March 13 Opera 101 @ DPL

On Tuesday, March 13, the Opera 101 program will focus on La Traviata (Central City Opera) and Un Ballo in Maschera (Opera Colorado), both by Verdi. As always, there will be excerpts performed live. Go if only for the Traviata excerpts -- it's a fabulous opera.

Feb. 27 Cendrillon Opera 101 @ DPL

The spring season of Opera 101, a joint effort from Opera Colorado and Denver Public Library, will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 27 with a discussion of Central City's upcoming production of Cendrillon. This French opera by Jules Massenet is a late 19th century version of the well-known fairy tale of Cinderella, so even if you're afraid of opera, at least you'd know the story going in. The lecture starts at 6:00 p.m. at the Central Branch library, and will feature excerpts performed live.

Sunday Studio Talks @ Yoga Workshop

from the Yoga Workshop website:

Richard Freeman will be giving a series of Sunday talks, following afternoon Mysore at the Yoga Workshop, from 5:45 to 6:45 PM.

Dates and topics are:
February 25 - Mulabandha: Whatever that is
March 18 - Yoga Asana as Yantra
March 25 - Pranayama
April 1 - Obstacle and the Six Enemies

These talks are open to all and free. As usual there will be a Dana* bowl. All money collected will go towards the 2007 Yoga Workshop Teachers Endowment.

*dana = generosity; no set fee, by donation only

Feb. 24 soul food cooking demo @ DPL

The final Southern Life cooking demonstration will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Denver Public Library at 10:30 a.m. The theme this week will be collard greens, and will include a representative from the Southern Foodways Alliance who will talk about soul food.

Feb. 17 BBQ cooking demo @ DPL

Another component of the Denver Public Library's focus on the American South has been the cooking demonstration series. Now this is something I wish we'd known about sooner, as the series is about to end. But when I first told the guitarhero of this Saturday's BBQ demo (free samples!), I had barely finished my sentence before he was saying, "we're there."

Jim 'n Nicks Bar-B-Q
Saturday, February 17, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Central Library, Level B2 Conference Center

Recently opened in Aurora at the new Southlands Mall, Jim 'n Nicks Bar-B-Q is the real deal. Their Bar-B-Q pork and beef brisket are made the old-fashioned way, patiently smoked over real hickory wood fires. Their commitment to authentic and southern cooking is evident in every dish from the true southern vegetables to their fried catfish. Everything is made fresh, from scratch, everyday and served in a casual setting that raises Southern hospitality to a high art. Chefs Drew Robinson and Grace Charnow will create the dishes for this cooking demonstration. Recipes and samples included. www.jimnnicks.com.

Feb. 13 Lecture on Horace Pippin @ SPARK Gallery

Lawrence Allen lectures on the life of folk artist Horace Pippin at 7:00 p.m.

http://www.sparkgallery.com/

UPDATE: This event has been postponed according to the SPARK Gallery website.

Feb. 13 Active Minds Lecture: Afghanistan @ TC

The Active Minds Lecture series will focus on the current state of Afghanistan on Tuesday, February 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover on Colfax. Everyone is welcome*, and reservations are recommended; call 303-436-9291 ext. 2728 to RSVP.

* In checking out the Active Minds website, it would appear that these lectures are geared toward the senior citizen community, but they do specify that everyone is welcome.

Feb. 10 Christopher Morris @ BMoCA

On Saturday, February 10 at 3:00 p.m., photographer and exhibiting artist Christopher Morris will be participating in a free artist salon at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.

Feb. 5 Judaic Studies Lecture @ DU

Rimon: Master Classes in Judaic Studies (a project of the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver)
Featuring a public lecture with special visiting scholar: Professor Claire Katz
Monday, February 5, 2007 at 7 p.m.
Lindsay Auditorium, Sturm Hall 2nd Floor
University of Denver, 2000 E. Asbury Ave.

"Educating the Solitary Man: Levinas, Rousseau, and the Return to Jewish Wisdom"

Description of talk:What is the goal of education, and what if any, relationship does education have to the political community? This paper examines Emile, Rousseau's influential treatise on education, and the Jewish writings of Emmanuel Levinas, in order to explore the relationship that primary education has to the development of the political community and the ethical responsibility of all its citizens.

