News Roundup, July 28, 2022
The two music festivals we told you about in the last two NEWS ROUNDUPs are resuming this weekend. The Mozart Festival will present its second concert on Sunday, featuring the Artisan Quartet performing works by Mozart, Hugo Wolf, and Tchaikovsky. When we asked festival founder and conductor, Terence Frazor, about the inclusion of Tchaikovsky in a festival devoted to Mozart’s time, he laughed, and explained that he lets the Artisan Quartet do whatever they want to do. As a reminder to our readers, Mozart lived in the 18th century and composed in the “Classical” style, while Tchaikovsky lived in the 19th century and is considered a leading exponent of Romanticism. But it’s all great music to enjoy! (July 31 at 3 p.m.; Bennack Concert Hall, University of the Incarnate Word campus; Broadway & Hildebrand; tickets $15 – $45; www.mozartfestivaltexas.org)
The other fun festival that concludes Friday is the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival at the Wonderland of the Americas Amphitheater. The San Antonio band, Johnny P & The Wise Guys will play first, followed by the headliner, Peter White, the British-born guitarist who is considered one of the leading smooth jazz musicians in the industry. This will be his third appearance at the San Antonio summer jazz fest. (July 29 at 7:30 p.m.; in the lagoon area; 4522 Fredericksburg Rd.; free; bring folding chairs or blankets. Food and beverage vendors will be on-site and the mall’s food court will be open.
Fiesta Noche del Rio is still entertaining crowds on the River Walk through Aug. 6. It’s a splashy, lively show of Mexican folkloric dance, mariachi music and flamenco, that’s been a summer fixture in San Antonio for 65 seasons. It’s bound to lift your spirits. (Friday-Saturday at 8:30 p.m.; Arneson River Theater; tickets $8-$20, www.fiesranochesa.com/tickets/)
Spanish guitar star player, Benise, will enliven the Tobin Center stage, not only with his fiery guitar but also with a large group of dancers who put on a big show of Latin American and Spanish dance, from flamenco to Cuban salsa, Brazilian samba, and more. In fact, the show has been referred to as the “Latin Riverdance.” Benise has had five PBS Specials and is currently celebrating 20 years in showbiz with the current tour. (July 29 at 8 p.m.; Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle; tickets are $34.50-$95; tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624)
The next day, the Tobin will host “You, God’s Music Showcase,” headlined by Danny Gokey, a concert featuring the five finalists of the Christian Music Singing Competition that started with hundreds of contestants. Also performing will be Jordan Feliz, Blanca and Jordan Smith and Jason Crabb. (July 30 at 7 p.m.; Tobin Center; tickets are $19.50-$49.50; Tobin box office, see above.
The Tobin is also presenting the Rise Against band but not on its own premises. That show, scheduled for Aug. 2 will take placeat the Tech Port Arena, where the group will perform with special guests, The Used and Senses Fail. (Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m.; tickets $47.50-$77.50; 3331 General Hudnell Drive, 78226; 210-600-3699 & 1-800-514-3848; www.techportcenter.com)
And there’s more!
The legendary Texas songwriter and entertainer, Robert Earl Keen will also be at the Tobin next week. He is wrapping up a 41-year career with his final tour aptly named, “I’m Coming Home: 41 Years on the Road.” (Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.; Tobin Center, tickets are $49.50-$95; an After Party will follow at the Alvarez Studio Theater, with food, drinks and dancing, $10-$15 admission; all party attendees must have a concert ticket.
