Sign up now to receive the AnythingArts email newsletter

Featured Artist
Derek Han

A prolific recording artist and acclaimed pianist, Derek Han lives in Sarasota with his wife, Elena, and their children Octavien, Owen, Oliver and Olimpia when he’s not touring the world. Han's international career was launched when he won First Prize and the Gold Medal at the Athens International Piano Competition in 1977. Since then, for more than 30 years, his inspired playing has dazzled audiences across five continents. Han’s discography includes Beethoven’s complete piano concerti live at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Berliner Symphoniker, and both Mendelssohn piano concerti with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He is also the associate artistic director of La Musica International Chamber Music Festival, which takes place March 28-April 14 in Sarasota. We recently asked him a question or two about his life and work.

Do you find that music transcends cultures and languages? The phrase, "music transcends boundaries," may seem like a cliché, but my experience has shown me that it’s much more than that. As a classical musician, I play on different continents, different countries, to different nationalities. The music I play, whether it is Mozart, Chopin or Rachmaninoff, moves the audiences wherever they are. Music is a universal language—it’s inspiring to be part of that.

Can you recall a pivotal moment in your career when you accomplished something you had always dreamed of accomplishing? One of the most important musical experiences I’ve had is recording the complete Mozart Piano Concertos, which I did with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. There are fewer than a dozen complete recordings of these 25 incredible works. These performances were included in the complete Mozart works sold to celebrate his 250th birthday in 2006, and more than four million of my CDs were sold.

Who has been a primary influence for you? One is President Nelson Mandela. I had the opportunity to meet and play for him in South Africa. Hearing him say how music is a source of inspiration and reconciliation for all mankind was very special for me.

What are some of your professional highlights of 2007? My recording of Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos 1 and 2 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released, which was wonderful. I opened the 2007 season playing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, and did a complete Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Aside from classical music, do you enjoying listening to other types of music? I enjoy listening to jazz, and wish I could play it! (interview provided by Ophelia Black) (click here to nominate our next artist)

I (Rick) have to brag on Christine for a minute. Hmm, maybe I should make her a Featured Artist sometime, nay. Anyway, Christine has designed our brand new companion website and I think it is absolutely beautiful. Christine has spent hours and hours on this and I think she deserves the clap. Here is a link to check it out before it’s unveiled to the world (at least officially, since this newsletter is seen around the globe). The AnythingArts.com mission steadfastly remains to promote the arts and the artists – all kinds. The new site isn’t completely finished, while we tweak and input - so don’t bookmark it or link to it yet - but we’d like you to take a look and let us know what you think. I want to thank Christine so much I thought I’d share this beautiful photo of her. Thanks again for reading everybody… we now have over 11,000 readers every month between the newsletter and website! (Thank you too, Rick! Without you, well, I really have no words! (get it? NO words without you? - man I am funny. ~ Christine)
 

We are very fortunate to have Cliff Roles on WSRQ AM 1220 every day from 4:00 – 5:00 pm interviewing all kinds of artsy-fartsy people. This week in Sarasota, Cliff welcomes Linda Ballou and Jared Walker From Sarasota Senior Theatre on March 20; Caroline Sansone, Giving Hunger the Blues on March 24; Anne Morrison, HAIR, on March 25 and on March 26 Marjorie North, writer and columnist with the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Check out Petrella Bros. restaurant, in Sarasota on Saturdays, and La Tosca in Osprey on Fridays for Jazzy Acoustic Groove Music in the Bar. Original music and you get to join the band by adding percussion with hand shakers or sitting on stage with "El Chino" playing Conga. Join Jay Webber and Max Kelly "El Chino" for a tasty change in entertainment.   

That’s right, you can see racing pigs not once, but 3 times a day during the 72nd Annual Sarasota County Fair! (pdf) Ok, there’s also music and elephants, and rides and stunt shows. (I bet we are the only media talking about racing pigs this week in Sarasota!)

The Pillowman, by Martin McDonough, is currently at the Venice Little Theatre. The graphic play follows the investigation into a series of child murders and the interrogation of two brothers; one whose short stories mirror the crimes.
 

The Players Theatre and SOHO Hair Gallery, 2709 Beneva Rd., are teaming up for a fundraising event to cut your hair for the production of "Hair." "This is a great way for the community to get involved with supporting one of our productions," says Jeffery Kin, Artistic Director of The Players Theatre. "Everyone asks how they can help out and this is a great way to do that. 10% of your hair cut by the owner of SOHO Hair Gallery, Beth Nilsen will be donated directly to the show." Appointments by calling Nilsen at 941-921-7646. Donations will continue until the show closes on April 6, 2008.

The artwork of Val Sandell is on exhibit in the Visitor’s Center Exhibit Gallery at Historic Spanish Point. Much of Val’s exhibited oil paintings were inspired by Spanish Point, while others depict coastal Florida. Why not visit the exhibit before touring Historic Spanish Point? Good idea!  

