It's been a long time since I have been here. Seems like I was all full steam ahead for so long and then just dropped it like chocolate during lent.

I suppose I have been focusing my attention on the Opera blog, which does take the majority of my attention during the season. Now that the season is over, I'm back.

Luck would have it, tomorrow I will be seeing a play. I haven't seen a straight play in a while. No, I take that back. I have seen Cara in two plays and they were both fun and interesting. I am looking forward to seeing Laurie's daughter in the Crucible tomorrow.
Perhaps I will even let the blog know what I thought.

Next month, K and I will hit the Big Apple in a big way. We are going to two operas and a fancy dinner. I am so looking forward to that. The museums are still being scheduled, and we may not hit them all. It would be wonderful to see Hector & Leigh and go to the Modern. I will have to make it happen.

Now time for bed. Sleep didn't come last night so I am hopful I will go down easily.

SO...

SO, I have been handed this wonderfully small yet powerful video camera to "capture the moment" so to speak. It is extremely simple to use, about the size of a blackberry and takes pretty good video with sound (even though the mic is on the wrong side, so far my largest complaint).


So my sytem at work is from circa 1776, and can not read videos of any format.

SO I start working from home on it.

So, when I download the video editing software that comes along with the camera, I find its not so good, in my non experienced opinion.

So, I have a PC and on it is Microsoft Movie Maker. But the new technology only makes MOV files, which MMM doesn't read.

SO I find that QuickTime can read MOV files so I download QuickTime, but only the QT Pro will let you edit, change formats or anything like that.

SO I do a little searching and find a great freeware program that seems simple enough yet sophisticated to do what I want. YEA!!! So far still pretty pleased with this software, its called Pinnacle VideoSpin.

So, I cut the hour long video into 5.5 minutes added lovely fades, slides, music and end credits. Looking forward to adding it to the blog, but alas, once I got it ready, turned it into an AVI file, it was a gig and a half and too big.

So, back to the original program that came with the camera, there is an option to load directly to FaceBook or YouTube, the only thing, it doesn't condence the video to fit into these formats...

SO I have formated the AVI file into a MOV file and it is much smaller and hopfully uploading now...

Fantastic Fan fara

The Louisville Orchestra had quite a weekend! Friday, Joshua bell came to town and had a chat with Scott Dowd on Classical 90.5 FM (WUOL). You can download the podcast here.

Joshua Bell goes over a few details with Jorge Mester before the rehearsal of Symphonie Espangnole

Later that evening, the Orchestra had their amazing season images by O'Neil Arnold that were enlarged and streached on canvases on display for the Gallery Hop. The image transfers were not as vibrant as the glossy brochure, but they were still quite impressive. A string quartet performed as well.

All of this was just a sample of an amazing week of events and performances gearing up for Saturday's Fanfara Gala and concert. Saturday evening started with cocktails atop the Humana Building. It was a lovely evening to be on their observation deck for cocktails. Joshua Bell made an appearance and was swarmed! After a lovely dinner the dinner guests were a part of the Jorge Mester procession crossing Main street ed by the Male High School Color Gaurd and up the stairs of the Kentucky Center flanked by the Male High School marching band.

All of the efforts to make Fanfara fantastic worked perfectly.

Art at ArtSpace

The Fund for the Arts has spruced up the second floor of Artspace. We have four original pieces of art from Eric Brinley. They were "unveiled" at the Opera Guild's event, Viva Voce, last Thursday.

He worked from photos which he got from the various arts groups represented. He simplifies the image to the simplest line and uses color to create the emotional experience to go along with the image.




The image at the top is of a violinist representing the Orchestra, which is at the top the stairs as you approach the rehearsal space.
The bottom images are the main area of the second floor. Images represent Actors Theater's production of Dracula and The Louisville Ballet's Nutcracker. The opera does have an image but it is actually in the rehearsal room, which I could not access into when I was snapping photos.

What are your thoughts?

Forcable return

I must thank Andrew for mentioning my blog on this Sunday's Arts section. The thing is, I am the blogger for Kentucky Opera and that is where I do most of my professional updating which he referenced.

ArtIsAir is my personal blog, and my Twitter handle. (All of this seems a bit schizophrenic doesn't it?) So any of you finding my blog for the first time, please also visit Kentucky Opera Blog.

I was a little worried during the interview that I wasn't really representing well, but I suppose Andrew was able to distill my rambling into some sense. He called me a "virtuoso of succinct electronic outreach." That was nice of him.

I'm a looser

I am so bad. I have been to Europe and saw amazing art, and didn't blog about it at all. Can you say looser for not blogging since March?!?!

LEO photography issue

Yesterday, Friday, March 26, I had the pleasure of attending a gathering at the Lime Tree Gallery on Frankfort Avene. The party was a celebration of LEO Weekly's latest issue featuring local photographers shooting our fair city. Participants in the photo issue include David Harpe, Frankie Steele, John King, Leslie Lyons, Marty Pearl and Mary Yates. See all the photos here.

Unfortunately I got to the event a little early and didn't get to see all of the photographers, but I did see Frankie, who does a lot of work for Kentucky Opera and the Louisville Orchestra, and David Hawp, who I met when he won the signature artist for Kentucky Opera's Viva il Vino event.

David's photos (the attached Louisville skyline is one if David's pieces) have always been impressive to me. His work looks so very photoshopped, but infact, they are not. That is what makes them impressive. That he is able to create such uniqe imagry that has not been manipulated by computers... Wow.

LEO's creative director, Brittany Baker hung the show very well. It was clean and easily navigated. Too bad the show was only up for one night, but you can still pick up the issue and see the work in their new glossy magazine format.