At the Empire Theater, you can laugh with Scott Aukerman and his “Comedy Bang, Bang!” crew next Friday. The show is a weird combination of scripted sketches, improvised chats with guests and improvised chats with guests acting as characters. Every show is different. (Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., Empire Theater, 226 N. St. Maty’s St.; tickets $39.50-$59.50, at the Majestic-Empire box office 210-226-3333 or www.majesticempire.com)
On the theater front, two shows we told you about in the past two weeks are still running, including “Once on this Island” at the Public Theater (through Aug. 7; 210-733-7258) and “Einstein’s Wrong About Everything” at the Overtime Theater (through Aug. 6, 210-557-7562). In addition, here’s something that will make you laugh, guaranteed: “Greater Tuna” in the interpretation of the Company Theater. “Greater Tuna” is familiar to many San Antonians. It’s a comedy about Texas’ third smallest town, “where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies.” Two performers will portray all the denizens of Greater Tuna. (July 29-30; 6-9 p.m. The Big Apple Room at Little Italy restaurant, 824 Afterglow; $40 for dinner & show; 210-646-4284; online tickets though Eventbrite. Little Italy 800-838-3006; www.thecompanytheatre.org)
The McNay Art Museum has a new attraction – its new Interactive Studio Space which was installed in the former gift shop. All arts organizations are always talking about community engagement, and this studio is a giant step in that direction. It’s an attractive fairly large space with a central unit that visitors can use to create their own exhibitions, using the artworks in the museum’s collection. The unit allows you to find favorite works in the collection by manipulating choices on the station’s top screen. After you make your choices, the images can be projected and arranged in an exhibit-type presentation. The studio is open to all but groups can work with the inaugural artist, Soomin Jung Remmler who can lead them through the possibilities. She has chosen the theme of “What does home mean to you,” and some aspects of the studio as it is currently set-up, reflect that theme. The studio will eventually hold artist-led workshops, programming and exhibitions-related community engagement opportunities. (Free with admission; MvNay Art Museum, 6000 N.New Braunfels, 78209; 210-824-5368; www.mcnayart.org)
At the San Antonio Museum of Art, they are planning a “Superhero Adventure Night” inspired by the current exhibit, Tony Parker’s Heroes and Villains. Participants will have to choose their path through the galleries while answering riddles. Apparently, you might meet your demise. No matter, this is billed as a fun superhero experience for all ages – and there will be prizes. This will be followed by a movie in the courtyard: the classic “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, from 1990. (July 29, 6-8:30 p.m.; free for members and free for nonmembers with museum admission. Food trucks will be onsite.)
Last week we told you about the new exhibits at Artpace but we missed one: “Every Time We Say Goodbye” in the Main Space, that faces the street. The show features the work of local artist Michael Guerra Foerster, who explores ideas of intimacy, separation, grief, and memory through ceramic sculptures he calls Floops. Cute name, and the images we saw look interesting. The pieces were inspired by animation, games and toys of the early 2000s. Those objects are “littered with cracks and spontaneous ashen markings produced in the firing process, a process that the artist sees as a stand-in for the human condition.” Yes, humans hide lots of cracks and burns. (Artpace, 445 N.Main Ave., 78204; 210-212-4900, https://artpace.org/)
And there’s a lot going on at the Blue Star Contemporary, which we plan to visit soon. Among the new exhibits is “Fake Plastic Forest,” an exhibit dealing with the themes of artifice, truth and fiction, and the “theatricality of our interactions with nature.” (Blue Star Contemporary, in the Blue Star complex on South Alamo. 210-227-6960; www.bluestarcontemporary.org)
And speaking of nature, the DoSeum is planning for a “Big Day of Play: Earth Matters” on July 30th. During this day, visitors will learn about the different animals, plants and landscapes of the coasts, grasslands, deserts, arctic poles and caves. Wow, that’s quite a trip! (July 30; 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; The DoSeum, 2800 Broadway, 78209; 210-212-4453; www.thedoseum.org)
At the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, artist Cande Aguilar is exhibiting “Live and in Living Color,” that consist of 30 artworks created from 1999 to 2022. A former conjunto player and Gold Record recording artist, Aguilar turned to painting in his 30s, quickly establishing himself as a sought-after Texas artist. He calls his work BarrioPOP, an amalgam, of street art and pop culture “filtered through a distinctly South Texas lens. His work was exhibited in New York and was, recently, included in the Cheech Marin’s collection of Hispanic art. (Exhibit will be on view through Aug. 12, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 723 S. Brazos St., 78207; 210- 271-3151, www.guadalupeculturalarts.org)
An unusual exhibit will be closing Saturday at the Bihl Haus Arts. Titled “Wow: Wonderful Old Women,” it’s an exhibition of works by Gabbe Grodin, which “pays homage to the inspiring and powerful women in the artist’s life.” The closing reception will also feature a special reading and discussion on aging by writer Bonnie Lyons, a UTSA professor emeritus, and her Bihl Haus GO! Arts students from the Alicia Trevino Lopez Senior Center. The exhibit features 14 life-size oil paintings of the artist’s students who hold their own artwork up for the viewer to see. More than 30 paintings and drawings of these students are also on display. (July 30, 2-4 p.m. at Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., 210-383-9723, www.bihlhausarts.org)