Arts Notes June 16, 2006
Toolbox
Published: June 16, 2006
Labadie suddenly quits Montreal Opera
MONTREAL — The Opéra de Montréal recently announced an agreement with its artistic director, Bernard Labadie, to amend his contract so that it will expire on Aug. 31, 2006. The current financial constraints of the Opéra de Montréal and more specifically their impact on the artistic project that attracted him to the Opéra de Montréal were important factors leading to his decision.
After four years as the artistic director of Opéra de Montréal, Bernard Labadie also wished, for personal reasons, to reduce his professional activity somewhat and to concentrate his efforts on his career as a conductor.
Under the new agreement, Labadie will continue to act as conductor for the presentation of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in the spring of 2007, together with stage director René Richard Cyr. He will also support the artistic development of the Opéra de Montréal under specific mandates that could be accorded to him.
Photography gift
MIDDLEBURY – The Middlebury College Museum of Art announced this week that it has received a significant gift of contemporary photography. With the support of Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the Museum has acquired a complete portfolio of recent work by noted American photographer Robert Adams titled "Turning Back: A Photographic Journal of Re-exploration," which comprises a suite of 164 photographs. The suite is the last of only three editions that Adams has printed. The first two editions are in the collections of Yale University and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, respectively.
Inspired by the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806), Adams examined the same Oregon landscape that the explorers described as a vast forest of ancient evergreens. The result, Turning Back, is a portfolio of images that provides a haunting commentary on the ambiguous and disturbing relationship America has with its forests. While many of the images are an indictment of landscape abuse, others hint at nature's resilience and provide a glimmer of promise for the future.
The gift also includes funds to support exhibition and programming efforts related to the Turning Back portfolio. Turning Back will be exhibited starting in January of 2007 in the Museum's Christian A. Johnson Gallery.
The Middlebury College Museum of Art is free and open to the public Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It is closed Mondays. The Museum is accessible to people with varying disabilities. For further information, please call (802) 443-5007 or TTY (802) 443-3155, or visit the Museum's Web site at www.middlebury.edu/museum.
Summer at the Bundy
WAITSFIELD – The Bundy Center for the Arts will present several diverse and entertaining educational opportunities for children this summer.
On July 24-28 there will be a "World Cultures Arts" Camp from 9:30 am to 3 daily for kids 9-13 years old. Each day will feature a different visiting artist or musician, including Je Kelu African Drumming & Dance, Ukrainian Egg Painting, American Folk Art Braided Rugs, African Mask Making with Art Costa, and others. Activities will include hands-on creation of art, music, dance, and theater to explore customs and traditions of many different countries. Campers should bring a lunch and beverage each day. The camp fee is $235 with advanced registration by July 1; $250 after July 1.
On Aug. 19 and 20, singer-songwriter Rebecca Martin will return to the Bundy with her unique pop-jazz sound, accompanied by Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill McHenry on tenor saxophone. Martin was one of 12 singers selected in Downbeat Magazine's 53rd Annual Critics Poll as a "Rising Star Female Vocalist". Grenadier has performed and recorded with John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau and Bill Stewart, among others, and McHenry has recorded over a dozen albums, five of which have been listed on the New York Times alternative top-ten list. A concert on Aug. 19 will begin at 8 pm, and two clinics for songwriters and musicians will take place on Aug. 20. Martin will conduct a clinic from 12 – 2 pm for ages 9 to adult focusing on the importance of composing the music that you hear and the words that come to you. The cost is $35. Grenadier and McHenry will present a clinic 2:30 to 4:30 for ages 14 to adult on jazz harmony, basic and advanced techniques to clearly hear the different modes of the scale, and to play what you hear. The two will also discuss the dynamics of group improvisation including how to achieve a group sound, listening, and making the most of your rehearsal time. The cost is $85.
Contact Ruth Ann Pattee at the Bundy Center for the Arts, (802) 496-4781, ext. 26, or e-mail info@bundycfa.org. For directions to the Bundy or more program information, go to www.bundycfa.org.
36