Apparently Opera North (thats in the UK not in Phili) is doing a wonderful job at pulling in new audiences. Their recent Macbeth was reviewed twice today by seemingly new opera goers.
Gripped by First Opera - Evening Chronicle
Opera Was No Tragedy - Journal Live
I hope that Kentucky Opera's upcoming Otello will fair as well.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Blogging problems
I am totally new at this and I am having some major questions about Feed Burners and RSS feeds. I look at some blogs like Jason Falls' and am in awe of all the "Stuff" on his page. For Example, his FIND ME HERE section
What the F is all that and how do I use it?
Then (same example) he's got his twitter messages on his site. Then he has the RSS Feed link at the top as a very cool talk bubble with the RSS logo, I can't seem to figure out how to add any of that. Of course he is in the biz, and I am a complete idiot on these things. I am learning (I hope).
Twitter is one of those things that totally confounds me. I sat at the Social Media Club meeting last month and every one was a twitter with Twitter. I signed up for Twitter and have no idea how or why to use it. I am also a new member of Digg what ever that is and am seriously thinking aobut del.icio.us because I like the sound of it, but I don't think I should spread myself too thin at this stage of the game. Then there is Techtori, who knows what that is and I did stumble upon StumbleUpon, Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I will say that I am Linkedin, MySpace is ignored, and my Facebook is embarrassing.
Any one who wants to tutor me, I am all for it.
I also found on DavidSFinch's site, a cute video on Social Media from the good people from The Common Craft.
Enjoy.
What the F is all that and how do I use it?Then (same example) he's got his twitter messages on his site. Then he has the RSS Feed link at the top as a very cool talk bubble with the RSS logo, I can't seem to figure out how to add any of that. Of course he is in the biz, and I am a complete idiot on these things. I am learning (I hope).
Twitter is one of those things that totally confounds me. I sat at the Social Media Club meeting last month and every one was a twitter with Twitter. I signed up for Twitter and have no idea how or why to use it. I am also a new member of Digg what ever that is and am seriously thinking aobut del.icio.us because I like the sound of it, but I don't think I should spread myself too thin at this stage of the game. Then there is Techtori, who knows what that is and I did stumble upon StumbleUpon, Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I will say that I am Linkedin, MySpace is ignored, and my Facebook is embarrassing.
Any one who wants to tutor me, I am all for it.
I also found on DavidSFinch's site, a cute video on Social Media from the good people from The Common Craft.
Enjoy.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Opera Star
Here is a sweet story. Brittan's version of American Idol has found another opera star. This time its a 12 year old girl. Hear her sing here.
Friday, May 30, 2008
A Convenient Opera
A new opera is in the making and expected to be at La Scala in Milan in 2011. Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" will be transformed into an opera by Italian composer Giorgio Battistelli.
Not a lot of news about this but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Here is the story from the Wall Street Journal, Image from NY mag blog.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Elijah's Kite
I learned about an opera created for school kids in 2006 about bullying. Elijah's Kite was created by a Canadian group called Tapestry and was composed by James Rolfe and writer Camyar Chai.
Elijah’s Kite is a morality tale that deals with bullying and school violence. It is written with tenderness and humour, and explores the issues of friendship, loneliness and self image. Nine year old Elijah feels alone in the school yard and is often bullied by Big Billy Brett. For comfort, Elijah brings his favourite kite to school and dreams of flying away. One day, Elijah meets a
strong new girl named Miriam who isn’t afraid of Billy and stands up to him. However, Miriam soon learns to use her new power in the peer group in a negative manner and begins bullying others herself. In the end, by developing empathy for each other and appreciating diversity, they all discover what it takes to make Elijah’s kite fly: caring and cooperation!
What a wonderful way to bring opera to students with issues that directly effect their generation. The performance I read about included a hands on art activity where students got to make kites and then launched them with the opera singers. The study guide is available on line for teachers and students.
FYI: I am still absorbing the art from Chicago, I will blog about the good the bad and the ugly when I have processed.
