May 2, 2008

Part 1:

The Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City will be the site of a memorial service for the crew of the Cedarville on May 10th at 2:00 p.m.  This bell ringing ceremony is free and open to the public.  All of the names of the crew members who died when the Cedarville was struck by a Norwegian vessel, just two miles east of the Mackinac Bridge on May 7, 1965, will be read.  Surviving crewmember, David M. Erickson, will give a brief history of the Cedarville.  For further information please call 989-734-0706.

The Creative Spirit Center in Midland will present an evening with poets Mariela Griffor and Judith Kerman on May 13th at 7:00 p.m.  Mariela Griffor is the Honorary Consul of Chile for Michigan and founder of the Institute for Creative Writers at Wayne State University.  Judith Kerman has translated poetry and fiction of contemporary Dominican women and also edited the anthology Retrofitting Blade Runner:  Issues in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?  The women will share their poetry and their stories.  The Creative Spirit Center asks that you register by May 12th.  For information call 989-837-1885.

Internationally-acclaimed cellist, Yo-Yo Ma will be in concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, May 13th, at 8:00 p.m. at Orchestra Hall in Detroit.  A humanoid robot named Asimo will conduct the orchestra’s first selection, “Impossible Dream” to focus attention on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s nationally acclaimed music program for young people.  Thomas Wilkins will conduct the rest of the evening.  For ticket information call 313-576-5111.

If your non-profit arts group would like to be considered for “Arts Almanac”, fax Maxine Davis detailed information three weeks prior to your concert, exhibition, play, festival or speaker at 989-774-1890.

Today’s art quote is by African American poet Nikki Giovanni, born in 1943, on writing:

“Writers don’t write from experience…if you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems.  Writers write from empathy.”

Part 2:

Dr. Christopher Cock will conduct a 2nd Annual Bach Week concert at St. Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth on May 9th at 8:00 p.m.  The Festival Orchestra and soloists will perform J.S. Bach “Brandenburg Concerto #1,” “Cantata #82” for Bass Solo and “Cantata #51” for Soprano Solo.  For further information call 989-652-6141.

The Gentlemen Artists Sketching Society is exhibiting fifty pastels and watercolors by artists Tom Marshall, Ken Hatfield, Carl Forslund and Dave Bigelow now until May 31st at the Sault Area Arts Center in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan.  All of the art work was created during plein air sketching sessions.  The four artist friends have been sketching outdoors together since 2005.  For Art Center hours call 906-635-1312.

The 11th Annual Grove Music Festival in Midland will present a performance by the Fusion Piano Trio on May 9th at 8:00 p.m. in Chapel Lane Presbyterian Church.  The evening’s program will include music by Joseph Haydn, Felix Mendelssohn and Arthur Foote.  Members of this chamber trio are Detroit pianist Pauline Martin, Detroit Symphony Orchestra violinist Marian Tanau and DSO principal cellist Robert deMaine.  For ticket information please contact festival director Lois Palen at 989-631-0644.  A second concert on May 16th will feature the Phoenix String Quartet.

Some of the 2008 Michigan Notable Book Authors will gather at the Border Liberty Store in Ann Arbor on May 14th at 7:00 p.m. as part of the Ann Arbor Book Festival.  The six authors and their books include Mike Fornes, author of Mackinac Bridge: A 50 Year Chronicle, 1957-2007; Ted Kluck, author of Paper Tiger: One Athlete’s Journey to the Underbelly of Pro Football; Tyree Guyton, author of Connecting the Dot: Tyree Guyton’s Heidelberg Project; John Otterbacher, author of Sailing Grace; Eric Villegas, author of Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas and Craig McDonald representing Diane Maddex, author of Alden B. Dow: Midwestern Modern.  For further information call 734-668-7652.

If your non-profit arts group would like to be considered for “Arts Almanac”, fax Maxine Davis detailed information three weeks prior to your concert, exhibition, play, festival or speaker at 989-774-1890.

Today’s art quote is by Paul Cezanne, born in 1839 and died in 1906, on plein air sketching:

“All pictures painted inside in the studio will never be as good as the things done outside.”

This is Sue Ann Martin for Arts Almanac.

April 25, 2008

Part 1:

The Prairie Winds will be in concert at the Milliken Auditorium, Dennos Museum Center, in Traverse City on May 4th at 3:00 p.m.  The quintet will play “Simple Gifts” from Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, “Quintet Op. 88, No. 2” by Anton Reicha, “Three Sea Shanties” by Malcolm Arnold and “Gavotte and 6 Doubles” by Jean-Philippe Rameau.  The Prairie Winds, together since 1996, is known for its technical facility and tone qualities.  For ticket information call the Dennos at 231-995-1553.

The Music Society’s Youth Honor Choirs will present a Spring Concert on Wednesday, May 7th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Midland Center for the Arts.  The concert will feature 3rd to 8th grade choirs under the direction of Linda Hohner, Tracey Kempsell and Jennifer Breneman.  The music will include “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” “Rise, Shine, Little Light” and “Pacem Blessing.”  For ticket information call the Midland Center for the Arts at 989-631-8250.

An eleven member handbell choir, The Sunrise Ringers, will present two concerts in collaboration with local choirs.  The concerts are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on May 4th at St. Anne Catholic Church in Harrisville and on May 9th at Lincoln United Methodist Church in Lincoln.  Music will include an Arietta by Mozart, “Morning” by Edvard Grieg, “Plink, Plank, Plunk” by Leroy Anderson, a medley of hymns entitled “The Glory of the Cross” and other spiritual pieces.  A free will offering will be received at both concerts.  For further information call 989-736-3025.

If your non-profit arts group would like to be considered for “Arts Almanac”, fax Maxine Davis detailed information three weeks prior to your concert, exhibition, play, festival or speaker at 989-774-1890.

Today’s art quote is by American author and humorist Mark Twain, born in 1835 and died in 1910, on creativity:

“We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.”

This is Sue Ann Martin for Arts Almanac.

Part 2:

“Seussical”, the family version of the Broadway celebration of the stories of Dr. Seuss, will be presented on May 2nd at 10:00 a.m. at the Temple Theatre in Saginaw.  This Theatreworks USA production out of New York City, includes 13 actors in the much loved roles of Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz and Maysie La Bird.  For ticket information call 800-497-5007

The Little Traverse Civic Theatre will present Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey on May 8th-11th and May 15th-18th.  The comedy is set in 1930 England and revolves around a would-be psychic medium, a séance and the return of the ghost of the first wife of the lead character.  For ticket information and performance times please call 231-348-1850. 

The Alpena Community College will present author Rick Straus, a retiree of the United States Foreign Service, on May 1st at 6:30 p.m.   The topic of his speech is “Prisoners of War and Torture.”  Straus is the author of the book The Anguish of Surrender:  Japanese POWs of World War II.  The speech is sponsored by the Association of Lifelong Learners at Alpena Community College and will take place in Besser Technical Center 126.  For further information please call the Alpena Community College at 989-358-7335.                      .
           
Michigan’s own Three Men and a Tenor will perform an evening of music, comedy and high energy on May 8th at 7:30 p.m. in the Alpena High School Auditorium.  The group first sang together in 1992 and has performed with the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Bob Newhart and Dionne Warwick.  For ticket information call the Thunder Bay Arts Council at 989-356-6678.

If your non-profit arts group would like to be considered for “Arts Almanac”, fax Maxine Davis detailed information three weeks prior to your concert, exhibition, play, festival or speaker at 989-774-1890.

Today’s art quote is by American author Henry Van Dyke, born in 1852 and died in 1933:
“Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best.”

This is Sue Ann Martin for Arts Almanac.