchild of Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Minnesota Orchestra benefactor Judy Dayton, in an attempt to release tensions in what has been a heated contract dispute.

Any revenue after expenses will go into an account to put on future educational concerts. The musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra will control the account. John Stiles with the City of Minneapolis says "It's important to note that all of whatever proceeds there are will go into this fund, and none will go into any aspect of the labor dispute."

Dessa to perform at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Posted at 10:36 AM on January 29, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, Music, People

On February 28 local rapper and singer Dessa will give a performance at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Dessa
Image courtesy of the artist

Ticket sales from the event will seed a new scholarship fund for under-served teens.

Tickets are $20 and go on sale this Wednesday at 10am.

Dessa is known for her work mentoring teens and young adults, which has included public speaking and leading writing workshops.

According to MIA marketing manager Kim Huskinson, the museum is working to engage with teens of all backgrounds, and to raise awareness of the art classes it already offers youth.

SPCO negotiations show signs of progress

Posted at 12:33 PM on January 25, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

There are indications that contract negotiations are moving ahead between the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra management and musicians. This afternoon SPCO President Dobson West sent out a letter to constituents with a detailed update.

MPR's Euan Kerr is calling out for interviews right now with both management and the musicians; in the meantime, here's West's letter.

Dear Members of the SPCO Family,

I am writing to update you on the status of the negotiations with the Musicians. As you know, on Thursday January 17th the Musicians terminated the off-the-record discussions and we canceled concerts through March 23rd.

Shortly after that announcement, we formally submitted to the Musician Negotiating Committee a new on-the-record offer that contained significant concessions intended to address what we understand to be the Musicians' major concerns. Those concessions include the following:

• No current Musician will lose his/her job via position elimination.

The Musicians have expressed their concern that a reduction in the size of the orchestra could lead to current Musicians losing their jobs. After carefully studying the list of positions eligible for the Special Retirement Package, we determined that if five Musicians retire from a specific list of non-principal positions, the Society will be left with an artistically viable instrumentation for the Orchestra and we will not need to eliminate the job of any current Musician.

We have also proposed that there will not be less than 27 positions in the Orchestra and that the Society will consult with the Artistic Vision Committee (AVC) and at least one Artistic Partner in determining the size and instrumentation of the Orchestra.

• Salaries will increase during the contract.

The Musicians have expressed their concern that salaries do not increase during the life of the contract. Our previous offer provided for a minimum guaranteed annual salary of $50,000 for all Musicians with minimum guaranteed annual overscale for all current Musicians of $12,500 per year, resulting in a flat minimum guaranteed compensation of $62,500 for all current Musicians for the life of the contract. In addition, all Musicians will have the right to negotiate for additional compensation in their individual contracts.

Our revised offer provides for the base annual compensation of $50,000 to increase to $51,000 in FY15 and $52,000 in FY16. When combined with guaranteed overscale, current Musicians would receive a guaranteed minimum of $62,500 in FY14, $63,500 in FY15 and $64,500 in FY16 (plus any individually negotiated overscale).

In addition, our revised offer provides for a $10,000 one-time bonus to be paid to each current Musician upon execution and ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement.

• Insurance benefits will be guaranteed.

The Musicians have expressed their concern that insurance benefits could be canceled or dramatically changed at any time. While this was never our intent, in our revised offer we have proposed that insurance levels not change during the term of the collective bargaining agreement except in the same way it can change today or due to health care reform, in which cases any changes would be made in consultation with the Orchestra Committee.

• Musicians will continue to have the artistic input they have today.

While the Musicians continue to claim that our proposals take away their artistic control, this is simply not true. Our proposal does not contain any substantial changes in the audition process, the tenure process, the artistic review process, the Artistic Vision Committee or the Artistic Personnel Committee.

It is possible that this claim was made in response to our proposal to change the size and instrumentation of the Orchestra. We believe we have addressed this concern as indicated above: by proposing a path forward in which no Musician is terminated through position elimination and by proposing that decisions about the size and instrumentation of the orchestra be made with input from the Artistic Vision Committee (which includes three Musicians) and at least one Artistic Partner.

There is obviously more to our proposal, and if you are interested, the entire proposal can be read here.

On Tuesday evening, we received a response from the Musicians in the form of a new proposal. We have several questions and are not in a position to fully evaluate or respond to it without first resolving these questions. We have sent our questions to the Musician Negotiating Committee, and we have requested additional meeting dates. If you are interested, you can read the Musicians' proposal here.

With this latest exchange of proposals, we feel that we are making progress toward a solution that is both financially and artistically viable. We will continue to work at finding a solution, and will keep you posted as we have news to share.

Sincerely,

Dobson West, President
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

Ginger Baker movie director both loves and hates his subject

Posted at 4:25 PM on January 25, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Music

(Trailer for "Beware of Mr Baker" Warning: contains repeated bad language and violent images.)

A couple of years back Jay Bulger contacted legendary rock drummer Ginger Baker at his home in South Africa and told him Rolling Stone magazine had commissioned him to write a profile.

It wasn't true. However he was able to use the carrot of coverage into getting Baker, a man with an infamous volcanic bad temper, to allow him to stay at his house for several weeks.

"What possessed me to do that? I don't know. Seemed like a challenge!" Bulger laughed this week. "And I like a challenge. I like villains and he is the ultimate villain."

Bulger did write that profile, and Rolling Stone published it. Bulger turned around and went back to South Africa with a film crew and the result is "Beware of Mr Baker" which screens in Minneapolis this weekend at the Frozen Docs series at the Film Society of Minneapolis and St Paul.

For decades Baker has pounded out the intricately syncopated pulse of a host of innovative rock bands. He formed Cream with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, bullied his way into Blind Faith with Steve Winwood, and moved to Nigeria to work with Fela Kuti.
"Ginger Baker is the original rock and roll madman junkie drummer superstar," said Bulger. "He invented the rock and roll drum solo. He was the greatest drummer by far of his generation. A legendary ghoulish figure."

All of that comes through in "Beware of Mr Baker." Bulger's film opens with Baker attacking him with a walking cane - and breaking his nose.

"I never felt unsafe," Bulger told me. "I felt maybe physically and challenged at times. But that's pretty fun, especially coming from someone so much older. It gives me hope that one day when I am 75 or whatever I might be able to break some noses with canes myself."

Bulger says he first saw Baker in a documentary which followed Baker's trip across the Sahara desert in the first Range Rover to come off the production line. Bulger says the trip was to get Baker to Lagos, Nigeria so he could join Fela Kuti's band. It was also a way to wean him off heroin.

"He looked like something right out of Charles Dickens' (bodily reference deleted), or something," Bulger said. "You could tell that he was meant to die in the 60's by the video I saw and so the fact that he was still alive was just remarkable."

In fact Bulger says he believes there's a reason why Baker has survived.

"He can't be killed. He's unstoppable. He's made a deal with the devil," Bulger laughed.

"Beware of Mr Baker" is filled with interviews with rock luminaries ranging from Clapton and Bruce to Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. Bulger said initially people were reluctant to talk to him.

"It was difficult. It was really difficult," he said. "But it was no more difficult than convincing Ginger to let me live with him."

However once people heard Baker himself had talked, usually in loud and lurid terms, Bulger said more people were willing to sit for his camera.

Everyone describes Baker's drumming talent in glowing terms. Some are more circumspect on his social skills. Baker is described as beating up fellow band members (including Bruce who he stomped on stage one time.) A string of former wives outline his shortcomings as a life partner, and his now adult children outline the way he has repeatedly disappeared from their lives.

Bulger says many people who see the film come away wondering just what to think.

"For me it's not about me liking him, and hopefully it's not about the viewer liking him either. It's about understanding him. He is so complicated it is really difficult for me to sit there and say do I like him or not. I find him to be one of the greatest comic geniuses of the 20th century as well as potentially one of the most despicable human beings that I have ever come across."

"He can only express himself through beautifully smashing things."

Bulger describes Baker as smart, and unlike anyone else on the planet.

"And I love him for that. As well as, I hate his stinking guts too. But it's more complicated than just yes or no."

Bulger is now looking to other projects, both documentaries and feature films. But he's blunt when comparing them with the current film

"Probably nothing as good as this Ginger Baker project, for the rest of my life. But I'd be totally OK with that," he said. "I'd be happy never doing another thing for the rest of my life, it's that good. And I'm not bragging."

Jay Bulger isn't kidding.

Art Hounds: Batuque, Sondheim, and prairie painter pioneers

Posted at 7:45 AM on January 24, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Dance, Events, Music

Orabel Thortvedt, one of the artists featured in the "Prairie Daughters" exhibit, as a young girl carving sculptures into the banks of the Buffalo River near Georgetown, Minnesota, c. 1910. (Photo courtesy of the Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County)

The hounds take you to St. Paul for some unadulterated Sondheim, to Minneapolis in search of the roots of Afro-Brazilian dance, and to Moorhead for some late 19th-century prairie paintings.

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Nobody, according to Twin Cities dancer Anthony Galloway, brings Brazilian dance forms to the stage with the physicality and grace of Contempo Physical Dance. Contempo's latest performance, "Batuque," at the Cowles Center for Dance in Minneapolis Feb. 1-3, embraces the African roots of Brazilian dance with live, extremely percussive music and Afro-centric art and design by St. Paul artist Ta-Coumba Aiken.

For singer and Minnesota Opera communications manager Daniel Zillmann, Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim has written the story of America, and his life. Daniel plans to revel in Sondheim's music at the Ordway in St. Paul, which is featuring Sondheim this month as part of its "Broadway Songbook" series through Jan. 27.

Tania Blanich, Executive Director of the Rourke Museum Art Gallery and Museum in Moorhead, felt a strong kinship with the two painters featured in "Prairie Daughters: The Art and Lives of Annie Stein and Orabel Thortvedt." The exhibition, at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead through Dec. 31, focuses on two prairie women who documented their lives on canvas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Musician Steve Kramer dies

Posted at 9:08 AM on January 21, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Editor's Note: Thanks to Rupa Shenoy for this report.

Twin Cities musician Steve Kramer has died. He was 59.

Kramer's business partner, Bob Hest, confirmed that he died in his sleep on Saturday night while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Twin Cities musician Steve Kramer in a December 2011 file photo.
(Photo courtesy MPR)

Kramer was an accordionist best known for his punk-polka band The Wallets. He led the band and wrote much of the music before the band folded in the late 1980s.

The Wallets were known as one of the most original and unique bands in the Twin Cities. They traveled by converted ambulance on cross-country tours, and Kramer later said those grueling drives were the reason the band folded.

Kramer and Hest went on to form an advertising company and created jingles for clients including Target, Buick and MTV.

In 2011, Kramer collaborated with storyteller Kevin Kling in a production called "Of Mirth and Mischief" at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Kling said they were working on a new production for the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis.

"He made things live anew and made you feel like you're hearing a kind of music for the first time," Kling said. "All across the board -- his breadth -- like the four songs he'd written for our new piece -- all of them, just completely different from the next. All of them, just a mastery of each form."

Kling said Kramer was one of the most gifted composers he knew.

B-Boy J-Sun breaks to Beethoven

Posted at 11:14 AM on January 18, 2013 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Dance, Music

I love it when seemingly opposing worlds collide.

For example, when local beat dancers B-Boy J-Sun and Dancin' Dave perform some elegant street moves set to Beethoven's Fifth (of course, it helps that the symphony is underscored with some beats from Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere").

Recently classical host Allison Young invited B-Boy J-Sun (a.k.a. Jason Noer) into the studio to talk about hip hop, dance and his favorite classical music; it's part of her regular series Music With Minnesotans.

Noer explained that names like "B-Boy" are earned:

You get to be called a B-Boy or a Breaker after you've battled for a number of years, you've gained credibility in the local community and you don't necessarily have to win a lot of battles but you just show a lot of heart by coming back and never quitting which is what the essence of hip hop is really all about - this unrelenting driving force, that no matter what happens, we not only make do with what we have, we thrive.

Noer uses his dance pieces to tell stories and offer social commentary. He says hip hop is a highly evolved art form, and he's simply attempting to raise awareness of that fact.

When asked for some of his favorite classical music, Noer first chose Johann Sebastian Bach;s Toccata and Fugue in d minor:

I identify with music that has this driving, unrelenting rhythm in it, and that includes a lot of soul music that we dance to, specifically James Brown. So when there's music that has kind of a sweeping or driving rhythm, it really resonates with me.

You can hear Allison Young's entire interview with Jason Noer here, including a discussion of how beat dancers strive to dance not just to the beat, but in and around it.

B-Boy J-Sun performs tonight and tomorrow at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.

Art Hounds: Isaak Dunayevsky, Becky's New Car, and some ear-shattering rawk

Posted at 7:48 AM on January 17, 2013 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater

Matt McNabb as Steve and Kristen Sawyer as Becky in Becky's New Car (Photo credit: Kevin Wicks)

You can't keep this week's hounds down as they dig up beautiful Soviet-era orchestral music, some female mid-life crisis theater, and some hard and heavy rock that will please and pound your ears.

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Stalin-era composer Isaak Dunayevsky is a household name for Russian native and pianist Denis Evstuhin, but not for his fellow Minnesotans. Denis wants people here to discover the splendor and complexity of Dunayevsky's music. He's recommending a full symphonic concert devoted to Dunayevsky that's being organized and directed by Twin Cities conductor Marina Liadova at Hamline University's Sundin Music Hall, Sunday, Jan. 20th, at 4 and 7pm.

Twin Cities director and stage manager Laura Bidgood was surprised to find that a character who gives up all the great things in her world to pursue a self-destructive mid-life crisis can still engender sympathy, compassion and belly laughs. But that's who she discovered in the play "Becky's New Car," at Lyric Arts in Anoka through Jan. 27.

Loud...fast...hard and synthesizer-free is the way local musician Johan Engevik generally prefers his musical entertainment. Johan expects to get an earful of quality Minneapolis rock at the Triple Rock Social Club on Thursday, Jan. 17th, with Skull Wizard, Buildings, Sonic J, and Blackthorne on the bill.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

Osmo Vanska to conduct Minnesota Orchestra concert on February 1

Posted at 11:23 AM on January 10, 2013 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Osmo Vänskä will conduct the Minnesota Orchestra on February 1 in a concert celebrating the orchestra's Grammy nomination. The event will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

This is the first time they have performed together since July 19, when Vänskä conducted the orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 at Sommerfest.

The February 1 event is the brainchild of Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Minnesota Orchestra benefactor Judy Dayton, in an attempt to release tensions in what has been a heated contract dispute.

The Minnesota Orchestra has been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Orchestral Performance for its recording of Jean Sibelius' Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5.

The Mayor's Office reports ticketing information will be announced to the public soon.

Mpls Mayor calls for one concert truce in Mn Orchestra dispute

Posted at 5:01 PM on January 9, 2013 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak likens his invitation to the Christmas Truce portrayed in the Minnesota Opera Production of "Silent Night."

"On one special night, we ask everybody to take the dispute and go into neutral and come together and have one celebration," said Rybak.

He's talking about a concert to be held February 1st at the Minneapolis Convention Center to celebrate the Minnesota Orchestra's Grammy nomination for its recent Sibelius recording. The celebrations of the honor have been muted since it came after Minnesota Orchestra management locked out the musicians October 1st.

Rybak says he knows a lot of people just want the contract dispute settled, but says this will be a chance to take a breather and find some common ground.

"We obviously have a very complicated labor issue, but we also have a moment that should not pass in this community, where a great orchestra, with great musicians and great management is nominated for a Grammy. Let's celebrate that," Rybak said.

Rybak also sees it as an opportunity for the people of Minneapolis to show their support in very practical ways.

"This isn't about signs or messages or anything other than saying we love this institution," the Mayor said. "And I hope also have a call to all of us to say a relatively few people have held up this institution for literally generations, and now if we really care about this, and we do, more people who haven't been buying the tickets, who haven't been part of that, have to support this, because we want greatness and we want financial stability, and the only way for us to make sure that happens is for us all to make sure we support this institution."

Details of the concert are still being worked out.

The musicians accepted the invitation they say on the understanding that Music Director Osmo Vanska has agreed to conduct the event.

In a statement musicians negotiator Doug Wright said "This is a tremendous gesture by the Mayor and Ms. Dayton. It will be the Musicians' distinct honor to accept their invitation and join our Music Director on stage for a performance of these Grammy-nominated works for our community. It should be a concert to remember."

Vanska is currently in Europe and management at the Minnesota Orchestra could not confirm or deny Vanska will take the podium on February 1st. Neither could the Mayors office, although Rybak says he hopes to build the event one element at a time.

The concert proposal comes as negotiations between the two sides recently restarted after months of standoff.

Orchestra President Michael Henson released this statement late in the afternoon:
"We share pride in this Grammy nomination and appreciate that the Mayor understands the importance of this cultural institution and the need for it to be financially sustainable in the future. In last week's negotiations, all parties agreed to a fresh start and we are currently in discussions with the musicians about the parameters of an analysis that will seek to verify the Orchestra's financial position. Following this review, we are hopeful that the musicians will put forward a counterproposal to help us resolve these challenges."

Art Hounds: Sid Kaplan, Xavier Marquis, and more saxophonists than you can shake a stick at

Posted at 7:44 AM on January 10, 2013 by Chris Roberts (2 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Jazz, Music, Photography

"#38" by Sid Kaplan (Couresty of Icebox Gallery)

This week's hounds uncover a photographer who captures the images that linger in a motorist's mind, a ensemble of six supreme Minnesota saxophonists, and a local rapper who straddles hip hop and pop.

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MinnPost arts writer and jazz blogger Pamela Espeland has had St. Paul jazz saxophonist Nathan Hanson's 416 Club Commission concert on her calendar for a while now. That's because Hanson has assembled a stellar, six-member saxophone choir featuring some of the best sax players anywhere, playing compositions he wrote especially for them. The show is this Sunday, Jan. 13 at 7:30pm.

Yes, Nina Clark sings with the Swedish folk group Flikorna Fem, but she likes all kinds of music, especially when it's live and done very well. Nina saw Minneapolis rapper and producer Xavier Marquis perform and his polished, pop-friendly, palpably energetic performance melted all the icicles in her brain. Xavier Marquis will be performing Saturday, January 12 at Cause Spirits and Soundbar as part of Ceewhy's CD release show.

Minneapolis painter Joseph Giannetti has been following New York photographer Sid Kaplan for many decades. Joseph says Kaplan's latest exhibition of photos at the Icebox Gallery in Minneapolis was shot exclusively from a moving car, while he was driving or a passenger. The strictly black and white images capture forgotten scenes from the road that still reside in our brains. The show is called "Drive-by Shooting" and it runs through Feb. 2.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

Art Hounds: 2012 visual art and music highlights

Posted at 12:03 PM on December 31, 2012 by Chris Roberts (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Drawing, Events, Galleries, Jazz, Museums, Music, Painting, Public Art, Sculpture

We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here are the music and visual art highlights that we didn't have time to get to on air (see the first and second on-air installments -- and the theater and dance wrap-up):

Mark Mallman's performance of "Minneapolis" at the Ritz Theater
Mark Mallman's upbeat 2011 anthem about coming home to his city/muse was a lot of fun, but this performance revealed that the song went deeper than civic boosterism. For his "Double Silhouette" album release party, he debuted a harrowing, never-before-heard preamble delving into the bitterness and betrayal that led the narrator to flee the Twin Cities in the first place, then triumphantly brought it all back home by launching into an especially exuberant rendition of "Minneapolis" that blew the room away. Mallman is always an intense, kinetic performer, but this performance was electrifying even for him.
-Ira Brooker, freelance writer and the editor of the Minnesota Playlist blog

International Novelty Gamelan performing their original score to Prince Achmed at the Square Lake Film And Music Festival
An absolutely captivated audience watched the 1926 shadow pupet animated film onder the stars surrounded by trees accompanied by the primitive ING orchestra. It was spellbinding to say the least.
-Mike Haeg, Mayor of Minnesota's Smallest Small Town, Mt. Holly, MN (pop. 4), Artist

U of M Jazz Ensembles' Gil Evans Centennial Celebration
A rare opportunity to experience live the music of one of the foremost comoser/arrangers of our time. Musicianship was superb and conductor/Evans Scholar Ryan Truesdell was very informative on his research into the archival treasures of Gil's scores and recordings.
-John Devine, saxophonist and composer

"The Sound of Surprise: A Vijay Iyer Mini-Festival" at the Walker Art Center
Iyer played six sets over two nights -- two solo sets and four with other musicians, including his great trio. It was a remarkable, probably once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear an important young pianist and composer play that much live music, much of it improvised. It was provocative and luxurious, exhilarating and immersive.
-Pamela Espeland, writer of MinnPost's Artscape and the jazz blog, bebopified

Frank Gaard at the Walker Art Center
Frank Gaard, vanguard of the Minneapolis avant-garde, had a much deserved retrospective at the Walker. His vibrant paintings and portraits mix Rock n Roll,drugs, sex, politics and the tenacity of the human spirit together to make art that truly enlightens and entertains.
-Paul D. Dickinson, host of the Riot Act Reading Series

Moritz Gotze at the Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead
Gotze creates intriguing Pop art that uses many of its devices (consumerism, logos, etc.) but also adds elements of history and, especially, art history. His exhibition also marked the first major exhibition mounted by the Rourke's new director, Tania Blanich.
-Kris Kerzman, writer for ARTSpulse

Artists in Storefronts
Over 65 artists have been showcased as part of the Whittier Alliance program directed by Joan Vorderbruggen. By animating empty and underused storefront spaces in the Whittier neighborhood over seven short and long term leases were secured for landlords that had been sitting with empty space for three to seven years. This program touches every part of life in Minneapolis. This project is about art, artists, community, multi-cultures, multi-disciplines and commerce.
-Tim Carroll, artist

Andy DuCett's "Why we do this" at the Soap Factory
The artist very cleverly wove together all of the little things that create our collective consciousness as Midwesterners, and recreated them all in one space. The pieces were almost all interactive, and that is what I loved about it. It has been said that dreams are not linear like a story--that they're more like a sculpture; if so, that's what this exhibition was--a living sculptural dream of the events and objects that make up our experiences living here in the Midwest.
-Billie Jo Konze, actor and singer

The Dubious Sum of Vaguely Discernable Parts by Nyeema Morgan at Bindery Projects
Bindery Projects, Nate Young & Caroline Kent's new alternative St. Paul gallery, brought emerging artist Nyeema Morgan's tripartite exhibit which included delicate prints, sublime photographs, and a simple newsprint publication. In "Forty-Seven Easy Poundcakes Like Grandma Used To Make," Morgan created a print series of 47 drawings, each made up of different recipes on index cards. Morgan's minimalist, grayish photographs of pound cake ingredients, along with actual pound cake served at the opening, set the standard for forthcoming high quality academically bent, sociopolitical exhibitions at Bindery Projects.
-Pete Driessen, artist, curator/director TuckUnder Projects

Northern Spark
I can't imagine the art moment of the year for me NOT being Northern Spark. I couldn't get over just how crowded the city was at 4 a.m. with other inquisitive bikers. The culmination of the experience was laying on the fake grass under HOTTEA's installation at the MIA. I was exhausted and art-ed out (if that's possible) and that piece just spoke to everyone there. I already can't wait for next year.
-Steph Guidera, painter

Art Hounds: 2012 Highlights, part two

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 26, 2012 by Molly Bloom (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Film, Music, Painting, Poetry

We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the second on-air installment (listen to part one here, see additional theater highlights here and look for more music and visual art highlights tomorrow):

"Mantrap" at the Heights Theatre
Leave it to Tom Letness, owner of the Heights Theatre, to program a totally amazing silent film which was virtually unheard of amongst members of the local film community. "Mantrap" is a marvel, a strange drama mixed with riotous comedy, and featuring Clara Bow, the famous "It" girl, who might've been the sexiest actress ever to grace the silver screen (and perhaps its most gifted comedienne). "Mantrap" was one of several obscure silent films the Heights screened last spring, each accompanied by their Wurlitzer Organ, and each one a revelation.
-Peter Schilling, writer, projectionist and board member at Take-Up Productions

Jim Denomie's "Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)"
Imagine being called upon to create art reflecting a horrific history that resulted in the deaths, forced internment, and dislocation of members of your ethnic group and then to present that work to the public in the context of a 150th anniversary of the largest mass execution in U.S. History. Now imagine Jim Denomie's enormous and vivid canvas titled "Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)" depicting with sardonic humor, the events (starvation, swindling,encroachment) that triggered Dakota attacks and the persons responsible for U.S. retaliation. Denomie shows all on an enormous map-like landscape that remains the most remarkable art I experienced in 2012. Denomie's painting, part of "Ded Ungk'ungpi--We Are Here" originated All My Relations Arts in Minneapolis and is on view until January 13 at James J. Hill House Gallery.
-Heid Erdrich, writer, teacher, editor, curator

Dirty Baby at the Walker Art Center
Dirty Baby is a collaboration between Nels Cline (guitarist for Wilco), David Breskin (poet, producer), and Ed Ruscha (painter). Part of it was just to get three different artists from three different mediums to collaborate and see what could come out of that process. It originally started off as a book featuring visual art, poetry and music and they decided to bring it ot the stage. At the Walker there were overhead projections of Ed Ruscha's paintings, Breskin's poetry was recited and Nels Cline and company performed the music. Seeing these three artsits work together and the idea that it might not be performed live again really made it an exgtremely exciting once in a lifetime experience.
-Dan Marshall, photographer

Legacy: A Tribute to the King of Pop at Theatre L'Homme Dieu in Alexandria
The best thing I saw all year was Legacy. It is the brainchild of the amazing choregrapher and dancer Luis Castillo. Everything about this show surprised and delighted me. He embodies Jackson in a way that will catch you so off guard. Each of the numbers in the show recreated famous videos or moments in Jackson's career perfectly. Castillo's choreography and performance itself as Michael Jackson was mesmerizing and breathtaking. The best thing is they're bringing it back again to L'Homme Dieu next summer and you can bet I'm driving back up to Alexandria to see it again.
-Zach Curtis, director and actor

MN Orchestra invites musicians back to the negotiating table

Posted at 10:52 AM on December 21, 2012 by Marianne Combs (5 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

The Minnesota Orchestral Association has invited the Musicians' Union to negotiate a new contract once again.

The MOA has put out two possible dates - Saturday January 5 or Wednesday January 9. The invitation to negotiate has been made "without any preconditions."

The Minnesota Orchestra has also cancelled or rescheduled all concert performances through Sunday, February 10. Ticket holders will be contacted directly by the Orchestra to outline their options, including exchanging their tickets, or receiving a refund.

Earlier this month the Minnesota Orchestra disclosed that it has a $6 million deficit for its fiscal year ending Aug. 31. The Minnesota Orchestra musicians have been locked out since the beginning of October.

