OKLAHOMA FESTIVAL BALLET
FEATURES WORLD PREMIERE
BALLET AT OU SEPT. 28 AND 30TH

Tribute Set to Maya Angelou’s Poem, Still I Rise

   

“Kieran King, a ballet performance senior at OU School of Dance and member of Oklahoma Festival Ballet”

photo by Shevaun Williams

(NORMAN, OKLA.)— An evening of grand and diverse ballet will be presented by the School of Dance and University Theatre with this season’s production of Oklahoma Festival Ballet at the University of Oklahoma featuring choreography by George Balanchine, Alejandro Cerrudo, Amy Hall Garner and Nilas Martins.

Oklahoma Festival Ballet opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, with additional performances scheduled at 8 p.m. Sept. 23, 27 and 28, and 3 p.m. Sept. 23 and 30. All performances will be held in the Elsie C. Brackett Theatre, 563 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus. This production is suitable for all audiences.

"We are excited to present a diverse and dynamic array of works on the Brackett stage here at OU,” states Michael Bearden, School of Dance director. “Maya Angelou's life and words inspired so many people across the nation and the world. It is our pleasure to honor her though the art form of Dance and in turn to hopefully inspire our community in the process."

This year’s Oklahoma Festival Ballet répétiteurs are Jan Fugit, Jeremy Lindberg,  nd Jamy Meek; and ballet masters are Boyko Dossev and Rebecca Herrin.  Choreographer Nilas Martins staged his version of Les Noces for Oklahoma Festival Ballet.

Lickety Split is choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo, an internationally acclaimed resident choreographer for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Set to the music of Devendra Banhart, this work was originally created on the dancers of Hubbard Street and has been a crowd favorite across the nation ever since. 

Concerto Barocco, one of George Balanchine's signature works, is set to Johann Sebastian Bach's “Concerto in D minor” for two violins. Originally created on the students of the School of American Ballet in New York City in 1941, this ballet has since been performed countless times across the globe. 

2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Maya Angelou's book "And Still I Rise." In honor of this great literary work, the School of Dance has commissioned a new work to be created by African-American choreographer Amy Hall Garner. Her work I Rise promises to be a dynamic and powerful interpretation of this famous poem. 

 Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces originally premiered in Paris, 1923. World renowned choreographer Nilas Martins’ version of Les Noces debuted in 2007 at the Santander International Festival in Santander, Spain.  This is the first performance of the ballet in the U.S.

The cast for the production includes School of Dance students Alison Ansinn, Kara Bannister, Cecilia Benoit, Alexandra Brewster, Olivia Brooks, Micah Bullard, Emma Capen, Catherine Cobb, Emily Damiani, Aiden Donovan, Stephanie Eggars, Stephanie Gentry, Sydney Giles, Kendall Glasgow, Sienna Grace, Isaac Hileman, Anna Huffman, Joni Keaton, Kieran King, Noah Klarck, Hannah Knorr, Mia Koshansky, Jessica Landers, Hannah LeComte, Alexis Leffel, Jessica Liske, Sara Mack, Lauren Martinez, Owen Materne, Molly McGuerty, Breanna Mitchell, Lacey Moss, Amelia Murray, Emily Nichols, Julia Payne, Michelle Peterson, Laura Pratt, Carlie Preskitt, Justin Rainey, Abigayle Reiber, Korie Richardson, Chiara Ruff, Julie Russel, Allie Smith, Sydney Swearinger, Cameron Terry, Emily Turpin, Emmy Wildermuth, Katie Wolfe and Caroline Young.

 

The design staff includes Jon Young, scenic designer; Mike Buchwald, Benjamin Burton, Lloyd Cracknell, Rebecca Shouse, costume designers; and Olivia DeLuca, lighting and media designer. The production staff consists of Michael Bearden, artistic director; Caroline Boyd, stage manager; Jeff Baldwin, technical director; Kasey Allee-Foremen, associate producer; and Mary Margaret Holt, producer.

 

Advance purchase tickets for Oklahoma Festival Ballet are $25 for adult; $20 for senior adult, OU employee and military; and $10 for student, plus processing fee. Tickets at the door are $35 for adult and $15 for student, cash or check only.  A 2-for-1 student ticket special is offered for the Thursday, Sept. 27 performance. Students must present student ID for this offer.