All events are free and open to the public; however, RSVPs are required, as space is limited. Please call 303.871.3660 or email palarsen@du.edu by February 1, 2007.

http://www.du.edu/cjs/suggested_readings_and_guiding_questions.html

Jan. 28-29 King Lear symposium @ DCPA & CU Boulder

From the Denver Post:
Former United Nations ambassador Ken Adelman, who originally said the war with Iraq would be a "cakewalk" but now thinks it has been "grossly mishandled," is the featured speaker of a symposium surrounding the opening of the Denver Center Theatre Company's King Lear. Led by artistic director Kent Thompson, panelists include Colorado Shakespeare Festival artistic director Philip Sneed.

Sunday
Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom, Denver Performing Arts Complex; 1-3 p.m.; free, RSVP 303-446-4881 (Call 303-492-1423 to learn of additional events)

Jan. 27 Master Class with Evelyn Glennie @ DU

Just as the Thomas Hampson master class earlier this month was a big deal for singers, I have to imagine that Evelyn Glennie's master class this Saturday is a big deal for percussionists. She is perhaps the world's pre-eminent solo percussionist, and one of the only ones to do it full-time. This master class is in conjunction with concerts she is performing this weekend with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

Title: Evelyn Glennie, percussion. Master-Class.
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2007
Time: 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Calendar: Lamont Music Events
Contact: Victoria Brandys

Complete Description
Room #130. Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver. Free and open to the general public (to observe the class only.) Lamont Master-Classes and Worksop Series. Lamont Concert Line (303) 871 6412

recap of Jan. 12 Thomas Hampson master class

There's a part of me that really wants to title this post "Why Thomas Hampson Is My New Boyfriend." But I'll refrain from such schoolgirlish claims and try to be a grown-up (even though he really is my new boyfriend).

First of all, mad props to my supervisor who, when told on Thursday afternoon of the master class, said, "Oh, well you have to go," and I don't think she even follows classical music (nor do I think she knows about this blog, unless she's secretly tracking my internet history, in which case -- 'sup?). So I did end up taking Friday off, one of the best decisions I made all week.

When I walked into the recital hall at CU at 12:45, my first and recurring thought was, "I can't believe this place isn't already packed." And although more people came in before the class began, I still don't think there were more than 150 people in attendance: students (although certainly not every student in the CU voice program), faculty, a contingent of Ladies Who Lunch who were probably attending every MahlerFest event, and scattered "independents" like me. Mr. Hampson unassumingly entered the hall from the back of the house to no ovation, though he was greeted by long and enthusiastic applause after being introduced that he good-naturedly cut off with a gesture. We, being the good little musicians that we are, obliged subito.

I'm trying really hard to be mature as I write about this, but the giddy voice student in me is waving her hand for attention like Horshack on Red Bull and just needs to say this: Thomas Hampson is so my new boyfriend. OK, girl, just shake it off.

I was hoping that he'd open the master class with a solo of his own, much like my alma mater's most famous alumna did at the master class she gave when I was still a student (after the applause died down, she just said, "Next!" with a gleam in her eye only a spinto would dare). Alas, he didn't sing, only spoke. Well, that's not exactly true, since he sang along with some students or offered up a phrase here or there to illustrate a point.

But what a speaker he is. A couple of times he said, Don't get me started on the Kindertotenlieder or I'll be here all week. To which my response is, Just name the date and I'll be there. Thomas Hampson posesses all of the qualities a modern American opera singer should have. He carries himself as the trained stage actor he is while being completely accessible and bien dans sa peau. He can swoon when describing the poety in one measure of Mahler's orchestrations one minute and later coach the pianist to bring out more inner harmonies because "that's where the sex is." He can go off on a tangent by saying, "I'm sorry, but this currently accepted interpretation we have of 'Ich grolle nicht' is bullshit!" and go on to explain why without feeling he has to apologize for either assuming that everyone in the room is familiar with the song or for the vulgarity. (He had warned us early on that he has the mouth of a sailor at times, yet another reason he's my... well, you know.) Put together with his intelligence, good looks, and beautiful instrument, he is quite simply the Complete Package.

