By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor When software engineer Matt Johnson decorated his house for Christmas in 2015, it wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill display of shine and twinkle. It was a fancy, computer-controlled, musically synchronized light show that ended up on TV. “ABC saw our YouTube video of the house and approached us to ask if we wanted to be on their …
Lots of great shows coming to the Tobin! Multiple-platinum country music star Tracy Byrd takes the stage for a single night tomorrow, Nov 13, to be followed the next day by the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular that’s become a regular pre-holiday psychedelic experience that fuses the music of Pink Floyd with vivid video and light effects. Most people seem to …
By KATHY MOLGA, Contributor Despite all the movie choices that are available online these days, there’s nothing like going out to see a movie on the Big Screen. When COVID-19 first shut down businesses in San Antonio, I thought my cinema-going days were over. But not quite. After being dark for a few months, some theaters started reopening in August, …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — Pianist Viktor Valkov and composer Luke Dahn are both members of the University of Utah music department but it was not music that brought the two men together. It was chess. Both are avid chess players, “so we just played chess,” explained Valkov, in a phone interview Tuesday. But one day, two years ago, Dahn …
By JULIE CATALANO, Contributor — They say nature abhors a vacuum. But sometimes nature fills a vacuum, as is the case at the popular, and award-winning San Antonio Botanical Garden, commemorating its 40th anniversary this year. The Garden has something new to celebrate—turning into a hot spot for performing arts in the midst of a pandemic, when the great (and …
Blue Star Contemporary is opening four new exhibits Friday, that, it hopes, will invite “reflection and dialogue,” according to the press release. The largest, Please Form a Straight Line, is installed in the main gallery and features the work of eight artists: Jamal Cyrus, Maggie Evans, Benjamin S. Jones, Yuge Zhou, Frances Lightbound, Mark Menjivar, Jingiing Lin and Jorge Villareal. …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor Robert Indiana’s famous LOVE sculpture featuring the tilted “O” started as a modest Christmas card project for the New York-based Museum of Modern Art in 1965. It eventually became his most recognizable work. Today, there are dozens of LOVE sculptures in cities and countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas, even “translated” versions, such as AMOR …
Remembering the dead has become a huge arts-happening in San Antonio. From artist-built altars to performances and a river parade, the calendar is full of things to see or participate in. Let’s begin with the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center where an array of colorful altars will be on display every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Dec. 12. Installed at the …
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor — For 22 years, Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) has brought to town talented musicians of different cultures and backgrounds to perform free concerts in San Antonio in various venues. But this year is a little different. Due to COVID-19, just about all arts programming has moved online – or in some instances outdoors – …
By NICOLAS SABALA, Contributor — It’s October 2020 and I find myself driving in the middle of a Trump Train of lifted pickup trucks, honking loudly, as I try to get to a live music event at Gruene Hall, Texas’ oldest dancehall and a cherished gathering place for Country and Americana music fans. I don’t know if it’s the global …