Elijah’s Kite is a morality tale that deals with bullying and school violence. It is written with tenderness and humour, and explores the issues of friendship, loneliness and self image. Nine year old Elijah feels alone in the school yard and is often bullied by Big Billy Brett. For comfort, Elijah brings his favourite kite to school and dreams of flying away. One day, Elijah meets astrong new girl named Miriam who isn’t afraid of Billy and stands up to him. However, Miriam soon learns to use her new power in the peer group in a negative manner and begins bullying others herself. In the end, by developing empathy for each other and appreciating diversity, they all discover what it takes to make Elijah’s kite fly: caring and cooperation!
What a wonderful way to bring opera to students with issues that directly effect their generation. The performance I read about included a hands on art activity where students got to make kites and then launched them with the opera singers. The study guide is available on line for teachers and students.
FYI: I am still absorbing the art from Chicago, I will blog about the good the bad and the ugly when I have processed.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Food Shopping and Art
I didn't finish wendesday
We ended our very jam packed day with dinner at Cafe Louis which is not the dinner with the prefix, but the very tiny french bistro that had a wonderful free range chicken. We shared the onion tart and it was lovely.
The Prefix dinner that I was so nervous about was Thursday evening. After a day at the art museum and more shopping, we went to Charle Trotters where 8 courses would have been perfect, but for some reason they decided to make our 3 deserts 5 deserts. They just kept bringing things out... It was all too good not to eat. and so we did. I will have to have K elaborate on our dinner when we get back, but as we are paying for internet minutes, this is just a brief sketch of our time.
I must move on to last night. Friday. All day SHOPPING. got great deals at Filenes and Ann taylor but we went to Nordstroms, and some huge shopping area where they had a million different bathroom sinks. We found this place because of a gallery that K was interested in, we found it and it was more of an antiqe shop on the sixth floor of a30 some odd floor ware house market place. It seemed like the entire place was dedicated to kitchens and bathrooms with the occasional furniture place here and there. It totally confused us both.
We went past the Cheezbooga, cheezebooga, cheezbooga place, Billy Goat Strut (?) made famous by the guys on Saturday Night Live.
Nordstroms was having a great sale, and I TRIED to buy the Kate Spades but even on sale they were $160. I am sure to some that is a great price for Kate Spade ballet flats, but with a non profit salary, I must get more out of my money and DID I ever!! our next stop was Ann Taylor where I got a suit & two pair of pants for $80. Not bad.
On our way back to the hotel, K wanted to stop at one last gallery. He purchaced a giclee of Frank Senatra for his office, and we looked at two floral pieces by a Parisian painter for the living room. K was more inclined for her work than Wednesday's wire. I don't have all the information on the artist yet. So I will blog about her when we get back.
Our dinner last night was very different. We took the advice of Larry Levine, who said we should go to Gennero's. Its a small mom and pop shop in little italy with authentic italian food. Thats what we were looking for and we found it. Jeff our waiter reminded us of Jimmy Fallon. the "gravy" was smokey and light at the same time. Good choice. We went from there to POP's for Jazz and Champagne. Odd combo but it worked well. K & I talked about the possibility of having such a place in Kentucky. It wouldnt work, but it would be nice.
We made it through one set of the Jazz quartet and one bottle of bubbly and I was cooked.
We will be leaving today. There is a parade that we hope won't get in the way of our departure. Randy also let me know that the Gay Lether convention is in town this weekend. We tried to see the piano player at the Knickerbocker that my brother reccomeneded and the place was filled to capacity with bears. Ha ha. Good times.
We ended our very jam packed day with dinner at Cafe Louis which is not the dinner with the prefix, but the very tiny french bistro that had a wonderful free range chicken. We shared the onion tart and it was lovely.
The Prefix dinner that I was so nervous about was Thursday evening. After a day at the art museum and more shopping, we went to Charle Trotters where 8 courses would have been perfect, but for some reason they decided to make our 3 deserts 5 deserts. They just kept bringing things out... It was all too good not to eat. and so we did. I will have to have K elaborate on our dinner when we get back, but as we are paying for internet minutes, this is just a brief sketch of our time.
I must move on to last night. Friday. All day SHOPPING. got great deals at Filenes and Ann taylor but we went to Nordstroms, and some huge shopping area where they had a million different bathroom sinks. We found this place because of a gallery that K was interested in, we found it and it was more of an antiqe shop on the sixth floor of a30 some odd floor ware house market place. It seemed like the entire place was dedicated to kitchens and bathrooms with the occasional furniture place here and there. It totally confused us both.