Art Hounds: 2012 Highlights, part one

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 20, 2012 by Molly Bloom (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry, Theater

We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the first installment (look for more next week -- and share yours here):

Luverne Seifert and Darcy Engen's production of The Cherry Orchard
This site-specific production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard was performed in houses on the Historical Register in five farming communities around the state. Getting in the car and driving out to the production in Taylors Falls made it a great summer adventure--theatre as road trip! It was amazing to see how a historic landmark--Fulsom House--was brought to life by serving as the setting for the play. Watching some of the best actors in the Twin Cities--Luverne Seifert, Sarah Agnew, Elise Langer and Stephen Cartmell make Chekhov's characters relevant, immediate, hysterical and heartbreaking was also incredible. It was an artistic endeavor that brought the best elemenst of Minnesota -- its history, its natural beauty and its amazing artists -- together to create an extraordinary theatrical experience.
-Elissa Adams, director of new play development at Children's Theatre Company

Aniccha Arts' In Habit: Living Patterns, at the Northern Spark Festival
One of the most exciting things about it is where it happened: under the Central Avenue Bridge. Each section had a corresponding evocative word projected on the underside of the bridge that you could see as the dance unfolded. One of the sections was slow and meditative, another used fast, furious footwork in tandem, and another used only gestural language from the elbow to the hand. It felt like a dream watching bodies move with extreme individualism and unison in the middle of the night, under a bridge, against the cityscape and along the water.
-Penelope Freeh, dancer and choreographer

Todd Boss's poetry collection Pitch
In his second collection (winner of the 2012 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for Poetry), Boss expertly balances plain-enough Midwestern subject matter and a sophisticated sense of play. His language has a music considerably more beautiful than the dropped piano recalled in the book's title poem. Pitch was my introduction to Boss. He's become a poet I expect to follow wherever his muse leads him.
-Brian Beatty, writer, comedian, poet, host of mnartist.org's You Are Hear podcast

Sufjan Stevens' at Mill City Nights
This "Christmas Paegant" was everything that I hoped for in a concert: it was community oriented (the crowd sang along and got dressed up), it was funny and joyful, the band brought a spiritual component into the mix, it was a reflective and sincere celebration of Christmas and it made me happy to see that our generation is enthusiastic in understanding the eternal meanings of the times!
-Crystal Nelson, art therapist

Nicholas David takes third place on The Voice

Posted at 11:30 PM on December 18, 2012 by Marianne Combs (6 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People, Television

Eagan native Nicholas Mrozinski will be coming home after placing third on NBC's vocal competition show "The Voice."

Mrozinski, known to audiences of "The Voice" as Nicholas David, impressed viewers with his soulful crooning reminiscent of both Marvin Gaye and Joe Cocker. His song choices consistently reflected a message of love and optimism, from "Lean on Me" to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." In tonight's finale, he sang a duet with Smokey Robinson.

But the love and harmony wasn't enough to earn him the most audience votes; the popular winner was contestant Cassadee Pope.

89.3 The Current's Andrea Swensson writes:

Pope's victory is unsurprising, from a reality TV angle. One of the driving forces behind The Voice is iTunes sales, and Pope's inoffensive mall-pop vocal stylings and ever-so-slightly-edgy appearance make her an easily accessible candidate, especially for the download-hungry tween and teen market. Mrozinski, on the other hand, appealed to older generations of music fans with his soulful take on classics by Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye.

It's unclear at this point what Mrozinski's future holds; while he won't be getting the first prize recording contract, his newfound popularity makes it unlikely he'll continue in such intimate local venues as The Happy Gnome.

Mrozinski has said he's looking forward to spending some quality time with family. He's the father of two boys; he and his partner are expecting a third baby in February.

Nicholas David fires it up for the final round of 'The Voice'

Posted at 9:57 PM on December 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs (6 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People, Television

Nicholas David - a.k.a. Nick Mrozinski - sang his heart and soul out tonight on NBC's vocal competition show "The Voice."

The Eagan native took his on-stage energy to new heights with his rendition of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" which morphed into Jimi Hendrix's "Fire." Mrozinski performed on a flaming piano before taking to the floor with some dance moves and high kicks.

Later on in the program Mrozinski took a more relaxed tone as he sang Bill Withers' "Lean on Me" with a casually dressed choir sitting behind him. The song echoed a sentiment expressed at the opening of the show with the cast's performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in memory of the 26 people - mostly children - killed Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Finally Mrozinski sang a duet with his coach CeeLo Green, whose title could have been a directive from CeeLo himself: "Play that Funky Music" by Wild Cherry. Aerialists with big hair and a "mini CeeLo" showing off his dance moves rounded out the performance.

Now it's up to the audience to decide who wins 'The Voice.' Fans can vote for their favorite contestants either by phone, text message, online, or by purchasing the song they performed on iTunes.

Voting is open in the Central time zone through 9:00am Tuesday. The winner, who gets to sign a record deal, will be announced on "The Voice" tomorrow night.

New citizens group announced at locked out concerts

Posted at 8:11 PM on December 16, 2012 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Audiences at this weekends sold out concerts by locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra heard about a new citizens group formed to try to break the impasse between the musicians and management.

"Orchestrate Excellence"calls itself a "coalition to support our Minnesota Orchestra."

Organizers of say its only a week old and still getting set up, but the group used the concerts at the Ted Mann Concert Hall as an opportunity of gather names of supporters.

A flyer in the program stated:"The Minnesota Orchestra enriches and inspires our community with a heritage of artistic excellence spanning more than a century. It has made Minnesota synonymous with musical greatness worldwide. We believe that the orchestra plays an important role in Minnesota's rich cultural life and it is possible to fund its musical brilliance going forward. We are concerned citizens who have come together to find ways to assure the high quality of the music that we love."

Audience members were encouraged to add their name and Email address, and visit the organizations website.

The Sunday concert was an emotional experience as former Minnesota Orchestra music director Edo de Waart tppk the podium to lead the musicians through a program of Bach's Concerto in D Minor for two violins, featuring Concertmaster Erin Keefe and former Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis standing side by side on stage.

The second part of the concerts opened with a spirited speech from viola player Sam Bergman who told the crowd the musicians were prepared to struggle and sacrifice to preserve the orchestra in the face of the major cuts proposed by management.

The musician were then joined by a chorus of at least 80 voices as well as four soloists to perform Beethoven's 9th.

The performance was met with rapturous approval from the audience which gave the musicians repeated standing ovations.

Nicholas David will compete in the final round of 'The Voice'

Posted at 8:27 PM on December 11, 2012 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People, Television

It's been two emotional evenings in a row for the final four contestants of NBC's "The Voice."

After a brief return home to visit their families, Nicholas David, Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott, and Trevin Hunte all took to the stage Monday night for the penultimate round of the national singing competition.

Eagan native Nicholas David - a.k.a. Nick Mrozinski - was particularly soulful as he sang Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" to his wife and kids who were standing just off the stage.

Tonight it was announced that just one contestant would be eliminated from the competition - Trevin Hunte - leaving the remaining three to compete in the final round next week.

While David is known for his fine skill with classic R&B tunes, his competition are more solidly in the "pop" vein. He's received consistent praise from the judges, but ultimately the winner will be selected by his or her popularity with viewers.

SPCO players and management disagree on whose move is next

Posted at 5:31 PM on December 11, 2012 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

The day after Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra management cited the lack of a contract counter-proposal as a reason to cancel all concerts through February 8th, the locked out musicians said they are the ones who are waiting.

The players released a statement saying they are disappointed by the management decision, saying it will deprive the community of exciting concerts scheduled for next year. The statement continued that the musicians are not to blame for the current standoff.

"We are also disappointed that Management continues to mislead the public with claims that the stalemate rests in our hands.

We await Management's next move so we can return to the bargaining table as soon as possible and resume playing music for this wonderful community."

In turn SPCO Interim President Dobson West released a statement of his own late this afternoon:

"The Musicians rejected our last offer on October 31, and have not themselves made an offer since September. Our audited financial results for last year show a deficit of approximately $900,000 dollars, a deficit that will grow unless further cost reductions are made. The Musicians know that it is their turn to make a proposal, and that their next offer needs to address the significant financial challenge we face. We hope the Musicians will channel their ideas into a proposal as soon as possible."

The bottom line remains there are no negotiations scheduled at present.

SPCO cancels concerts through February 8

Posted at 4:57 PM on December 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Last week the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra announced a deficit of $895,080 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.

Today, SPCO Board Chair Dobby West cited that deficit as confirmation that the orchestra needs to make substantial long-term budget cuts in order to remain a viable institution.

"Simply put," wrote West in a letter to subscribers, "we can no longer afford to provide 34 musicians with $115,000 in average salary and benefits for 33 weeks of performances. Significantly reducing the cost of the contract is a necessary next step in ensuring the SPCO's future."

West stated the board has waited for a month to receive a counterproposal from the SPCO musicians, but has been presented nothing.

With that in mind, it has canceled concerts through February 8.

West says the board "remains ready to meet and negotiate as soon as our Musicians have an offer prepared."

However Euan Kerr reports that same board has rejected musician offers to 'play and talk.'

The musicians say management's contract proposal, which would cut the guaranteed salary of current musicians to $62,500 a year and new musicians to $50,000, is not respectful and will lead to the demise of the orchestra.

The musicians posit that the SPCO has saved about $1.5 million as a result of the lock out. The players have said it is time for them to come back both to the negotiating table and the concert hall, musician negotiating committee member Lynn Erickson said.

"We would love to be able to play and talk," Erickson said. "We would love to be able to come back in January and start playing concerts again."

You can learn more about both sides of the contract negotiations here.

An orchestra made from trash

Posted at 11:31 AM on December 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Film, Music, Video

The expression "one man's trash is another man's treasure" finds new meaning in the documentary "Landfill Harmonic"

The film - which is still in production - centers around the town of Cateura, Paraguay, which is dominated by the presence of an enormous landfill.

When a new music program started up at the local school, the teachers soon had fifty students and only five violins. That's when they met Cola, a man who makes his living rummaging through the landfill, finding new uses for discarded things. Using aluminum cans and forks, he built them a violin.

Now they have an entire "recycled orchestra" making beautiful music together.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn speaks out on Minnesota Orchestra lockout

Posted at 9:16 AM on December 7, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Representative Phyllis Kahn worries the Minnesota Orchestra's Board of Directors is eroding the artistic integrity of a cultural treasure.

Kahn explained her concerns in Minnpost, charging that the board is unfairly placing the financial burden of balancing the budget on the musicians:

Recognizing the importance the orchestra plays in enhancing our standard of living, I was supportive of the $16 million in bonding dollars recently granted to the Minnesota Orchestra to renovate Orchestra Hall and Peavey Plaza. Additionally, I have been supportive of the funding it has received from the Arts Board - including Legacy dollars - that have been awarded over the past four years to help with operating costs.

I did not support distributing public dollars to the Minnesota Orchestra so they could cut their musicians pay by 30 to 50 percent. Nor did I vote in favor of these funds so they could lock out musicians who, in recognizing this financial slight, have made efforts to engage in arbitration or have offered to continue working under the old contract until both sides can reach an amicable agreement. And I certainly did not vote to send these funds to the orchestra to have them resist any attempts to make their budget more transparent.

Kahn goes on to state that "there is no use in... funneling state dollars into operating costs for an organization that has locked out those who make it function."

Minnesota Orchestra risks audience, future

Posted at 1:22 PM on December 6, 2012 by Marianne Combs (5 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

The Minnesota Orchestral Association is holding its annual meeting today. This year it's taking place behind closed doors, without the typical performances by orchestra musicians to punctuate the proceedings.

In an interview with Morning Edition's Cathy Wurzer, Chicago-based arts consultant Drew McManus said that, compared with many other orchestral negotiations across the country, the Minnesota Orchestra's situation is "particularly bad."

McManus said that at this point the orchestra is risking the loyalty of its audience. But there's still hope for resolution.

"When it's gotten to this level of animosity it's not unusual for the dispute to become more about winning the fight than whatever the issues were to begin with - it becomes personal on both sides. And it's very difficult for individuals in both stakeholder camps to step back from that. The thing I talk about a lot with clients in this situation is you have to find a way to provide an opportunity for both sides to save face with a solution, so that somebody doesn't have to lose in order for someone else to win."

Meanwhile, Russel Platt writes in The New Yorker that the trouble in the Twin Cities points to a shift in culture:

For decades, the situation for classical-music lovers there has been almost impossibly generous. Minneapolis-St. Paul is the only major metropolitan center in the country that boasts not one but two world-class symphony orchestras: another way in which Twin Citians, who sometimes speak of their home with an affectionate affliction that even many in-state call Shangri-La Syndrome, can claim to be "above average." (There is also the Minnesota Opera, a prominent regional-level company, a bevy of superb choruses, and a vibrant new-music scene.) In truth, they have much to boast about: one is indeed lucky to live in a metro area where, to paraphrase Garrison Keillor, you can have your pick of great restaurants and world-class cultural events but still live on a tree-lined street and send your kids to a public school. (It is also an attractive place to be a working-class composer, hence my long residency.)

Platt charges today's wealthy aren't as interested in classical music as their parents were. And the liberal golden age of Hubert Humphrey has given way to "the brave new world of Michele Bachmann."

...the Twin Cities musicians need to remember that their peers were forced to give in in Detroit, Atlanta, and Indianapolis, all comparable institutions. Only a mutual love of the art form will keep players and management on the same map; beyond that, there be dragons.

Do you see any hope for resolution between the musicians and the management?

Minnesotans nominated for five Grammy Awards

Posted at 9:34 AM on December 6, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Minnesota musicians are up for five Grammy Awards this year.

The locked out Minnesota Orchestra musicians are nominated for Best Orchestral Performance, specifically for a performance of Sibelius Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 (conducting Sibelius is widely considered one of Osmo Vanska's strengths).

Composer Rene Clausen's new cd of choral music "Life & Breath" is nominated for three different Grammy Awards: Best Engineered Classical Album, Best Choral Performance (for the Kansas City Chorale), and Classical Producer of the Year. Clausen teaches at Concordia College in Moorhead.

The Okee Dokee Brothers' album "Can You Canoe?" is nominated for Best Children's Album. The album was created on a month long paddle down the Mississippi.

Art Hounds: Maeve's Sessions, Souljazz Orchestra and an Ottertail County homecoming

Posted at 7:45 AM on December 6, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Jazz, Music, Poetry

A section of Naomi Schliesman's installation at the Kaddatz Gallery in Fergus Falls (Image courtesy of the artist)

This week's hounds guide us to an interactive poetry reading, vibrant 3-D art in Fergus Falls and a horn saturated Afro-Latin band from Ottawa, Canada.

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According to local poet Kris Bigalk, there's no risk of droning poets, stiflingly warm rooms or excessive sleepiness at The Maeve's Sessions, at Maeve's Cafe in Minneapolis. It features some of the best Twin Cities poets reading their work and interacting with audiences. The next installment happens tonight at 7:30pm, and features poets Leslie Adrienne Miller, Jim Moore, Katrina Vandenberg and Kathryn Kysar.

After ten years of being away, sculpture artist Naomi Schliesman has returned home to Ottertail County. Michele Anderson, program director for Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls, says Schliesman has installed an eye-popping 3-D installation at the Kaddatz Gallery in Fergus Falls, which reflects on her homecoming. The show runs through January 5.

Go see the Souljazz Orchestra, says Minneapolis bass player Alex Hamberger, and you will be compelled to dance, whether you want to or not. The band guarantees it. Alex says the group, from Ottawa, Canada, truly thrills with its horn section and Afro-Latin rhythms. The Souljazz Orchestra will heat up the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, Dec. 8.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Nicholas David advances to final four on 'The Voice'

Posted at 12:01 AM on December 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, People, Television

Fans of Nicholas David - a.k.a. Nick Mrozinski to his Twin Cities friends - were left holding their breath until the end of NBC's"The Voice." In the final minutes Mrozinski was standing with fellow contestant Amanda Brown, knowing only one of them would make the next round.

On Monday Mrozinski got the audience dancing to Earth Wind and Fire's "September" and then later crooned "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Despite the fact that judges wished Mrozinski had taken more risks with his vocal stylings - rather than relying on his back-up singers to hit the high notes for him - ultimately fans voted in great enough numbers over the next several hours to keep Mrozinski on the show.

Psy brings 'Gangnam style' to St. Paul

Posted at 10:35 AM on December 4, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People

Tonight's "Jingle Ball" at the Xcel Energy Center brings together some of the hottest acts in the pop music scene, including the South Korean phenomenon Psy(his real name is Park Jae-sang).

Psy is the man behind "Gangnam Style," a video that has gone viral over its funny dance moves, catchy tune and campy humor. The video is a send-up of the posh Gangnam neighborhood in Seoul.

Gangnam Style has inspired numerous parodies, including this one from the Oregon Duck:

Psy was even invited on to the Ellen Degeneres show to teach Brittney Spears his horse-back riding dance moves; unfortunately she was wearing a rather move-limiting tight skirt.

It's interesting that despite Psy's amazing popularity, American media doesn't seem interested in learning much else about him.

Diane Brady of Bloomberg Businessweek writes that while Psy is represented by one of the biggest agents in the business- LA talent manager Scooter Braun- he's not getting the same star treatment as Braun's other clients.

Ellen DeGeneres was one of the first to secure the man behind Gangnam Style, yet she barely spoke to the artist when he came to her show on Sept. 11 to teach Britney Spears his signature dance. (The pop-star had previously tweeted that she wanted to learn the moves.) Britney's first words to Park were "show me" while Ellen immediately assumed a dancing stance. (Meanwhile, Simon Cowell, also on hand, couldn't bring himself to get off the couch.) Psy gamely responded by saying, "By the way, can I introduce myself, not just dance? I'm Psy from Korea. How are you?"

It turns out Psy is a graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music and speaks English quite well. You can find out more about him and his music here.

Nicholas David advances to the next round on 'The Voice'

Posted at 5:40 PM on December 3, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Television

Tonight is Twin Cities musician Nick Mrozinski's next opportunity to advance in NBC's vocal competition show "The Voice."

Mrozinski, known on the national television show as Nicholas David, is one of six remaining contestants.

A regular performer at St. Paul's Happy Gnome, Mrozinski's repertoire has kept to classic R&B tunes, most recently channeling Marvin Gaye in a performance of "What's Going On."

The performance garnered rave reviews from the judges, inspiring Adam Levine to promise "I'm just going to be a fan of yours forever." Country star Blake Shelton added "Thank you for letting 'The Voice' be the stage that introduces you to the world."

Mrozinski will or will not advance depending on audience votes via text, phone, mobile apps and iTune purchases following tonight's performance.

Who will you be voting for?

The Mother of Masks, a call to the spirit

Posted at 1:48 PM on December 3, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Minnesota Mix, Music

In our constant search for more things, it can be easy to forget an essential truth - that we are connected to others, and to our planet.

Far removed from the hungry masses worldwide, and from down the road - indeed, from mother earth itself -- we wander in our comfortable shells, often searching for meaning.

If we listen, we can find truth in a mother's call, a river's flow, a bird's chirp. When we're receptive, we can also hear it in the voice of Louis Alemayehu, reminding us to protect the environment by putting away our pursuit of luxury and the poisons it generates.

The poet did so masterfully on Friday, during a performance by The Mother of Masks, a stellar ensemble that fused words and music from the stage of the Bedlam Theatre's new space in St. Paul. Alemayehu and vocalist Mankwe Ndosi delivered their messages with emotion, grace and musicality, brilliantly accompanying the three musicians with whom they engaged in a spiritual conversation.

I can't do the music justice here. But let me just say that bassist Anthony Cox played with a controlled intensity during the show, as drummer Davu Seru painted the air with vibrant colors. Saxophonist Donald Washington brought the melodies home, with energy and humor, in a night of poetic jazz.

When the artists perform again, leave the comfortable seats and popular sets aside for a night. You don't want to miss them.

Art Hounds: Portraits, Yuletide radio theater, and a zydeco dance party

Posted at 9:44 AM on November 29, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Painting, Theater

"Sleeping Beer Salesman" by Mary Gibney (Image courtesy of the artist)

The hounds are anxious to tell you about two Minneapolis artists whose off-beat portraits lodge in your brain, a holiday radio theater drama from Winona and two zydeco heavyweights who inspire bodies to move...rhythmically.

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Winona State University Arts Administrator Kathy Peterson didn't grow up in Winona, but she is a child of the '50s. Kathy will get to re-live the holidays of her youth and learn about Winona circa 1952 through the new original play, "The Winona Family Christmas Radio Show." It's a production of Theatre Du Mississippi and is on stage at the Historic Masonic Theater in Winona on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:30pm, Sat., Dec. 1 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2pm.

Poet and Riot Act Reading Series host Paul D. Dickinson is quite taken with the odd and enigmatic portraiture art of Mary Gibney and Noah Harmon. Paul says Mary's works are surprisingly empathetic and linger in your mind, while Harmon's quirky pieces provide helpful though somewhat unrealistic tips on how to live a better life. Opening reception is Sat. Dec. 1 at the One on One Bicycle Studio in Minneapolis from 7 - 11 pm.

We know Stuart Klipper as a talented photographer. He also once modeled an amazing shirt on the Art Hounds Facebook page. But did you know Stuart loves to dance to cajun and zydeco music? Stuart will be in zydeco heaven this Sunday night (Dec. 2) when two cajun supertstars, accordion player and singer Jesse Lége and fiddler Joel Savoy, come to Half Time Rec in St. Paul, sponsored by Krewe de Walleye.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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MN Orchestra musicians vote 'no confidence' in CEO Henson

Posted at 12:58 PM on November 27, 2012 by Marianne Combs (8 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra today issued a no-confidence vote in Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson.

Management says it needs large salary cuts for the players to keep the orchestra financially viable. Musicians say the cuts will severely damage the Orchestra.

After attempts failed to agree on a new contract management locked out musicians October first and there have been no negotiations since.

A release from the musicians this afternoon says Henson's removal is key to resolving the current lockout. Musicians negotiation committee member Tim Zavadil says "The lack of partnership between Henson and the Musicians since his arrival has been dysfunctional and adversarial due to his management style and lack of leadership ability."

Minnesota Orchestra management has not yet responded to the release.

Update as of 4:28pm The Minnesota Orchestra has issued a statement from Board Chair Jon Campbell in response to the no-confidence vote:

"Michael Henson is a perfect leader at this challenging time and has the full confidence of our board. This is simply the latest publicity tactic by musicians to avoid addressing the real issue that is facing our organization: a longstanding structural deficit that we need to alleviate. The only obstacle between musicians and board working out a new contract is the musicians' perplexing refusal to put forward a single contract proposal after nearly eight months of talks. We hope the musicians will soon dispense with these tactics and invest their energies in producing a substantial counterproposal."

Video break: Big Cats 'Five'

Posted at 12:04 PM on November 27, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, Video

Last month Minneapolis composer and musician Spencer Wirth-Davis (a.k.a. Big Cats of the duo The Tribe & Big Cats) released a cd of new music dedicated to his mother.

Today Wirth-Davis released a new video for track "five" on the album. Directed by Isaac Gale, it was filmed in Barbados and features stunning manipulations of couds.

75% of the proceeds from the album "For My Mother" goes to the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

MN Orchestra musicians renew call for independent financial analysis

Posted at 6:34 PM on November 26, 2012 by Marianne Combs (5 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Locked out Minnesota Orchestra musicians say a Star Tribune report supports their argument for an independent financial analysis of the orchestra.

The report contends the orchestra drew deeply from its endowment in 2009 and 2010 to cover growing deficits at a time when it was requesting public money for an Orchestra Hall renovation. According to the report, it later drew less money from investments and declared a 2-point-nine million dollar deficit when it was demanding dramatic pay reductions from its musicians.

The report, based on hundreds of pages of financial information and orchestra board meeting minutes, raises questions as to whether the orchestra covered deficits with money from its endowment to both win public funding for an Orchestra Hall lobby renovation and later demand deep salary reductions from its players.

Chair of the musicians' negotiating committee Tim Zavadil said the report illustrates the need for an independent financial analysis of the orchestra.

"In order for us to get to the bottom of where the orchestra's finances are, we have to have an independent third party come in here, someone that is trusted by both sides that can verify where the actual true financial position is," said Zavadil.

According to Minnesota Orchestra President Michael Henson the orchestra was responding to one of the worst recessions in American history and its decisions were geared toward inspiring confidence and preparing the orchestra for a new financial future.

"All of us, whether you're running a for profit, or not-for-profit, have had to manage through tumultuous times, and find your own solutions as to how to maintain confidence, and at the same time facilitate change in all aspects of your organization, or in this case, the orchestra."

The Minnesota Orchestra says it was trying to cope with loss of revenue when it borrowed from endowments and tried to cut musicians' pay. The musicians have been locked out since October 1rst because of a contract dispute with the orchestra.

Orchestra lockouts affect music education

Posted at 9:49 AM on November 21, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

While the cancellation of concerts is the most public result of the lockout of musicians at both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, music educators are concerned about the lockouts' long-term impact on their students.

Julia Bogorad-Kogan, the SPCO's principal flutist, and David Wright III work through scales and pieces during a lesson in her St. Paul home. Bogorad-Kogan and many more locked-out musicians at both the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra are taking on extra students as a way to earn some income during the lockout. (MPR Photo/Euan Kerr)

As MPR's Euan Kerr reports, many orchestra musicians are taking on more lessons, but young musicians no longer have the major orchestras to look to for inspiration:

An important part of being in the Minnesota Youth Symphony is regularly hearing the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO play.

"My kids don't have any concerts to go to," [co-director Manny Laureano] said with a frustrated laugh. "This is like having a class that studies Shakespeare, and never taking them to plays."

Laureano acknowledged that missing a few weeks won't hurt, but he worries about the dispute dragging on and the orchestras not playing for months.

Back at McPhail Center for Music Paul Babcock is worried too about the long-term impact of the contract fight. He sad if the orchestras are weakened, it's going to hurt everyone in the arts.

"If the two orchestras end up in a less-desirable state than they are today, or for some reason the orchestras don't exist, that will be a real tragedy for the Twin Cities," he said. "The whole ecosystem of the arts community needs both of those orchestras to exist and to be strong."

But with concerts at both the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO cancelled through the end of the year, and no negotiations currently scheduled at either, there is little to ease Babcock's concern.

You can find out more about the effects of the orchestra lockouts here.

Thanksgiving weekend: a feast of art

Posted at 1:15 PM on November 21, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Dance, Museums, Music, Theater

Four day weekends should not go to waste.

For many the Thanksgiving weekend - intended to be spent with family and friends in the spirit of gratitude - has become little more than an extended consumption binge, from the food on the table to the flat screen TVs at Walmart.

