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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Connel Murray
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport’s Soper-Reese Community Theatre provided a jam-packed venue for this year’s Christmas concert of the Lake County Symphony, presented by Clear Lake Performing Arts.
The event took place on Sunday, Dec. 16, and also featured vocal performances by a number of local artists.
The concert opened with a tongue-in-cheek rendition of the late Burl Ives’ hit “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” sung by four artists dubbing themselves The Men of Soper-Reese.
The group included Mike Adams, Wally Fuller, Nick Jeremiah French and Doug Rhoades, backed by Nick Biondo on mini-cymbals, Tom Aiken at the piano and 5-year-old Taylor Parkinson, granddaughter of symphony Conductor John Parkinson. At the song’s conclusion she graciously presented each of the singers with a flower bouquet.
The 15 members of the Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Orchestra then took the stage, under the direction of Susan Condit.
They delivered an impressive presentation of “Believe,” the theme from the movie “Polar Express,” and a special salute to the holiday season called “December Fanfare,” written by contemporary composer Andrew Dabczynski as a demonstration of fusing elements of classical music with old-time fiddle playing. The youngsters delivered a highly professional job on both pieces.
The more serious side of the concert then took place, with a symphony string section (which includes a harpsichord played by Tom Aiken) launching into Arcangelo Corelli’s classic Christmas Concerto, Op 6, No. 8. I.
Corelli wrote the piece shortly after the invention of the violin, and since he was an acknowledged master of this instrument his composition was arranged almost exclusively for strings, in this case 36 players.
A hallmark of Corelli’s work is “The Concertino,” a trio of musicians whose soaring notes both contrast with and blend into, the full orchestra. These parts were played ably by violinists Andi Skelton and Eleanor Cook, and cellist John Weeks.
At the conclusion of the Corelli work, the balance of the musicians filed in to bring the orchestra up to its full strength of some 65 members, including brass, woodwind and percussion players.
Parkinson then led the group through a series of popular Christmas favorites including “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and others, ending with the familiar strains of Victor Herbert’s “March of the Toys.” with outstanding solo support from Catherine Hall on piccolo and drummer Scott Wise.
During intermission Doug Rhoades assisted Kim DeAlba, representing the CLPA Auxiliary – the fund-raising arm of the organization – in auctioning off a hand-decorated violin, painted by local artist Jay Jackson. Richard Birk submitted the winning bid.
The concert’s second half was opened by featured vocalist Shelly Trumbo-Mascari, who delivered jazz versions of Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time is Here,” “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! And “Santa Claus is coming to Town.” Dressed as she was in a sleek, raspberry-colored gown, Mascari won extended applause.
Showing that music is often a family affair, Mascari’s father Walt Trumbo then sang Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” backed by the soaring trumpet of Gary Miller, and also won enthusiastic audience support when he shifted from baritone to an upper register for a big finish to the traditional Bing Crosby favorite.
Tenor Carl Stewart next delivered a flawless presentation of “O Holy Night,” followed by Sarah Cunningham singing Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” and a scat version of “Jingle Bells” where she was expertly backed by her husband Cory Cunningham on trombone, Tom Aiken on piano and David Ferrario on electric bass.
Next was the popular vocal group EarReverence, made up of Bill Bordissso, Valerie Reid, Nick Reid and standing in for ailing Carol Cole Lewis, Bonnie Trumbo (Shelly’s mom).
This time they were joined by Carl Stewart, and they then took over in leading the audience through a medley of sing-along favorites, ending with Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” where most of the orchestra members donned traditional Santa hats, except for Conductor Parkinson, who sported a fur-trimmed black version labeled “Bah, Humbug.”
As has been a tradition almost from the symphony’s founding in 1977, the Christmas Celebration finale was the singing of George Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” this time led by all the singers.
The next performance of the symphony will take place on May 18, 2013, when Clear Lake Performing Arts presents the annual Mothers Day concert.
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- Written by: Editor
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Art House Gallery will hold its Third Friday Art Gala this Friday, Dec. 21.
The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 15210 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake.
There will be a new art show to view, Christmas gifts for sale, refreshments, live music and a chance to meet and mingle with artists.
This is Clearlake's only art gallery, so come out and support the arts by attending.
The Salvation Army will be in attendance, so come and support their organization which helps so many in our community.
Visit the gallery online at http://thearthousegallery.net/ .
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Among the most ancient uses for language are descriptions of places, when a person has experienced something he or she wants to tell somebody else about.
