November 19th, 2009 02:58pm
Bridget Fraser
We went to a great concert last weekend at the Irish Cultural Heritage Center in Milwaukee. Alisdair Fraser, is Scotland’s “famous fiddle ambassador”with a long list of awards, concerts, television appearances, and solo performances on movie soundtracks including Last of the Mohicans and Titanic. Fraser and the young cellist, Natalie Haas are a dazzling team. They met when she was an 11 year old student attending one of his fiddle camps. The pairing of the fiddle and the cello is a return to much earlier Scottish folk music when the cello was the driving rhythm section in dance bands.
The Irish Heritage Center is housed in an old church just west of downtown Milwaukee. The sanctuary serves as the concert space and an adjacent room has been converted to a pub serving Guiness, single malts and other fun libations. You buy your drink in the pub and take it with you into “church”. Fraser and Hass had everyone on their feet, clapping and dancing to great Celtic tunes. At the end, they invited a dozen or so of the young fiddlers and cellists that participated in their afternoon workshop to play with them on the stage.
I am definitley going to explore bringing this awesome duo to Rockford to perform on the Mendelssohn season. Now all we need is a downtown venue with a pub attached!!
November 19th, 2009 11:11am
Anne O'Keefe
I attended a Local Arts Network (LAN) meeting this week and it always gives me great ideas and information to bring back to our region. The meeting is made up of representatives from the Arts Alliance of Illinois, of which I sit on the Board, Illinois Arts Council, and Directors from Area Arts Councils across the state, Carbondale to Decatur to Centralia. Randy Cohen, vice president of the Local Arts Advancement department at Americans for the Arts, the nation’s advocacy organization for the arts was the guest speaker. Randy is charged with ensuring that every community and arts organization in America is served by a local arts agency—and that every community in America is an environment where the arts can thrive. Combining the strengths of research, advocacy, professional development, and member services, Randy leads a team of 15 who strengthen the nation’s network of 4,000 local arts agencies.
Randy gave great examples of what is happening around the country and things that can easily be implemented right here. For example, the City of Seattle has local musicians when you are placed on hold. Imagine calling to report a pothole and listening to Dan Voll, might defuse the situation a bit. Madison has a “Bus line” poetry competition. High School students submit lines of their own poetry and it is put up inside the buses. Eugene, Oregon has an Arts and Business Alliance that work together as they understand the importance of the arts in community cultural development. There were some great ideas from around the table too. In Addison the Arts Council is in a school and has access to a black box theatre and gallery space. In Barlett they are in a storefront and partner with a downtown business group.
I’m excited to see what happens with Live Work Learn Play. This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship for Rockford!
November 10th, 2009 05:02pm
Bridget Fraser
Mendelssohn Center’s Holiday Gala concert is right around the corner. The planning for this concert has been a year long, community effort. Can you imagine the excitement of nearly 100 performers on stage? The concert will feature Donald Fraser’s A Christmas Symphony performed by The Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra, Mendelssohn Chorale, Kantorei, the Singing Boys of Rockford and the Rock Valley Children’s Choir. Acclaimed soprano, Jonita Lattimore will be the guest soloist.
A Christmas Symphony began life at a dinner party given by the famous American singer Jessye Norman for a group of friends at her English country home on Christmas Eve, 1985. The simple song This Christmastide, which has become a world famous Christmas carol, was penned in about twenty minutes after dinner. From there a CD was produced and subsequently made into a television program for PBS at Ely Cathedral in England. This will be the first time that this beautiful symphony will be heard in Rockford. In honor of the 125th anniversary of the Mendelssohn Center, Mr. Fraser has written a Christmas Prelude and Fugue to open the concert.
October 28th, 2009 11:12am
Anne O'Keefe
I’m very excited about the roll out of the new GO Section which starts Friday. Tuesdays are going to have an arts focus which is going to be awesome. I’m rallying the bloggers and we are going to beef up our blogging so be sure to check back next week. There are so many cool things going on in the arts in our region that we want to make sure you don’t miss a thing. A big thanks to RR Star for the recent coverage and the recognition of the arts as an integral part of our quality of life.
September 25th, 2009 09:39pm
Rebecca Fetter
After moving back to Rockford from Chicago, Margaret Rennerfeldt was inspired to create an event patterned after “Dance for Life,” a Chicago AIDS benefit. In the first few years, Arts for Life in Rockford included music, art and dance. Today, the event predominantly showcases dance and occasionally includes groups such as the Rockford College Vocal Collective or local musician David Stocker’s One Drum. In its tenth year, 100% of Arts for Life proceeds have been donated to Total Health Awareness Team, Crusader Clinic, and in past years, AIDS Care Network.
“Now we are broadening our reach to help more people and hopefully to attract more of a diverse audience,” says Rennerfeldt. ” Her husband, Noel, has donated his time and talent to design and run lights and Rockford College has been the event’s core sponsor since day one. “Everyone donates their time.”
The main committee is comprised of Maria Castello, Margaret Faust, Shelton Kay, and Margaret Rennerfeldt, and to date, they have donated over $10,000. They have expanded from only supporting AIDS health organizations to those organizations that provide services to populations in need.
HELP RAISE MORE…
When: One night only, Friday, October 9, 2009 @ 7pm
Where: Maddox Theatre, Rockford College
Why: Organizations to benefit from Arts for Life include Janet Wattles, Barbara Olson School of Hope, NCenter & Crusader Clinic.