What to do?

I propose you fill your soul and spirit this weekend with something healthier and more satisfying... and most likely, cheaper.

Brave New Workshop

Here's a sampling of what you could do with your weekend; most are family friendly.

DANCE

Zenon Dance Company celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.

Walker Art Center presents its annual Choreographer's Evening, featuring new works from a wide array of local talent.

MUSEUMS

Also at the Walker Art Center, check out the Cindy Sherman retrospective of 'self-portraits.'

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is having its own "Black Friday" special, offering free admission to China's Terracotta Warriors from 6-7am on Friday morning.

Get into the Christmas spirit at the American Swedish Institute with A Nordic Christmas. The museum opens at 10am on Friday.

MUSIC

You could spend Thanksgiving with Davina and the Vagabonds at the Dakota, or if you prefer to hang with the family on turkey day, the Cedar Cultural Center is offering a lovely line-up of bands that will make you thankful for the Minnesota music all weekend long.

FRI 23rd, 8pm - LOW with Germaine Gemberling & Rich Mattson

SAT 24th, 8pm - ROGUE VALLEY with Joey Ryan & The Inks and Meredith Fierke

SUN 25th, 730pm - PETER MAYER

Theater:

For theater companies, Thanksgiving weekend tends mark the opening weekend of their holiday shows.All the usual suspects are in place for the traditional holiday celebration.

Guthrie Theater presents A Christmas Carol

Children's Theatre Company presents How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Brave New Workshop presents Fifty Shades of White, an evening of holiday themed sketch comedy.

Now pass the stuffing...

Locked out MnOrch musicians sell out December concerts

Posted at 1:59 PM on November 19, 2012 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Music

The locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra today announced they have sold out all the seats for their concerts December 15th and 16th at the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the U of M.

The musicians are now working with the U of M box office to provide standing room tickets for the concerts. They are also making sure that any returned tickets will be made available.

The two programs will feature former Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Edo de Waart, and former Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis playing an evening of Bach and Beethoven.

The concerts had been pitched as a way of partly filling the void left by the cancellation of all concerts through the holiday season. A spokesman for the musicians said it's unlikely there will be more concerts added before the holidays as the players want to maintain quality, but there is always a chance.

Locked out musicians bring in more big guns for December concerts

Posted at 5:44 PM on November 9, 2012 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Music

The locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra today announced former music director Edo de Waart, and former concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis will join them for two concerts in mid-December.

The news comes one day after management cancelled all concerts through December 23rd citing lack of progress in concert talks.

Meanwhile the similarly locked out players at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are bringing in former music director Pinchas Zukerman who will lead them in an all Mozart program.

Standing before Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis Minnesota Orchestra Principal Cellist Tony Ross said having de Waart and Fleezanis is a big boost to the musicians.

"Maestro de Waart, it means the world to us that he is coming and supporting our cause," Ross said. "And supporting our cause of great music in the Twin Cities. His stint as music director here, starting about 24 years ago was really the beginning of the great times for this orchestra and we will be thrilled to have him back."

Ross also welcomed the news about the return of Fleezanis. "We all love Jorja, the community loves Jorja. Jorja is for the music also," he said.

Fleezanis will perform with her successor Erin Keefe in the Bach Double Violin Concerto. The two soloists will also perform in the evenings other work, Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Both concerts on December 15th and 16th at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the U of M campus will also feature a large chorus. Ross says everyone will be donating their time and skills.

The musicians of the SPCO announced the Zukerman concert slightly later in the afternoon . Trumpet player Lynn Erickson says Zukerman contacted the musicians himself and asked if there was anything he could do to help. She says they will perform at the Wayzata Community Church on the afternoon of Sunday December 2nd.

"I think it says a lot about the quality of the orchestras that people are willing to come back and donate their time and their talent to help the musicians out," said Erickson.

However at the offices of the Minnesota Orchestra President Michael Henson says concerts are great, but they do not resolve the underlying financial problems facing the Minnesota Orchestra. He says he is still waiting to hear a contract counter proposal from the musicians.

"This does nothing to alter the fundamental situation that we remain with very severe financial challenges," he said. "And it doesn't stop the process of wanting our players to get back with the union and us to the table to actually have substantive conversations so we can actually find a long term resolution as to how we actually make ourselves financially secure over a long period."

Management has proposed cutting musicians pay from an average of $135,000 a year to $89,000.

There have been no negotiating sessions between management and players at the Minnesota Orchestra since September 30th, when the last contract ran out.

Musicians say they cannot respond with a counter-offer to a proposal set before them in April until there is an independent analysis of the orchestra's finances. They also argue the ball is in the management's court because it imposed the lock out.

The deadlock in Minneapolis is now being replicated in Saint Paul. Management and players met Thursday to discuss what musicians called a framework for future discussions.

On October 31st the musicians rejected a four year deal which would have cut current player's guaranteed salaries to $62,500, reduced the size of the orchestra and offered buy-outs to musicians aged 55 and older.

In the Thursday meeting they told management negotiators they will not accept a reduction in the cost of the contract compared with the old one. Nor will they accept a reduction in the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28 as management desires, although they are willing to hold off filling some seats which are currently vacant.

The framework was immediately rejected by SPCO Interim President Dobson West who has been pushing for savings of $1.4 million a year over the old contract. In a statement sent out after the meeting he was blunt.

"We told the Negotiating Committee that while the need for a significant reduction in the cost of the contract will not change, we have been and remain willing to discuss how to best accomplish this reduction.

At this time there are no additional meeting dates set. If and when the Union has a counterproposal they will advise the Federal Mediator."

Musician Lynn Erickson described the rejection as frustrating.

"They really haven't moved off their first proposal," she said.

She says the musicians negotiating team has been meeting to try to come up with other cost-saving alternatives, and will continue that effort next week.

Minnesota Orchestra cancels concerts through December 23rd

Posted at 10:07 AM on November 8, 2012 by Euan Kerr (7 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Management of the Minnesota Orchestra today cancelled all concerts through December 23rd. In a release Orchestra Board Chair Jon Campbell cited lack of progress in contract negotiations with musicians who management locked out on October 1st. Management cancelled all concerts through Thanksgiving at that time.

"In consideration of the needs of audiences, guest artists and our performance venue to make alternate plans for the holiday season, we feel we have no choice but to cancel performances through December 23," Campbell said in the statement. "We make this decision with heavy hearts, and once again ask our musicians to return to the negotiating table with a substantive proposal so our concert schedule can resume as soon as possible."

UPDATE: In an interview this afternoon musicians negotiator Tim Zavadil said the musicians were disappointed by the cancellations. He said it's up to management to end the lock-out and invite the musicians back to the table.

"It's kind of a bullying tactic to blame the victim," he said. "We are the ones who have had our salaries taken away, we've had our health insurance taken away. Our audience is the one who has had its concerts taken away."

Management has tried to reschedule artists booked to perform during the upcoming holidays for roughly the same dates in 2013. Ticketholders can hold on to their tickets for those rescheduled concerts, or turn them in for a refund.

The rescheduled concerts are:
• Celtic Woman, December 7 | rescheduled date TBA
• Chris Botti Christmas, December 14 | rescheduled date November 29, 2013
• The Tenors, December 19 | rescheduled date TBA
• A Scandinavian Christmas, December 20 & 22 | both dates rescheduled for December 21, 2013
• Jingle Bell Doc, December 21 | rescheduled for December 20, 2013
• Jingle Bell Doc, December 23 | rescheduled for December 22, 2013

Earlier this week locked out musicians called on management to avoid any further cancellations.

Meanwhile management and locked out musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are scheduled to negotiate today. Musicians rejected a contract proposal on October 31st, causing management to cancel all SPCO concerts through the end of 2012.

A representative of the musicians said they will be returning to the negotiations with ideas as to how to get talks moving again as opposed to a full contract proposal. There is no end time scheduled for todays meeting.

Art Hounds: Shujaat Khan, Hofesh Shechter, and a meditation on terminal illness

Posted at 7:45 AM on November 8, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

Hofesh Shechter dance troupe (Photo © Gabriele Zucca, courtesy of Northrop Dance)

The hounds' highlights have a global dimension this week as they touch on a dance piece from an Israeli-born choreographer who lives in the UK, a sitar virtuoso from India and a one-man show by a New York actor.

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It's finally here for writer and vocalist David Jordan Harris, the dance concert he's been looking forward to all fall. Hofesh Shechter, the celebrated UK dance troupe founded by the Israeli-born choreographer with the same name, has won international raves for its latest production, "Political Mother." Hofesh Shechter will perform the piece at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30pm, presented by Northrop Dance and the Walker Art Center.

Twin Cities actor Sally Wingert has gotten to know New York actor Michael Milligan through their work on the Guthrie Theater's production of "Appomattox." Wingert says Milligan's one-man show, "Mercy Killers" will be a moving, terrific night of theater. It's about a man coming to terms with his wife's terminal illness. One night only on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7:00pm, at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis sitar player and teacher David Whetstone has an intimate understanding of the music of Indian sitar master Shujaat Khan, because he studied with Shujaat's father, the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan. David says Khan's smooth singing and virtuosity on his instrument will both soothe and thrill the audience. Shujaat Khan is performing this Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7pm, at Normandale Community College's Performing Arts Center.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

MnOrch announcement on cancellations coming later this week

Posted at 5:46 PM on November 5, 2012 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Today's board meeting of the Minnesota Orchestra Board wrapped up without any announcement of concert cancellations, but they seem likely to come soon.

"We discussed this at the board today and we will be making announcements later on this week in relation to any further cancellations," said Minnesota Orchestra President Michael Henson.

Henson declined to say if a decision had been made at the meeting about further cancellations. Minnesota Orchestra management cancelled all concerts through the end of November on October 1st, just hours after locking out the musicians.

Musicians say they wanted to play and talk, that is continue negotiating while playing under the conditions of the expired contract.

But in a release earlier in the day Board Chair Jon Campbell stated that "playing and talking" would have cost the orchestra half a million dollars a month. He also said the Orchestra is now projecting a $6 million loss this year.

Campbell's comments came in a statement rejecting a musicians request to speak directly to the board. However Campbell said management would accept that only after musicians have made a contract counterproposal.

While musicians have made offers to accept binding arbitration, they have consistently said in recent weeks they need an independent financial analysis of the orchestra's finances before they can make a counter-offer.

Following today's board meeting musicians negotiator Tim Zavadil repeated a call for management to end the lock out and to resist canceling any more concerts.

"The decision to end this lock-out lies solely with with the board and the management," he said. "We remain hopeful that they will end this lock out, they will not cancel any more concerts, especially not holiday concerts and come back to the table."

When asked if the musicians would consider an offer from management without an end of the lockout, Zavadil said that is a hypothetical and musicians will only consider the possibility if and when it happens.

Last week management at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra cancelled all concerts through the end of 2012, citing a lack of negotiation progress and a need to let patrons plan.

At both orchestras the most recent contract proposals have included significant pay cuts for musicians, a reduction in the size of both orchestras, and in the case of the SPCO an offer to buy-out musicians aged 55 and older.

The two sides in the SPCO dispute have a negotiation session scheduled for November 8th and musicians say they will have a new proposal to put before management negotiators.

MnOrch board rejects musicians request to meet until contract talks resume

Posted at 10:24 AM on November 5, 2012 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Management of the Minnesota Orchestra today rejected a request by locked out musicians to address todays meeting of the orchestra's board.

In a statement released by management the rejection was expressed in terms of an acceptance.

"We would be pleased to accept this request when our musicians and their Union return to the bargaining table with a substantive counterproposal," said Minnesota Orchestra Board Chair Jon Campbell. "We hope the players will consider doing so very soon so that we may come to a meaningful resolution quickly in order to give our audiences at least a part of our regular season." <

Management has long argued the musicians haven't actually begun to negotiate yet as they have yet to offer a contract counter-proposal to an offer made back in April.

Musicians who have been locked out since October 1st called for the meeting over the weekend amidst growing concern the board will cancel more concerts. Management cancelled all concerts through Thanksgiving on the first day of the lockout. With holidays fast approaching and no contract agreement in sight, the Minnesota Orchestra it seems inevitable hat the Orchestra will have to cancel more.

Last week management of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, citing lack of progress cancelled all concerts through the end of the year. There is no indication as to how extensive the Minnesota Orchestra's cancellations might be.

In a response to the management e-mail the musicians renewed their call not to make any cancellations and to end the lockout. They also responded to Campbell's statement claiming that musicians had been trying to negotiate the contract in the media.

The musicians statement says: "The Musicians had done no negotiating in the media until the management chose to post the entire contract proposal on the Internet and leak it to the media without warning to the Musicians on September 5th."

Meanwhile in St Paul the two sides in the SPCO dispute are scheduled to meet on November 8th. The SPCO's locked-out musicians says they will likely have a counter proposal to put before management then.

SPCO cancels concerts through the end of the year

Posted at 3:27 PM on November 1, 2012 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

The SPCO has moved to cancel all planned concerts through the end of the year. Interim President Dobby West sent out this e-mail to explain the action:

Dear Members of the SPCO Family,

As you know, the Musicians yesterday rejected the Society's latest proposal, without counterproposal or comment. Our proposal would have aligned our expenses with our sustainable revenues allowing us to stop adding to our deficit, and would have ensured we could continue to attract and retain world class Musicians. The proposal included:

• Average cash compensation of over $78,000 for current Musicians, including estimated individually negotiated overscale
• An average total compensation package (including benefits) for current Musicians of over $97,000 for 32 weeks of performances
• A smaller orchestra (approximately 28 full-time positions versus today's 34)
• A voluntary retirement package of up to $200,000 for any Musicians over 55 who want to retire

The Union's position is now very clear: a total compensation package of over $97,000 for 32 performance weeks is not enough, and an orchestra of any less than 34 players is unacceptable. While we understand the Musicians' desire for more compensation and a larger ensemble, we have to face reality: we can only spend what this community is able to afford.

We had a deficit of nearly $1 million last year, despite having eliminated $1.5 million in annual expenses since the start of the recession. We face increasing deficits in the years to come if we don't achieve a significant reduction in the expense of the Musician contract. The Musicians have acknowledged the severity of our financial situation, but have not made any proposals that materially reduce the expense of their contract. Their approach would result in continuing deficits, threatening the very future of this organization.

Knowing how far we are from an agreement, and in consideration of the needs of our audience and guest artists to plan ahead, we have made the decision to cancel concerts through December 31st. Ticket holders for canceled concerts will be contacted today, and information will also be posted on the SPCO website. Once again, no immediate action will be required by ticket holders, as tickets will automatically be banked in patrons' accounts for future use. Options will include the opportunity to exchange tickets into another concert, turn back tickets as a tax-deductible contribution to the SPCO or receive a refund.

We continue to want to work collaboratively with our Musicians on a solution that ensures both the financial sustainability and artistic excellence of the SPCO. Our next negotiations session will take place on November 8, and it is our hope that the Union will come forward with a proposal that materially reduces the cost of the contract so that we can get back to bringing great music to this community.

Sincerely,

Dobby
Dobson West, President

Art Hounds: Ensemble 61, King Lear, and the art of Soviet Russia

Posted at 9:39 AM on November 1, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums, Music, Theater

Some of the pieces in The Museum of Russian Art's "The Anniversary Celebration" (Image courtesy of The Museum of Russian Art)

This week's hounds celebrate a St. Paul experimental music ensemble's 'Dylan' fixation, a brilliant Minneapolis repository for Soviet-era art, and a prohibition-era King Lear.

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There are three Dylans infiltrating the upcoming performance of St. Paul new music group Ensemble 61: American troubadour Bob Dylan, poet Dylan Thomas, and Scottish composer James Dillon, who teaches composition at the University of Minnesota. St. Paul composer Abbie Betinis isn't quite sure what kind of Dylanesque connections the group will make in its appropriately titled "Dylan, Dylan, Dillon" performance, but she's intrigued. Abbie is also thrilled there will be music from other local composers, including Aaron Travers, Anthony Cornicello, and Patrick Castillo. The concer will be in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Music Room on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:30pm.

For Twin Cities actor and director Zach Curtis, there is little not to be excited about when it comes to Park Square Theatre's production of "King Lear." In Zach's opinion it's Shakespeare's best play, and it's a star-studded cast which includes local stalwart Raye Birk as Lear. Director Peter Moore has also set the tragedy in the days of prohibition America. The show runs through November 11.

Artist, writer and arts administrator Andy Sturdevant calls The Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis one of the finest museums in the state. The museum specializes in Soviet-era art. It's celebrating its tenth anniversary with a show featuring highlights from its permanent collection and pieces from some of its more popular exhibitions over the last decade.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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SPCO musicians reject offer from management

Posted at 3:01 PM on October 31, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

In a vote today by secret ballot, the Musicians of the SPCO unanimously rejected management's latest contract proposal.

In a statement released this afternoon, musicians said they rejected the offer on the grounds that it would allow SPCO management "to terminate musicians at any time with no recourse, drastically reduce their salary and benefits, and even more drastically lower the guaranteed salary of musicians yet to join the Orchestra."

Management calculated the proposal would cut wages by 14 percent, but musicians argued the cuts actually amounted to 33 percent. The four year contract proposal would have also reduced the number of SPCO players from 34 to 28, and offered buy-outs to musicians aged 55 or older. That's about half the current players.

SPCO concerts through Sunday are currently cancelled. In the wake of today's rejection, further cancellations are likely.

In Minneapolis the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra remain locked out.

Chris Bates Red 5 say yes to jazz

Posted at 3:46 PM on October 29, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

I was struck today by two questions directed my way in recent weeks, one about the big picture when it comes to the arts, and another about a specific work.

The frustrating one came recently from a colleague who asked whether it's worth it to pay so much attention to a jazz shows in clubs, when perhaps only dozens of people will be there to see them.

Another has come a few times in the past few weeks, from people who have asked if I've heard the new recording by Twin Cities bassist Chris Bates. His group Red 5 performs tonight at the Icehouse restaurant in Minneapolis, part of its Monday night jazz series.

My answer to both, of course, is yes.

To the former, I would say that it's the quality of the music that matters. There's simply no question that jazz - a storied genre that also is the nation's story of music and race relations - continues to capture the imagination of thoughtful listeners.

As to Bates, his story is one of a Twin Cities artist who is trying to make great music in an era when much of the attention goes to those with mass-market appeal. Here's his take on that struggle.

It's a challenge, that's for sure. We have all this other music that's being popularly promoted quite heavily in our faces. Jazz and improvised music is still around. It's just not as prevalently presented to people. You have to seek it out, you know. You can't just walk into somewhere and be like 'oh, this is where this is happening.'

The Chris Bates Red 5 show starts at 9 p.m. Joining the bassist on stage will be Chris Thomson and Brandon Wozniak on saxophones, Zack Lozier on trumpet, and his brother, JT Bates on drums.

If you ask me, the show, and the music, are more than worth it.

Poncho Sanchez played with greats

Posted at 3:30 PM on October 26, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

Like many musicians, Latin bandleader Poncho Sanchez discovered his favorite sounds at home.

In his case, it was from a small army of siblings taken by the Latin music craze of the late 1950s, which brought the mambo, cha-cha-cha and other rhythms to Los Angeles by way of New York City, Puerto Rico and even Mexico.

"I'm the youngest of 11," said Sanchez, who performs tonight at the Ordway in St. Paul. "I have six sisters and four brothers and so they're the ones that had the first Latin records that I heard. I grew up with the music in my house every day."

Those vibrant sounds came from big bands led by Cal Tjader, Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo - musicians that Sanchez, a conga player, would one day seek to emulate.

But first he had to learn how to play.

"I'm the only musician out of the whole family," Sanchez said. "My brothers and sisters love music and they love to dance but nobody actually took the time to learn an instrument, except me 'cause the guy who lived across the street, who's still a friend of mine, Benny Rodriguez, he had a rhythm and blues band and I used to watch him practice."

Sanchez taught himself to play by practicing to the music of the bandleaders he admired. The rest is history. After playing the Los Angeles Club scene, he joined Tjader's band in the 1970s.

Later, he would play with other greats, among them Santamaria, Tito Puente, and Dizzy Gillespie.

"They were my heroes growing up in life, and I actually ended up knowing them," Sanchez said. "I got to hang out with them. I got to play with them and they became my best friends. Now, that's a dream come true."

You can read and listen to more of my interview with Sanchez here.

Trio Bossa Nova takes Brazil to heart

Posted at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

Photo by Mary Jindra

If there is any certainty to life in the modern world, it's that we are all everywhere.

From Miami to New York and Minnesota, people from around the world are making their presence known, and embracing each other's experiences.

That's particularly true in music, where the blues, jazz and hip-hop -- all largely African-American inventions -- have international audiences and practitioners.

Such is the dynamic that a few decades ago inspired Pavey Jany, then a young guitarist in the Czech Republic, to embark on a musical journey that would lead him to Brazilian jazz, fusion and bossa nova - genres he now explores in the Twin Cities.

"What I've found in Brazilian music was everything that I really wanted to include in my guitar playing," said Jany, who leads Trio Bossa Nova and a larger fusion group called Ticket To Brazil. "All of the sudden there was this door that opened to the world which was so rich for me in which I could apply everything I loved: classical music, fusion and jazz.

"Brazilian guitar music was really the perfect music for me. I think it was a springboard for me."

Trio Bossa Nova performs at 8 p.m. tonight at Café 318 in Excelsior, Minn. Joining Jany on stage will be percussionist and vocalist Lidia Berman, a native of Honduras, and Andrew Foreman, one of the Twin Cities' best bassists.

The small setting allows the three musicians to focus on the intimacy of bossa nova standards that Jany first heard as a young man, beautiful songs from Brazilian guitarists Bola Sete, Baden Powell and Luiz Bonfa. He is also inspired by contemporary artists Egberto Gismonti and Raphael Rabello.

Jany, who studied classical guitar in his homeland, discovered Brazil's musicians after spending three years in the West African country of Gabon, a former French colony. He learned of the African roots of Brazilian music and how they were transported to the western hemisphere by African slaves.

"I had a chance to play with African musicians," Jany said. "That bridge between Brazilian guitar music and west African music ended up in one pot with Brazilian fusion."

Although none of the trio's musicians are from Brazil, Jany said they have adopted its musical culture and made it part of their lives.

"We are Brazilians in our hearts," he said.

A new direction for Atlantis Quartet

Posted at 3:31 PM on October 24, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

Photo by Shelly Moss

Anyone who is looking for a band that captures the spirit of modern jazz in the Twin Cities would want to look no further than the Atlantis Quartet, the four-member ensemble that has set the standard for the last several years.

Formed in 2006, the Atlantis Quartet has become a major force in Minnesota and the Midwest, with a blend of driving rhythms and imaginative melodies. It includes Zacc Harris on guitar, Pete Hennig on drums, Brandon Wozniak on saxophone and Chris Bates on bass.

Fusing traditional jazz with rock and a modern sensibility, the musicians have built an audience with inventive compositions, well-established themes and strong storytelling.

After three strong albums in "Again, Too Soon," "Animal Progress" and "Lines in the Sand," the quartet is again working on new material, songs they will include in a set tonight at the Dakota Jazz Club. After hearing the quartet recently at St. Paul's Artists' Quarter, it seems to me that the group's latest tunes allow for more introspection and variation.

"All four members are contributing original music for the new recording and the music is a lot more 'open' to feature the different members of the band," Hennig told me this week. "There are also a few complex arrangements in odd meter to feature ensemble playing. We're still fine tuning some of the songs this month before we go to record."

It will be interesting to see if the quartet takes more time developing a theme and if the musicians' solos involve a greater sense of exploration, and willingness to take detours.

If the conversations I've had with the musicians in recent months are any indication, their compositions are evolving in more seamless ways.

"We've been getting more free within that," Bates said recently of the group's approach. "You start trusting one another more in that way."

The important thing is that the Atlantis Quartet still has a great identifiable sound - one that will have fans eagerly waiting for the new recording.

Kurt Elling sings a building's gems

Posted at 3:40 PM on October 23, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

If ever there were a concept album just waiting to be made, it would be one that focused on the famed New York building from which many of the greatest songs of the 20th Century emerged.

In a space that united songwriters and artists, the Brill Building produced a gold mine of great songs that are ingrained in the American consciousness.

Among them are 11 classic tunes covered by acclaimed vocalist Kurt Elling on his new album, 1619 Broadway, from "Come Fly With Me" and "A House Is Not A Home" to, of course, "On Broadway."

A remarkable singer known for his range and artistic vision, Elling performs tonight at the Dakota Jazz Club.

Joining him on stage will be Laurence Hobgood on piano, John McLean on guitar, Clark Sommers on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.

Electric jazz: Guitarist Todd Clouser to present three imaginative shows

Posted at 2:56 PM on October 22, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Jazz, Music

One of the cool things about writing about music is that from time to time I'm able to read musicians' excellent takes on their art -- meditations that often explain their work far better than I could. The next one up to do his duty is guitarist Todd Clouser, who I interviewed last summer for a piece on the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. His band, A Love Electric, has been a big hit in Mexico, the Upper Midwest and beyond.

Clouser, whose work fuses modern jazz, rock and funk, performs tonight at the Red Stag in Minneapolis, followed by a show Tuesday at the Amsterdam in St. Paul and another Wednesday at Café Maude in south Minneapolis.

Here he is on those concerts, in his own words:

The idea for this week's A Love Electric shows is simple: is to take some time to explore writers I've been influenced by and reinterpret their work through the lens of improvisation and my own sensibilities as a player and arranger. I develop these phantom personal relationships with artists I love, and get out of playing my own music for a while. It's a whole different piece of the imagination I get to exercise.

Monday night we're at the Red Stag playing the music of Elliott Smith. It has been an invigorating, if a bit trying, experience arranging eight of Elliott's tunes. I listened to his music very intently in my late teens, as I identified with what could be seen as a largely existential expression at that time. His writing is far more daring than anything you would find in the great majority of modern songwriting. It's just impossibly good at times. That can make it difficult at times to approach as a player or arranger. There were songs I began deconstructing and arranging that I just completely left behind, they were too perfect. The songs I settled on, we will present in our own manner, using the language we use in A Love Electric: improvisation, energy, expression. All the arrangements are unique and took a good deal of time for me to feel they were appropriate to each tune. It's music that commands respect for its emotional sincerity.

Tuesday we are at the Amsterdam presenting deconstructive arrangements of Nirvana's iconic "In Utero" record. Another situation that requires care and vision, as the record is such a complete and poignant artistic statement. The way I've approached it is to completely deconstruct the songs, pulling elements from the tunes and creating a canvas for us to improvise upon. I'm going to be singing a bit as well, which has been a new direction for our band, but feels true to how I feel we can best express, and make our statement, right now.