We went past the Cheezbooga, cheezebooga, cheezbooga place, Billy Goat Strut (?) made famous by the guys on Saturday Night Live.
Nordstroms was having a great sale, and I TRIED to buy the Kate Spades but even on sale they were $160. I am sure to some that is a great price for Kate Spade ballet flats, but with a non profit salary, I must get more out of my money and DID I ever!! our next stop was Ann Taylor where I got a suit & two pair of pants for $80. Not bad.
On our way back to the hotel, K wanted to stop at one last gallery. He purchaced a giclee of Frank Senatra for his office, and we looked at two floral pieces by a Parisian painter for the living room. K was more inclined for her work than Wednesday's wire. I don't have all the information on the artist yet. So I will blog about her when we get back.
Our dinner last night was very different. We took the advice of Larry Levine, who said we should go to Gennero's. Its a small mom and pop shop in little italy with authentic italian food. Thats what we were looking for and we found it. Jeff our waiter reminded us of Jimmy Fallon. the "gravy" was smokey and light at the same time. Good choice. We went from there to POP's for Jazz and Champagne. Odd combo but it worked well. K & I talked about the possibility of having such a place in Kentucky. It wouldnt work, but it would be nice.
We made it through one set of the Jazz quartet and one bottle of bubbly and I was cooked.
We will be leaving today. There is a parade that we hope won't get in the way of our departure. Randy also let me know that the Gay Lether convention is in town this weekend. We tried to see the piano player at the Knickerbocker that my brother reccomeneded and the place was filled to capacity with bears. Ha ha. Good times.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Chicago
WOW what a great city! Chicago has great art and great food. We have had full days of both.
Wednesday, we checked into the Drake Hotel. It is very similar to the Sealbach in Louisville. An older plalce that has seen better days, but they have great bellservices and they try to anticipate your every need. Immediatly after check in, we went to Filene's basement where shopping ensued. We both made modest purchaces with the promise that we would return for more damage. We went to lunch at Ralph Lauren where we shared the Crab Louis and the Lobster Club both of which were well complimented by the champaigne. After lunch we returned to the room to drop off our wares and headed out again to find art, and boy did we ever.
We headed to the gallery district in the 300 block of Superior Street. We probably hit about a dozen galleries and saw art that ranged from amazing to just plain awful. Three places hit the high marks for me. Melanee Cooper Gallery at 740 North Frankin had an unusual artist who was using frescos with oil. A very interesting effect when you add a high gloss enamel on top. The intense colors and the simple designs gave me the inital impression of enamals. In the office off to the side I saw a few piceces from the previous show of Allen Bently. The first one that caught my eye was "Wire". It is a long thin piece with a bright red back ground and dancers viewed from the top. These are great fun and make me want to dance.
Some other highlights include the Habatat Galleries Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg pieces were wonderful uses of color light and line with use of glass balls heavy wire.
Gabriela Morawetz was another favorite. Her Egospheres were at maya polsky gallery. They were paintings with a
Wednesday, we checked into the Drake Hotel. It is very similar to the Sealbach in Louisville. An older plalce that has seen better days, but they have great bellservices and they try to anticipate your every need. Immediatly after check in, we went to Filene's basement where shopping ensued. We both made modest purchaces with the promise that we would return for more damage. We went to lunch at Ralph Lauren where we shared the Crab Louis and the Lobster Club both of which were well complimented by the champaigne. After lunch we returned to the room to drop off our wares and headed out again to find art, and boy did we ever.
We headed to the gallery district in the 300 block of Superior Street. We probably hit about a dozen galleries and saw art that ranged from amazing to just plain awful. Three places hit the high marks for me. Melanee Cooper Gallery at 740 North Frankin had an unusual artist who was using frescos with oil. A very interesting effect when you add a high gloss enamel on top. The intense colors and the simple designs gave me the inital impression of enamals. In the office off to the side I saw a few piceces from the previous show of Allen Bently. The first one that caught my eye was "Wire". It is a long thin piece with a bright red back ground and dancers viewed from the top. These are great fun and make me want to dance.
Some other highlights include the Habatat Galleries Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg pieces were wonderful uses of color light and line with use of glass balls heavy wire.
Gabriela Morawetz was another favorite. Her Egospheres were at maya polsky gallery. They were paintings with a
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
