A conversation with Seattle
On Sunday, string quartet Brooklyn Rider returned to Seattle for their second concert at Town Hall, featuring works by Beethoven, Philip Glass, John Zorn, and members of the quartet. Continue reading Brooklyn Rider Offers a Glimpse Into the String Quartet of the Future
Until now, my exposure to the Odd Couple franchise was limited to the TV show from the early ’70s, and, as someone who is sort of, um, tidy, I always identified with Felix. But at this production, I found myself surprisingly identifying with Oscar. Or at the very least I was Oscar-curious. Continue reading An Oscar-Worthy Odd Couple at The Village Theatre (Review)
As for the Baroque violin, it does have a volume range and can be played as softly and as expressively as whispering silk, but not as loudly as a modern violin. The Baroque bow is concave, so if the player presses on it to draw a louder sound from the violin string, the bow bends, the hair tension softens and it doesn’t sound louder at all. On a modern bow, which is convex, pressing tautens the hair getting the opposite effect. Continue reading “Common Ground” at Town Hall Shows Off Baroque-Era Musical Agility
Dillon Works employs a floating number of artisans, usually about 60 staff and freelancers, depending upon the number of projects they’re working on. Some, like “Tooner Field,” are large commercial projects–Dillon got his start as an “imagineer” for Walt Disney Imagineering. Some, like the Nautilus home theater, are the fulfillment of a wealthy person’s whimsy. But you can find Dillon Works magic in a lot of other places, too, that you might not expect. Continue reading Seeing is Believing in Dillon Works’ Sculpted Environments
I don’t want to quote too much from The Odds, by Stewart O’Nan, because it’s a small book, about 180 pages, and his style isn’t the pyrotechnic kind that, in a paragraph, leaves you wide-eyed. I’d just end up giving things away. The Los Angeles Times called him “the spokesperson of the regular person,” and you can see what they were getting at, but O’Nan’s gift is to somehow, through building up the stream of life’s matters of fact, surmount them. Continue reading In Stewart O’Nan’s The Odds, the Drink is Marriage on Niagara’s Rocks
“I loved the fact that Ratmansky wanted actors to do Don Quixote himself and Sancho Panza,” says Boal. Ratmansky used a comedy duo in Amsterdam, but Boal knew personally a Seattle actor, famous for his TV and movie roles, and now deeply involved in working to encourage film arts here. Tom Skerritt, he thought, would be the perfect fit, even the physical resemblance. (Skerritt is quite tall, thin, craggy-faced and even the right age, not far off 80.)
“My first reaction, when Peter suggested it, was a big smile,” says Skerritt. Continue reading Ratmansky’s Don Quixote at PNB Stars Actor Tom Skerritt as the Manchegan
Seattle Symphony music director Ludovic Morlot shows off his conducting chops tonight in a creative program featuring Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, a world premiere by Nico Muhly, and a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 by Marc-André Hamelin. Continue reading Seattle Symphony Presents Keyboard Fireworks, a Beloved Classic, and a World Premiere