Wednesday at Cafe Maude with [bassist] James Buckley and [drummer] Greg Schutte we are going to play Brian Eno's Discreet Music, which is largely a soundscape sort of situation, but there is this complete beauty in the commitment Eno had to each note he used on the record. The first piece runs over 30 minutes and is largely just two notes that comprise a major third. Being confined to that, the exploration of possibilities becomes that much more intentional. You can't just blow all your stuff all over the tune. It's very intricate, if simple sounding in its end.

Then I'm down to Mexico for a few week tour as A Love Electric, through Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, the South Baja. It's a different experience performing down there, one I have come to embrace and I think has been mutual. A lot more music happening up to the New Year, when we'll begin pushing for our new A Love Electric record, which I'm really proud of, it's an irritated art rock sort of statement that we recorded up in Woodstock, N.Y. with our band from Mexico City, Steven Bernstein on trumpet, and Brandon Wozniak on saxophone called "The Naked Beat."

I'm really in love with playing music right now, more than ever, and feeling comfortable performing. Self doubt has always been my greatest inhibitor, paralyzing at times. [I] think it's that way for all of us in whatever we do, but I'm feeling really great and just eager to express, create, leave the piece of art as it was made and keep moving. It feels healthy and keeps me digging towards something that transcends complacency.

Walking the beat

I continue to be impressed by the incredible work of jazz rhythm sections in the Twin Cities, where there are great bassists, including Billy Peterson, who performed with drummer Dave King in an incredible show over the weekend.

Another bassist who should be on everyone's list of must-see performers is Anthony Cox, who is near the top of my list of artists to interview. (It could happen...) He takes the stage tonight at the Icehouse in Minneapolis, with drummer JT Bates, pianist Bryan Nichols and saxophonist Michael Lewis.

Check them out.

Lila Downs claims her heritage through music

Posted at 6:35 PM on October 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Minnesota Mix, Music

Lila Downs has a voice that can overwhelm an audience with varied emotions, from the exuberance of a mezcal-soaked fiesta to the lament of a woman scorned.

Lila Downs
Photo: Ricardo Trabulsi

But as MPR's David Cazares reports, Downs' music also delivers serious messages. Her work has touched on the plight of farm workers, people crossing the border, and the drug cartels that plague Mexico.

Downs, 44, has a unique perspective on Mexico, in large part because she has long lived in two worlds. Born in Mexico to Mixtec indigenous singer Anita Sanchez and Allen Downs, a Scottish-American art professor and cinematographer, she went to school in Roseville.

"My father taught at the U of M," Downs said. "So from the moment I was born, I was taken to and fro, and that was just the way my life was ... one year in Oaxaca, one year in Minnesota and like that."

It wasn't until well after her father's death that she began to deeply explore her Mexican roots, while in college at the University of Minnesota, where she studied voice and anthropology.

She began singing several years later, winning acclaim for sensitive and versatile recordings that showcased her tremendous range and ability to master different genres, from rancheras to boleros.

Her recordings have been a mix of traditional Mexican music, indigenous styles and a fusion of other elements, from folk music, to rock, reggae, African root and jazz. Her compositions give her an opportunity to share the struggles of ordinary people.

Lila Downs performs tonight at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. You can find more on her music here.

SPCO poised to lock out musicians

Posted at 5:47 PM on October 17, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

There is a very good chance that come Monday morning the two top orchestras of the region will be silenced.

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians rallied Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, outside the Ordway Center in an attempt to forestall a feared lock out by the orchestra's management.
MPR Photo/Euan Kerr

As MPR's Euan Kerr reports, management of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra today told its musicians that unless there is a contract agreement by 6 p.m. Sunday it will lock them out.

The deal now before the musicians is a four-year contract that sets a guaranteed minimum annual salary for current musicians at $62,500, and a base rate of $50,000 for new musicians. It cuts the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28 players and it offers buyouts to musicians aged 55 and older. West describes the cut as a 15 percent reduction.

"I understand that it is difficult for musicians to accept reductions in compensation. That's a normal occurrence. But we are where we are," [SPCO interim President Dobson] West said. "We need to reduce the cost of that contract and the musicians need to acknowledge that fact and then we will find a solution."

Musicians said they have been trying to be part of the solution and management has not been interested. A statement they released called the lockout deadline "dangerous and disingenuous." Lead negotiator for the musicians Carole Mason Smith said they have twice offered to take a pay cut so they can continue to play and talk.

"We have made proposals and they have completely ignored those proposals," Smith said.

Smith says management seems to be trying to put the musicians on the same level as other SPCO employees.

"We might be 40 percent of the budget, but we are 100 percent of the product" she said. "And their proposal does not in any way exhibit that."

If the SPCO carries out its threat, it will be the first time in history that both the musicians of SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra are locked out at the same time.

You can find the rest of the story here.

Art Hounds: Andy Ducett, Salon Saloon, and the mystery of Jandek

Posted at 7:45 AM on October 18, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Galleries, Music

A section of Andy DuCett's "Why We Do This" exhibit at The Soap Factory (Photo courtesy of The Soap Factory, photo credit: Dane McFarlane)

An interesting thread organically emerged in this week's installment. All the hounds' submissions are connected by a cult theme; a cultish musician, cults as phenomenons, and the cult of Minnesota's personality.

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Mike Haeg is an artist, and the straight talking mayor of Minnesota's smallest small town, Mt Holly. Mike applauds what he calls the state's premier live art magazine, "Salon Saloon," for consistently exposing him to new artists and ideas. "Salon Saloon," with one-man art scene and Art Hound Andy Sturdevant serving as facilitator, is presented every third Tuesday of the month at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. The next show, on Oct. 23, will focus on cults.

Love him or not love him so much -- and Mankato artist and musician Amanda Wirig LOVES him -- the atonal, enigmatic Houston-based singer songwriter Jandek is an original. Jandek is performing this Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Halling Recital Hall on the campus of Minnesota State University Mankato.

For a peek into Minnesota's soul, and maybe even your own history and past, Twin Cities poet and public artist Todd Boss strongly suggests you go see artist Andy DuCett's ambitious solo exhibition,"Why We Do This," which occupies the entire show space at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis. Todd describes it as a series of installations that collectively reveal the Minnesota psyche. On view through Nov. 11, with a closing reception on Nov. 10, 7-11pm.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

SPCO puts forth new proposal, sets new deadline

Posted at 9:42 PM on October 12, 2012 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has made a new offer to its musicians and set a new deadline.

SPCO violins
Photo by Sarah Rubenstein

In contract talks that finished today, the SPCO put forth a new proposal that's basically the same as the previous one but extends its duration from three to four years and includes a one-time payment of $2,000.00 per musician in the fourth year.

It also told musicians it would give them until Tuesday to respond.

The musicians say they need more information on the new proposal before they can respond in any time frame.

The musicians also told the orchestra they wouldn't be available to meet again for further negotiations until November 3.

Both sides are expressing frustration with the talks. In a prepared statement, SPCO Interim President Dobson West said,

"It should come as no surprise that we are frustrated by the lack of progress in these negotiations. The Union and the Society agree that the SPCO faces a significant financial challenge, but the Union continues to reject that a significant reduction in the cost of the contract must be part of the solution. The Union has yet to provide us with a proposal that materially reduces the cost of the contract, and instead continues to insist that our audience and donors shoulder the burden. Meanwhile, each day that we continue to operate under the expired contract, we add to our deficit. We have been willing to "play and talk" because we want to keep the music going, but we cannot continue to operate this way for much longer."

The musicians also released their own statement:

"After the latest round of negotiations.... We're frustrated by the fact that management will not budge even an inch on their short sided proposal that will destroy the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as we know it. Our latest offer includes a ten percent reduction in compensation that saves management nearly a million dollars over the next three years. Management wants everyone to believe they are offering musicians an additional year on a new contract and at a higher salary. But the truth is - the compensation in that final year is still 30 percent less than what were currently making and the health care costs would offset any increase in salary.

We will continue to play and talk and work hard to reach a resolution... but it has become clear that management is disingenuous when they say they want to preserve the quality of our world class orchestra."

No new talks have been scheduled.

SPCO management says 'playing and talking' is too expensive

Posted at 9:22 PM on October 11, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and its musicians met for contract talks today. Since the orchestra's musician contract expired last month, the orchestra has been in what's called 'play & talk' mode, which lets both sides keep negotiating while the musicians continue performing under the old contract. SPCO management proposed that the musicians play and talk under the terms of the orchestra's latest offer, which would cut musician salaries by 15-percent. Musicians rejected the idea.

SPCO Interim President Dobson West says the orchestra would like to continue the 'play and talk' process, but needs to do it in a financially responsible way.

"We cannot afford to continue to play and talk under the current contract. It is just too expensive for us. And at some point, the union needs to acknowledge that we need to have substantial savings from the costs of the contract."

The musicians say they're still digesting the terms of the orchestra's latest offer but say they are not happy with most of it. Trumpet player Lynn Erickson is with the musicians' negotiating committee.

"If we were to accept their proposal right now and play and talk under it, they would start to implement all of the things that they would like to happen under their proposal, and we don't agree with many of the things in their proposal."

Erickson says the musicians offered to continue playing and talking under the old contract but at a reduced base salary rate of $70-thousand a year. The orchestra rejected that approach, saying it would still add to the orchestra's one million dollar deficit..

When asked whether the SPCO was preparing to lock out its musicians, West responded that the orchestra couldn't keep the current 'play and talk' process going much longer. The two sides are scheduled to meet again tomorrow.

Art Hounds: Joyce Sutphen, Big Cats, and the anonymity of refugees

Posted at 7:45 AM on October 11, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry, Theater

Image from "Anon(ymous)" at the Little Country Theater. Left to Right: Ananya Jaidev as Naja; James M. Cavo as Anon; and Alison Olson as Calista. (Photo courtesy of NDSU)

What's clicking for the hounds this week? A performance by Minnesota's Poet Laureate in Brainerd, a rising beat maker's instrumental homage to his mother, and a play about the lives of refugees in America.

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Fargo theater artist Brad Delzer has been waiting for a play like "Anon(ymous)" to come to Fargo-Moorhead, especially with its growing refugee population. "Anon(ymous)," originally written for the Children's Theater Company by Naomi Iizuka, is about what a young refugee boy encounters as he scours America, searching for his lost family. It's on stage this weekend only at the Little Country Theater at North Dakota State University.

When freelance music writer and Background Noise Crew CEO and producer Ali Elabbady heard "For My Mother," the newest offering from Minneapolis hip hop producer and beat maker Big Cats, aka Spencer Wirth Davis, he was moved. "For My Mother" is a collection of instrumental compositions converted into hip hop tracks and dedicated to Big Cats' mother, who passed away two years ago from ovarian cancer. Big Cats will celebrate the new album with a show tonight at the Cedar Cultural Center.

If you want to "feel Minnesota" through poetry, Northfield poet Joe Concannon says you need to see the state's poet laureate, Joyce Sutphen, read her work. Sutphen will deliver the goods on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7pm, at Central Lakes College in Brainerd.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

MN Orch musicians to perform, will not honor tickets for cancelled concert

Posted at 11:42 AM on October 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra have announced the program for their concert on October 18, but they will not be honoring tickets for the season opener cancelled by orchestra management.

The musicians will perform Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B Minor, Opus 104 (with Tony Ross on cello) and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Opus 47. The concert will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium at 7:30pm.

Conductor Laureate of the Minnesota Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski will conduct the performance. He turned 89 last week.

Orchestra musicians had originally stated they hoped to honor tickets for the season opener that was cancelled by Minnesota Orchestra management as part of the lockout. But according to the musicians' media representative Blois Olson, getting a refund for the tickets from management turned out to be "too complicated."

Tickets to the October 18 concert can be purchased here; they range in price from $15-40 per seat.

Tumultuous times for American orchestras

Posted at 8:51 AM on October 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Minnesota Orchestra is not alone in its heated labor negotiations.

As Chris Roberts reports, American orchestras are going through a period of upheaval that may forever alter how they're run and their relationships to their communities.

Horrible economic conditions and menacing long term trends spawned an orchestral tempest which first reached landfall in Detroit and is now sweeping the rest of the country, according to arts and entertainment reporter for the Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker.

"This hurricane of rising costs, and the recession, and long-range cultural forces that sort of pushed classical music to the sidelines of civic life, these forces created unsustainable models, economic models in many cities, he said.

The financial meltdown of 2008 and resulting 'Great Recession' has also given orchestras an opportunity, said Detroit Symphony Orchestra Music Director Leonard Slatkin, He said they are not only trying to restructure financially but are changing their operational model from arts to more of a business model.

"An arts model said, 'OK, we'll try not to lose so much money,'" Slatkin said. "A business model is 'we're gonna try to make some money.' And 2008 was a very good way to say, 'we can't afford this anymore.' "

Lockouts have become more prevalent in many industries in recent years. John Budd, a labor relations expert at the University of Minnesota, refers to the American Crystal Sugar and NHL lockouts as high profile examples. Budd was unsurprised by the Minnesota Orchestra musicians lockout, but with concerts canceled through Thanksgiving, he thinks this lockout could be a lengthy one.

"At this point I think it's just going to take time for one side or the other to see how serious the other side is in its resolve, and unfortunately have some economic pain imposed on both sides which will eventually bring them back to the bargaining table," Budd said.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Locked out musicians get gigs elsewhere

Posted at 2:51 PM on October 9, 2012 by Euan Kerr (9 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Updated at 4.30 pm

There are no negotiations currently scheduled between the locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and management - but the war of words continued unabated.

The musicians today released a list of 10 orchestras, including the Sao Paulo Symphony in Brazil where Minnesota Orchestra musicians will be performing in coming weeks.

"Obviously we would prefer to be performing for our audiences here," said lead musicians negotiator Tim Zavadil (left). "We've got a world class roster of musicians. Since the management has locked us out, so we have no salary and benefits and musicians have got to be able to go earn a living. So it was really remarkable that within the first week of the lock out musicians have been invited to perform with such a world class roster of orchestras."

It is an impressive list: the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Sao Paulo Symphony, the Orpheus at Carnegie, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.

Zavadil says the list represents different kinds of temporary engagements.

"Some of them are short term, from maybe perhaps one week," he said. "There are some mid-terms you know one to two months. Then there are some people who have left for permanent positions in other places."

This of course has been one of the rallying cries of the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, that talented players are likely to leave because of the major salary cuts being proposed by the orchestra. Zavadil declined to give exact numbers of people who are leaving, saying that some of them are still in the final stages of negotiation. But he can confirm at least one.

"Probably the most significant one is Peter Maguire who is a fabulous violinist in our first violin section will be leaving to take the concertmaster position in Zurich, Switzerland."

Maguire, who is acting first associate concertmaster with the Minnesota Orchestra is headed to the Zurich Tonhalle Orchester. When asked if Maguire's move might have been in the works for some time Zavadil said he didn't know.

Zavadil returned repeatedly to the idea that the musicians want to live and play in Minnesota.

"The Minnesota Orchestra has always been a destination orchestra," he said.

Locked out musicians protesting at Orchestra Hall (MPR images/Euan Kerr)

Zavadil says the musicians are still seeking an independent financial analysis of the orchestra. He indicated he believes the next move belongs to Minnesota Orchestra management.

"Currently we have no salary and no benefits, so we need to go out an earn a living wage. When the other side is ready to meet, we'll be ready to meet," he said

No-one from the orchestra management was available to immediately respond. However in recent weeks managers have repeatedly said they are awaiting a counter-proposal from musicians so they can begin negotiating.

Update: late this afternoon Minnesota Orchestra management issued the following response:

"We anticipate that musicians will find work as substitutes in the weeks ahead, as it is one of the benefits of an orchestral career that freelance work is readily available. This doesn't alter where our negotiations currently stand: we are waiting for our musicians to return to the table with a realistic counterproposal, so we can work to resolve our differences, and musicians can perform in our Orchestra again."

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski to conduct Minnesota Orchestra musicians

Posted at 5:46 PM on October 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music, People

Locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra today announced former Music Director Stanislaw Skrowaczewski will conduct them in what they call a "season opening concert" on October 18th.

Minnesota Orchestra management cancelled all concerts through the end of November shortly after locking out the musicians early Monday. French horn player Ellen Smith says having the conductor who led the Minnesota Orchestra from 1960 to 1979 - during which time Orchestra Hall was built - means a great deal to the players.

"Because we know that it won't be a gesture taken lightly by our management," said Smith. "They won't be happy about it. But it truly shows that he supports us fully in what we are doing."

The musicians will announce later this evening where they will perform the concert.
UPDATE: Musicians union negotiator Tim Zavadil said on TPT's Almanac the concert will be at the Minneapolis Convention Center Hall.

Management wants major wage concessions from musicians to fix what it says are major financial problems. Musicians say the proposed cuts would destroy the Minnesota's world class sound. No further contract negotiations are currently scheduled.

Blogosphere sides with musicians over Minnesota Orchestra management

Posted at 1:13 PM on October 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

While Minnesota Orchestra management and musicians have yet to find a contract they can agree upon, a number of voices are crying foul over the management's approach to negotiations.

Bill Eddins

Bill Eddins is Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and co-author of the classical music blog Sticks and Drones. A resident of Minneapolis, Eddins has been following the negotiations closely.

The whole thing smacks of impersonality. There is no feeling in this. Everyone on the payroll is now just to be considered a cog in the wheel, and the output of the machine is supposed to be great music. The "Artist Entrance" should be renamed the "Servants Entrance." That's certainly the gist of the message from management. No matter how bad the situation is there (and it's bad and it has been bad for several years; denial ain't just a river in Egypt) this is no way to go about stabilizing this institution.

Matt Peiken

Matt Peiken is the creator of the newly launched MNuet.com, a website designed to aggregate information about the Twin Cities classical music scene.

...management's tactic is calculated, craven, callous, corrosive and cowardly--emboldened and made possible, in no small part, by the bullying that has happened in places as disparate as Wisconsin's legislature, Chicago Public Schools, Northern California hospitals and the worker breakrooms of union-allergic Wal-Mart, and championed across the commentariat at the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Drudge Report.

By going public, the management of the Minnesota Orchestra told their own musicians they're overpaid--not in context with these economic times, mind you, but in general. Management has refused to open its books to an independent analysis--how well has that worked for Mitt Romney?--and also refused binding arbitration. How do you negotiate with honesty and integrity under this rubric and, at the same time, tell the public you're committed to fielding a world-class orchestra? How do you hope to again work with these musicians from a position of mutual purpose and trust?

Emily Hogstad

Emily Hogstad plays violin in the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra and writes about classical music on her blog Song of the Lark. One of her recent posts lists "ten obfuscations" in a recent Minnesota Orchestra press release, including the statement that" the full-time management and administrative staff have experienced a salary reduction, a wage freeze and more than a 40 percent reduction of their pension contributions from the Orchestral Association."

According to public documents, Michael Henson makes $404,000 a year, which is up from his 2009 salary of $390,000. (According to this Star Tribune article, Salaries drop for nonprofit leaders, this is 1.5x the average for "nonprofits with budgets of $25 million to $50 million," which is $243,000.) I know that others within the organization have sacrificed, and sacrificed greatly, but based on the available public evidence, I'm not convinced their leader did. Shouldn't great leaders lead by example? Of course Henson's salary alone wouldn't fix the financial problem management says they have, but it would send a message about his character. It would send a message about his humanity, and respect, and shared sacrifice. As Andrew Young once observed on the Colbert Report, strikes aren't about money; they're about respect. Also, let's be clear: I don't think any of the musicians are scorning the people who wield relatively little power within the organization, who have suffered terribly throughout this whole debacle. According to one of my readers, at least one of these hardworking underpaid people was fired via email. If this is indeed true (and I have heard no one dispute it, or apologize for it), do you believe that high-level management really cares so much about the people below them? Or might they instead be seeing them as pawns in a grand seven-tier chess game (as nationally renowned arts consultant Drew McManus feared back in May)? No, this is a failure of leadership from the very top: from powerful multi-multi-millionaire board leaders Jon Campbell and Richard Davis, and Michael Henson.

You can find out the latest on the Minnesota Orchestra contract negotiations here.

A Hip Hop/R&B album his mother would be proud of

Posted at 12:00 PM on October 11, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

Minneapolis composer and musician Spencer Wirth-Davis (a.k.a. Big Cats of the duo The Tribe & Big Cats) lost his mother to ovarian cancer two years ago.

When he later received a 2011 McKnight composers fellowship, he decided to create something in her honor.

"After all, if it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't be making music today. Growing up, she devoted an incredible amount of time, effort and money to my music. She drove me to lessons, rehearsals, and band practices. She put up with noise at all hours, records strewn around the house, and my tendency to play the largest instruments possible. She was always the first to hear any new music I was working on and give feedback. When she was going through chemotherapy, surgeries and countless procedures, she often used music to help her relax and take her mind off of her treatment."

Tonight Wirth-Davis celebrates the release of his new album "For My Mother" with a performance at the Cedar Cultural Center. 75% of the proceeds from the album will go to the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

The album is an instrumental Hip Hop/R&B record, said Wirth-Davis, featuring "original" samples.

"I wanted to create an album that sounded like it was built around samples, because that's the sound I love and grew up listening to. Sampling has shaped the sound of hip hop since it's inception. However, it's getting more and more difficult for artists to create, and profit from, sample-based music. The cost of clearing samples and the potential legal ramifications of using uncleared samples make it nearly impossible to create and sell sample-based music."

Instead Wirth-Davis recorded a slew of his own compositions with a nine piece band, and then pulled samples from his original music to create a beautiful, moody soundscape.

Any mother would be proud.

You can listen to the album here.

Calling to African spirits through the drum

Posted at 10:57 AM on October 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Minnesota Mix, Music

The Babatunde Lea Quartet performs tonight and tomorrow at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul.

Jazz percussionist Babatunde Lea was photographed Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012, after an interview at Minnesota Public Radio.
MPR Photo/Jennifer Simonson

Jazz drummer Babatunde Lea told MPR's David Cazares that, though he has been hailed as a stellar performer of jazz and world music, what's more important is the fountain from which his music springs.

"I call it jazz steeped in the rhythms of the African diaspora because I've learned a great many drumming traditions, you know, from Afro-Cuban to Afro-Brazilian to Senegalese to Nigerian," he said. "And I bring all those elements to my music, as well as straight ahead. It all depends on what composition and where your head is when you hear us."

...[Lea] has no doubt that the spirit of African ancestors drives the music of much of the Americas, from Afro-Cuban Santeria and Haitian voodoo to Brazilian candomble and even the music of the black church. The call to Africa that emerges from the drum, Lea said, is about one unifying spirit.

"These are all the same people that were brought over here during the slave trade," Lea said. "That's what people don't know. They separate African-Americans, Afro-Cubans, Afro-Brazilians and ... Haiti and Dominican Republic. It's like we're different people. No, we're the same people that was brought over here. We're just separated by different languages.

"We're calling the ghost constantly. Our music is our music."

You can read the rest of Cazares' story, and listen to Babatunde Lea's music, here.

Art Hounds: Two Sugars, Consortium Carissimi, and a theatrical river walk in Granite Falls

Posted at 7:45 AM on October 4, 2012 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Music, Theater

Consortium Carissimi (Photo credit: Mark Triplett)

Two talented performers teaming up, an early Italian chorale and a communal theater installation in Granite Falls have all stirred the hounds' interest this week.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

There's an outdoor theater production in Granite Falls that seems like it's right out of photographer Wing Young Huie's playbook, which is partly why he's drawn to it. "Granite Falls: A Meandering River Walk," is a piece of "walking theater" about the 10,000 year history of the town and the Minnesota River, which flows through it. It was created from interviews with 40 residents who are also the actors in the production. It will be performed twice on Friday, Oct 5, at 5pm and 7pm and 9pm on Main Street in downtown Granite Falls. It's part of the Meander, the Upper Minnesota River Art Crawl.

Consortium Carissimi is Italian baroque music done to near perfection, according to musical comedy writer Maureen Kane Berg. The group will be marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Italian composer Giovanni Gabrielli this weekend with concerts Friday night at 7:30pm and Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm at the Church of Christ the King in Minneapolis. It will also perform Saturday night at 7:30pm at the Boe Chapel of St. Olaf College in Northfield. Consortium Carissimi will be collaborating with the St. Olaf Early Music Singers and musicians from the St. Olaf Collegium Musicum, who specialize in instruments from the baroque period.

Minneapolis comedy writer and performer Levi Weinhagen says "Two Sugars, With Room for Cream" pairs two performers he greatly admires, Shanan Custer and Carolyn Pool, in a musical showcase that has a lot of heart and laughs. Levi saw it at the Minnesota Fringe Festival in 2009, and he says the remount is enhanced with even more of what made it a hit at the Fringe. It's at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis through Nov. 11.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Locked out Mn Orch musicians plan season opening concert

Posted at 5:23 PM on October 2, 2012 by Euan Kerr (5 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Music

Locked out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, Ellen Smith, Doug Wright, Tony Ross, and Burt Hara, standing in front of the Minneapolis Convention Center (MPR photo/Euan Kerr)

"The players want to keep the music going, and we are doing everything we can to make that happen," said locked out musician Tony Ross.

Ross, principal cello for the Minnesota Orchestra was standing in front of the Minneapolis Convention Center where the Orchestra was meant to open its 2012-2013 season. But that was before management locked out the musicians Monday, and cancelled the fall concerts through November 25th

Ross, along with musicians Tim Zavadil, Ellen Smith, Doug Wright, and Burt Hara, were there to announce their intention of holding a season opener anyway. There are still some logistics to work out, like dates, program, and which hall, but Ross said they are hoping to present a "celebratory program" on October 19th ideally in the Convention Center Theater.

Ross said there could be a series of concerts.

"We are also in discussion with former music directors" he said, "Hoping they will support us and possibly lead us in this and other events."

He declined to name who that might be for the moment. However he did say the musicians will pay for the concerts, with the help of donations from supporters.

Ross said the hope would be also to honor tickets which people had bought for the cancelled season opener.

When asked what might be an ideal piece for the show, Ross smiled wryly

"Shostakovich 5?" he said "You know there was so much great art that came out of Russia when Stalin was abusing its population. Do we feel abused? Maybe."

Over the past few days more and more people have become aware of the large cuts being proposed for musicians by Minnesota orchestra management. Those cuts are necessary management says because of the organizations teetering financial situation.

The players dispute this, particularly as the Orchestra just raised almost $100-million in a capital campaign.

The musicians are well-paid, and when a journalist asked Ross how they justified their salaries, Ross shot back.

"Many people equate making it into the Minnesota Orchestra, or a like ensemble, more difficult than making it onto an NFL team," he said. "So we are not ashamed of our salary, and we need to be compitative so we can keep the great musicians that we have here, and draw new ones."