But what about the class, you ask? Well, there is no way that I can adequately relate all that happened or was said, so rather than continue in paragraph form, I'm switching to bullet copy, roughly organized according to the song under discussion. (All songs composed by Mahler, natch, and all singers and pianists were CU students.)

1. Erinnerung sung by a 20-year-old baritone

• The text is about love's torment, but the kind that "hurts so good." Made me reflect on the fact that as a 20-year-old, I would've just nodded my head if asked, "Do you know what I mean when I say that?" but wouldn't have really known what I was talking about. Let's just say that 10 or 15 (or more) years later, I have gained new insight. Some songs just weren't meant for the young 'uns.
• The pianist's job is to play the heartbeat in the music, not to accompany the singer.
• Hear the phrase before you sing or play it, then make audible what you hear.
• Think upbow with the phrase, not downbow, both in terms of how you're using your body and how you're breathing.

2. Liebst du um Schonheit sung by a 24-year-old baritone

• To Hampson, this singer seemed to be getting wrapped up in the meaning of the text almost too much, and warned him against making it too personal, which pushes the audience away. Bring the audience to you instead. Our job is not to re-live emotion, but to re-create it for the audience. It reminded me some of the little bit of the Meisner acting technique that I've studied, in which your first job is to stay constantly in the moment with your partner and not get wrapped up in your own emotion. (You might describe Meisner as the "anti-Method.")
• Hampson had this singer work with his physicality through the use of gestures ("pretend you're an alte rebbe with your hands") and through taking steps backward while singing. The point of stepping backward is that it forces you to center and balance your spine, bringing everything else into alignment, and counters the tendency to hunch forward. Hampson's understanding of what he called Anatomy 101 and its impact on singing was on full display. He contends that "there's nothing 'relaxed' in singing, least of all the jaw."
• "When I need more energy or I need help, I move backward."

3. Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgen sung by a 35-year-old baritone, an age Hampson called "the birth of a baritone's life"

• Here beginneth the Kindertotenlieder lecture series, for which Hampson apologized to the singer for taking up so much of his stage time by talking. But trust me, the audience was eating it up with a spoon.
• To the pianist: "Try not to be musical... play it as polyphony... make it more ambivalent." Hampson's point was that nature is ambivalent, nature doesn't care about humans but that we project emotion onto nature. But the sun rises each day regardless of the death of children, and the pianist must reflect that ambivalence of nature and not get too musical (read: emotional).
• To the singer: "You don't have the right to question the mysteries (of life), but you do have the right to understand them."
• "Profound things may be slow, but very rarely are slow things profound... Don't be slow."

4. Das irdische Leben sung by a 22-year-old mezzo-soprano

• Again, there was physical work with walking backward to find better balance in the body.
• As a mezzo whose technique has never been as good as this student's, I must say that I was impressed with her. But Hampson pointed out that she may eventually find herself more comfortable in a soprano fach, as her upper range was stronger than her middle and lower. He told her, "your idea of singing is stronger than your understanding of your body," and then reprimanded everyone in the audience who thought s/he could have a professional career without working out regularly.

One overriding point made with all the singers is that we must constantly strive for a balance between the physical, the emotional (including all the components in playing a role), and the spiritual. A singer is only as good as her/his weakest moment in maintaining that balance. Which reminds me -- I better start practicing again.

Oh, and one more thing: Thomas Hampson is totally my new boyfriend.

recap of Jan. 10 Broomfield: Early New Mexican Folk Songs

I attended my first free event of 2007 on Wednesday the 10th (no, I didn't make it to 365 Days/365 Plays last week as I'd planned), the first concert in the CU in Broomfield series: Early New Mexican Folk Songs presented by Brenda M. Romero. As the Chair of Musicology at CU and a native of New Mexico, Dr. Romero was able to introduce each song with some historical background and comments on the style of the music.

Despite how relatively close I live to the Broomfield Auditorium, I arrived late. My drive home from work had taken 95 minutes -- mind you, in clear, dry, accident-free conditions -- bringing my grand total for time spent in my car that day to 2 hours 45 minutes. I walked into the house ready to break something or someone; even the good radio stations sound old after that much time spent in traffic. With only minutes to go before the concert was to begin, I decided I wasn't going to let the The Man keep me down, so I quickly ate a PB&J and jumped back in my car.