 

Tickets also may be purchased online at theatre.ou.edu, by calling (405) 325-4101 or visiting the OU Fine Arts Box Office in the Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd St.

For accommodations, please call the OU Fine Arts Box Office at (405) 325-4101.

BRIGHTMUSIC CHAMBER
ENSEMBLE CONTERT 1
"VOILA: VOILA!"
tUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 7:30 P.M.

Concert 1

“Voilà:  Viola!”

Tuesday, September 25, 2018, 7:30 pm
St. Paul’s Cathedral
127 NW 7th Street (at Robinson)

­­­­­­­­­­Voilà!  A remarkably versatile French word meaning, among other things,  Look!  See!  Here it is!   And so, Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble proudly presents “Voilà: Viola!” an evening of viola in the premier of its 2018-19 season, featuring special guest violist Miles Hoffman on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.  Hoffman will join Ensemble musicians in works by contemporary American Lowell Liebermann, German romantic composer Max Bruch, and classical-era Austrian W. A. Mozart.  Hoffman, one of America’s best-known violists, is the host of NPR’s A Minute with Miles.  Come and treat yourself to about 90 minutes with Miles!

 

Guest Artist  

Miles Hoffman, best known for his work with NPR, including “A Minute with Miles” and “Performance Today,” is a graduate of Yale University and The Juilliard School.  He is the violist and artistic director of the American Chamber Players and the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chamber Music at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia.  So, how’s your understanding of classical music?  Professor Miles has some thoughts on that.  Click here.   

The works on the program are: 

• Lowell Liebermann, Trio for Clarinet, Viola & Piano
• Max Bruch, Selection of Five Pieces from “Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola & Piano
• W.A. Mozart, String Quintet in G Minor, K.516 (for two violins, two violas & cello)

 
 

Music Trivia Quiz

So how well DO you know the instruments of the orchestra?  Everyone is familiar with the treble clef, but can you name the member of the violin family that plays primarily in the alto clef, pictured at left?  Hint:  This mystery instrument will make an appearance in Concert 1.   Answer below.
 

Musicians appearing:

Gregory Lee and Katrin Stamatis (violin), Miles Hoffman and Mark Neumann (viola), Jonathan Ruck (cello), Chad Burrow (clarinet), and Amy I-Lin Cheng (piano)

The performance will take place at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 127 NW 7th Street (at Robinson).  Individual concert admission is $20 per ticket.  Children, students and active-duty military personnel are admitted free with ID.  More information about this concert is available on Brightmusic’s website at www.brightmusic.org.

 

BrightNews Briefs

Season ticket price increase: You may have already noticed that season subscriptions are now $100 per person.  This is the first time we have raised the cost of a season membership since we began to offer them in 2011, and we were reluctant to increase prices now.  To insure the financial security and longevity of Brightmusic, however, an increase is necessary.  That still comes out to only $11.11 per concert, a remarkable value considering the virtuosity of the musicians and the caliber of the performances.  We hope you will understand and continue to support Brightmusic.  By the way, under current tax law, the membership payment itself is not tax deductible.  Any over-and-above contribution continues to qualify as a deductible charitable contribution for tax purposes.  Please be generous and consider an over-and-above contribution.
 