Over at the Minnesota Orchestra's temporary offices where administrative staff is working while Orchestra Hall is undergoing renovation, Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson said he respected the musicians' right to play concerts.

"However it doesn't change the fundamental issue that the Minnesota Orchestra is facing at the moment," he continued. "We need our players to accept the financial realities of 2012, and come to the negotiating table in support of a contract that our community can afford."

No negotiations are currently scheduled between the two sides.

When asked about the musicians honoring tickets for cancelled concerts, Henson said people remember they still have value for when there is a settlement and the Minnesota orchestra resumes playing.

"We are very keen that our audience is not confused by that," Henson said. "And keen to very much stress that they can get a full refund for tickets they have purchased, or... they can bank those tickets."

MN Orchestra cancels fall concerts, musicians rally

Posted at 9:42 AM on October 1, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

This morning the Minnesota Orchestra announced it has cancelled all its fall concerts through November 25.

This, after a weekend of meetings between musicians and management failed to reach a new contract settlement.

The lockout means musicians will receive no pay or benefits until a new agreement can be negotiated.

The Minnesota Orchestra's final proposal offers an average annual salary of $89,000, as opposed to the current average salary of $135,000.

In a release, Minnesota Orchestra Association Board Chair Jon Campbell explained the cuts this way:

The Orchestral Association honored the musicians' 2007 contract even though, in the midst of the recession, it placed unsustainable pressure on our endowment. We cannot continue on this course, and our Board is united in the belief that, in order to protect the Minnesota Orchestra for the long term, we must address our financial challenges now, rather than push them forward and allow them to multiply.

In the above video musicians state:

We didn't build Target Field for a minor league team. If the Vikings win the Super Bowl, they don't take a pay cut. When we built the new Walker [Art Center] we didn't expect art of less significance. The new Guthrie wasn't built for Minneapolis to become mediocre in theater. So why would the orchestra management raise $110 million to build for the future, but tell musicians to take a 30 - 50% pay cut? Why would they spend $50 million for a new lobby at orchestra hall?

The musicians will hold a rally today at 1pm at the corner of Nicollet Mall and 11th in downtown Minneapolis.

Mn Orch musicians reject management proposal as SPCO bosses reject contract extension

Posted at 9:27 PM on September 29, 2012 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Music

Minnesota Orchestra musicians unanimously rejected a management contract proposal this evening and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra management rejected a musicians proposal for a contract extension. Both organizations contracts expire at midnight Sunday.


Musicians negotiator Tim Zavadil meets the press shortly after the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra rejected the management contract proposal (MPR photo/Euan Kerr)

In Minneapolis, after a three hour meeting Minnesota Orchestra musicians representatives said players are firm in their belief pay cuts of 30 to 50 percent in the proposal endanger the future of the orchestra.

The unanimous rejection of the offer was followed by another unanimous vote to play and talk, that is continue negotiating and performing beyond the deadline.

"It's our intention to continue working under the terms of the current contract while we continue working this out, so that we can continue performing concerts for our audience," said Tim Zavadil, the chair of the musicians negotiating committee.

Players have a meeting scheduled with management Sunday afternoon where Zavadil says they hope management will agree to keep negotiating.

"If not they have told us that they will lock us out and we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. But it's our intention to negotiate in good faith and we want to play and talk," he said.

Last week management delivered a letter saying it will lock out musicians if there is no agreement by midnight tomorrow. Following tonight's vote management issued the following statement:

"We are disappointed the musicians have rejected the proposal. Our Committees are meeting tomorrow, and we hope the Union will share a realistic counterproposal then."

Management has been frustrated by the way musicians have not formally responded till now to their proposal, five months after it was first laid on the table. Musicians counter they need more information about the orchestra's finances to make an informed decision.

The opening concert of the Minnesota Orchestra season is October 18th

In St Paul SPCO management and musicians met all day Saturday to negotiate.

The musicians requested an extension of the current contract so players and management to work out their differences. However management rejected that saying there is still time to work out a deal before tonight's midnight deadline.

The musicians also requested an independent outside arts consultant be brought in to analyze the management plan for the orchestra, and to examine the SPCO's finances. This was also rejected by management. Musicians are upset by a management proposal to cut salaries and offer buy-outs to players over age 55, which musicians say will destroy the heart of the SPCO.

However SPCO management says he need to save $1.5 million a year, and musicians salaries are a major expense that needs to be trimmed.

Musicians said they are disappointed by management's stance. They were scheduled to meet to discuss their next moves after this evening's concert in St Paul. Negotiators will return to the table at 9 am Sunday. and have no end time set for their meeting.

Both sides in the SPCO negotiations say they want to play and talk. However management says it cannot afford the current contract in the long term and playing and talking can only go on for so long.

How an orchestra strike or lock-out could affect the economy

Posted at 7:18 PM on September 28, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

As time runs out for the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra to reach new labor agreements with their musicians unions, MPR's Chris Roberts took a look at how much economic pain work stoppages might cause in their respective hometowns.

At the Zelo Restaurant on Nicollet Mall, bar manager Michael Persian said the bustling eatery counts on 50 to 60 dinner patrons before every evening concert.

"You could look at anywhere from a few thousand dollars a night to $10,000 maybe per week of lost business or revenue for the restaurant," he said.

Downtown St. Paul is already suffering from a lockout by the National Hockey League of all its teams, including the Minnesota Wild. A work stoppage at the SPCO makes city director of arts and culture Joe Spencer shudder.

"A) I don't think it's going to happen, and b) we just can't let it happen," he said.

Downtown St. Paul's businesses and restaurants rely on the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts being busy seven days a week, Spencer said. SPCO audiences produce a significant chunk of their revenue. There's also an effort by four Twin Cities arts groups, including the SPCO, to raise $75 million to build a new concert hall at the Ordway. So far, $60 million has been raised.

"And if there's a work stoppage at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra," Spencer said, "it would have a chilling effect on that fund drive as we're in sort of the last stretch of getting to that $75 million goal."

Spencer believes the two parties are making progress and will reach an agreement before the deadline hits at midnight on Sunday.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Bryan Nichols Quintet soars as a unit

Posted at 4:22 PM on September 28, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

In a decade or so, pianist Bryan Nichols made the leap from promising student of jazz to one of the Twin Cities' rising stars. Whether he's sitting in with other performers or leading his own quintet, Nichols has become one of the region's most visible performers. His multilayered compositions and his playing place his group in the company of other leading ensembles, like the Atlantis Quartet.
The Bryan Nichols Quintet includes Bryan Nichols on piano, Michael Lewis and Brandon Wozniak on saxophones, James Buckley on bass, and JT Bates on drums. The musicians perform tonight and Saturday at St. Paul's Artists Quarter, with Erik Fratzke sitting in for Buckley.

I sat down with Nichols the other day to discuss his multifaceted and collegial approach to music. Here's our conversation.

It strikes me when I listen your music that it's very intricate. It's not like when I listen to Atlantis for example some of their tunes start out like bam. They just hit you with that rhythm immediately. And that's not your style. You have these tunes that sort of gently work their way into a conversation with other performers and then in the middle of those tunes those guys take off and so do you. Tell me how you approach music as you write and perform.

I like sometimes that you can come out the gate and just really hear, this is going to be a thing, we're going to bring this groove. But I also like the idea that we can kind of coalesce this order out of sometimes something really simple or sometimes you know kind of get to those high points in different ways.

I want to have each song and each idea to be sort of a journey. And then you know when you listen to the record or listen to the show I want each set to be a journey too. And so like, ideally you know if you're coming out of the gate each time going pow, you, you're going to lose some people. It's not going to feel like, Oh, I feel like I'm being you know individually and collectively moved here. So if we can kind of just have that progression and have that progression of ideas that's kind of where I want to be with it.

The other thing is that I like the idea that, you know, I write my music and it's got these certain frameworks that I want to follow but then it's got a lot of room for individual improvisers' input. And the people that I work with are you know some of my favorite musicians in the world. And they're people who I have been working with for most of my musical life or all most al of it in some cases and guys who I want to keep working with forever. And so I want to give them places to really shine and not feel burdened by like my compositional ideas. If they can have ideas add input that's sort of my goal.

On you last CD, Bright Places, you were working with Michael Lewis and Brandon Wozniak on saxes, James Buckley on bass and JT Bates on drums. Is that the same group that you're working with now, or have you added somebody?

That's one of the groups I'm working with now. James can't do this Artists' Quarter weekend. And so one of my favorite musicians in the whole world, Erik Fratzke, is playing bass. Erik is just this super amazing musician who not only has this brilliant voice on guitar but has this other amazing voice on bass. So he'll be doing all the bass stuff. He plays electric bass which, while it's a little different cause usually James plays acoustic, I love his musicality so much and he fits in so well with the thing that it works out great. We play together in the band the Gangfont. And so it makes perfect sense to have him involved in this.

All of these guys do my large group, my nine-piece group, We Are Many, that adds four extra pieces to this thing and then. For now, especially since I got everyone involved, everyone's back in town, for just a minute, uh, I really wanted to do some more with the quintet because we haven't done it for eight, nine months.

Are you working on new tunes for a new recording?

I'm working on new tunes. I hesitate to say what the next recording will be. Right now I kind of have a solo recording that is mostly done that was a live concert I did about a year ago. I'm still trying to figure out how best to put that out. I'm also thinking a out a We Are Many recording as well as kind of I've been writing a lot of trio music lately. So I've been thinking about getting that out there. So I don't want to say like here's going to be the next recording. But yes, I've been working on new music.

I've been thinking a lot about how people compose new music in this modern age. Fifty years ago, jazz musicians all were practitioners of an art that focused on standards and occasional pieces by composers who were great musicians. But they had a common frame of reference I think. And I'm not sure that that common frame of reference exists any more. I mean, if the focus isn't on standards how hard is it for people to learn your work?

That's a super interesting question. Personally I have frames of reference that I think my music exists in that I know the musicians I play with they have some of those references as well. But the availability and the just the number of references you could have are so much broader now. You know you could be influenced by Sonny Clark and Thelonious Monk and Henry Threadgill and all these different people.

I think the cool thing about our music is I can bring a collection of influences and ideas and then when I get together with someone else, they're going to bring a different set, and maybe we overlap in these certain places. And that can be really interesting too because we can kind of explore here's where we overlap, here's where we have different ideas. How can we kind of find this common language? And then certainly you know as a bandleader when thinking I'm putting sets together one of the things I almost always do is I include some sort of not necessarily standards but some sort of common language things if nothing else [to] give people a reference point.

Like we've done some Thelonious Monk tunes with this band, we've done some Paul Motian tunes with this band. I think this weekend we're going to do at least one if not two Andrew Hill songs. You know, we're not playing My Funny Valentine, but on the other hand, we're giving people. OK, cool, here's a reference point, here's something that we're into and it will hopefully frame this music.

I wanted to ask you about the different sides of your personality. I heard you play in the interludes between author Junot Diaz during his talk the other day at the Fitz. Part of you was sort of like this airy, light, playing and the other part was more rhythmic, a little more funky. I'm wondering which part you gravitate to more.

I'd like to think that they're both in there, you know. I like the idea that I can have both this kind of you know, the rhythmic propulsive side. I like the idea that I can have this kind of ethereal, atmospheric side. And that I can kind of combine those in interesting ways that, hopefully make sense as sort of a complete personality.
Even my own music, I'm always thinking about those. Here's the piano as a stringed instrument, here's the piano as harmony. But then here's the piano as like a big piece of wood and metal.

What are you going to do this weekend? What can people expect to hear?

People can expect to hear some of the tunes on Bright Places, they can expect to hear a couple of new tunes, they can expect to hear hopefully a couple of surprising things. I think we're going to pull out at least one Andrew Hill tune that we have never done before and maybe something else.

But yeah, you can expect to hear this group, which you know we haven't done since we did really the Twin Cities Jazz Society program in January where we did the music of the Keith Jarrett American Quartet. So maybe we'll pull out some of that music as well. I think there's a lot of stuff that's fair game. I'm just excited to be kind of back in it with this group again. It's been too long.

Deadline looms for MN Orchestra, SPCO

Posted at 11:46 AM on September 28, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

After months of negotiation, and little progress, both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra face contract deadlines with their musicians this weekend.

At the SPCO negotiations are scheduled all weekend.

Minnesota Orchestra management will meet with musicians on Sunday.

If no settlement is reached, the Minnesota Orchestra could lock out its players on Monday.

All sides claim nothing less than the future of the state's two leading orchestras hang in the balance.

MPR's Euan Kerr told Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer that there are four possible scenarios for the two orchestras: play and talk, a strike, a lock-out, or a declaration of an impasse.

Kerr: Play and talk, which is kind of the industry default is just to keep negotiating and performing, but using the former contract as the status quo. The musicians could strike, the management could declare an impasse and impose its last offer, or it could lock out musicians. These last three options are a lot more high risk.

Wurzer: Lets look at the different disputes, starting with the Minnesota Orchestra. What's happening there?

Kerr: There seems a likelihood that the orchestra could lock out its musicians at midnight Sunday. Management put an offer to the musicians almost six months ago, which included sizable wage cuts. Musicians have yet to respond to that offer. On Tuesday management upped the ante by delivering what they called a final contract offer to musicians and a message that if there is no agreement by the Sunday midnight deadline musicians will be locked out. Now, management says the lockout language was legalese, and in reality they are open to whatever happens over the weekend.

Musicians said they need more information about the orchestras finances before they can respond the proposal, and they are still calling for an independent audit. However they have scheduled a vote on the proposal on Saturday afternoon. They say the proposal contains such drastic pay cuts that it will damage the orchestra, and lead to an exodus of talent. They say this makes no sense, especially as the orchestra is building a $55 million expansion of Orchestra Hall.

An interesting wrinkle here is the Minnesota Orchestra season opener isn't until October 18th, so the musicians may have a little less leverage now. If they are locked out they will not get paid. But that means there would still be time for a deal before patrons feel any effect.

Wurzer: So what about the SPCO?

Kerr: Talks between management and musicians are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday, and both sides say while they are still far apart, they are hopeful there might be a deal. Management is clear it is also looking for big changes. Interim President Dobson West says the SPCO needs to create a new financial reality for itself if it is to survive. He's proposed a 15% pay cut for musicians, a reduction in the size of the orchestra and a buyout plan for musicians 55 and older. He says the orchestra needs to save $1.5 million a year over the current contract.

Musicians say that plan would lead to the departure of many experienced players and destroy the celebrated sound of the SPCO. They have offered to take pay cuts totaling $700,000 over three years, and then using funds earmarked for the buyouts to reach the management savings target. They say their plan gives the management time to raise more money for its endowment without hurting the artistry of the orchestra. Management said Wednesday that this plan doesn't work because the buy-out funds can't be used in this way.

Musicians responded by saying management analysis is faulty and they will continue to press their plan.

The SPCO has two concerts this weekend, and both sides have indicated they would rather play and talk at least for the moment. However this story has had many twists and nothing will be for certain until a deal is done.

Tune in tonight on All Things Considered when MPR's Chris Roberts looks at the potential impact - both on the orchestras and the economy - if either the Minnesota Orchestra or the SPCO goes on strike or is locked out.

MNuet: creating a digital home for classical music

Posted at 12:45 PM on October 1, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Media, Music, Opera

While today's big classical news story is the Minnesota Orchestra's lockout, it's certainly not the only story out there.

And Matt Peiken has created a new website aimed at being a one-stop destination for all that's going on in the Twin Cities classical music scene.

MNuet.com is what Peiken calls "the community of classical music online."

It's a new online magazine that's created in partnership with the classical music institutions in the Twin Cities. They are paying members, and their content becomes the core of the site. Around that I create podcasts, I produce videos and I have a live performance showcase every month at Bryant Lake Bowl, all featuring MNuet members.

A video profile of One Voice, Mixed Chorus, produced by MNuet.com creator, Matt Peiken. Peiken was once the man behind "Three Minute Egg," a local video series covering the Twin Cities arts scene.

Peiken says while the Twin Cities has its big players - the Minnesota Orchestra, SPCO, Minnesota Opera - MNuet.com also features the lesser known community orchestras.

One of the things I like about MNuet is that the design is such that all the headlines are the same size, all the text is the same size, and all the photos are the same size, so there's no sense of heirarchy. Now because the SPCO has a full season, they're going to have more stories - just by virtue of the fact that their calendar is fuller - but no story has a higher placement on a page because of the size of the orchestra.

Peiken says not many classical groups have robust websites, nor have they figured out a way to effectively incorporate social media into their schedules. MNuet seeks to bring all of their content together into one place and do the social media work for them, and expand their audiences in the process.

Even Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera and the SPCO... none of them has a destination website. They're not drawing fans to their website on a daily basis to see what's going on in the classical music community. So on MNuet, Minnesota Orchestra gets the eyes of the SPCO audience, the Minnesota Opera gets the eyes of the Minensota Orchestra audience, and so on.

Equally, Peiken hopes audiences will find in MNuet an easy means of exploring the riches of the local classical music scene.

Most people if they're plugged into anything it might be one institution that they support or two. They might have season tickets to the SPCO, but they don't know what's happening in the broader sense. It's really hard to find what's happening, to sift through the morass of what's happening in our gorgeous art scene here to find out what's going on in classical music. So for an audience I know that my site chiefly is going to serve as a calendar. That will be their entry point.

Peiken say he won't review concerts, but he will aggregate the coverage of online news organizations.

As for the timing of the launch of MNuet.com, Peiken admits he could not have picked a worse time, given the contract negotiations of the two major orchestras.

But by my estimate there are 65 - 70 classical music organizations in this town, if you include college level choirs and music groups. So it's not just about SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra. There's Nautilus Music Theater, Mixed Precipitation, Minnesota Symphonia and Accordo, just to name a few. So MNuet will still thrive because there's still so much happening.

The next MNuet showcase is tomorrow night at 7pm at Bryant Lake Bowl. With a "back to school" theme, it features graduates of the U of M's School of Music (known as The Renegade Ensemble) along with musicians from the Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies.

Orchestras facing difficult labor negotiations nationwide

Posted at 4:27 PM on September 27, 2012 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

While here in the Twin Cities both the Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are still hammering out their contracts (and the Minnesota Orchestra musicians could possibly face a lockout as soon as Monday), the chips are falling for other orchestras across the nation.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its players ended a labor standoff and agreed to a new contract on Tuesday - and late yesterday, the Atlanta Symphony and its musicians did the same.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports the Atlanta deal means the orchestra's 68th concert season will begin next week on schedule.

The issue in Atlanta is a $20 million budget deficit that management said had to end. It closed the gap in part by cutting musicians' salaries...

When the two sides couldn't reach an agreement last month, players were locked out of the Woodruff Arts Center. With the season set to begin in just a week, the musicians approved a new contract with $5 million in concessions.

This, for an orchestra that has won 27 Grammies.

As deadlines near, developments in contract struggles at MnOrch and SPCO

Posted at 7:59 PM on September 25, 2012 by Euan Kerr (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

There were developments in the contract battles at both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Tuesday.

In Minneapolis, with just days left in the current musicians contract, Minnesota Orchestra management delivered what it called its final offer to musicians.

It is unchanged from managements first contract proposal in that it would cut the average annual pay of musicians from $135,000 to $89,000, but Minnesota Orchestra President Michael Henson says it "clarifies" a number of work conditions, and includes a reduction in the guaranteed number of musicians in the Orchestra .

Henson says it's been almost six months since the initial proposal was delivered to musicians and they have not yet delivered a formal response. He says this final offer is being made in preparation for the contract deadline at the weekend, but declined to say whether these are first steps towards a musicians lockout.

"I think the reality is that is speculation until we actually reach the first of October and we are waiting a response from the union and our musicians," he said.

Henson says the cuts are necessary to create a more sustainable financial model for the future. Musicians at the orchestras in Atlanta and Indianapolis are both currently locked out by management as a result of their contract disputes.

A representative of the musicians said they are reviewing the proposal and have no comment.

Later in the afternoon musicians at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra released a new counter-proposal in their contract negotiations. The offer comes just days after management rejected an earlier musicians proposal because it didn't cut costs by $1.5 million dollars a year. Management says that's the figure it needs for financial stability, and has suggested a 15 percent pay cut, and a reduction of the size of the orchestra.

Musicians negotiating committee chair Carole Mason Smith says the proposal offers total salary reductions of 700-thousand dollars over three yearsthe proposal offers total salary reductions of 700-thousand dollars over three years. It then reaches the $1.5 million target using $3-million earmarked by management for a buy-out of musicians over the age of 55. Mason Smith says this would maintain the SPCO's artistic quality by keeping experienced players in place.

"We don't want to destroy the orchestra," she said. "We feel that strongly that we want the money that they have, they say they have, to buy people out, make people leave, make people go away, we want them to use that money to preserve the quality of the orchestra."

She says the proposal would also give the SPCO management time to work on building the organizations endowment. Musicians are also asking for an increase in ticket prices, and a reduction for surpluses they say are built into the management proposal.

A representative of management said the board is reviewing the document, and declined to comment for the moment. The SPCO contract runs out on Saturday September 30th, and further contract talks are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The latest on Minnesota Orchestra, SPCO labor talks

Posted at 9:20 PM on September 24, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Contract negotiations at both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra continued today, but with little sign of progress.

MPR's Euan Kerr reports that while Minnesota Orchestra musicians received a proposal from management five months ago, musician negotiator Tim Zavadil said players still don't have enough information to respond properly.

"We renewed our call for an independent joint financial analysis of the orchestras finances so we can better understand the orchestra's true financial position," he said after the talks wrapped up for the day.

Minnesota Orchestra
Photo by Greg Helgeson, courtesy Minnesota Orchestra

Listen to Euan Kerr's debrief with Tom Crann on All Things Considered

The management offer would cut the average pay of musicians from $135,000 a year to $89,000. Orchestra leadership says the cuts are necessary in the face of looming deficits, and as a way to make the orchestra sustainable in the future.

However musicians say for individual players this will represent a 30-50 percent cut. They say their primary concern is to maintain the Orchestras world class reputation, and such cuts will lead to musicians leaving for better paying jobs at other orchestras. A request by the players negotiating committee to speak to a meeting of the full board of the orchestra scheduled to follow the talks was denied.

RELATED STORY: Does SPCO, Minn. Orchestra musicians' skill justify their pay?

Violist Sabina Thatcher and violinists Dale Barltrop and Daria T. Adams of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Photo by Sarah Rubenstein

Meanwhile in St Paul, management of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra rejected a counter-proposal offered over the weekend by its musicians.

Two and a half weeks ago management put forward a proposal to cut musicians guaranteed pay by 15 percent to $62,500, reduce the number of players in the orchestra by 6 to 28, and to offer buy-outs to players aged 55 and over. Any new musicians would be hired at a base pay of $50,000.

The musicians counter-proposal offered a three year contract with a one percent pay cut for the first two years, followed by a four percent increase in the third year. It also maintained the number of musicians at current levels.

PRIMER: What you need to know about the Minnesota Orchestra and SPCO contract negotiations

SPCO management asked for another counter proposal which will save more money. Mason Smith said her group will meet to decide what to do in coming days. The next negotiating sessions for SPCO musicians and management are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Most Minnesotans unaware of orchestra labor negotiations

Posted at 11:13 AM on September 21, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

As committed supporters of the orchestras -- quite often financially -- patrons are an important factor in negotiating contracts for both players and management.

But as MPR's Euan Kerr reports, most people are unaware that the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO are undergoing heated labor negotiations.

...Word of the orchestral contract battles had not seemed to have reached the people in Rice Park in St. Paul, even in the shadow of the SPCO's home at the Ordway Center.

"This is the first I've heard of it, and I've gone to the orchestra," said passerby Mike White. "My wife and I have been there usually about two and three times a year for the last few years. But I didn't know there was an issue,"

A bevy of brightly clad teenagers also said they hadn't heard anything.

"No. We go to a performing arts school, so we like that kind of stuff, but..." one said.

This reaction is unsurprising to public relations specialist Jon Austin, who is a veteran of many labor disputes including as company spokesman during the pilots' strike at Northwest Airlines. The real focus of an orchestral public relations war will be on regular patrons, he said.

"The number of people whose hearts and minds they are competing for, frankly, is pretty small," he said. "Probably could fill the Minnesota Orchestra Main Hall and maybe overflow into the lobby a little bit. But it's a pretty small number."

You can read the rest of the story here, and find out more about the contract negotiations here.

Reuniting a funk fixture

Posted at 8:08 PM on September 20, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

Years after their heyday, Twin Cities funk and soul bands are getting their due.

Maurice Young (right) and Sonny Knight (background) are two of the musicians featured on the 2012 Twin Cities Funk and Soul compilation by Secret Stash Records. Both men were fixtures on the Minneapolis music scene in the late 1960s.
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel

Twin Cities Funk and Soul: Lost R&B Groves from Minneapolis / St. Paul 1964 to 1979, compiles old area songs, including the music of the Valdons, a Twin Cities quartet that was a funk fixture in the 1960s. As MPR's Nikki Tundel reports, many of the featured artists will participate in an R&B revue at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Saturday.

The reunited Valdons are rehearsing for that gig, which will be the musicians' first time performing together in decades. Each song seems to spark a story, like the one Sonny Knight shares about band mate Maurice Young.

"Maurice taught me how to get ugly," said Knight. "So when we be singing and stuff like that, Maurice be over there and he be making all these faces. So I started doing it too and I started noticing I can get it out easier."

Then there are the stories they don't share -- at least not so freely -- like the ones about white club owners refusing to book black bands like theirs. Such discrimination, said Secret Stash's Danny Sigelman, were commonplace for Twin Cities R&B artists in the late 1960s.

"Segregation was gone, but it didn't mean it didn't exist in a lot of forms," Sigelman said. "A lot of these guys couldn't get gigs in town as a black band or a mixed band, so they'd actually have to rent out a hotel ballroom or something to play to an audience."

Read or listen to the rest of Nikki Tundel's story here, and listen to Twin Cities funk and soul on The Local Show on 89.3 The Current here.

Art Hounds: Planet Drone, Barter Fest, and writers out for blood

Posted at 7:45 AM on September 20, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Music, Storytelling, Writing

Dorthy Fix, one of the bands playing at this weekend's Barter Fest in Hewitt, Minn. (Image courtesy of Abandoned Scout Camp)

The hounds hunt down a fight to the death among some Twin Cities writers, a festival celebrating the art of trading in Hewitt and celestial bodies and circuit bent music in Duluth.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

Duluth art consultant Peter Spooner is drawn to events which merge art and science, like Planet Drone. It happens Friday, Sept. 21 at 8:30pm at the UMD Planetarium and features a tour of the planets and their mythologies with live circuit-bent, experimental electronic music, and vocalizing as a sonic backdrop. Artists include Tim Kaiser, Paul Broman, and narrators/vocalists Unnur Andrea Einarsdottir and Ben Marsen.

