News Roundup, Sept. 22, 2022
Arts organizations are starting their 2022-23 seasons, so a lot is going on all fronts!
San Antonio’s premier presenter of international artists, Musical Bridges Around the World, is launching its concert series this Sunday with “It Ain’t Necessarily So” featuring Duo Baldo, consisting of pianist/actor Aldo Gentileschi and violinist Brad Repp. The two combine their virtuosic performances with theatrical humor and pop culture in shows that look like “pure improvisation.” According to the press release, the act was born in a small town near Florence, Italy, where the two artists met. They made their stage debut as a duo in 2004, with Andrea Bocelli. And they have been going strong ever since. Their repertoire includes Brahms, Ravel, Vivaldi, Cage and Gershwin. MBAW first presented these funny guys via livestream in 2020, but now you get a chance to see them in-person. (Sunday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.; San Fernando Cathedral, 115 Main Plaza; free admission but tickets required; register at www.mbaw.org/sfc)
The excellent, home-grown, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, is also launching its season of concerts at this time, starting with “Rooted” which will feature the world premiere of “I Remember You” by Benjamin Horne and Bronwyn White. The entire program is devoted to works that explore the fusion of “nature, arts and ideas to complement the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s ongoing exhibit of large-scale sculptures,” also called “Rooted.” SOLI specializes in contemporary art music, created by 20th & 21st centuries composers. In addition to the premiere mentioned above, the ensemble will perform pieces by Angelica Negron, Andrew Rodriguez, Hee Yun Kim, Kati Agocs, Ludmila Yurina, and Christopher Vu. (Sept.26 at 7 p.m., San Antonio Botanical Garden 555 Funston PL., 210-536-1400; tickets $15 (lawn seating) and $25 (patio seating); go to www.solichamberensemble.com/tickets/)
Camerata San Antonio has postponed its “Postcards” concert due to illness of one of the performers.
San Antonio Chamber Choir is starting its 18th concert series this weekend with a pair of concerts Saturday & Sunday. Titled “Our Deep, Deep Earth,” the concerts will also include the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio. On the program: works by Aaron Copland, Ola Gjelo, Kim Andre Arnesen, Jim Scott and Paul Winter. The overall theme is “music that honors the beauty of the Earth.” The entire presentation is under the direction of conductor Richard Bjela. (Sept.24 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word on the campus of the University of the Incarnate Word, and Sept 25 at 3 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower, 1715 Zarzamora St., 78201; tickets at http://www.sachamberchoir.org/concert-schedule/
If you love Broadway musicals, we have a treat for you! The Allegro Stage Company, led by composer/musician Tom Masinter and stage director Ted Hedgepeth,is presenting “Broadway Babes,” featuring four stars of the San Antonio stage known as Broadway Divas: Anna Gangai, Sherry Gibbs, Mary Morrow and Beth Erwin. And here’s a bonus – they will perform at the famous Cave Without a Name, near Boerne. “The acoustics are incredible,” said Masinter. (Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Cave Without a Name, 325 Kreutzberg Rd., Boerne, 78006; tickets at www.cavewithoutaname.com, $32 in advance, $37 at the door. So, we decided to give you advance notice.)
The annual Jazz’SAlive Fest returns to Travis Park this weekend and expands to the Legacy Park. Friday’s lineup includes the Pedrito Martinez Group, Gerry Gibbs & the Trasher People, Jose Posada and others; Saturday performers include Sammy Miller & The Congregation, Heritage Big Band, the Adrian Ruiz Quintet and the UTSA Jazz Ensemble. (Sepr 23, 5-11 p.m.; Sept. 24 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., bring folding chairs and earplugs; free; no outside food or beverages allowed)
Alt rock masters, Collective Soul and Switchfoot will appear together at the Majestic Theater, Saturday. Both bands have seen a lot of success and millions of albums sold over the years all over the world. (Sept.24 at 8 p.m., Majestic Theater, 224 E. Houston, tickets start at $49.50; 210-226-3333 or www.majesticempire.com)
For the kids, there’s “Winnie the Pooh” at the Tobin, featuring the Sherman Brothers’ Grammy Award winning music with additional songs by A.A. Milne. The press release promises “stunning life-size puppetry through the eyes of the characters we all know and love, in a new story from The Hundred Acre Wood.” The show is a co-production created by Rockefeller Productions and Disney Theatrical Productions, which premiered in New York in 2021. (Sept. 23 at 12 noon, and two shows on Saturday, Sept. 24 – 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.; Tobin Center, 100 Auditorium Circle; tickets $19.50 – $49.50 at tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624)
Alamo Arts Ballet Theater (a youth company) will present “The Dancing Princesses,” a full-length story ballet based on an old fairy tale. We are not told which one. The cast includes both professional dancers and student performers in an Italian Renaissance setting. (Sept. 24 and Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.; Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry; ticket $30; 210-207-2234 or www.thecarver.org)