"VICTORIAN RADICALS"
MAKES FIRST US STOP
IN OKC AT OKCMOA

Exhibition from world-renowned Birmingham collection opens Oct. 13 at OKCMOA

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will be the first United States venue to host “Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement.” The exhibition opens Oct. 13, 2018 and runs through Jan. 6, 2019. Organized by the American Federation of Arts in collaboration with Birmingham Museums Trust, the exhibition’s objects are drawn from the outstanding collection of the city of Birmingham, United Kingdom and will feature 144 works—many of which have never been exhibited outside the UK—to illuminate this dynamic period of British art. "The city of Birmingham’s Pre-Raphaelite collection is widely regarded as one of the best in the world," said OKCMOA director of curatorial affairs, Dr. Michael Anderson. "We are honored to be the first museum in the country to showcase part of this incredible collection. The works in this exhibition are not only beautiful, with incredible detail and rich, vibrant colors, but they also represent an important deviation from the trends of the time. The artists’ rebellion against the effects of industrialization and machine-made artifacts and their return to valuing the handmade is something I think continues to resonate today.” “We are pleased to launch the national tour of 'Victorian Radicals' at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and look forward to connecting audiences across the United States with this important presentation of treasures from the largest Pre-Raphaelite collection in the world,” said Pauline Willis, director & CEO of the American Federation of Arts. “'Victorian Radicals' investigates the prescient concerns among artists of the time, including the relationship between technological transformation and the arts, in an exhibition that is replete with both visual luxuriance and scholarly depth.” Toby Watley, director of collections at Birmingham Museums Trust, said, “This is Birmingham Museums Trust’s largest ever touring exhibition. It will bring the story of the city’s pioneering artistic figures to America, for the first time in this depth: from the progressive work of the Pre-Raphaelites to the inspiring designs of the Arts and Crafts movement.” “Victorian Radicals” highlights the second half of the 19th century, when three generations of young, rebellious artists and designers revolutionized the visual arts in Britain by engaging with and challenging the new industrial world around them. Featuring works by Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddall, the exhibition showcases a radical artistic and social vision whose inspiration was in the pre-industrial past. In addition to paintings and drawings, “Victorian Radicals” includes sculpture, jewelry, pottery, stained glass, glasswork, garments, pamphlets, embroidery and metalwork. The vast array of works included showcases the full spectrum of avant-garde practices during the Victorian period. OKCMOA has organized an exhibition from its permanent collection, “Masterworks of British Painting” to complement the works on view in “Victorian Radicals.” “Masterworks of British Painting” presents highlights from OKCMOA’s collection of British works, including many artists who studied at the Royal Academy. A full list of programming and events, including newly scheduled public tours, is available on the Museum’s website, okcmoa.com. Additional programming highlights include a lecture by Dr. Julie Codell, professor of art history at Arizona State University, and Studio Sunday art-making activities on Oct. 14 and Dec. 30. Following its stop at OKCMOA, “Victorian Radicals” will travel to Florida, Washington, Texas, Connecticut, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

About the Exhibition “Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement” is organized by the American Federation of Arts and Birmingham Museums Trust. This exhibition is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by Clare McKeon and the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation.  Victorian Radicals is co-curated by Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor and Chair of the History of Art at Yale University; Martin Ellis, freelance curator, lecturer, and broadcaster who was the Curator of Applied Art at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for many years; and Victoria Osborne, Curator of Fine Art for Birmingham Museums Trust, specializing in British nineteenth-century works on paper.

About the American Federation of Arts

The American Federation of Arts is the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.

About the Birmingham Museums Trust

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is operated by Birmingham Museums Trust, an independent charity that manages the city’s museum collection and venues on behalf of Birmingham City Council. It uses the collection of around 1,000,000 objects to provide a wide range of arts, cultural and historical experiences, events and activities that deliver accessible learning, creativity and enjoyment for citizens and visitors to the city.

About the Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Accredited by the American Association of Museums and a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art serves over 125,000 visitors annually from all fifty states and thirty foreign countries and presents exhibitions from prestigious museums throughout the world. The Museum’s permanent collection covers a period of five centuries with strengths in European and American art from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries, contemporary art and one of the world’s largest public collections of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. The Museum boasts the region’s premier repertory cinema, which screens the finest international, independent and classic films. Amenities include the Museum Store, the Roof Terrace and the Museum Cafe, a full-service restaurant, offering lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, a full bar and catering services. For more information, visit okcmoa.com. 

‌

ART MOVES AT THE
OKLAHOMA STATE FAIR
THIS WEEK FROM NOON - 1 P.M.

Monday, September 17

Casey and Minna, acoustic folk

State Fair of Oklahoma 

(Creative Arts),

Noon-1PM

Since 2011 Oklahoma City band, Casey & Minna, have delivered a happy folk & fiddle style with strong rhythms, pretty melodies and a splash of singing. In 2015 Casey & Minna became a family band with the fantastic addition of thirteen year old son, August, on tin whistle (when he's not in school.) They play folk tunes from around the world and home, plus contemporary pop, oldies, and original music. Songs interpreted in creative ways and improvisation make listening fun. Like Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good."

Tuesday, September 18

Jason Combs and Kyle Ried

jazz guitar duo

State Fair of Oklahoma

(Creative Arts) Noon-1PM

Jason (guitarist at The Savoy Trio) and Kyle (western swing connoisseur) join forces for an afternoon of jazz guitar guaranteed to leave you thrilled!