Sara Watson Curry will be on the road this weekend, taking her first trip to Hewitt, Minn. to experience Barter Fest on Saturday Sept. 22. Sara is a worker/owner of the Red Raven Espresso Parlor in Fargo. At Barter Fest, which runs from 10am to midnight, you trade whatever you like, precious objects, art works, kitchen items, your skills etc., while a host of music acts from across the Upper Midwest entertain you.

Don't get writer, actor and producer Maggie Ryan Sandford wrong. She loves going to literary events of all kinds. But Maggie thinks that Literary Death Match distinguishes itself in the way it coaxes local writers out of their shells and turns them into bloodthirsty performers. The next Literary Death Match is Thursday, Sept. 20th at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis. It features writers Heid. E. Erdrich, Lara Avery, Patrick Nathan and R. Vincent Moniz, Jr. performing their works in front of judges Mary Mack, Dylan Hicks and Peter Bognanni.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Both sides of SPCO to debate cutting wages, trimming orchestra on Almanac

Posted at 3:04 PM on September 14, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Television

It's a big night for the arts on public television tonight.

On this week's edition of Almanac, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra President Dobson West and musician Carole Mason Smith will discuss cutting musicians wages and shrinking the size of the orchestra.

The show starts at 7pm on TPT2; you can also stream the show live at tpt.org.

Then at 8pm, it's the premiere of "Arts and the Mind," a new documentary on the benefits of the arts on mental and physical wellbeing.

Art Hounds: Purity Ring, Rosy Simas, and "Dead Wrong"

Posted at 7:45 AM on September 13, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater

Dancer Rosy Simas (Photo credit: Douglas Beasley)

The hounds want to bring a play about a horrific assault and its after effects, a soulful American Indian movement artist and some hazy electro-pop to your attention.

(Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!)

Carin Bratlie, artistic director of Theatre Pro Rata was riveted when she saw Katherine Glover's one woman show "Dead Wrong" at this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. The play is Katherine's unflinching interpretation of the true story of a woman who's the victim of a sexual assault, who then sends the wrong suspect to jail. Freshwater Theatre is helping re-mount the show at Nimbus Theatre in Northeast Minneapolis. The play runs through Sept. 19.

Matt Peiken calls Rosy Simas one of the most sensitive movement artists in the rich Twin Cities dance scene. Matt, the founding editor of MNuet.com, a new online magazine for classical music in the Twin Cities, says Rosy Simas Danse concerts are always fresh and innovative while helping audience members get in touch with their own emotions. Rosy Simas Danse performs at the Southern Theater on Sept. 14 and 15.

Radio K digital media producer and DJ Tom Steffes resisted the blogospheric mania over the Montreal-based electronic duo Purity Ring at first. But when the group's debut full-length album "Shrines" came out recently, he was floored. Tom says Purity Ring juxtaposes light, lifting melodies and hip hop production values with death-obsessed, diary entry lyrics in a way that's unique in electronic music. Purity Ring plays First Avenue's Mainroom on Friday, Sept. 14.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Chris Bates' Red 5 leads with bass

Posted at 12:21 PM on September 12, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

Photo by Randy Kramer

When jazz bassist Chris Bates decided to record his first release as a leader, he had a number of things in mind, including styles and elements he wanted to steer clear of.

For his new ensemble Red 5, Bates -- who plays in the Atlantis Quartet and Red Planet -- took pains to avoid a recording of bass solos, the kind of albums other bassists made about 15 years ago.

The group's latest release, "New Hope," does feature the composer and his improvisations prominently. But Bates isn't playing melodies on every song, followed by a solo.

"The bass has a function in the music and I honor that, but I also provide my own voice as a composer," said Bates, whose group performs Friday and Saturday at St. Paul's Artists Quarter. "It's more satisfying to me to tell the story through my compositions rather than through an individual solo."

Instead, Bates surrounded himself with agile musicians who compliment his playing while delivering multi-layered textures on nine sophisticated tracks. They include saxophonists Chris Thomson and Brandon Wozniak, trumpeter Zack Lozier and his brother JT Bates on drums.

After years of providing the big pulse for the groups he plays in, the bassist decided not to include piano or guitar, two instruments that also play chords. That leaves plenty of room for the three horns to weave in and out of the tunes.

It makes for a different listening experience and one that focuses on the potential bass players have to continually transform a song.

"You're not necessarily featured as a soloist," Bates said of the instrument's traditional role. "You might get to play some unison lines with the band, but there's not necessarily that thing that happens [when people] realize, 'oh the bass player's on equal footing with the rest of these guys,' as far as his chops and his ability to improvise or play with different things."

With Red 5, Bates puts the bass in a new light.

My radio piece on Chris Bates' Red 5 airs this week on MPR News 91.1 FM. Stay tuned.

Artists rally against the marriage amendment

Posted at 12:56 PM on September 18, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Theater

As the November election approaches, the debate is heating up over the state's constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile artists, who largely want to see the amendment defeated, have been donating their talents to the cause.

Some have organized cabarets to raise funds for Minnesotans United for All Families or Minnesotans for Equality, while others are simply raising awareness of the issue.

Photo by Matt Black Studios

This past weekend Patrick's Cabaret hosted The Vote No Show and Freshwater Theatre Company is currently staging Better or Worse, a theatrical examination of the way marriage has been defined - and re-defined - through the ages.

Earlier this summer Table Salt Productions completed a run of The VOW Factor at the Bryant Lake Bowl. And Hennepin Theatre Trust staged "Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays."

But many of the events are yet to come. Here's what I know of:

Saturday, September 22

Writers United for All Families
4-6pm at the Carlyle Condos in Minneapolis
Come hear original works read by your favorite Minnesota authors about why Minnesotans from liberals to libertarians should vote NO on the marriage amendment. Including readings by Patricia Hampl, Greg Hewett, Marya Hornbacher, Kathryn Kysar, Jim Lenfestey, and Jim Moore, among others.

Tuesday, September 25

Music for Marriage Equality Benefit:
Jonatha Brooke, Chastity Brown and Keri Noble perform at the Dakota.

Mondays October 1, 8 and 15

Thirst: The No Round
Thirst Theater presents a series of bite-sized plays performed amongst the customers of the Eat Street Social Club.

Wednesday, October 3

AMEND THIS Cabaret, featuring music, stand up, improv, storytelling, and short plays
A production of Box Wine Theatre, held at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis at 7:30pm.

Thursday, October 4

Ten Reasons at the Ritz Theater, featuring:
John Munson and Matt Wilson of the Twilight Hours
Mixed Precipitation Picnic Operetta
2 Sugars: Shanan Custer & Carolyn Pool, and
the cast of Illusion Theatre's Love and Marriage

Saturday October 6

Making Amends at Bedlam Theater
Molly Van Avery and Harry Waters Jr each perform pieces about their personal histories at Bedlam's new space in Lowertown St. Paul.

Wednesday October 10 - October 27

Love and Marriage at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis intersperses live performances of love songs with videotaped interviews about long-time and new-found love with notable life partners, gay, lesbian and straight.

Friday October 12

The Big Gay Comedy Show: I Do!: An Evening of Stand Up Comedy
7:30pm at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis

Friday October 12 - 28

But Not For Love
Workhouse Theatre performs at The Warren
Eleanor and Ephram, sister and brother, are both getting married on the same day. And they're each getting married to a man. With protesters, policemen and a TV news crew outside the church, inside the couples are split over what their day and their ceremony should mean, to themselves or anyone else.

Friday October 19 - October 27

Boom! Theater presents Engaged at the Cedar Riverside People's Center:
When longtime couple Ben and Josh get involved in a campaign to raise awareness about an upcoming marriage amendment, they become entangled in more than just a political issue. Misunderstandings and insecurities surface, friends new and old are pulled into the fray, the very institution of marriage is called into question as these two men fight for the right to love who they love.

SPCO proposes new contract for musicians

Posted at 12:30 PM on September 7, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Today the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra released the details of its latest contract proposal for its musicians.

The contract would reduce the size of the SPCO to 28 musicians; the SPCO employs 31 musicians, with an additional three positions currently vacant.

The annual minimum compensation for musicians would be $62,500, about a 15% reduction from last year's figure of $73,732.

New musicians would receive $50,000 of guaranteed annual salary.

The proposal employs the musicians for 36 weeks, with 32 performance weeks and four vacation weeks.

Included with the proposal is a retirement package for musicians 55 and older that would be paid out over three years.

You can read the entire proposal here.

For more information on contract talks at the SPCO and Minnesota Orchestra, click here , here and here.

Art Hounds: Revolver, Gruesome Playground Injuries, and a host of local Latin bands

Posted at 7:45 AM on September 6, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater, Writing

A scene from "Gruesome Playground Injuries" (Image courtesy of Loudmouth Collective)

On the hounds' radar this week: Yet another new Twin Cities lit mag, a play about a unique relationship shaped in part by physical mishaps, and a wave of Twin Cities-based Cuban and salsa music.

(Want to be an Art Hounds? Sign up!)

When it comes to ethnic music of any kind, Minneapolis choreographer Kathryn Inoferio always has her ear to the ground. It turns out September 7-10 will be a fruitful period for seeing Cuban and salsa music in the Twin Cities. Kathryn has her eye on three local Latin bands. Havana Hi-Fi is playing Friday, September 7 at the 318 Café in Excelsior at 8pm, and then again on Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Aster Café in Minneapolis. K-Libre 24 will be at the Monarch Festival in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 3:30pm, and Salsa del Soul performs at the Crooked Pint in Minneapolis on Sept. 8 at 10:30pm.

Minneapolis actor Katie Willer was completely sucked into Loudmouth Collective's Gruesome Playground Injuries when she saw it earlier this year. Loudmouth Collective, a new theater company in Minneapolis, is re-staging the production, and Katie definitely plans to see it again. The play disjointedly traces three decades of a relationship between a man and a woman, and the emotional and physical injuries that have affected its evolution. On stage at Intermedia Arts through Sept. 16.

Writer and actor Carl Atiya Swanson fills us in on Revolver, a new Twin Cities magazine that's coming into existence during what Carl says is a very fertile period for lit mags in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Carl says the launch party for Revolver happens Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Uppercut Boxing Gym in Northeast Minneapolis. It will feature the pugilistic skills of four members of the local literati, Courtney Algeo (Loft Literary Center, Paper Darts), Tony D'Aloia, Sarah Moeding (producer of Literary Death Match Minneapolis), and Chris Baker. Yes, they'll be boxing each other.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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MN Orchestra opens up about contract negotiations

Posted at 12:20 PM on September 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Funding, Music

Here at MPR our coverage of both the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra's contract negotiations has been ramping up over the past several weeks. While both the musicians and the administration of the SPCO have been relatively transparent and forthcoming, the Minnesota Orchestra has been quite the opposite.

Until now.

The orchestra has launched a web page on its site with links to the 2012 contract proposal, the orchestra's most recent annual report, and supplemental information on the negotiations, the endowment and other financial challenges.

For journalists this is great news - it means we have access to a wealth of information that will help us to better analyze the situation, and tell you the complete story.

Check back in the coming days as we dig in to the details to sift out the most important facts, and talk to the Minnesota Orchestra musicians to hear their side of the story.

In the meantime, here's the Minnesota Orchestra's opening statement from the site:

Minnesotans have always recognized music as essential to the life of a vibrant community. Our state was not yet 50 years old when its residents founded an orchestra in 1903. Built by our generous philanthropic community, the Minnesota Orchestra bloomed, bringing great music to life. We are proud that this institution has introduced millions of young people to classical music, commissioned new works, traveled the state, and shared music locally and across the globe.

Thousands of people contribute to the Minnesota Orchestra's success: in addition to musicians and soloists, there are Board members and community donors, artistic and administrative leaders, staff, volunteers, and our audiences--the reason our organization exists. We all have a part to play!

Today, our Minnesota Orchestra is facing significant financial challenges. Like many others in the recession, we need to substantially cut costs. We also need to increase our work rule flexibility to help us better meet the needs of today's concertgoers. As the Orchestra's board and musicians engage in contract negotiations, we have a responsibility to create a better future--to ensure that this institution will be artistically vibrant and financially healthy for decades to come.

Why are these negotiations important?
The Minnesota Orchestra and its musicians are engaged in contract negotiations at a critical moment in our organization's history. Like many of the country's symphony orchestras, we have financial challenges that have never been greater, and our musician expenses have never been higher. The Orchestra has managed a five-year contract with its musicians that included a pay increase of 19.2 percent to base salary, just as the organization's revenues were being hit hard by the economy. The organization has been doing everything it can to resolve its financial challenges, from engaging in a $110 million fundraising campaign, to cutting budgets, to launching new marketing and programming initiatives, and renovating Orchestra Hall to make it more inviting to audiences of all ages.

Musicians account for 48 percent of the Orchestra's total costs. (For background: nearly 80% of our total costs support concert-related expenses, and we have now enacted significant cost reductions in all other areas of our business except the musicians' contract.) Their average annual salary is $135,000, plus $35,000 worth of benefits, including a defined benefit pension plan and a comprehensive medical plan. They receive a minimum of 10 weeks paid vacation and up to 26 weeks of paid sick leave each year. Our musicians must play their part in the organization's financial recovery.

What do you think of these contract negotiations? Do the Minnesota Orchestra musicians need to "play their part" by taking pay cuts? Or does the orchestra need to do a better job of finding funding for its work?

Nick Videen's jazz is Minnesota Nice

Posted at 3:38 PM on September 4, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

Anyone who wonders whether the Twin Cities jazz scene is vibrant enough to produce strong new players need only look to the young musicians who left to develop their craft elsewhere - and how eager they are to perform back in Minnesota.

From trumpeter John Raymond and pianist Javier Santiago to singer Nancy Harms, Minnesotans are causing a stir -- and sharing their gifts when they return home.

Among them is saxophonist Nick Videen, who performs tonight at the Icehouse restaurant in Minneapolis in a band called Minnesota Nice, which includes Twin Cities musicians Bryan Nichols on piano, Jeremy Boettcher on bass and Sean Carey on Drums. They'll perform a mix of jazz standards and the saxophonist's compositions.

"I love playing with these guys," said Videen, 29. "They are great musicians, and their playing has great energy and comes from a good place."

Videen, who has been playing saxophone since age 9, is inspired by jazz greats Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker and, John Coltrane. He played in the concert and jazz bands through high school in Cambridge, Minn., and later studied at the University of Minnesota. After studying jazz at New England Conservatory, he toured with the Superpowers, an Afrobeat band inspired by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti.

"The rhythms were West-African inspired, and we were lucky enough to have a great Senegalese percussionist in the band," Videen said. "I loved that band and I learned a ton. The band is no longer together, but the horn section is, and goes by "The Superpower Horns."

At the Icehouse, he intends to explore a diverse musical background that relies on rhythm and artistic freedom, thriving in the company of homegrown talents.

"There is something special about the Midwest and its music," he said. " I feel very fortunate to have grown up here, to have had great teachers, to have had great bands to go watch, and to have met and played with so many inspired and inspiring musicians."

Art Hounds: Mount Eerie, Helena Hernmarck, and the smallest of libraries

Posted at 7:45 AM on August 30, 2012 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Libraries, Music, Public Art

"Poppies," 1978, by Helena Hernmarck. From the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. (Image courtesy of the American Swedish Institute)

This week's hounds put their stamp of approval on a haunting singer-songwriter from the Northwest, a fiber artist whose oversized pieces are as detailed as photographs, and giant bird houses that books fly in and out of.

Minneapolis poet Amelia Foster is drawn to the impressionistic lyrics and layered sounds of Mount Eerie. 'Fuzz folk' is how some people categorize it. Mount Eerie is the moniker of Washington singer-songwriter Phil Elverum, who's making a stop at CO Exhibitions gallery in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Sept. 5. On this Twin Cities visit, "Mount Eerie" will be backed by a full band.

The Little Free Library has changed writer and poet Juliet Patterson's life. Little Free Libraries look like purple martin birdhouses but they're actually repositories designed to facilitate neighborhood book exchanges. Juliet put one in her front yard and is now on a first name basis with book loving neighbors from several blocks away.

Lin Nelson-Mayson says you're in for a visual feast if you go see the tapestries of Helena Hernmarck at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Lin, who's director of the University of MInnesota's Goldstein Museum of Design, calls Hernmarck one of the world's most innovative fiber artists, whose enormous weavings are known for their eye popping photorealist detail. By the way, Lin says the American Swedish Institute's brand new expansion is quite stunning, too. The exhibition, entitled "In Our Nature: The Tapestries of Helena Hernmarck," is up through Oct. 14.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

Mark Mallman to perform 7-day marathon song

Posted at 4:00 PM on August 29, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

Mark Mallman loves a good challenge.

The Minneapolis musician is known for his "music marathons" in which he plays for hours on end. His last marathon in 2010 lasted three days - without any breaks - and featured 576-pages of lyrics and 110 guest musicians.

Now he's looking to up the ante with "Marathon 4: Road Rogue." Mallman plans to drive across country in seven days, from New York City to Los Angeles (with an obligatory stop in Minneapolis), playing music all the while.

This time he's going to allow himself some sleep (thank goodness!), but the song will continue through the night as his heart rate and brainwaves control his synthesizer.

The entire, 150-plus hour event will be broadcast on his website.

SPCO musicians take their case to the Fair

Posted at 6:30 PM on August 28, 2012 by Euan Kerr
Filed under: Music

Cameras surround SPCO musicians playing at the State Fair (All MPR images/Euan Kerr)

People passing the AFL CIO building on the State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights got a treat today as eight members of the SPCO played a half hour concert.

You had to look closely, but it was also a labor rally of sorts. Supporters passed out leaflets outlining musicians concerns as the music rose above the crowds flowing in from the nearby front gate.

"We are just trying to remind people what we do, that we do sweet music," said Carole Mason Smith. "It would be such a tragedy to lose all of this."

Smith is chair of the musicians contract negotiating committee. She and the others at the fair were also trying to raise awareness of what they feel is an unfair proposal coming from management. The hand-outs claim the latest proposal includes a 57% and 67% salary cut for musicians in the first year of a new contract. Smith says that would cripple the orchestras ability to retain and recruit new players. She said the proposal will ratchet down the number of days musicians would play.

"Everybody who knows orchestras knows the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra," she said. "And the thought of it being dismembered is horrendous."

A small but enthusiastic crowd lapped up the music, and when asked said they supported the musicians.

Christina Clark from White Bear Township says the SPCO offers a musical experience no-one else can offer.

"Because they play together so well, and so seamlessly as a result of playing all the time together, and as a family of musicians together, within their union," Clark said. "What the Chamber Orchestra is proposing to do would eliminate that kind of family sound and high level of performance."

The Fair event represents a ramping up by the SPCO musicians as they approach the September 30th deadline when their current contract runs out. Carole Mason Smith hopes supporters will increase their donations to the SPCO and urge management to reconsider the offer they have on the table.

"I don't know how they arrived at those numbers," said SPCO Interim President Dobson West, "but they are not correct numbers. We have never proposed that kind of a magnitude of a cut."

Sitting in his office in downtown St Paul, West said with the organization facing large deficits in coming years it needs to make some real financial change.

"We have reduced our other expenses as much as we can" he said, "And we need to address the musician contract during these negotiations."

West said musician salaries currently make up 40 percent of the SPCO's budget. He also said that he has contacted the SPCO's major donors and is looking at other ways to fit together the financial puzzle.

"While we still need to bring the expenses in line with our sustainable revenues, there are a variety of ways we can do this," West said, "And we will bring an entirely different form of proposal to the musicians."

The next negotiating session is scheduled for September 10th.

Back at the Fair a new, and very young fan danced to the music, apparently entranced by the sight and sounds he was experiencing. His delight attracted the attention of the owner of many cameras in the area, and produced many smiles.

It was a very genteel labor rally, but as if to underline the seriousness of the situation news arrived from Indiana that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra management has proposed to its musicians to reduce its number and go part time.

Adam Mecker's modern big band

Posted at 3:26 PM on August 28, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

When jazz trumpeter Adam Meckler is inspired to write a new composition, the tune often emerges from his playing.

"It usually starts on the trumpet for me," Meckler said. "I'm playing or I'm screwing around or I'm just like improvising by myself and I come up with a riff or a melody and I go, 'OK, this needs to be a tune.' And then I go and compose it."

Playing and composing are big parts of Meckler's work as leader of the Adam Meckler Orchestra, an 18-member group that performs tonight at Jazz Central in Minneapolis.

The group of young musicians draws on the big band heritage of days past while infusing the music with modern beats and improvisational spirit. Like Meckler, many of the band's members perform in a variety of groups and settings, an economic necessity that also builds creative energy.

"The bands that I play in are all great and all very unique and that's artistically very satisfying," said Meckler, a St. Paul native who returned to the Twin Cities four years ago. "I can go and play in a polka band one night, go and play in the Adam Meckler Orchestra another night, play in the Good, The Bad and the Funky another night and the Jack Brass Band another night, and the Pete Wittman X-tet and all kinds of bands like that that are all unique and all different and all require a certain amount of artistic input from me."

Listen to my story on the Adam Meckler Orchestra today on MPR's All Things Considered.

The reviews are in for 'The Return of King Idomeneo'

Posted at 11:44 AM on August 29, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Opera, Public Art, Theater

Mixed Precipitation takes opera, presents it in a community garden or other green outdoor space, and serves it along with some tasty food. If there was ever a way to make opera more popular with the masses, this is it.

Their latest show is a doo-wopified version of Mozart's opera "The Return of King Idomeneo" in which young love, sacrifice, and the God Neptune all have a role to play. It's also infused with 50s doo-wop and 60s girl-groups.

Reviewers find this summer's production sweet on the ear and the tongue...

Peter Hogan as Neptune and Jim Ahrens as King Idomeneo
PHOTO: Travis Chantar

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The mixture of light and dark can be troublesome in a show if the right balance is not struck. Reynolds and the company of talented performers bring it off. It helps that ancient Greek characters wear their emotions close to the surface, whether they are lovesick, joyful, or heartbroken. That makes the story good fodder for opera, where emotions are often outsized, and ripe for a bit of parody.

From Sophie Kerman at AisleSayTwinCities.com:

Performed in community gardens around the Twin Cities (and as far away as Northfield) with its dynamic cast and donation-based ticketing system, Idomeneo is nothing if not accessible. What is so refreshing about Mixed Precipitation's theatrical philosophy is that it completely throws away everything that people find unpleasant about opera (the length, the expense, the stuffy atmosphere) and keeps all of the entertaining parts.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

If you're an opera buff, you'll get a big kick out of it; if you know nothing about opera, you'll get a big kick out of it--a smattering of rolling subtitles will keep you on track. But it's not a spoof, you understand...This is like being in a musical, rather than watching it on a screen; you'll miss some things, but the experience will be memorable.The cast dashes from one end of the garden to the other, bearing set pieces and props, and dodging the onions, taking us from shipwreck to city, to the sewers and the seashore, all the while projecting over the neighborhood's ambient sounds and keeping us firmly attached to the story--loose though the story may be.

From Rob Hubbard at the Pioneer Press:

This is a production in which the performance is even more delicious than the food. So much affection and energy is thrown into both Mozart's music and the street-corner serenades of the Jive Five and the Magnificent 4 that the blend is as smooth as the cast's impressive harmonies.

You can find the times and locations of Mixed Precipitation's performances here.

Have you seen "The Return of King Idomeneo?" If so, what's your review?

SPCO and MNOrch: two orchestras at the top of their game

Posted at 9:41 AM on August 28, 2012 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

As contract negotiations near for both the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO, MPR's Euan Kerr asked some pointed questions, including whether the Twin Cities can afford to support both organizations.

Bruce Ridge, president of the International Conference of Symphony Orchestra Musicians, or ICSOM, sees it this way.

"The question is not whether or not the Twin Cities can continue to afford to support both organizations," he said. "I think the question is: how can you afford not to support them?"

The orchestras are part of Minnesota's cultural legacy, Ridge said, and can't be simply cast aside.

Orchestras, like sports teams, bring prestige and people, to a city. They are an integral part of a thriving arts community.

Photo by Greg Helgeson, courtesy Minnesota Orchestra

The sports metaphor continues with Dobson West, the SPCO's interim president, who says the two orchestras don't necessarily compete for the same audience:

"The Minnesota Wild is a professional sports team," he said. "The Vikings are a professional sports team, but the game that they play is entirely different. And so there is nothing that says they steal from each other."

So it is with the orchestras, he said. There is some audience overlap between the two, but not much. Some people prefer the intimacy of the SPCO's 34-member ensemble, others the majesty of the Minnesota Orchestra with three times as many players. And some cynical classical fans might point out that both orchestras have been at the top of their games for a lot longer than any Minnesota sports team.

You can read the entire story here.

Get up to speed on SPCO and MNOrch contract negotiations

Posted at 4:01 PM on August 23, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Funding, Music

Both the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra are in the process of negotiating new contracts with their musicians. The talks come amid a national orchestral scene rife with conflict, economic challenges and, in some cases, long strikes. The fact that both orchestras are up for contract renewal at the same time raises the stakes even further.

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra faces a projected deficit of up to $1 million this year and is looking to cut costs. (Photo by Sarah Rubenstein)

Over the coming weeks, Minnesota Public Radio will be looking closely at what's at stake for both musicians and orchestra management, and how having two orchestras in one metropolitan area is affecting the local market for classical music. We'll also look at the potential impact of an extended strike by either or both orchestras.

The story is a complex one, so we've put together a primer to help you understand just what's going on.

In addition, I encourage you to read Chris Roberts' report from July, and Euan Kerr's story from June.

Art Hounds: NW Minn. culture, video art, and Saturday morning theater

Posted at 7:45 AM on August 23, 2012 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Comedy, Culture, Events, Music, Video

Still from The Weight of Hands, 2010. Single-channel HD video with sound, 13' 51" (Courtesy: Minouk Lim and PKM Gallery | Bartleby Bickle & Meursault, Seoul)

This week's hounds recommend a festival dedicated to far northwest Minnesota's cultural heritage, a South Korean video artist exploring the recesses of inner city Seoul, and a theatrical alternative to kids' Saturday morning cartoon rituals.

Natives of far northwest Minnesota, such as arts and history blogger Trish Short Lewis, grow up with an understanding of the area's unique heritage, which blends Ojibwe and French fur trader cultural traditions. For nearly 30 years, residents have celebrated that history with the annual Chautauqua and French Festival (Aug. 24 - 26) at Old Crossing and Treaty Park near Huot, MN.

