UPDATED: The Culture Bucket for June: You don’t want to miss this FOOSA concert
Here is the latest edition of The Culture Bucket, a monthly mishmash of observations, news nuggets, feedback from readers and perhaps some snark – all about the local arts scene. I envision adding to each edition as the month progresses. I’m hoping in particular that readers can share their experiences at arts events. If you liked something – or if you didn’t – let me know (and tell me why). I and my arts elves can’t get to everything in the area, so if you’re feeling inspired about something you attend, please pass it along. — Donald
‘There will be no next time’
(Posted June 27)
A friend of The Munro Review attended the FOOSA Philharmonic performance on Friday at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (The same program will be repeated Sunday in Fresno.) After hearing the L.A. concert, that friend writes:
Can’t sleep, thinking about how wild it is that we have something like this in little old Fresno and somehow I can’t seem to make anyone understand what it is. I just feel an urgency to communicate to someone, somehow, that something incredibly special is happening under their very noses and I am powerless to get them to understand that.
The other day I invited someone to come to this Sunday’s FOOSA Philharmonic concert, and the response was a perfectly lovely, polite I’m busy, maybe next time.
Courtesy demands that I say no more. And I won’t, to that person, who doesn’t really even know me.
But to the rest of you, let me say this: THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME.
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You MUST come to the concert this Sunday, June 28, at 3pm at the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall because this is going to be the ONLY time you will hear anything like this performance.
Already the FOOSA Philharmonic is an entity that is conjured out of thin air once a year, during the second half of June. And it’s different players every time…not replicable!
Then there’s the music being performed. How many times have you heard a live performance of the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss? Most likely NEVER, because it’s written for a huge group of players. Seriously…this summer’s orchestra features 140 musicians. That’s nearly double the size of the group you will see playing onstage at a typical orchestra concert.
Pictured at top: Limor Toren-Immerman, FOOSA Philharmonic concertmaster and Fresno State violin professor, Miroslav Hristov, assistant concertmaster and University of Tennessee violin professor. On the stand behind them: Erin Adams, left, Tower Quartet violinist and Orchestra Director at Edison High School and Computech Middle School,and, right, Reymar Barisoro, concertmaster of the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra. Below: At the organ is Matthew Harikian, a Fresno native who got his DMA from the Thornton School of Music at USC and is now back in Fresno, serving as an accompanist at Fresno State and on the faculty of the FOOSA Festival. Photos: Facebook
This work is long (47 minutes) and loud (140 players) and dramatic and over-the-top in every way. The percussion requirements alone are jaw-dropping. The score calls for not just two sets of timpani (four large kettle drums per set, for a land-grabbing total of eight) AND piano AND celesta AND organ…but also bass drum, cowbell, glockenspiel, snare drum, tam-tam, thunder machine, triangle, and wind machine.
Come on. You WANT to hear this work played live. Thunder machine AND wind machine?
Also…there are 12 French horns in this orchestra. Twelve. Normally an orchestra will feature between zero and four horns. Twelve. That’s a lot of gorgeous horn sound!
Did I mention that the symphony calls for a special instrument called the heckelphone? It’s something like a bass oboe. Its modern equivalent is the lupophone, a specimen of which has been brought in specifically, along with its player, for this performance.
When I say there will be no next time, I mean THERE WILL BE NO NEXT TIME.
This same humongous, gorgeous orchestra will also play a short, fizzy Festival Overture by French composer Jaques Ibert, along with the rarely performed Miraculous Mandarin Suite by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. From the Boston Symphony Orchestra we learn this: “Béla Bartók’s ballet score The Miraculous Mandarin is an orchestral kaleidoscope depicting the ballet’s lurid, supernatural narrative of kidnapping and murder.”
And you are going to pass this up? You are going to skip out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Are you nuts?
BE THERE!
[To read an interview with Thomas Loewenheim, who will conduct the Sunday concert, go here. For ticket details, go here.]
‘Tis the season to heat up with culture
(Posted June 3)
Heather Parish writes:
Summer arrives with a packed calendar of exhibitions, events, workshops, and cultural experiences. Whether you’re looking to discover new artists, learn a traditional art form, or enjoy a classic silent film, June offers plenty of opportunities to connect with Fresno’s varied creative community.
Galleries
Spectrum Gallery — Mac Mechem: “A Catastrophic Cornucopia of American Mayhem”
Painter and photo collage artist Mac Mechem brings sharp wit and social commentary to Spectrum Gallery with an exhibition that examines the absurdities and contradictions of contemporary American life. Drawing inspiration from news headlines, childhood memories, and everyday experiences, Mechem employs humor and irony to explore the shortcomings of human nature. On view June 4–28.