I could hear an a cappella solo as I entered the auditorium, Dr. Romero's first number, "Bandita sea Diós!" She was gradually joined on stage over the course of the next couple of songs by guitarist Steve Mullins, cellist Carmen Olguín-Taylor, and violinist Alejandro Gómez-Guíllen, each of whom were given the spotlight to perform a solo at different points in the concert.

The first half of the program focused on Spanish songs that had been handed down over the centuries in New Mexico. Dr. Romero described the performance of folk songs in isolated villages essentially as a "private tradition" up until the mid-20th century, in some cases resulting in the preservation of ancient Iberian lyrics and musical forms. This fact was borne out over the weekend when I was watching a PBS program on Alan Lomax in which an old Spanish woman was filmed trying to remember all the words to "Gerineldo," a ballad that Romero also performed.

The PBS connection worked backward in time as well during Romero's comments in the second half regarding inditas. Translated as a diminutive of "Indian woman," indita is now also a term applied to a song form that developed in New Mexico around the same time as the corrido, about which I had just happened to watch a different PBS program the previous weekend. The indita is considered to be more feminine and less agressive, but still concerned mainly with serious subjects and arising out of a troubadour tradition.

Romero apologized early in the concert for her energy level, explaining that she had just returned from research in Colombia the day before and the quartet had really only that day to rehearse. They did seem to have their heads deep in their sheet music for most of the concert, which Romero attributed to their classical approach and which was most notable by its absence in moments when they relied more on eye contact to stay together, such as when providing hand clap percussion during Mullins's muscular flamenco solo. Romero's singing voice is a folk voice, well-suited to the repertoire and on best display when the ensemble worked together more as a folk group. In fact, my favorite part of the 90-minute concert occurred after I thought the whole thing was already over. After performing the final number printed in the program, the ensemble took their bows and left the stage as the audience of about 100+ applauded. I was pulling my gloves on in the lobby when I heard more applause and the beginning of the encores. And this is where the folk sensibility took over, as these were numbers they apparently hadn't had a chance to rehearse yet. Having to rely more on eye contact and a sense of exploring the music together, the players were able to relax and actually started to swing (if that's possible with folk music). I didn't catch the titles of the songs, but in the last one I thought I caught a refrain of "suspirando por tu amor." Now I don't speak Spanish, having done the practical thing as a girl growing up 1980s Los Angeles by studying French for four years, but that seems to be a damn romantic thing to say to someone.

All in all, the best 90 minutes I spent that day.

Jan. 12 Thomas Hampson Master Class @ CU Boulder

Now, see, this is when having a full-time job is unfair. Thomas Hampson, a huge star in the opera world, is in town this week to perform "Das Lied von der Erde" at Colorado MahlerFest. Tomorrow afternoon he will give a master class at CU Boulder that is free and open to the public. While I don't think he will be anywhere near as scathing as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class, I for one would already be throwing up from terror if I knew I would be singing for him. But I would absolutely adore the opportunity to hear him coach others -- they don't call 'em "master classes" for nuthin'.

Title:Master Class - Thomas Hampson, baritone
Time:January 12, 1:00 PM
Location:Imig Music Building - Grusin Music Hall
Event Type:Master Class

Jan. 10 World Music Series in Broomfield

This is up near my neck of the woods, in an area I consider to be pretty... how do I put this... white. Very, very white overall. So it's nice to have the opportunity to hear some world/folk music so close to home. This month's free concert is at 7:00 on Wednesday, Jan. 10.

January 10: Brenda Romero and Friends, “New Mexican Folk Music”Join Brenda M. Romero, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Chair of Musicology at CU-Boulder, and guests for an evening of pantomimed Matachines music and dance, and other New Mexican folk music genres that reflect Spanish and Indian origins including the older folk music of New Mexico and southern Colorado.

For more information and directions, call the ARTSLINE at 303-469-3301 x7999 or visit: http://www.broomfieldauditorium.com/