Wednesday, September 19

Pierce-Hart,

traditional Celtic

State Fair of Oklahoma

(Creative Arts) Noon-1PM

Pierce-Hart carries the listener to exciting new places, creating unique and heartfelt expressions blending musical forms and styles. Susan is a mom, a teacher, and an accomplished musician in multiple genres. She holds a master's degree in music. Tim, a guitarist of thirty years, has traveled the world in the United States Air Force and now serves as a consultant to the University of Oklahoma.

Thursday, September 20

Erica Morris, live painting demo

Downtown Library, Noon-1PM

Join us as we welcome this Edmond Oklahoman artist. Her works depict vivid textures derived from common place textiles!

Friday, September 21

Ken Pomeroy, folk songwriter

State Fair of Oklahoma

(Creative Arts) Noon-1PM

Ken is a 15 year old singer/songwriter with a Folk Americana sound. Transcending her age, Ken has a unique vocal quality that blends smoothly with her heartfelt lyrics. Ken began singing, writing songs, and playing the Baritone ukulele at age 9. She quickly learned to play the Concert and Soprano Ukulele, and at age 10 began playing guitar. Every year she is a regular at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival playing Lou's Rocky Road Tavern stage.

 maps & more details »

Erica Morris "Seduction of Power" oil on canvas

Ken Pomeroy

Check out our September  Schedule!

Quick Links

More info on Art Moves

Performer/Artist Application

Follow Art Moves @artscouncilokc #artmovesokc

BRIGHTMUSIC CHAMPBER
ENSEMBER ANNOUNCES ITS
2018-19 CONCERT SEASON

Brightmusic Society of
Oklahoma Announces its
2018-19 Concert Season

 

Oklahoma City’s premier chamber ensemble celebrates its 16th year.

The Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma announces the 2018-19 concert season of the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble, its 16th as Oklahoma City’s premier chamber music ensemble. Five regular-season concerts and a four-concert Summer Chamber Music Festival will be presented in Oklahoma City’s beautiful and historic St. Paul’s Cathedral, recognized for its acoustic richness.
Photo credit: www.performingartsphotos.com

 

Old Masters and New

Artistic Directors Chad Burrow and Amy I-Lin Cheng have planned an engaging season featuring old masters, such as Mozart and Beethoven, energized by 19th- and 20th- century composers, such as Max Bruch and Sergei Rachmaninoff, with a few contemporaries thrown in for good measure.   

Guest Artists

   

Two exciting guest artists will take the stage with the Ensemble this season:  Violist Miles Hoffman and violinist Aaron Berofsky.   Hoffman, perhaps best known for his work with NPR, including “A Minute with Miles” and “Performance Today,” will appear in Concert 1 with the Brightmusic musicians.  Hoffman is a graduate of Yale University and the Juilliard School.  He is the violist and artistic director of the American Chamber Players and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chamber Music at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University of Georgia.   In Concert 2 we will hear acclaimed violinist Aaron Berofsky, professor of violin at University of Michigan and a performing and recording artist who has toured extensively in the United States and abroad.  Berofsky, who has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today, is a notable interpreter of Beethoven’s violin works and will join the ensemble in presentation of works by the German master in an all-Beethoven program. 

Music Trivia Quiz

A work on this season’s program is a perennial favorite among serious music fans as well as many who are only casually acquainted with the classics.  Its given title means “a Little Serenade,” but it is better known by its German title. It remains after 200 years one of the Austrian composer’s most popular works.  It was said, “Even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen.” (Hildescheimer) Do you know its German title?  If you need a hint:  It is translated into English literally as “A Little Night Music.” 

 

Season Overview

Concert 1 - Sept. 25  7:30 pm “Voilà: Viola” will feature works spanning three centuries and featuring NPR’s Miles Hoffman (“A Minute with Miles”) on viola in a trio by Lowell Liebermann, short pieces for clarinet, viola and piano by Max Bruch and Mozart’s String Quintet in G major for two violins, two violas and cello. Six Brightmusic Ensemble members will join Mr. Hoffman in the season premier.
Photo:  www.performingartsphotos.com  

Concert 2 - Oct. 30 7:30 pm “Beethoven’s Vienna” celebrates the music that took the Austrian capitol by storm in the late 18th- and early 19th- centuries. This concert features a work from each of Beethoven’s three compositional periods, illustrating the evolution of one of history’s most influential composers.  In performance with the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble will be renowned violinist Aaron Berofsky in the early-period “Spring” Sonata, the middle-period “Ghost” trio and a set of late variations. 

