The Minnesota Orchestra will return nearly $1 million in Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) grant funds. The state dollars, which have been sequestered during the ongoing labor dispute with the musicians, were to be used for general operating expenses. The state’s fiscal year has ended without a contract settlement between Orchestra management and musicians, so back goes the dough – about $960,000. The musicians have been locked out since Oct. 1.
Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra are performing twice between now and July 12. On Saturday, July 6, violinists Stephanie Arado and Michael Sutton, violist Megan Tam, and cellists Beth Rapier and Tony Ross will play a benefit concert of music by Dvorak, Schubert, and assorted cello duos at Sovereign Estates Winery in Waconia. $20/person suggested minimum donation, collected at the door. Music starts at 8 p.m. Open seating is limited; send an email with the number of seats you will need to RSVP@sovereignestatewine.com. A pre-concert dinner at 6:30 p.m. is available for $40/person (does not include suggested donation). Dinner tickets here. On Friday, July 12, musicians will accompany the winners of the 2013 e-Piano Junior Competition at Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 4th Ave. S., Minneapolis. 4 p.m. – 6 p.m., free.
The Guthrie has announced more details and dates for 2013-14 programming in the Dowling Studio, that amazingly flexible black box on the ninth floor with floor-to-ceiling lobby windows. (Go for the views, stay for the plays? Of course not, but the city and river vistas are spectacular day and night.) Sept. 14-18: “Moon Show 143” by Kyle Loven, directed by Nick Hubbard. Four fateful encounters between humans and the moon, with puppets. Sept. 19-22: “How to Be a Korean Woman” by Sun Mee Chomet, directed by Zaraawar Mistry. A one-woman show about an adoptee’s reunion with her birth family. Oct. 29-Nov. 17 (previously announced): “Skiing in Broken Glass” by David Goldstein, directed by Joe Dowling. A lonely writer and a mysterious young male escort find themselves in an unlikely relationship. Feb. 25-March 16, 2014: “Freud’s Last Session” by Mark St. Germain. In the weeks before his death, Freud consults with the young C.S. Lewis. March 21-April 6: “Abe Lincoln and Uncle Tom in the White House,” written and directed by Carlyle Brown. Lincoln is visited by the character from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist novel. Dates TBD: “The Three Musketeers,” a swashbuckling stage adventure directed by Amy Rummenie from a new adaptation of Dumas’s novel by John Heimbuch. And what could prove to be the season’s most harrowing event: “Wreck,” the story of 13 survivors caught in the hold of a sinking ship, choreographed and directed by Carl Flink with original music by Mary Ellen Childs.
The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) has awarded this year’s Next Step Fund Grants to 38 individual Minnesota artists. Funded by the McKnight Foundation, Next Step helps artists in the 7-country metro area complete projects that will help them rise to the next level in their careers. Nearly 400 artists applied for the 38 grants given. This year’s winners include writers, musicians, visual artists, photographers, dancers, and a blacksmith. Here’s a complete list.
What does it take to become a Master Sommelier? Passion, dedication, the ability to memorize countless facts, a long-suffering spouse or girlfriend (most sommeliers are men), and enough time and cash to work your way up through four levels of courses and exams given by the Court of Master Sommeliers. The title is prestigious, but the path is a bit of a plod, and director Jason Wise’s debut feature documentary, “SOMM,” has some slow parts. Wise follows four appealing young candidates – Ian Cauble, Dustin Wilson, Brian McClintic, and DLynn Proctor – through the three weeks leading up to the grueling Master Sommelier Diploma Exam, then reveals the moment at which each learns his results. Who’s exhilarated, who’s crushed? This is a film for wine nerds, and if you’re one, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re not, you may think it’s too much talking and spitting. “SOMM” opens Friday, July 5, for a weeklong exclusive engagement and regional premiere. On Monday, July 8, the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul offers the perfect pairing: a screening of “SOMM” with a wine-tasting event hosted by CMS-certified sommelier April Amys. FMI and tickets.
The world’s longest-running musical, “Les Misérables” has been re-imagined and re-tooled by producer Cameron Mackintosh for its 25th anniversary, with new staging, new scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, and new orchestrations. This show made its Minnesota debut at the Orpheum in Dec. 2011; it returns for one week starting July 30. FMI and tickets. Learn more about “Les Miz” at a “Broadway Confidential” talk on Monday, July 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the New Century Theater. Free. RSVP to Melissa Koch at 612-455-9530.
On a sunny evening late last week, we stood on the Ford Center’s rooftop, looking down on a Twins Game at Target Field and feeling lucky to be alive. The occasion: the 30th anniversary celebration and benefit for Minnesota Film and TV, made especially festive by the recent $10 million in Snowbate funding. Founding supporter Sen. Richard Cohen was on hand to accept his Golden Chair award and pledge more Snowbate money in the future, depending on how things go. Actor John Carroll Lynch (Norm Gunderson in “Fargo”) was supposed to be there but had to cancel due to an emergency appendectomy. However, we did meet actor Erik Stolhanske (Rabbit in “Super Troopers”) and have been dropping his name ever since.