South Korean video artist Minouk Lim, a rising star in contemporary art, has her first North American exhibition at the Walker Art Center, and Paul Herwig doesn't want you to miss it. Paul is co-founder of the experimental movement theater troupe Off Leash Area. He says three documentaries in the show use actors to take the viewer on a magical, surreal tour of Seoul, South Korea, which is seeing a lot of its history erased by modernization. The show is called "Heat of Shadows," and it's at the Walker through Sept. 2.

Many parents of young children, Minneapolis actor and theater-maker Katie Kaufmann included, would like a choice other than cartoons when it comes to their kids' Saturday morning routines. Enter Comedy Suitcase,"which is producing the "Saturday Morning Submarine Adventure Show," which Katie loved. The audience decides the characters and the story, and then the cast spontaneously acts it out. The show even includes an open mic for kids to tell jokes. Every Saturday at 10:30am through Sept. 29 at Huge Theater in Minneapolis.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

Art Hounds: Trudy Johnson, Post-Traumatic funk, and an art fest on the Continental Divide

Posted at 7:45 AM on August 16, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Film, Music, Painting

"Look Both Ways" by Trudy Johnson (Image courtesy of The Spirit Room)

Western and central Minnesota is the Art Hounds domain this week as the hounds uncover a young artist who tells her life story in vivid, abstract paintings, a funky, classic rock oriented classical concert and an art festival in one of central Minnesota's artsiest communities.

When Fargo artist Emily Wheeler went to see fellow painter Trudy Johnson's exhibition "Tell-Tale Art," at the Spirit Room gallery in Fargo, she didn't read Trudy's artistic statement until the end. Emily promptly went back through the show with a new understanding of the dramatic, at times disturbing auto-biographical story Trudy was telling through her vibrantly colorful paintings. On view through Aug. 31.

Did you know New York Mills, Minn. is right on the Continental Divide? No? New York Mills artist Pam Robinson suspects there's more about this central Minnesota arts enclave you don't know, so she's recommending the Continental Divide Music & Film Festival, Aug. 17-18. The festival will feature a free corn feed, music, including acts such as Eric Koskinen, Haley Bonar and The Cactus Blossoms, a puppet pageant, printmaking, and locally made films.

This Tuesday evening, Aug. 21, The Fargo-Moorhead-based Post-Traumatic Funk Syndrome will be laying down a groove alongside the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra in the beautiful clean air of the Bluestem Amphiheater, and Margie Bailly plans to revel in the rock and funk. The concert is called "Symphony Rocks." Margie, the recently retired executive director of the historic Fargo Theater, says you can expect renditions of Mozart, Procol Harem, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Peter Gabriel, among others.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.

A remix of remixes: Gotye's 'Somebodies'

Posted at 4:13 PM on August 14, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Media, Music, Video

Gotye, aka Wally (born Wouter) De Backer, has been getting massive attention for his song "Somebody That I used To Know."

In fact, people feel compelled to give this song their own special treatment, video record it, and put it up on the web. Here's one example:

As the tributes and remakes piled up, Gotye was inspired to go one step further:

Here's how he explains it:

Reluctant as I am to add to the mountain of interpretations of Somebody That I Used To Know seemingly taking over their own area of the internet, I couldn't resist the massive remixability that such a large, varied yet connected bundle of source material offered.



I was directly inspired here by Kutiman's Thru-You project:

‪http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA‬

Wonderful stuff!



Thankyou to everyone who has responded to Somebody That I Used To Know via YouTube. It's truly amazing!

All audio and video in Somebodies is from the YouTube user videos featured, each of them a cover or parody of Somebody That I Used To Know. No extra sounds were added to the mix, but I used some EQ, filtering, pitch-shifting and time-stretching to make the music.



‬

I avoided using any existing remixes of the song, or any covers from tv talent shows.

As comprehensive and extensive as I tried to be with my downloading of source videos, I know there are many clips that I missed. Tay Zonday's cover for instance, no internet mashup should be without him.



I used KeepVid.com to download the YouTube videos, Ableton Live for audio stretching, pitch-shifting and the initial video editing, and Adobe's After Effects to put the final video together.



Big thanks to Travis Banko for assistance with downloading source videos, and to James Bryans for After Effects tutelage.



Thankyou to Barry for being Barry, and guiding us all.



Thanks to you for listening



Wally

A full list of links to the original videos is available here:
‪

Sheer grace: a tribute to Ann Marsden

Posted at 10:51 PM on August 12, 2012 by Marianne Combs (6 Comments)
Filed under: Music, People, Photography, Theater

Editor's Note: I attended Ann Marsden's memorial service, and thought that I might use this space to give a first-person account of the event. But I thought better of it after hearing the many wonderful eulogies offered by her friends and family, who captured the spirit of the day far better than I ever could. So here instead is the tribute of her brother-in-law Reverend Dorsey McConnell, who is also the Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Photo: Dorsey McConnell

A few weeks before she died Betsy and I were visiting Annie. For the moment things were relatively good. Her pain and her nausea were sort of under control. She wanted to talk. And she had something on her mind. She asked my wife to hand her a little box by her bedside, and out of it she took something small and precious, kissed it, and placed it in my hand. It was this little pocketknife, silvery and bright with a hammered surface to make it look like roughed up tree bark, the very essence of childhood treasure from the 1950's. I knew how much this knife meant to her, and I was nearly speechless. "Annie, it's beautiful." I said, finally. "Yah," she said. "Ya like it? It's a Camp King. It's got two blades and a bottle opener. Grampa Jack gave it to me one summer when we were in Pipestone. He said, 'As long as you got this with ya, you can do just about anything.' I thought it was magic."

I loved my sister-in-law from the day I met her, partly because she so loved my wife, and later because of how she loved my son, but also because when I was with her I felt like I was walking out into open ground where I could say just about anything, laugh about anything, be outrageous, swim way out over my head, and still find a safe way back together with her. Nearly every time I talked with Annie I found myself stumbling into that brilliant joy which we all suspect is at the core of our existence, but to which we so often can't seem to find the door, or have misplaced the key, or from which we have gotten distracted by our tasks and worries and wounds. A few minutes with her and that door would burst open with all it's open-hearted glory fueled by love. Sometimes that could feel like magic. But if there is a better word for that experience, for what I always received in her presence, it would be grace.

This photograph by Ann Marsden was projected on the screen behind the Reverend Dorsey McConnell as he gave his tribute.

Grace was what Annie gave to anyone who was ever in front of her lens. Annie had subjects for her photos, but never objects. She never treated people like things, and (as you can see from the slide behind me) even things in her field of view were handled with a kind of tenderness that made them seem both fragile and enduring. If you were the subject, she somehow made you unafraid to let out what was really inside you; you could be yourself in ways you couldn't know until they happened, and when you saw them captured in an image you marveled at the truth of it, and at how little it hurt to see who you really are in the light of love. That is more than magic. That is grace.

As a minister, I always wanted to ask her directly where she thought this grace came from, but on a few occasions she volunteered the answer. It wasn't a pat answer (no surprise here), certainly not a religious answer. She was, to put it mildly, offended and exasperated by most of American Christianity because of the countless ways we had hurt "her tribe," though she always gave me, her brother in law the preacher, a pass. She could speak frankly, even passionately, about God. "I actually really like Jesus," she once said to me. "It's just Christians I can't stand." "I understand," I said. "There are plenty of days when I feel the same way myself." So, while her answer had nothing to do with religion, it had everything to do with faith. She marveled that the grace she so freely gave away had mysteriously been given to her, was in, around and through every moment of her life. She saw the evidence everywhere-- not only in the extravagances of light and shadow revealed by her camera, but grace in the gift of her sobriety, grace in the steadfast love of her family and friends, grace above all in the devotion of her partner Ann, who gave the sometimes frenetic whirlwind of Annie's soul a calm center to return to, cool shade in the heat of the day, and a secure embrace in the end where she could lay down her head and rest.

If there was one Christian image that captivated her, it was the Sacred Heart of Jesus, not an image she would have known from her Presbyterian upbringing: the crown of thorns pressed down over Christ's wounded heart. For her it showed the beauty and the cost of true compassion. It illuminated the fierce sense of justice that burned in her heart. She was always for the underdog, the oppressed, the powerless. She would give you the shirt off her back, and frequently did. She would give you, in fact, the last glimmer of her soul if she thought it could help. Give her two days in a hospital and she would know the personal histories of most of her nurses, and would have listened helpfully to the details of their chief sorrows and joys, even in her weakness spending herself to make one more small difference in someone else's life. That bright life is now fully spent, and we are all immeasurably richer for it.

In my own prayer I have thought that when Annie woke up in whatever you want to call whatever may lie on the other side of this life, in the eternal moment when she was born into all that glory and all that love, the first thing she noticed was the light. I wonder if she reached for her camera before she got the joke that she is the camera, now. In fact, she always was. What took those pictures was not her lens, but her soul. Even the best of those images was only an approximation, a foretaste of the grace she knew and passed on to us, and that now lifts her more and more deeply into Life. And for us who are still on this side, walking our own pilgrimage, under her now fully joyful eye, she might want one thing: that we could see ourselves and one another the way she saw us, that we might learn to trust the love that is all around us waiting to be taken and given away. It isn't magic. It's just grace, sheer grace, and as long as you've got it with you, you can do just about anything.

Many thanks to the Reverend Dorsey McConnell for his permission to reprint this tribute.

Artists once had a sporting chance in Olympics

Posted at 9:11 AM on July 30, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Architecture, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Writing

This week the world is talking about sports, thanks to the 2012 Olympic games in London.

But 100 years ago the Olympics included not just sports, but art. Medals were awarded for sport-themed painting, sculpture, literature, architecture and music in games held between 1912 and 1952.

NPR's Audie Cornish spoke with historian John MacAloon, who explained the idea was conceived by the founder of the Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin:

MACALOON: [He] was inspired by the ancient Greek Olympic Games, which most expressions included competitions in musical performance, in singing and in heralding, public announcement, if you will, he wanted to make sure the modern games follow that.

Secondly, he felt very, very strongly that if you didn't have competitions in the arts, then all you had, as he put it, was a mere series of sporting world championships. So it was his idea. He fought for it, and it took till the Stockholm Games of 1912 for the first competitions to actually be organized.

CORNISH: Essentially, anybody could submit works of art to the competition to be judged by, I guess, by commissions in the host country. How seriously did the art community take the competition?

MACALOON: Well, this was the problem right from the beginning. The debates began almost immediately. True art is art for art's sake. How could this art for sport's sake really be authentic? Would you get any quality submissions? Why would artists create original works against such a new and uncertain format? Artists themselves are not always really happy to compete directly with one another. And when they do, they would prefer a jury of their peers. So the artists were afraid that they would be judged by people from sport, and the sports people were afraid that they'd get submissions from artists that really were not deeply connected with the theme.

As a result, winning submissions - especially in the literature category - were, well... not that winning.

You can read - or listen to - the entire interview here. You can see a slideshow of some of the award-winning sport-themed artwork in a Smithsonian article here.

The reviews are in for 'Into the Woods' by Mu Performing Arts

Posted at 11:00 AM on July 27, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Music, Theater

Mu Performing Arts is breaking new ground by giving classic musical theater an Asian American re-imagining.

First the theater company performed "Little Shop of Horrors" to rave reviews, and now it's back with "Into the Woods." According to critics this show is equally charming:

Sara Ochs as Cinderella and Sheena Janson as the Baker's Wife in Mu Performing Arts presentation of Into the Woods
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Ed Huyck at City Pages:

The company presents strong performances from top to bottom, led by Randy Reyes and Sheena Janson as the baker and the baker's wife. They are really modern-day folks dropped into a fantasy environment, full of doubt and conflicts that are at first out of place amid the outsized events of the other stories, and then the main light of maturity in an increasingly dark world. Both actors embrace these complexities, crafting performances that are at turns funny, touching, and heartbreaking.

Katie Bradley as the Witch in Mu Performing Arts presentation of "Into the Woods"
Photo by Michal Daniel

From Chris Hewitt at the Pioneer Press:

...director Rick Shiomi has given a nod to the universality of fairy tales by shifting the setting from a vaguely European one to a vaguely Asian one. And the witty design extends the idea that these stories know no time or place, with each of the tales seemingly set in a different corner of Asia -- the clothes in Cinderella's story bearing Indian influences, for instance, while China may be the Witch's homeland. Lighting effects sometimes make the characters resemble the shadow puppets of Indonesia, while black-clad ninjas move scenery and execute the production's simple effects.

Those subtle touches serve as a reminder of how sturdily constructed Sondheim and book writer James Lapine's show is. Whoever we are, we share the same basic needs, and wherever we come from, there is a metaphoric "woods" where we learn that growing up is no picnic.

Sheena Janson as the Baker's Wife and Alex Galick as Cinderella's Prince in Mu Performing Arts presentation of Into the Woods
Photo by Michal Daniel

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Where did he get this cast? There isn't a tinny note anywhere and we're talking large (20 by my count). They sing brilliantly and they act their hearts out. I could be wrong on this but the opening night performance had the feeling of a show finally and surprisingly coming together and the actors were as amazed and delighted as we in the audience. It gave the evening an especial edge.

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

"Into the Woods" is another milestone for a company still on the rise.

"Into the Woods" runs through August 5 at Park Square Theatre in St, Paul. Have you seen Mu Performing Arts' production? If so, what did you think?

Art Hounds: Allison Henline, The Baseball Project, and a reading series at an ice arena

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 26, 2012 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Drawing, Events, Film, Music, Painting, Writing

Image courtesy of Allison Henline

This week's hounds are pointing us in the direction of an artist whose works emit light, a traveling Twin Cities reading series and a rock supergroup in love with our national pastime.

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Mankato painter and painting instructor Brian Frink is mysteriously moved by the work of fellow Mankato artist Allison Henline. Brian went see Allison's exhibition, "Archetypal Consonance," at Twin Rivers Council for the Arts in Mankato. He was enthralled with Henline's subtle digital prints, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings, which all play with light in some way. Her show in Mankato closed yesterday, but you can see her work next weekend at Ad Hoc Art Gallery in Minneapolis.

The Cracked Walnut Reading Series has piqued the interest of Minneapolis performance artist Diane Anderson. Diane is intrigued by the way the series travels to different, unusual venues around the Twin Cities and brings disparate audiences and writers together to focus on individual subjects. The next Cracked Walnut installment happens Friday, July 27 at 7:30pm, at the Braemer Ice Arena in Edina, with writers such as Geoff Herbach, Michael Kiesow Moore, Alison Morse, and Shannon Schenck reading works about bullying. There will also be a screening of the locally made anti-bullying film, "MN Nice?"

Mix together members of former alt rock stalwarts' Dream Syndicate, Young Fresh Fellows and R.E.M. with an undying devotion to the game of baseball and what do you have? One of Minneapolis musician Jim Bradt's favorite rock supergroups, The Baseball Project. Jim, who's the drummer for local indie rockers The Whole Lotta Loves, says the primary purpose of The Baseball Project is to transform baseball history and lore into catchy, rocking pop songs. The Baseball Project pays a visit to the 400 Bar in Minneapolis on Friday night, July 27.

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Art Hounds: Cig Harvey, Kevin Steinman, and dance as a collection of observed patterns

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 19, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Photography

Image from Morgan Thorson's "Spaceholder Festival" (Photo credit: Lenore Doxsee, photo courtesy of Morgan Thorson)

On the hounds radar this week...a photographer and a songwriter who each create a powerful intimacy with their own self-inspection, and a celebrated Minneapolis choreographer whose new piece is devoted to human patterns, in what we see, hear, touch and how we behave.

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When Minneapolis choreographer Morgan Thorson presents new work, says choreographer and performer Chris Schlichting, it's an event in the local dance community. Chris says Thorson's "Spaceholder Festival," opening at the Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis on Friday, July 20, is an attempt to make a dance work, with its sound, music, set design and bodies moving on stage, into an actual artifact. It runs through July 26.

Minneapolis painter Steph Guidera says at first glance, photographer Cig Harvey's images look like surreal advertisements or movie stills. A deeper look reveals intimate details about Harvey's life. Harvey's show, "You Look at Me Like an Emergency" is on the walls of the Minneapolis Photo Center through August 19.

Minneapolis music manager and piano teacher Lily Troia will join a throng of friends and fans at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Monday, July 23, to say goodbye to local songwriter Kevin Steinman. Steinman is giving a farewell concert before he and his wife move to Norway, where his wife is from. One of the main reasons Kevin is leaving is because he has a chronic health condition and can't afford adequate insurance in the U.S.

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SPCO contract negotiations continue... slowly

Posted at 3:55 PM on July 16, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

SPCO musician contract negotiations have been underway for seven months now, but opinions differ on what progress, is any, has been made.

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Steven Copes, associate concertmaster Ruggero Allifranchini and principal cello Ronald Thomas.
Photo by Sarah Rubinstein

Dobson West, President and Chair of the SPCO Board of Directors, says the SPCO faces a challenging financial situation, and despite working aggressively to reduce expenses, the orchestra will have a $1 million deficit for 2012. According to a recent update by West, the board seeks to reduce the cost of the musicians' contract by $1.5 million but the latest round of talks, held on July 10 and 11, yielded little.

At the end of these meetings, it remained the Union's position that the size of the orchestra should remain at 34 musicians with pay, benefits and other compensation no less than they are today, and that the financial challenges faced by the SPCO should be solved through revenue increases. Clearly, this was not meaningful progress, although important issues received attention in our meetings.

In a phone conversation, West said he would not characterize the current situation as a stalemate. "There hasn't been any significant movement, but we have had a lot of good discussions, " he said.

Meanwhile Carole Mason Smith, Chair of the negotiating committee, says the musicians remain "hopeful and optimistic."

Progress is being made and we will continue to work with management to find meaningful solutions to maintaining the excellence of the SPCO. We have taken significant concessions over the past three years to help the organization, and we want to continue to explore new ways to generate sustainable revenue streams.

In the coming weeks board members will meet with major contributors to look at the potential for increased, sustainable revenue. Negotiations with musicians will continue on August 1 and 2. You can read the rest of West's update here.

Your weekend, four ways

Posted at 12:40 PM on July 13, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Events, Galleries, Music, Theater

Does the weekend ahead look pretty tame? Here are four ways to add a little zing...

Zaraawar Mistry in his latest production "The Other Mr. Gandhi"
Image courtesy of the artist

1. Are you looking for love? So is Marcus Young, and he's hoping his latest art exhibition will help him find it. Called "I'm looking for love, so let's fix the system", Young's latest show is a mix of art and life, where the boundaries between the two are completely challenged. Join him tonight at MCAD, buy some of his old apartment furniture, and help him find Mr. Right.

2. Got money on your mind? Check out the latest exhibit at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, titled Medium of Exchange: The Art of Cash
. If you go tonight, you will also be treated to Dylan Hicks reading from his new book "Boarded Windows" and performing music from his new album, Sings Bolling Greene.

3. Zaraawar Mistry is an excellent storyteller. His latest one-man show "The Other Mr. Gandhi" runs this weekend only at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis. It's filled with his signature twists, simple-but-dramatic scene changes, and fabulous characters.

4. Want to put a little rhythm in your step? Tomorrow the Drum Corps International takes over the TCF Bank Stadium as part of its 40th Anniversary summer tour. 26 drum corps will be marching, including Minnesota Brass and the Madison Scouts.

Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies artistic director resigns

Posted at 10:03 AM on July 13, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Arts management, Education, Music

Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies' current artistic director Amir Kats, a five-year veteran of the organization, has resigned. Kats will continue in his position through the end of August.

The GTCYS is conducting a nationwide search for a new artistic director and symphony conductor for the 600-student organization.

According to a news release from GTCYS, Kats resigned "to pursue new conducting opportunities and spend more time with his family."

Before leaving, Kats will conduct GTCYS' annual Summer Orchestras' concert at Como Park on July 17 and the Minnesota All-State Orchestra on August 6 - 11.

Now in its 40th anniversary season, GTCYS is one of the largest youth orchestra programs in America.

Art Hounds: Ice Rod, Field of Reads, and depictions of a Duluth childhood

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 12, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Drawing, Events, Museums, Music

"Unsupervised" by Chris Monroe (Image courtesy of the Duluth Art Institute)

Picture a freestyle rapper making up rhymes about people on Chatroulette. Imagine sitting in a field reading books with complete strangers. Think of what emotionally moving oil pastel drawings of a Duluth childhood might be like. Now you've identified what the hounds will be talking about this week.

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Nickolas Monson is co-founder of Prove Gallery in Duluth. Nickolas wants to spread the word about an emcee coming to Teatre Zuccone in Duluth who'll be rapping about an online audience, in front of a live audience. Ice Rod, aka Michael Gaughan, makes up rhymes on the spot about people he sees on the online chat service, Chatroulette. Ice Rod also decorates the stage to look like a dorm room. You can see him in Duluth on Saturday, July 14, at 8pm.

As a literary agent and owner of Red Sofa Literary in St. Paul, Dawn Frederick is always close to her closest companions...books. On Saturday, July 14, Dawn will be among a throng of like-minded book enthusiasts at Field of Reads," an event sponsored by the Walker Art Center's Open Field. Field of Reads runs from 11am - 5pm, and includes a book swap, information about "Little Free Libraries," storytelling for kids, and a mass read-in from noon to 1pm.

Duluth sculptor and writer Ann Klefstad is a longtime admirer of the work of artist Chris Monroe. Ann believes Chris's latest exhibition at the Duluth Art Institute represents her best work to date. It's a poignant collection of oil pastel drawings envisioning a childhood summer in Duluth. Through Sept. 30.

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Now Now dissects its own music in 'Into the Song'

Posted at 11:55 AM on July 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, Writing

Every now and again MPR's Chris Roberts sits down with a local musician or band to find out more about one of their songs. The occasional series is called "Into the Song."

For his latest installment, Roberts interviewed the band members of Now Now about their song "Thread."

"Find a thread to pull," Dalager sings forlornly in the first verse, "and we can watch it unravel."

"A hint of light in the dark," she continues in the chorus, "but only enough to keep from giving up. If I could go back to the start, to break the pattern forming between us."

It sounds like someone at the beginning of a slow, agonizing end to a relationship. But for Dalager, "Thread" is about striving for something that is painfully out of reach. She wrote it when the members of Now Now decided to commit their lives completely to music, in the face of an unknown future.

"That's just kind of how I felt about everything in my life at that point," she said. " 'Cause we were writing this record not knowing what was going on pretty much with anything."

You can find out more about the song "Thread" and the band Now Now here.

Interested in exploring more music? Check out these installments with Sims, Ben Weaver, Haley Bonar and Nick Robin.

Johnny Clegg: still political, after all these years

Posted at 9:50 AM on July 10, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, People

South African musician Johnny Clegg - often referred to as the "white Zulu" - will perform with his band at the Cedar Cultural Center this Thursday.

Johnny Clegg dances on stage with his longtime backup singer Mandisa Dlanga, with whom he has worked for 26 years.
Image courtesy of Appleseed Recordings

Known for taking a stance against apartheid with the mixed-race band Juluka, but as Euan Kerr reports, today's more peaceful political climate still inspires Clegg's craft:

The age of apartheid is over. But Clegg says South Africa faces the struggles common for any young democracy. It's all fodder for new music.

"I just feel that I am still learning," he said. "I am seeing stuff that I thought would never happen."

Clegg says he's not as driven as he once was to react daily to what he sees around him. But he still writes regularly after what he calls a more gentle process.

"Finding common threads of culture, common threads of humanity, common threads of melody, common threads of rhythmic polyphony," he said, "those are things that have always intrigued me."

You can read the full story here. Or listen to it by clicking on the link below.

A jazz festival wish list

Posted at 12:01 PM on July 6, 2012 by David Cazares (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music

The Twin Cities Jazz Festival is behind us and serious fans of improvisational music may be suffering from a bit of withdrawal - notwithstanding shows from fine local musicians.

With next year's festival in mind, I asked MPR colleagues and jazz lovers Rob Byers, Kyle Wesloh and Jeff Severns Guntzel to help compile a list of artists we'd all like to see at the next festival.

Who knows, it could happen...

Here are our picks:

DAVID CAZARES

Piano: Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Guitar: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gilad Hekselman

Bass: Christian McBride

Saxophone: Branford Marsalis

Trumpet: Nicholas Payton

Vocals: Cassandra Wilson

Big Band: Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

JEFF SEVERNS GUNTZEL

Trombone: Wycliffe Gordon:

Drums: Brian Blade

Trumpet: Kermit Ruffins

ROB BYERS

Drums: Brian Blade Fellowship

Piano: Brad Mehldau

Guitar: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Trumpet: Dave Douglas

Big Band: Maria Schneider Big Band with Theo Bleckmann

KYLE WESLOH

Saxophone: Donnny McCaslin

Trumpet: Wynton Marsalis small group

Vocals/bass: Esperanza Spalding

Trombone: Trombone Shorty

Big Band: Mingus Big Band

Combo: Rudder

Everyone: Local, local, local - bassist Anthony Cox, the Atlantis Quartet, percussionist Dave Hagedorn, saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, guitarist Dean Magraw ...and whatever drummer Dave King wants to do.

An exit interview with Dr. Stan Hill

Posted at 8:44 AM on July 5, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

This weekend the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus will be in Denver, Colorado for the GALA Chorus festival, which brings together more than 6,000 GLBT singers from across the country.

Dr. Stan Hill, after conducting his final performance of the TCGMC in the Twin Cities
Photo by Paul Nixdorf

The festival marks the last time Dr. Stan Hill will direct the chorus before he retires at the end of the month. Hill has led the TCGMC for twelve years. In a recent conversation he said he's retiring now because he wants to be closer to his family in California, but also because it's the right time for the chorus.

This is chorus is in a really good place - our season subscribers are up, our audience is great, the support from the community is absolutely amazing. And that was my whole goal - I want it to go on. I didn't spend this much time and work this hard to see the thing go belly up when I leave!

Click on the audio link below to listen as Dr. Hill looks back at his four decades as a choral director, how the GALA movement got started, and at how life for gay men has changed over his career. Particularly poignant was his recollection of his time as Artistic Director of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, and the number of singers that died of AIDS.

Art Hounds: Strange Capers, Bridget Beck, and a "Jazz Implosion"

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 5, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Sculpture, Theater

Bridget Beck's "Poetry Studio" at Franconia Sculpture Park

If you're interested in an urban, outdoor Shakespeare experience, a sculptor who makes playgrounds out of recycled wood and metal, and what happened to the "Jazz Implosion" series, the hounds are happy to share the deets.

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What's not to like, says musician Claudia Holt, about a band of crazy, cross-dressing thespians who make Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis into a rolling, idyllic Shakespearean stage every summer? Strange Capers only performs the bard's comedies at Powderhorn and this summer it's "The Comedy of Errors." Free shows during the weekend through July 15 with families, children and dogs welcome.