Arte Américas — Milton Homann: “Nepegñe wünenkeche”
Arte Américas presents featured artist Milton Homann during ArtHop on June 4 beginning at 5 p.m. Rooted in Mapuche and Selknam cultural traditions, “Nepegñe wünenkeche” explores decolonial imagination through a spiritually grounded worldview. Homann will present an artist talk at 6 p.m. Visitors can also experience the final days of the “Humanizar Historias” exhibition by Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, with free guided tours offered at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Clay Mix Gallery — Garrett Masterson: New Work
Garrett Masterson’s textured abstract forms are inspired by weathered stone, rock formations, and monumental landforms, but explore humanity’s connection to nature through an intuitive and deeply personal creative process. Showing at Clay Mix through June 29
Art Enrichment
Fresno Art Museum
June offers a variety of hands-on opportunities for visitors of all ages at Fresno Art Museum. Enjoy Free Admission Sundays on June 7 and 21, sharpen your observation skills during Sketching Sunday on June 14, discover the science and creativity behind visual perception in an Optical Illusion Class on June 14, or explore storytelling through a Puppetry Workshop on June 20.
Film fun
Buster Keaton’s “Sherlock, Jr.” with live accompaniment
Experience the magic of silent cinema as musician Nate Butler accompanies Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedy masterpiece “Sherlock, Jr.” in his own inimitable way. The evening begins with classic cartoons at 7 p.m., followed by the feature presentation at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 at Fresno Music Academy & Arts, 1298 N. Wishon Avenue in the Tower District. A perfect outing for film lovers and families alike. Admission is Pay What You Want.
Cultural Experience
The Art of the Kimono at Shinzen Friendship Garden
Discover the beauty, history, and traditions of Japanese dress during The Art of the Kimono on Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to noon at Shinzen Friendship Garden in Woodward Park. Participants will learn about the cultural significance of the kimono and gain hands-on insight into the fundamentals of proper kimono-wearing techniques. Registration required.
A pick for ArtHop: Armenian Museum presents Marina Mamyan
(Posted June 3)
Donald Munro writes:
The Armenian Museum of Fresno presents “Moods of Nature,” a new exhibition of paintings by Armenian-American artist Marina Mamyan. The exhibition, featuring abstract nature-inspired paintings, opens from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, June 4, as part of ArtHop, the monthly open house of galleries, studios and museums in the downtown and Tower District neighborhoods. It takes place at the museum’s ZARTONK Gallery, located in the Helm Building at 1107 Fulton Street.
You’ll get a chance to meet the artist, who has received numerous international awards and honors, including from the International Biennial of Textile Miniatures in Lithuania.. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout Armenia, Europe and the United States. (Her “Landscape 3” is at the top of this story, and “Landscape 1” is pictured at right.)
From the museum’s news release:
Rather than depicting specific places, the paintings create a space between the recognizable and the abstract, allowing viewers to discover their own connections and interpretations. Through the interaction of water, pigment, and paper, Mamyan develops layered compositions that evoke erosion, sedimentation, air movement, and the passage of time.
Mamyan’s works are in acrylic, ink and watercolors.
Let’s drink to ArtHop: Moses McQueen’s raises a glass
(Posted June 3)
Donald Munro writes:
Here’s something new I learned from reading the Fresno Gallery Row Newsletter: Parking meters with red hoods are free for ArtHop patrons during ArtHop.
That’s a great tip.
Another thing I learned: Moses McQueen’s is all in on ArtHop. This hot new restaurant/bar/speakeasy, conveniently located just steps from Fig Tree Gallery (which is opening a members ArtHop exhibition titled “Gorgeous Nothings”), has been open a couple of months now. According to the Gallery Row newsletter, it boasts a Signature Cocktails list (catchphrase: “candy is dandy but liquor is quicker”) that includes an intriguing drink called a Hey Darlin’ (“vodka, cherry liqueur & childhood talent”) You can enjoy that cocktail in a charming setting in a fabulously remodeled 100-year house with front and backyard patios. And it’s right next to an art gallery!
By the way, if you want to sign up for the email newsletter, drop a line to fresnogalleryrow@gmail.com.
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Steph
FYI the Hey Darlin’ is a dirty Shirley Temple, hence the ‘childhood talent’ line. Kids love a Shirley Temple. Adults love vodka.
It’s the southern Reese’s Pnut Butter Cup of booze – “Hey Darlin, you got your vodka in my grenadine!” “You got your sprite in my vodka!”
Y’all catch the drift.