THIS WEEK
RICHARD STOLTZMAN, acclaimed clarinetist, joins the Borromeo String Quartet (above) in Carmel. WILD COAST BRASS quintet plays twice in Aptos. PATTI SMITH plays the Rio in Santa Cruz; likewise the PAUL THORN band and comedian JANEANE GAROFALO. EUPHORIA opens a run at the Cherry in Carmel. For links to these and dozens of other live performance events, click our CALENDAR
GRENADILLA RISING
WITH RICHARD STOLTZMAN returning to Carmel, the black wood of choice for clarinets, oboes and piccolos from sub-Sahara Africa, often called African blackwood (pictured), has nothing to do with their sound/timbre. Clarinet maker Tom Ridenour explodes the ‘myth.’ Click HERE
ESPRESSIVO’S HEARTBURN
SC CHAMBER ORCHESTRA’S desperate plea. Click HERE
REBECCA MILLER SCORES ANOTHER MAJOR POST
SANTA CRUZ’S England-based conductor and one-time SC Symphony music director candidate adds Uppsala Chamber Orchestra to her international career. She also leads the Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society and Orchestra, the Royal Holloway University Orchestra and is associate conductor of the Southbank Sinfonia. Click HERE
NEW ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP AT SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY
FORMER SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY music director, the frequently-flying Dutchman Edo de Waart has been named principal guest conductor at the San Diego Symphony for the next three years, the first time the orchestra has offered such a post. He will work with music director Rafael Payare, an El Sistema grad, and chief exec Martha Gilmer. De Waart, who lives in Wisconsin, is also music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Click HERE
GOODBYE DOLLY
CAROL CHANNING dies at 97. Diamonds remain a girl’s best friend. Click HERE
OLDEST KNOWN MELODY DATES FROM 1400 BC
FROM the iron-age Armenian kingdom of Urartu, and in cuneiform notation. Read about it and listen to it HERE
SHOW TRIALS OF ARTISTS UNDER PUTIN
IS STALINISM returning its notorious repression with a vengeance? Anna Nemtsova reports for The Atlantic. Click HERE
HOW MOTOWN CHANGED MUSIC IN AMERICA
HOUSE OF the Jacksons, The Supremes, The Miracles, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, 60 years on. Click HERE
TAPPING FOR JUSTICE
AT THE NORTHWEST TAP CONNECTION, students don’t just dance around the issues of race and social justice; they confront them head-on, one step at a time.
NEW REVIEWS
PHILIP PEARCE’S review of 8 Tens @ 8 “B” now published. Click HERE
PIANIST KEVIN LEE SUN in Carmel. NAKAMURA-MANASSE duo concert in Santa Cruz. Click HERE
NEXT WEEK
JEWEL THEATRE opens Red Velvet at the Colligan in Santa Cruz. AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS at UC Santa Cruz. GRENADILLA QUINTET plays Carmel. SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY plays twice.
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Scott MacClelland, editor; Rebecca CR Brooks, associate editor