Minneapolis jazz pianist and composer Bryan Nichols is happy to report there's a new haven for JT Bates' revered "Jazz Implosion" series, which used to be a fixture at the Clowne Lounge of St. Paul's Turf Club. "Jazz Implosion" has moved across the river to the restaurant and music venue Icehouse in Minneapolis, which Bryan says is even better equipped sonically for the adventurous improvisational music the series is known for.

Painter Carolyn Swiszcz thinks sculptor Bridget Beck has captured her daughter's heart. The two recently went out to Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, Minn. to see two Bridget Beck works and actually played on one for more than two hours. Beck is known for her explosively colorful enamel painted metal pieces people of all ages can climb on or interact with. She's also developed "The Locomotive Sculpture Project," which is a mobile sculpture park she brings to senior living spaces around the Twin Cities.

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Emotion and power at the Jazz Festival: The Bad Plus and Joshua Redman

Posted at 4:01 PM on June 29, 2012 by David Cazares (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music

Photo by Cameron Wittig

Anyone who has seen or heard The Bad Plus, can't help but be impressed by the way the trio powers its way through tunes.

From the group's original compositions to covers of pop songs like Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King have put a distinctly modern stamp on the classic trio.

Indeed, the three musicians have made it clear that they're a piano, bass and drums group, in which each has freedom to explore the nuances of the compositions they play with equal billing. They've shared the stage and the spotlight for a dozen years, when three old friends reunited to develop their shared sense of Midwestern musical sensibilities.

During a summer tour, the group is making room for an agile presence in saxophonist Joshua Redman, a forceful player. He'll add a new dimension to The Bad Plus during a Twin Cities Jazz Festival performance on Saturday - one that could push the group more toward muscular bebop.

"He's incredibly musical," King said of Redman. "But he is a jock -- and I mean that in the highest respect. He's obviously an incredible listener. But he will go if you give him that space.

"We can give him that kind of hard bop thing that we've all done and love to do," King said. "What's also nice is we can sometimes provide interesting foils for that."

The summer stage has been a long time in the making, and stems from the trio's longstanding appreciation of Redman's father, tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, who performed in pianist Keith Jarrett's American Quartet with drummer Paul Motian.

Iverson recorded with Dewey Redman in the early '90s, and Anderson and King toured with the elder Redman in the United Kingdom in 2003.

The three musicians had shared a double billing with Joshua Redman at the Montreal Jazz Festival, but it wasn't until last year that they played with him, in a 50th anniversary celebration for New York City's famed Blue Note jazz club. They later shared the stage with him at Austria's Saalfelden Jazz Festival - shows that helped spark interest Bad Plus shows with the saxophonist.

After a performance in the Toronto Jazz Festival last week, the musicians arrive in St. Paul for Saturday's performance at the Mears Park main stage. Iverson said adding Redman adds spark to the show.

In Redman, concert-goers can expect to see The Bad Plus with an added melodic and improvisational voice. That makes the performance among the must-see shows for many Twin Cities musicians and fans.

"We just sit back and listen to him blow beautifully," the pianist said. "In some ways, it does change our music into 'jazz' more than usual. But Josh is very open."

Orchestra Hall's iconic blue tubes find new homes

Posted at 11:50 AM on June 29, 2012 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Public Art

Since 1974, Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis has been adorned with 16 large blue tubes. It was not just an aesthetic choice - they also served as the lobby's air intake and exhaust system.

But Orchestra Hall is undergoing an extensive remodel, which calls for getting rid of the iconic pipes.

Minnesota Orchestra's Gwen Pappas says the orchestra staffers decided to find them some new homes.

In April a whimsical post on Facebook asked Orchestra fans how they would like to see the tubes live on, and clever answers streamed in. In May, the Orchestra officially sought proposals from artists, sculptors, organizations and individuals who were interested in pursuing the project. Our criteria for donation: we wanted to identify creative ideas for the tubes that were supported by a practical implementation plan. We were hoping to spread the tubes across a geographic distance and allow maximum opportunity for the public to see the pieces in their new homes.

The staff chose five proposals and this past week Mortenson Construction delivered the tubes to their new owners, donating all the delivery costs.

The recipients include Franconia Sculpture Park, artist Peter Morales (who plans to use them for a sculpture he's working on, ultimate destination unknown), the Anderson Center in Red Wing, Big Stone Mini Golf and Sculpture Garden in Minnetrista, and the home of composers/artists Philip Blackburn and Preston Wright (disclosure: Preston Wright is a co-worker and they are both good friends of mine).

Philip Blackburn explores one of the two tubes from Orchestra Hall that will become sculptural features on his 2.5 acre homestead East of St. Paul.
Image courtesy of the artist

According to Blackburn, they plan to convert the tubes into windharps and bat houses.

The two of them facing each other will make a notable archway at the entrance of the Grand Alley in the yard, and frame the unique view afforded from the property of both downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis directly behind it...We intend to make the yard a sculpture garden, and have started modestly with a giant 1890s dairy barn cupola. The addition of the Blue Tube Gate, home to Aeolian music, bats, and a historic window to the cities would be a dream.

Blackburn captured the rather dizzying delivery of the blue tubes by crane, which you can watch below.

The renovated Orchestra Hall will re-open in summer 2013.

Video break: tUnE-yArDs "Gangsta" at Rock the Garden

Posted at 11:52 AM on June 28, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Museums, Music, Video

MN Original has started releasing the first videos from this year's Rock The Garden. Today's installment: tUnE-yArDs rhythm-rich "Gangsta:"

You can find Howler's performance of Pythagorean Fearem here... a Doomtree performance is scheduled to be posted on the MN Original site later today.

Art Hounds: Matt Rasmussen, The Vow Factor, and beatmakers who get booties shakin'

Posted at 7:45 AM on June 28, 2012 by Chris Roberts (1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Events, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry, Theater

Hip hop producers Audio Perm (Image courtesy of Audio Perm)

The hounds highlight a Walt Whitman Award winning poet from Robbinsdale, satire of the most divisive institution on the ballot this year, and Twin Cities hip hop producers who know how to win over a crowd.

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As co-creator of the Minneapolis-based Theater of Public Policy, Brandon Boat embraces art that tackles hot button issues, like who can marry whom. But Brandon prefers that theater strive toward creating a mutual understanding rather than deepening divisions. He predicts everyone will find something to laugh at in "The Vow Factor," Table Salt Productions and The Recovery Party's send-up of the institution of marriage.

What's with all the talented Twin Cities poets named Matt? Earlier this year Robbinsdale poet Matt Rasmussen sang the praises of local poet Matt Ryan. Now, it's Rasmussen's turn to be celebrated by another poet named Matt, Matt Mauch. Mr. Mauch says Mr. Rasmussen will be reading from his forthcoming book "Black Aperture" at the Robbin Gallery within the Robbinsdale Library on Thursday, June 28 at 7pm. Rasmussen won the distinguished Walt Whitman Award for the book, which is an extended series of poems contending with the suicide of a close family member. June 28, 2012 has also been declared Matt Rassmussen Day by the City of Robbinsdale.

Getting Minnesotans to move to any rhythm is usually a tall order, but Minneapolis spoken word artist Magdalena Kaluza says not for Audio Perm. Audio Perm is a coalition of Twin Cities hip hop producers who supply the beats and soundscapes for a host of local rappers. The group will be holding "Permed Out Showcase #2" at the Cabooze on Friday, June 29. Magdalena says it's a chance for the beatmakers to show some love for the emcees they work with, including Art School Girls, Bobby Raps, and Fresh Squeeze.

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Must-see Twin Cities Jazz Festival shows from six local artists

Posted at 9:37 AM on June 27, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

The Illicit Sextet

Who do Twin Cities jazz musicians want to see at the 2012 Twin Cities Jazz Festival?

Everyone.

The musicians' selections, like the festival's, balance national and local acts and include a variety of styles. Here are some top picks. The musicians who chose them are listed first, in bold.

Drummer Mac Santiago plays with the Jazz Central All Stars at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and at 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday

Tough one. So much good music to narrow down to three.

My selections are based on what I believe to be conceptually strong and representative of the quality of musicianship found right here in the Twin Cities -- not necessarily in this order.

1. The Illicit Sextet -- Tight. Modern. Original. 8 p.m. Friday at the Amsterdam Bar
2. Zacc Harris Group -- Caught this quartet at the Artists' Quarter last month. Impeccable interaction. They really listen to each other in a freaky(intuitive) way. 7:30 p.m. Friday at Studio Z
3. Peter Schimke -- One of the most creative, soulful improvisers on the scene. Always exciting and rhythmically intense. 5 p.m. Saturday at the Amsterdam Bar

Pianist Mary Louise Knutson performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Amsterdam Bar

Here are my must-see picks:

1. Jon Weber -- Jon has chops to burn and a deep knowledge of jazz history. I'll probably show up in hopes that some of his technique will rub off on me! 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday at the Artists' Quarter
2. Red Planet - Dean Magraw, guitar; Chris Bates, bass; Jay Epstein, drums. These guys are master improvisers. They aren't going to play your typical set of standards, but they will engage you with their textural originals and inspired interaction. 9 p.m. Friday at the Hat Trick lounge
3. Kevin Washington Band -- I haven't heard Kevin's band, but it's worth the price of admission to hear Kevin play anywhere! 11 p.m. Saturday at Minnesota Music Café

Guitarist Evan Montgomery performed June 16 with the Jana Nyberg Group at the Hayden Heights Library in Paul.

Probably at the top of my list are:

1. Koplant No -- I've known these guys for a while now, and Lulu's Playground and the Jana Nyberg Group have both done several gigs with them. These guys put on not only one of the best live shows I've ever seen, but are some of the nicest and coolest people on the planet. They line up somewhere between Radiohead, Ron Miles, David Binney, and Squarepusher, and they make it work. They are as epic as Koyaanisqatsi having a baby with Prince and then THAT baby having a baby with the physical embodiment of Pat Metheny's The Way Up. Seriously, don't miss that show. 7:15 p.m. Saturday at the 6th Street stage
2. The Graydon Peterson Quartet -- Graydon is a fantastic bassist, and I know he's been getting some pretty good press about his new group. GPQ straddles the line between accessible and the ultra-complex, making music that is clearly very difficult sound effortless and beautiful. Very few words describe what they really sound like, so I'm gonna use one that some old friends made up. The Graydon Peterson Quartet is totally SLAMFT. 6 p.m. Friday at Hat Trick lounge
3. The Bad Plus with Joshua Redman -- There's of course no question that I'm gonna check [them] out. I still have yet to see any of those guys live, and in the Twin Cities that's almost a cardinal sin. 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mears Park main stage

Pianist Bryan Nichols performs at 9 p.m. Thursday with the Zacc Harris Group and 7:30 Friday with guitarist Todd Clouser, both at Studio Z.

1. The Bad Plus with Joshua Redman -- One of my favorite modern jazz groups, who I've seen live at least five to 10 times, working with the excellent (but stylistically divergent) Redman. Seems like the kind of combination made for jazz festivals: intriguing, new, almost certainly rewarding. 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mears Park main stage
2. Francisco Mela -- I had the brief opportunity to meet Francisco and hear him with Jose James' band last time I was in New York. Having heard his musical, energetic approach to someone else's music, I'm eager to hear his own vision and band. 6 p.m. Friday at the Mears Park main stage
3. Zeitgeist with Nirmala Rajasekar -- Not jazz but could be one of the highlights of the festival. Zeitgeist is always first-rate and Nirmala is incredible (and doesn't perform in the Twin Cities often enough,) so with them combined I can imagine that this will be a fantastic show. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Studio Z

Guitarist Todd Clouser's A Love Electric performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Studio Z.

At this year's jazz festival, I'll be in the less publicized rooms checking out:

1. Framework featuring Chris Olson -- I have this record thanks to [bassist] Chris Bates, and love the playing of all three guys, the way guitarist Chris Olson's compositions and melodic sensibilities cross with drummer Jay Epstein's phrasing and touch give the band vibe, concept, identity. 11 p.m. Thursday at Minnesota Music Café
2. Red Planet -- Dean Magraw is a musical hero of mine, and has been since my late teens, I feel fortunate to be able to say that I've been seeing Dean that long, and at a young age there was a player in town that could inspire to the degree Dean has and continues to. Epstein is on drums again, he should have his own jazz festival. I'm running over after our set, along with Chris Bates. 9 p.m. Friday at the Hat Trick lounge
3. Zeitgeist with Nirmala Rajasekar -- I have no idea what kind of music Zeitgeist plays, which is wonderful. It's very expressive and, to me, comes from a very personal space. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at Studio Z

Singer Jana Nyberg performed June 16 at the Hayden Heights Library in Paul.

These are my top three picks:

1. Atlantis Quartet -- This is one of the Twin Cities' greatest ensembles, boasting a lineup of Zacc Harris, guitar, Brandon Wozniak, saxophones, Pete Hennig, drums, and Chris Bates, bass. Original compositions, and just great music with some of the Twin Cities' greatest jazz musicians. 5 p.m. Friday at the 6th Street stage
2. Debbie Duncan -- This woman is the definition of soulful. I grew up on Debbie's tunes- love her music, and her person. She's amazing, enough said. 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mears Park main stage
3. Charlie Christenson Trio -- New to the Twin Cities from L.A. and New York, Charlie is a Downbeat award-winning jazz vocalist and also plays a mean piano. Charlie was one of Manhattan School of Music's only vocal graduate students. Check him out. 8 p.m. Thursday at Minnesota Music Café

See the entire Twin Cities Jazz Festival schedule here.

Reconnecting audiences to jazz

Posted at 6:01 AM on June 26, 2012 by David Cazares
Filed under: Music

It can be tough to sell modern audiences on jazz.

Too many people think of the variety of styles grouped under the genre either as music of the past, or as a complicated art form played by musicians for musicians. Even some musicians say the music deserves a new name.

A common perception is that listening to jazz is "like drinking red wine," said Steve Heckler, executive director of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

"It's become very elitist," or so that view holds, Heckler said. "It lost its fun and became distanced from the people."

To counter that perception, this year's festival has booked a strong variety of shows, from nationally known performers like trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and Francisco Mela.

Battling the perception of jazz as an outdated or pretentious genre is tough. But Heckler is confident that more people will gravitate to jazz if they have a chance to see and hear the music played from the stage by bands that have modern audiences in mind.

With that in mind, the festival also has booked a number of local and regional favorites like the Zacc Harris Group and Koplant No, a group that fuses jazz improvisation with electronic music, rock and hip-hop.

"Our mission is really to bring it," Heckler said.

For a longer take on the Twin Cities Jazz Festival's mission, look here.

Police arrest Brother Ali for civil disobedience

Posted at 11:48 AM on June 22, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, People

Musician Brother Ali was among 13 protesters arrested in South Minneapolis last night.

Brother Ali's act of civil disobedience was part of his ongoing advocacy of the Occupy Homes movement.
Hennepin County Jail photo

The Current's Andrea Swensson reports Ali's act of civil disobedience was part of an ongoing occupation of a foreclosed home in South Minneapolis, and occurred as over 125 people rallied in support of a family fighting against a bank error to keep their home:

It's not the first time Ali has spoken out about the Occupy Homes movement and shown support for the Cruz family fighting to keep their residence at 4044 Cedar Ave. When Ali was in our studios recently for an interview with Barb Abney, he touched on why this issue has become so important to him.

"When the Occupy movement sparked off, I think a lot of people -- myself included -- had lost a whole lot of faith in the electoral process and electoral politics," he said. "And I started realizing that it's going to take something more on behalf of the people, there's going to have to be a movement to actually disrupt things, to actually disrupt some of these corporate injustices that are happening to people, to our real neighbors."

Read the full story here.

Five questions for Dr. Stan Hill

Posted at 8:42 AM on June 22, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Culture, Music, People

The Artistic Director of the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, Dr. Stan Hill, is getting ready to retire. Tonight and tomorrow mark the last performances he'll direct here in the Twin Cities; he'll direct the chorus for the last time at the GALA Festival in Denver, Colorado.

In advance of his departure Dr. Hill was kind enough to answer a few questions about his career and the work of gay choruses in general.

1. Why are you retiring now?

Because I will be 66 in August, because I have had twelve wonderful years here in MN and because I am a California kid and my family is there.

2. Before leading the TCGMC, you spent 11 years with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Why are GALA choruses important? Put differently, what can they offer that other choruses can't?

If we don't tell our story, who will? The legacy of the GALA Choral Movement is not only that when they sing a specific text, such as a gay men's chorus singing "the Man I Love," it takes on an entirely new meaning, but also that we can tell our own story by commissioning new music that tells our story.

3. Looking back, how have GALA concerts and their audiences changed over the years?

It has helped thousands become aware of gay men as almost anything other than the stereotypes with which society has painted us. The audiences here in the MidWest honestly appreciate choral music because of the rich choral traditions of St. Olaf, Luther, and other. And so a choral concert attracts choral music lovers. But when they attend a TCGMC concert, they leave with a greater appreciation of the GLBT community having shared our loves, our thoughts and our passions.

4. I understand that while you were in San Francisco, you had to deal with the loss of many chorus members due to AIDS... now you're retiring just as Minnesota takes up the Gay Marriage Amendment. Any thoughts on how the quality of life for gay men has changed (or not) over the course of your career?

There is no question that being gay does not have the onus that it did when I was a teenager in the 50s and 60s. However, we have a long way to go. As long as hate and prejudice, and attitudes of "otherness" still exist, the chorus has a job to do.

5. Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add or think I should know?

My retiring is merely the turning of a page in the rich and wonderful story of TCGMC. It is my hope that our wonderful audience and the thousands of supporters over the years will continue to support TCGMC. I think the chorus is the best face of the gay community and with that support it can continue to grow and develop into one of the most dynamic and positive components of our society as a whole.

(Photo of Dr. Stan Hill by Paul Nixdorf)

Art Hounds: Rooted, Chaun Webster, and another great Minnesota indie folk band

Posted at 7:45 AM on June 21, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Galleries, Minnesota Poets, Music, Poetry

Conscious Spirit, the dance group founded by Rooted's curator Maia Maiden (Photo courtesy of Maia Maiden)

The hounds have unearthed an intergenerational hip hop choreographer's evening, a St. Paul poet who's encouraging African-American artists to take control of their image and a Minneapolis indie folk band with Duluthian roots whose sound is reminiscent of the region it was born in.

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As a black artist, Bianca Pettis, one half of the Minnesota sound collage duo Beatrix Jar, often feels under-represented in the media. Bianca is an enthusiastic supporter of St. Paul poet Chaun Webster's mission to help African-American artists bring a more accurate, nuanced depiction of black culture into the mainstream. Webster will read his poems on Saturday, June 23, at 7pm, at The Bindery Projects, an alternative exhibition space in St. Paul.

Minneapolis songwriter and composer Mankwe Ndosi predicts people who go to Rooted: A Hip Hop Choreographer's Evening, will be rejuvenated by the multi-generational energy that's in the room. The event, at Patrick's Cabaret in Minneapolis on June 22 and 23 at 7:30pm, features seasoned and emerging hip hop choreographers trying to take their style of dance to a new level.

Brandy Dutoit, creator of "365 Music project" blog, calls the Minneapolis indie folk band Portage one of the best new local groups of the year. Brandy hears the band's big sounding acoustic guitars and atmospheric effects and thinks of the upper Midwest. Portage is winding up a month long residency at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 27.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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DSSO names new Music Director

Posted at 10:55 AM on June 20, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Arts around the state, Arts management, Music

The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra has named its future Music Director.

Dirk Meyer will eventually replace the DSSO's current Music Director Markand Thakar after working for a year as the "Music Director Designate."

Meyer, a native of Germany, is currently the Associate Conductor of the Sarasota Orchestra.

As part of his job audition, Meyer conducted a DSSO classical concert in October featuring the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Prokofiev. Duluth News Tribune reviewer Sam Black said of the concert:

He never looked back. His tempo for the Mozart was on the edge, and the DSSO kept right with him all the way. After only four short minutes, it was obvious that Meyer had every orchestral eye focused on him.

After the concert Meyer shared that the DSSO seemed to respond to his intentions more quickly than other orchestras he has directed. The rapport was definitely working both ways. With his baton in constant motion and his eyes rapidly moving from the music to the players, Meyer set a high standard for performance communication.

In 2010 Markand Thakar announced his plans to leave the DSSO in 2013. Thakar joined the orchestra in 2000, and holds the third longest tenure in the DSSO's history.

In explaining his departure, Thakar said that at some point it becomes essential to take on new challenges:

This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, but with the Orchestra performing at historically high levels, with the audiences large and enthusiastic, and with the classical concerts flourishing financially, now seems like a most opportune time to take the plunge.

Dirk Meyer was chosen to replace Thakar from over 130 applications.

Photo of Dirk Meyer courtesy the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra

Three ways to blur the gender lines this weekend

Posted at 10:16 AM on June 15, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music, Theater

Face it, the old "boy meets girl" story is as old as the hills. So why not mix it up a bit?

Jomama Jones, with her back-up singers Bianca McClure and Kalean Ung
Photo by Michal Daniel

This weekend features an array of performances where gender lines are bent, blurred or completely rewritten. Here's a sampling:

Dykes Do Drag

Now in its 12th year, Dykes Do Drag is a monthly gender-bending cabaret show, mixing pop and politics and featuring dykes of all stripes strutting, singing and storytelling. Performances are tonight and tomorrow at 10pm at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis.

Radiate Live!

Pop diva Jomama Jones is back on tour singing tunes from her latest album, Radiate. Performer Daniel Alexander Jones says Jomama chose him as her vessel for spreading her message of love. Through June 24 at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis.

The Naked I: Wide Open

Created and produced by 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities, The Naked I: Wide Open is made up of monologues, short scenes, and true stories by transgender/gender non-conforming individuals and allies. Performances tonight and tomorrow at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis.

A Scottish vampire on a boat

Posted at 4:35 PM on June 14, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Education, Music, Theater

While drama students study the classics all year at the University of Minnesota, the biggest dose of theatrical reality for many of them comes in the shape of melodrama on an old boat.

Chelzie Newhard practices an entrance from the ceiling as Emily Grodnik bows. "The Vampire!" begins its run on Friday, June 15 and ends Aug. 25 at the Minnesota Showboat on St. Paul's Harriet Island.
MPR Photo/Euan Kerr

MPR's Euan Kerr paid a visit to the cast and crew of "The Vampire" where he found out they're learning some serious theatrical lessons.

Scene designer Meg Kissel met one challenge head on as she cut a trapdoor in the stage. Working on a boat she knew there wasn't much room for error.

"It didn't sink!" she said. "We did puncture something and a little geyser happened and we were worried it was going to sink for a second."

There are challenges for the actors too. In addition to learning lines, and perfecting scene changes, they deal with things that could only happen on a boat: noise from passing barges and logs floating under the hull.

"You just hear thud! Bump, bump, bump," said actor Ryan Colbert. "It really is a shock at first, but then ... it's fine."

Colbert plays Lord Ruthven the vampire. This is his second production on the Showboat. He is a BFA acting student at the university, as is Joseph Pyfferoen who takes the role of the vampire's foe Lord Ronald. Pyfferoen admits this play leans more on spectacle than fact.

"Set in Scotland where there is absolutely no history of vampires whatsoever," he said. "It's quite interesting seeing a Scottish vampire in a kilt."

Find out more about "The Vampire" - and what the students are learning about melodrama - here.

The reviews are in for 'Fela!' at Ordway

Posted at 9:43 AM on June 14, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Criticism, Dance, Music, Theater

FELA! is a musical directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones about the tumultuous life of Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Using his pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk, and African rhythm and harmonies), FELA! explores Kuti's controversial life as an artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. A three-time Tony Award winner in 2010, this production arrives at the Ordway direct from Broadway.

Critics say you' should be prepared for the high energy and emotional turmoil of this star-powered musical.

Sahr Ngaujah stars in FELA!
Photo courtesy Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

From Graydon Royce at the Star Tribune:

Anyone who sits through "FELA!" may be forgiven for feeling wrung out after two-and-a-half hours of ecstatic Afrobeat music, pulsing dance, emotional turmoil and epic resolution.

From Ross Raihala at the Pioneer Press:

As the title character, Sahr Ngaujah not only has the moves like Fela, he has the stature, the voice and the star power. It's a stunning performance in a demanding role that requires Ngaujah to spend nearly every moment of the 165-minute show front and center.

From Janet Preus at HowWasTheShow.com:

I don't usually give points just for energy. (Broadway musicals generally try to top each other as calorie-burning affairs for their actor/dancers.) But this one has a different kind of energy that feels organic to the piece - essential, really, and a natural part of the music, the story and the emotions that drive it all. He proclaims as a young man, "I'm going to change the world." In the final number, when he sings "They wan bury and forget, but we won't let them," it's possible to think that maybe he still can.

FELA! runs through June 17 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Have you seen it? If so, what's your review?

Art Hounds: Jomama Jones, The New Monarchs, and a rooftop bog at MCAD

Posted at 7:45 AM on June 14, 2012 by Chris Roberts (2 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Public Art, Theater

Christine Baeumler's installation "Reconstituting the Landscape: A Tamarack Rooftop Restoration." (Photo courtesy of Minneapolis College of Art and Design)

The hounds have uncovered a "soul sonic superstar" diva, an anthemic electro-rock band, and a reconstituted wetland just above the entrance to the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.

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Jomama Jones' aura is too strong for Twin Cities theater director, producer and educator Bonnie Schock to resist. Bonnie says Minneapolis native and performer Daniel Alexander Jones is bringing his alter ego, the soulfully smooth chanteuse Jomama Jones to Pillsbury House Theatre as part of her comeback tour, "Radiate Live." Jomama fronts a five piece band with back-up singers and performs all original music. "Radiate Live" is on stage through June 24.

Greg Swan likes to crank up Minneapolis electro-rockers The New Monarchs when he's stuck in traffic, or looking for music to make the blood move in his veins. Greg, founder of the local music blog "Perfect Porridge," says The New Monarchs are releasing its appropriately titled new album "Stay Awake," at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 17.

"Giddy" is the word Minneapolis sculptor Aaron Dysart uses to describe how he feels about artist Christine Baeumler's installation "Reconstituting the Landscape: A Tamarack Rooftop Restoration." It's an actual bog, an artist's recreation of a wetland with tamarack trees and other plant life, and it sits one floor above the entrance to the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Aaron appreciates its beauty, metaphoric power, and how the piece brings a somewhat invisible but fragile ecosystem into view.

For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Art Hounds is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

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Poet Lisa Brimmer explores jazz

Posted at 6:00 AM on June 13, 2012 by David Cazares (1 Comments)
Filed under: Minnesota Mix, Music

I reported this piece for a series called Minnesota Mix, a Minnesota Public Radio News project that examines how youth and ethnic diversity are influencing Minnesota arts. - David Cazares