The Golden Apple opens “Funny Girl” at the dinner theatre this week in Sarasota. Did you know that the Golden Apple holds the record throughout the country for years of continuous operation? If you haven’t been, go. Chef Caldwell serves up a pretty good selection prior to the show. Funny Girl is the classic musical made famous by Streisand with hits like “People” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” 

Serrano Contemporary/Sonnet Gallery announces the exhibition of “Sweet/Strong” and the original oil on linen work of Margarita Deleuze. The opening cocktail reception is from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at the gallery (1920 Adams Lane in Towles Court - Map).  

Sarasota Ballet, Iain Webb Artistic Director, presents a triple bill featuring “Vespri” by Andre Prokovsky, “Grosse Fuge” by Hans van Manen and “Elite Syncopations” by Sir Kenneth MacMillan. Performances are at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall at 8:00 pm both nights and a 2:00 pm on Saturday. Call 941-351-8000.

Dennis Romano, author of "The Likeness of Venice: A Life of Doge Francesco Foscari, 1373-1457" will give a talk about the historical Francesco Foscari, who is the leading character in Verdi's opera I due Foscari (The Two Foscari). The talk will take place at 4:00 pm in the Jonas Kamlet Library of the Sarasota Opera House and is free to the public. That same evening at 8:00 pm, Sarasota Opera will present its first performance of the opera I due Foscari. (Benjamin Warschawski as Jacopo Foscari, Reyna Carguill as Lucrezia Contarini and Marco Nisticò as Francesco Foscari. Photo is by Krystal Kay)

Learn Adobe Photoshop in this one-day workshop for beginners at the Digital Technology Centre. The course is hands-on, each student is in front of a computer, and runs from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm. Mention AnythingArts.com when you sign up and receive 10% off! Call 941-894-0362. Sign up online here.

Elizabeth Van Riper welcomes musicians/composers/conductors Derek Han and Dick Hyman to “The Creative Life” on WSLR, 96.5 LPFM, to discuss the La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and more. The show is from 9:00 – 10:00 am and you can listen in your car or on the computer here.  

The first organizational meeting for the Documentary Film Society (DFS) is being held at the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s Community Room at 6:00 pm (for roughly an hour). The idea is to assemble a group of documentary enthusiasts to publicly screen films, produce documentaries and further the appreciation of the genre. This meeting is for both filmmakers and non-filmmakers and is a brainstorming/planning session. Part of the proposed mission of the DFS is to produce short films, at no cost, for non-profits that cannot otherwise afford to do so, to use in their own awareness and fundraising campaigns. Additionally, the DFS will explore ideas for feature documentaries to put the local film community to work... for actual pay... what a concept! For more information email Rick here.

I’ve been inspired by several of the recent Palm Literary Society presentations this year. Geraldine Brooks is an excellent writer and I re-read her “Year of Wonders” about the plague and how the disease was carried on a bolt of infected cloth from London to an isolated mountain village in 1666. The struggle to survive is beyond anything we can imagine. I can’t wait to read her bestselling “People of the Book” which she spoke about at a recent Palm Literary Society luncheon. I recently finished “Soul Provider: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love” by Fr. Edward Beck. I’ve heard Fr. Beck speak and he is a true storyteller. He uses humor and his real life experiences as a Passionist priest in Harlem to write about his spiritual journey. I have enjoyed all of his books, including “God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest” and “Unlikely Ways Home: Real-Life Spiritual Detours." What I’m reading now is “Harvesting the Heart” by Jodi Picoult. Jodi’s books offer a fast and engrossing read - one of those books that you “can’t put it down."

“The First Year: Work in Progress Exhibition" at the Ringling College of Art features work by first year students in the CORE program. The Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception will begin at 5:00 pm in a tent at the Searing Student Center. The exhibition runs through April 12 in the Selby Gallery. (Image: Jenna Ohnemus, Taylor, 2006 Photo Inkjet)

The Skullduggery Band will be playing at the Bungalow (formerly Mickey’s and formerly, formerly Mim’s) on the corner of Ringling and Pineapple, downtown Sarasota (map). The music is from 7:00 – 10:00 pm.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe presents HOT MIKADO, a swinging, jazzed-up version of the original "Mikado," the 19th-century operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan. The music is the same but with a different beat, with the addition of blues numbers, gospel, jazz, swing, and R&B. The action is still set in Japan but the Mikado himself, the self-important and pompous emperor of Japan, played by NATE JACOBS, is a jazz influenced soft shoe-dancing monarch. HOT MIKADO is directed and choreographed by Harry Bryce (pictured at right). Naarai Jacobs stars as Yum-Yum in her first leading role with the Troupe. Tickets for this production at he Historic Asolo Theatre are on sale now at the box office call 941-360-7399 or by clicking here.

