INTERVIEW: Back to the B Minor Mass: The Bach Society of Minnesota’s Centerpiece Arts Music by Basil Considine - May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 The Bach Society of Minnesota's Artistic Director Matthias Maute conducts a performance of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis in 2021. Rock musicians have a notoriously short average lifespan (43.6 years). The average non-profit performing arts organization's lifespan is even shorter. Most are lucky to
INTERVIEW: Amy Quanbeck and Being a Minnesotan in the Moulin Rouge Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 Conor Ryan (as Christian) and Courtney Reed (as Satine) star in the North American Tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis next week. Photo by Matthew Murphy. On May 18, 2001, a film called Moulin Rouge opened at the North American box office. Directed and
FEATURE: Strumming a Richer Tune at DalekoArts in Once Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - May 7, 2022May 14, 2022 Singer-actor-dancer-instrumentalists Leslie Vincent (left) and Chris Paulson (right) star in DalekoArts' production of Once, now playing in New Prague, MN. Photo courtesy of DalekoArts. "Write what you know." It's one of the most common pieces of advice given to poets, novelists, songwriters, and other wielders of writing. To that, one might
PREVIEW: Black Violin’s Coming Back Arts Music by Basil Considine - May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 Black Violin will return to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN on Friday, June 17. In retrospect, "Impossible" was perhaps not the wisest name for Black Violin's 2022 tour. The celebrated musical duo of violist Wil B and violinist Kev Marcus regularly smashes through genre boundaries,
PHOTOS: Open Window Theatre’s Leaving Iowa Arts Theatre by Amy Donahue - May 2, 2022May 2, 2022 The cast of Open Window Theatre's production of Leaving Iowa, which opened April 29 in Inver Grove Heights, MN. Photo by Kayla Ninnemann. There is a great population reshuffling going on in the United States. In 2020 and 2021, numerous households fled the big cities for larger in-door spaces and outdoor
PREVIEW: Shostakovich, Britten, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Arts Music by Basil Considine - April 30, 2022April 30, 2022 The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2015. Photo by Ash & James Photography. How long does it take to learn a cello concerto? If you were Mstislav Rostropovich, the Soviet cellist for whom Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Cello Concerto No. 1, the answer is "4 days, memorization included". Even at just
NEWS: CAORC Announces 2022 Multi-Country Research Fellows Arts by Twin Cities Arts Reader - April 26, 2022 The Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) announced today the 2022 award recipients for its Multi-Country Research Fellowship and the Mary Ellen Lane Multi-Country Travel Award. Now in its 29th year, the Multi-Country Research Fellowship supports advanced regional and trans-regional research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural
PREVIEW: The Return of the Spotlight Showcase (Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre by Amy Donahue - April 24, 2022April 24, 2022 A promotional image for the Hennepin Theatre Trust's Spotlight Education Spotlight Showcase event. The Spotlight Showcase, Minnesota high school theater’s biggest night, returns to the historic State Theatre in Minneapolis this June. This two-evening affair organized by the Hennepin Theatre Trust unites high school theater students from across the state for
REVIEW: Remembering, Forgetting and Battling Impunity in Atacama (Full Circle Theater) Arts Theatre by Kit Bix - April 23, 2022April 23, 2022 Pedro R. Bayon and Lara Trujillo star in Full Circle Theater's production of Atacama, now playing at Park Square Theatre in Saint Paul, MN. The mission of the Full Circle Theater, the program reminds us, is “to produce heartfelt, groundbreaking theater that artfully addresses issues of diversity and social justice for
REVIEW: Straighten Up and Fly Right!: John Pizzarelli at The Dakota Arts Music by Brian Bix - April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 Three looks at singer John Pizzarelli (color) with his bandmates pianist Isaiah J. Thompson (center-bottom) and bassist Mike Karn (center-top). The Dakota was packed last night with hard-core John Pizzarelli fans. Many knew of Pizzarelli through his radio show with his wife Radio Deluxe), followed his regular streaming show It’s