Some of these get condensed and transformed into poetry, and here’s a good example, by Susan Kolodny, a poet from the Bay Area of California.
Koi Pond, Oakland Museum
Our shadows bring them from the shadows:
a yolk-yellow one with a navy pattern
like a Japanese woodblock print of fish scales.
A fat 18-karat one splashed with gaudy purple
and a patch of gray. One with a gold head,
a body skim-milk-white, trailing ventral fins
like half-folded fans of lace.
A poppy-red, faintly disheveled one,
and one, compact, all indigo in faint green water.
They wear comical whiskers and gather beneath us
as we lean on the cement railing
in indecisive late-December light,
and because we do not feed them, they pass,
then they loop and circle back. Loop and circle. Loop.
“Look,” you say, “beneath them.” Beneath them,
like a subplot or a motive, is a school
of uniformly dark ones, smaller, unadorned,
perhaps another species, living in the shadow
of the gold, purple, yellow, indigo, and white,
seeking the mired roots and dusky grasses,
unliveried, the quieter beneath the quiet.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Susan Kolodny from her first book of poems, After the Firestorm, Mayapple Press, 2011. Poem first appeared in the New England Review, Vol. 18, no. 1, 1997. Reprinted by permission of Susan Kolodny and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (Rated PG-13)
Maybe I’m not the optimal reviewer for “The Hobbit,” but it’s the major film of the week, with Warner Brothers having persuaded its competitors that the box office only has room for one big epic release.
First of all, I’ve never read the J.R.R. Tolkien novels and I barely made it through the first film of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Now along comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which is a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings,” or so I believe, since the action takes place 60 years earlier.
The thought of watching a prequel stirred dread in my soul, if only because George Lucas, it can be fairly said, ruined the whole notion with the dreadful “Star Wars” prequels.
Being a novice to this whole Tolkien business, I was pleasantly surprised that “The Hobbit,” at least to this uninitiated amateur, was much more entertaining than I reasonably expected.
Still, director Peter Jackson appeared to be in no rush during the film’s opening act to get things moving at a decent pace. Instead, there is a lumbering amount of exposition to set up the raft of characters.
Nevertheless, for the apprentice viewer, there is much to be established, and aside from Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Wizard, it’s easy to get lost and fail to distinguish between the dwarves, elves and trolls.
Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) lives a contented, peaceful existence in his cozy home of Bag End in the Shire. You see, Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys the complacency and quiet enjoyment of his wooded paradise.
Meanwhile, a group of 13 rowdy dwarves, led by the stoic, legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), seeks to reclaim their lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug.
To this end, the warrior dwarves, who are apparently unfamiliar with basic hygiene, show up at Baggins’ little Hobbit home, barging in as uninvited dinner guests.
The party crashers are all part of the Wizard Gandalf the Grey’s (Ian McKellan) plan to draft the reluctant Baggins into a journey that will travel through the badlands of Middle-earth.
The destination lies somewhere to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, but to get there the group has to travel though some really treacherous lands, where constant peril abounds.
This is where it gets interesting. After an initial slow pace, the action heats up with many battles so fierce and intense that it should delight any action junkie, if not a rating stronger than PG-13.
In these fights, the hardy group takes on Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer. I know that if “necro” is part of the name, then death surely follows.
What I don’t know are the differences between a goblin, an orc and a troll. It may be an issue of size, but of this I am certain, these are some of the ugliest creatures to roam the Middle-earth universe.
As time goes on, the initially timid Baggins gains confidence and strength. These qualities are put to the test when Baggins meets the creature that will change his life forever, namely Gollum (Andy Sirkis).
Gollum is a weird little dude who lives in a cave. On the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Baggins, now alone with Gollum, discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him.
Aside from Gollum’s playful yet oddly dangerous behavior, this creature mostly speaks gibberish and loves riddles. Baggins is put to the test on an intellectual scale.
The most remarkable thing to come from this encounter with Gollum is that Baggins gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring, one that holds unexpected and useful qualities. The simple, gold ring is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth, and so it will play a big part in the future.
Let’s face it: whatever carping comes from critics who take apart Peter Jackson’s efforts to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision to the screen, the diehard fans will likely not care.
“The Hobbit” runs almost three hours, and so it demands a lot of attention as well as patience, at times. But from my vantage point, I would say the next installment will be worth seeing.
For the here and now, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” proves to be, at least for one who cared not so much for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, an unexpected pleasure.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.