Each year, MSAB’s Arts Tour Minnesota program sends Minnesota artists around the state for performances, exhibitions and related arts activities. Grants range from $5,000-$100,000. (Although MSAB-funded travel outside the state has now been nixed, travel within the state is good.) Artists and nonprofits planning to apply should take part in one of two free webinars being offered Friday, July 12 at 10 a.m. and Monday, July 15 at 5 p.m. Registration is strongly encouraged. Read a program overview here.
The Chamber Music Society of St. Cloud is seeking an executive director, its only paid position. With the assistance and active involvement of the CMS Board of Directors, the executive director provides vision, leadership and expertise needed for CMS to fulfill its purpose of enhancing the cultural life of Central Minnesota through the presentation of world-class chamber music. The 2012-13 season featured the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Flanders Recorder Quartet and the Tokyo String Quartet, among others. FMI.
And finally: July 7-14 is Nude Recreation Week. Minnesota is sadly absent from the list of locations with planned events.
Artscape is taking a brief holiday. We’ll be back Friday the 12th. Meanwhile, we’ll continue to post interesting arts events and news on our facebook page. Like us and don’t miss a thing.
Our picks for the next several days
Tuesday, July 2 (tonight): Honoring the Fallen with Century Brass Band. Part of the Minnesota History Center’s Nine Nights of Music series, this evening links to the Center’s “Minnesota and the Civil War” exhibit with a program of period music and dancing. After the concert, join a fife-and-drum processional across Kellogg Boulevard to the Josias King Monument for a brief memorial ceremony. King was a Civil War veteran. Pre-show activities (outdoor displays, games of the 1860s) start at 5:30 p.m. Music at 7:30. Candlelight processional at 8:30. All free.
Wednesday, July 3: The first of many After Work Wednesdays at the American Swedish Institute. Swedes celebrate happy hour with an “after work,” and surely it won’t take much for us to form that humpday habit, thanks to a little push (and some meatballs) from the ASI. With food and drink specials from FIKA including a Mystery Beer Bucket, herring, those fabulous meatballs, and seasonal surprise dishes. FIKA seating in the courtyard has been expanded and the galleries will stay open late. 3 p.m. – 8 p.m. Museum admission required to tour the galleries.
Wednesday, July 3: “You Can Do It, Put Your Back into It.” Catch this motivational poster show at Light Grey Art Lab on your way to ASI; it closes July 5. 118 E. 26th St., Minneapolis. Wednesday hours: noon – 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 4: Where’s the best place to view the St. Paul fireworks on the Fourth? From the upper decks of the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, with the cast and crew of “Sweet Revenge.” You’ll need tickets to the show, an old-fashioned, action-packed melodrama featuring olios (musical interludes) by Vern Sutton. The Showboat is docked at Harriet Island, and the fireworks are ignited directly across the river. We went last year and it’s pretty gosh-darned spectacular. Call 651-227-1100 or go online.
Friday, July 5: Dark Star Orchestra “raises the Dead” at the Zoo. DSO shows are built off the extensive catalog of the Grateful Dead. You might hear a setlist from an actual Dead show or a new one created for this night. The Dead toured for 30 years; DSO has been on the road for 15, playing more than 2,200 shows. At the Weesner Family Amphitheater, 7 p.m., all ages. FMI and tickets ($39.68 including fees and taxes).
Saturday, July 6: Beer and live music at the Harriet Brewing Tap Room. It’s a holiday weekend. Unless you’re away at the lake, this seems like the perfect way to spend a Saturday. 2 p.m.: Mill City Hot Club. 5:30 p.m.: Robert William Duo. 7 p.m.: Cait Leary. 9 p.m.: Kind County. Food truck: Simply Steve’s. 3036 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis. All shows are free.
Sunday, July 7: “Sound and Place: Minnesota” at Caponi Art Park. California composer Hugh Livingston, a McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum, will lead a sonically animated summer evening stroll through the park. Musicians of the St. Paul new-music quartet Zeitgeist will move in and out of the woods, responding to the park’s natural sounds: birdsong, wind in the trees, water in the streams. A multichannel sound installation (hidden in birdcages hanging from trees) will add to the experience. 1220 Diffley Road, Eagan. Free, but if you want to donate $5, Caponi Art Park will happily take it.
Monday and Tuesday, July 8-9: Pharoah Sanders at the Dakota. Having warmed up by closing out the Iowa City Jazz Festival on Sunday night, Sanders will head north on Monday for two nights of saxophone mayhem at the Dakota. He got his start playing with John Coltrane; it was Sun Ra who gave him the nickname “Pharoah.” Jazz legend with a capital JL. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., 1010 Nicollet Mall. FMI and tickets ($30/$15).
Wednesday, July 10: “Downloaded” at the Trylon. The story of two teenagers named Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker who started a file-sharing business called Napster and forever changed the music business. “Music will be ubiquitous … You’ll be able to get it on your cell phone,” Parker said back then, sounding like a nut. The Minnesota premiere of Alex Winter’s documentary is part of the Sound Unseen series of films about music. 7 p.m. at the Trylon, 3258 Minnehaha Ave. S. FMI and tickets.
Thursday, July 11: “The Spectacular Now” at the Walker. Director James Ponsoldt (“Smashed”) and producer Billy Rosenberg will be here to introduce Ponsoldt’s coming-of-age film adapted from Tim Tharp’s novel. Part of the Walker’s First Look series of sneak previews. 7:30 p.m. in the Walker Cinema. FMI and tickets ($12/$10).