Concert 3 - Jan. 15 7:30 pm “Russian Romantics” presents a pair of works by Russian late romantics Sergei Rachmaninoff, considered by many to be the greatest pianist of the 20th century, and Sergei Taneyev, Rachmaninoff’s teacher of counterpoint at the Moscow Conservatory. Seven ensemble musicians will present Rachmaninoff’s sonata for cello and piano and a lush and lively piano quintet by Taneyev. 

Concert 4 - March 19  7:30 pm Get your reed fix here!  “Reeds A-Plenty” presents an evening of six works for winds and piano.  Six musicians will perform a wide-ranging mix of compositions from the late 18th- through mid-20th centuries by a diverse group of mostly-French composers, along with a Czech and Russian. 

Concert 5 April 16  7:30 pm “Mozart: From Salzburg to Vienna” wraps up the regular season with the works of the prodigy from Salzburg, including perhaps his best-known and best-loved work, “Eine kleine Nachtmusik (“A Little Night Music).  Join us for this enchanting all-Mozart evening.  And it isn’t over yet:  Watch for our eighth Summer Chamber Music Festival coming in June.  
 

So Much Music! So Little Money!

Membership Subscription.   Season passes for all five Regular-Season concerts AND all four concerts of the Summer Chamber Music Festival are available for a Membership Subscription of $100/person, a remarkable bargain for NINE concerts by some of the most distinguished musicians from Oklahoma and beyond.  That’s only $11.11 per concert! 

Avoid the lines!  Enter your Membership Subscription on our website, Brightmusic.org, and your season pass card will be mailed to you.  Or get yours at the door at the first concert.  And please consider making an “over and above” tax-deductible contribution to help keep ticket prices affordable for all and continue our policy of free admission for students and children, since they are the future of chamber music.

VIP Treatment:  Season members can present their season pass as they pick up their program (bypass the admissions desk) for immediate admittance. 

Single Concert Admission:  Tickets available at the door, $20 each.  Children are free, as are students and active-duty military personnel, with ID. 

BrightNews Briefs

Season ticket price increase: Season subscriptions are now $100 per person.  This is the first time we have raised the cost of season membership since we began to offer them in 2011, and we were reluctant to increase prices now. To insure the financial security and longevity of Brightmusic, however, an increase is necessary.  That still comes out to only $11.11 per concert, a remarkable value considering the caliber of the musicians and the performances. We hope you will understand and continue to support Brightmusic.  By the way, under current tax law, the membership payment itself is not tax deductible.  Any over-and-above contribution continues to qualify as a deductible charitable contribution for tax purposes.
 

Answer to the Music Trivia Quiz

Many of us knew Mozart’s beloved "Eine kleine Nachtmusik"  (“A Little Night Music”) from our earliest childhood.  The work was not published until about 1827, long after the composer’s death in 1791.  Mozart’s destitute young widow, Constanze, took a bundle of Mozart’s unpublished compositions to a publisher hoping to generate some badly-needed cash.   This cherished masterpiece was among those manuscripts.  There is a possible missing movement, but we are grateful for the four charming movements we DO have of this timeless treasure.   

Summer Chamber Music Festival VIII June 2019

Brightmusic will present its 8th annual Summer Chamber Music Festival in June.  Program, venue(s) and dates to be announced later in the season.  Watch our website for updates.  http://www.brightmusic.org. ;
 

Follow BRIGHTMUSIC on Facebook!

 

NAULT GALLERY HOSTS
AN AUTUMN POP-UP
OPENING TONIGHT

The gallery is hosting a show

created by:

Anthony Dyke

Susan Morrison-Dyke

Suzanne Mears

Christie Owen

OPENING

FRIDAY

Sept 14th

5pm - 10pm 

Sept 14th - Nov 9th

Hors d'oeuvres

and wine

will be served

NAULT Gallery

816 N Walker

Oklahoma City, OK 73102

1.405.642.4414

“free and open to the public”