If you are a Shakespeare devotee, you will not want to miss the performance of “Macbeth” to be performed by Actors from the London Stage, brought to San Antonio again by the UTSA Friends of Shakespeare and the school’s Department of English. The tradition started years ago. The touring ensemble of five actors will make the play come alive, playing multiple roles each. This is not a fully staged production, but one that depends primarily on the actors’ skills, with minimal scenery and simple costumes. (Sept. 23 and 24, at 7 :30 p.m.; UTSA Arts Building Recital Hall on the 1604 campus; tickets $10-$20; 210-458-4011, www.musicutsa.edu; to find out more about the Actors From the London Stage, visit https://shakespeare.nd.edu/companies/actors-from-the-london-stage/)
We told you a while back that the Woodlawn Theatre is changing its name and moving to the Wonderland of the Americas Mall. More recently, the company announced that it had come up with a new name: Wonder Theater. But they will stage one more show at the Woodlawn: “The Color Purple,” the Tony Award-winning musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It features a multi-genre score with jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African music. (Sept. 30 – Oct.23; tickets: $26-$32; children/students $18; Woodlawn Theater, 1920 Fredericksburg Rd., 78201; 210-267-8388; www.woodlawntheatre.org)
Artpace has announced its Fall 2022 International Artists-in-Residence. Selected by guest curator Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy, the three artists are Maria Jose Crespo (Mexico/Holland); K8 Hardy (New York) and JD Pluecker (Houston, TX). You can meet the new artists during a Welcome Dinner when the artists will speak about their work. Light dinner will be served. (Sept. 29, 6-8 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m.; presentations start at 6:30 p.m.; free; Artpace, 445 N. Main Ave., 78205; convenient parking nearby on N. Flores; look for the sign.; there’s also a Morning Mixer on the Rooftop, Sept. 23, 8 – 10 a.m.)
One place you’ll love visiting in the next few weeks is the San Antonio Art League and Museum – SAALM – where the galleries are resplendent with dreamy paintings of landscapes by SAALM’s Artist of the Year, Sylvia Benitez. (For more info see our article from Sept. 20, “Sylvia Benitez is SAALM Artist of the Year” on this site.)
At the UTSA Main Art Gallery, you’ll find the exhibition “South Texas Life and Visual Culture, which features artists whose works reflect “the diverse character of shared San Antonio and regional narratives and the artists’ own personal experiences, their understanding of cultural and creative legacies, as well as their commitments to challenging discrimination and marginalization and encouraging appreciation of heritage, difference and personal and group experience and activism.” (Wow! What a sentence!)
The participating artists are Guillermina Zabala, Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, Luis Valderas and Gabi Magaly. The show was curated by Scott A. Sherer. (On view through Oct. 29; UTSA Main Art Gallery, College of Liberal and Fine Arts; open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; http://colfa.utsa.edu/colfa/)
For a day away from the city, you may want to visit the Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair in Ingram, sponsored by the Hill Country Arts Foundation. Among the 100-plus artists participating are Amado Pena, Edith Maskey, and Fred Stockbauer, who exhibited at the very first fair in 1972. Scores of other artists will show works in various media and styles, from ceramics and woodworking to painting, photography, fiber, jewelry and more. Demonstrations by weavers, potters, blacksmiths, basket makers and other craftsmen will also be part of the festivities. (Sept. 24-25, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Hill Country Arts Foundation, 120 Point Theatre Rd., Ingram, 78025; 830-367-5121, $10, children free; fair@hcaf.com; www.txartsandcraftsfair.com)
Nearby, the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville will have its annual sales show of Western Art featuring over 30 well-known artists. (On view through Oct. 29; Museum of Western Art, 1550 Bandera Highway, Kerrville, Tx 78028. 830-896-2553; www.museumofwesternart.com)
Meanwhile, San Antonio’s Museum of Western Art, the Briscoe, is getting ready to open a new exhibit featuring the work of renowned nature photographer, Thomas D. Mangelsen. Titled “A Life in the Wild,” the exhibit will showcase the beauty of the West and the animals that call it home. (Opens Sept. 30, closes Jan. 29, 2023., Briscoe Museum, 210-W. Market St., 210-299-4499, www.briscoemuseum.org) Will tell you more after seeing the show.
And here’s some news from the literary front. Some of you may know that ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO published a poetry book, called YELLOW FLAG POEMS, based on the series “Life in the time of COVID-19” which ran in ARTS ALIVE during the worst period of the pandemic. The poets represented in the anthology include eight poets laureate, including a Canadian poet laureate, and many of our best poets from San Antonio and Texas, including Sheila Black, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alexandra Van De Kamp, Emmy Perez (immediate past Texas Poet Laureate) Octavio Quintanilla (San Antonio Poet Laureate 2018-20); Carol Reposa (2019 TX Poet Laureate), Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson (current San Antonio Poet Laureate) and many other great poets. The first printing sold out at the launch event in April. Now we have a new batch of books. You can order by going to ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO, https://artsalivesa.com and click on the small icon above the logo. We will probably do a feature on the book soon and reprint a few of the powerful poems. We are proud of this anthology and grateful to all poets who contributed. The book is a unique record of life in the time of COVID-19, expressed through poetry and art. Each poem is paired with an artwork.
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