Sign up now to receive the AnythingArts email newsletter

A band with drums and a guitar is expected, right? How about a rock band with an accordion, glockenspiel and trumpet as its lead instruments? Now that’s different and we applaud different (APPLAUSE). “Random Encounter” is just such a band and they are appearing live at 6:00 pm at Play(N)Trade (2111 Cortez Road - map). Their concerts include audience participation and they link their songs together like telling a story. Keep thinking out of the box Random Encounter!

Live music by “My Friend Scott” at the 5 O’clock Club on Hillview Street. The 5 O’clock Club has a full schedule of live music. Get out there. 

The 15th Annual Sarasota Scottish Highland Games & Heritage Festival will be at the Venice Airport Grounds from 9:00 – 5:00 pm. There’ll be all kinds of athletic events, dancing, food, beer and music. Graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) will be featured, along with always popular Jacobites Pipe & Drum Orchestra, The Brigadoons, Cahal Dunne, The McILroys, Irish and Scottish Highland Dancers. 

The 13th Annual “Giving Hunger the Blues” festival hits the streets on Hillview St., in the Southside Village, from 12 noon until 8:00 pm. There will be tons of great food, lots of live music, a Guitar Hero competition and more. Kids and pets are welcome on a leash (yes, both). The event is “To Feed, Protect and Nurture the Children in Our Community” and benefits the All Faiths Food Bank, the Wellness Community and the PAL Sailor Circus. 

The Artist Series of Sarasota presents American baritone Thomas Meglioranza and pianist Reiko Uchida performing together on Sunday & Tuesday, at 7:30 pm each night, in the beautiful Historic Asolo Theater at the Ringling Museum of Art. This live concert will feature selections including Haydn's Sailor's Song, Faure’s Clair de lune, and selections from Schumann, Stephen Foster and Aaron Copland. Tickets are available from the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office, or by phone at 941-360-7399.

One of the finest ballet dancers of our time, Jacques d’Amboise will share his lifetime devoted to dancing and teaching in “Jacques d’Amboise: He Makes Me Feel Like Dancing” at the Historic Asolo Theater at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art on Wednesday at 5:30 pm. This is the third and final in the “Conversations with the Legendary Artists of the Stage” series hosted by June LeBell.  

Three families - one Cuban, one African American and one Jewish - collide, intermingle and eventually blend as Michael McKeever's provocative new play weaves a tapestry of the new American Dream, and perhaps a new American hope. At FST soon, get tickets now at 941-366-9000. Also, due to audience demand, the very popular European Cabaret has extended through March 28 with five additional shows, and Jewtopia has extended through April 3, also with five additional performances.

The Sarasota Film Festival returns and single film and special event tickets are on sale now. Hurry! 

“We Were There: Memories of the Holocaust” is a special presentation, and the title of a new book, by Adam Broner, Helga Harris and Eva Slane. Join the authors as they share experiences during a brunch and book signing event at the East Village Cabaret 11:30 am – 1:30 pm. The publication is a product of the Holocaust Survivors Writing Project at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. Reservations are required, call 941-373-3933; cost is $15. Copies of the book will be available for $17.

To celebrate their new Steinway Concert Grand Piano, Model D, the Van Wezel Foundation is having a “Celebration Concert” featuring Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The concert is free and 2 tickets per person are available at the Van Wezel Box Office on a first-come, first-served basis. So hurry, no telephone or on-line freebies, you have to go to the box office; I have already, it was quick and easy. The 7:00 pm concert will include selections from Beethoven, Shubert, Ravel and Rachmaninoff. For more information call 941-366-5578.

Be sure to check the audition pages of local theaters to make sure you don’t miss anything (click the theater name): Venice Little Theatre • Florida Studio Theatre •
The Players Theatre of Sarasota • Manatee Players • The Golden Apple

“The Play’s the Thing (pdf),” play reading contest, returns for its 8th annual event at The Players Theater. Artistic Director Jeffery Kin will head the production and Gulf Coast playwrights, over 18, are encouraged to submit new plays. The deadline is May 1. The selected plays will get a staged reading July 7 – 12 and one will earn the coveted “Best of Series” and a full production the following summer. Click here for details and guidelines. 

The Theatre Guild of Venice Little Theatre is accepting scholarship applications for the 2008-09 academic year. The scholarships are for students seeking an education in the performing arts and are based on financial need, goals and community service history. For more information call Maggie Revere at 941-486-8679 or email  (photo of past recipients)

[ auditions ]

Island Players on Anna Maria needs two men and two women ages 40 to 55 for roles in The Long Weekend, a Norm Foster comedy. Auditions are Monday evening, March 24 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Contact Carole Kleinberg at 941-232-4123 for more information.

Sign up now to receive the AnythingArts email newsletter

Information about show times, places and dates is assumed accurate but not guaranteed. Please contact the presenting organization directly, by the link or phone number provided, to confirm information.

You are receiving this email because 1. Christine Alexander and Rick Hughes know you are an artist or an arts patron and/or 2. You signed up for it, or 3. One of your friends has forwarded it to you because they knew you’d love it. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us every two weeks, please add info@anythingarts.com to your address book today. Also, please send us your news!