What: performances by
- Without Shoes Modern Dance Company
- DanceReach
- Rockford Dance Co.
- Social Motion
- DanceLoop Chicago
- The Space Movement Project
- Joey Claeyssen/Susan Belles
- Maria Castello & Jacques St. Cyr
- Aloha Hula Girls
- Edgar Stilner
Tickets are available at Rockford Dance Company (815-963-3341) and at the Barbara Olson Center of Hope only through October 8th, 12 noon. $20 in advance; $25 at the door. Make checks payable to ARTS FOR LIFE.
See you there!
August 12th, 2009 06:15pm
Rebecca Fetter
Artists often feel uncomfortable with the emphasis given to market aspects in the debate over creative definitions, classifications, intellectual property rights (as explored in the 2008 UNCTAD Creative Economy report). But the economic impact of arts is not entirely attributed by the “Hollywoods” generating billions in domestic sales or providing jobs and supporting ancillary businesses. Much like education, creative industries produce intangible goods and services which contribute to the greater good of our economy. Arts benefits like social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development have no price tag, unless they’re underutilized by a population who will then pay for crime and other behaviors increasing tax dollars.
The spankin’ new chairman at National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, is not surprisingly being probed by media for his commentary on arts as an economic driver. At any rate, way before he was confirmed by the Senate, New York Times warned us that Mr. Landesman is someone who isn’t “famous for his skills as an administrator or diplomat. Rather, he is known for his energy, intellect and irreverent — and occasionally sharp-elbowed — candor.”
This year’s NEA budget is $21 million less than its peak in 1992, so Mr. Landesman is expected to lobby hard for more arts money, and could give the local arts community more options. Since 2005, the Rockford Region received $70,000 from NEA toward arts programs since 2005. $40,000, alone, was awarded this year (http://arts.endow.gov/). The chairman has yet to give more details on his priorities, but talked about starting a program that he called “Our Town,” which could be an alternative option for local projects like ArtSpace envisioned by The Element. The program would provide home equity loans and rent subsidies for live-work spaces to encourage artists to move to downtown areas.
July 29th, 2009 08:23am
Anne O'Keefe
This Friday and Saturday is the culmination of the Rockford Area Arts Council’s youth arts apprenticeship program. The visual arts teams include painting, sculpture and printmaking, and the performing arts teams are dance and therapeutic drama. We are honored to be at the Auburn Freshman Campus this year and the performances and sale will be held there too, 520 North Pierpont. Friday doors open at 6:30 so come and look at the artwork, performance begins at 7:00 and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. I was on the campus yesterday and the vibrance and energy is tremendous. The artists and apprentices are dedicated to producing top-notch work. They work hard and have fun at the same time. It really drives home the point that the arts are important to shaping productive citizens. Teaching job skills through the arts is working. They may come to the program shy and introverted but they leave with more confidence and trust. We hope for a day when this progam can be year-round. We thank the individuals and funders who made it possible this year and hope to grow that group next year. Please come to see youth doing great things! You can get tickets at RAAC, 713 East State through Thursday the 30th for $5 and tickets are $6 at the door. Proceeds benefit the ArtsPlace program!
July 28th, 2009 02:07pm
Rebecca Fetter
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford hosted its first Asian American cultural event on July 22 with approximately 200 students, staff, faculty members and members of the Rockford community assembled in the lobby. The event began with an introductory speech by Dr. Neelu Puri, and a ceremonial lighting of the lamps. Patricia Lee, a summer high school student at the College of Medicine, started the evening with a piano sonata. Then, the featured dancer, Anjal Chande, performed several pieces in the classical Indian dance form Bharatnatyam.
Anjal Chande began her dance performances with an invocation, “Ganesh Kavuttwam.” She then danced a traditional piece “Bhavayami Gopala Balam,” which describes Yashoda’s observations of baby Krishna. This was followed by “Yahi Madhava Yahi Keshava”, a dance that depicts the antics of an older Lord Krishna. The dancer preformed these dances telling the stories using her facial expression and intricate footwork. Anjal also performed a piece to an original composition of poetry written by herself titled “Darkness”: a very unusual combination of English poetry with Indian dance style. She concluded her dances with a finale, “Thillana.” The dances highlighted Anjal’s abilities to move with intricacy and deliberation. Very expressive facial movements and precise arms and fingers, accompanied by intricate footwork helped to convey to the audience the various emotions and meanings that are an integral part the stories of the Bharatnatyam dance. Anjal described her passion for the dance form and enlightened the audience to the stories behind the pieces before performing.
Following her dances, Michelle Zheng, a summer student volunteer at the College of Medicine, played a classical violin piece. The Bharatnatyam theme was then continued with a dance by Vidhya Chandrasekaran, a medical student at the College of Medicine. Her dance, Boshambo, portrayed Lord Siva with a complexity of foot work and rhythmic dance movements and a commanding presence.
Click here to see what else the College of Medicine is doing in Rockford.
Click here to learn more about the work of Anjal Chande.
Thanks to Cynthia Hall and Dr. Neelu Puri of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford for their 
collective insights and contribution to this report.
July 22nd, 2009 02:23pm
Rebecca Fetter
A Native American Pow-wow program on July 15th was most successful, drawing 32 participants. As part of the Discover Dance series at Rockford Public Library, pow-wow instructor Pat Diaz explained ceremonial dancing in both a competitive and personal context. Two typical types of Native American circle dances demonstrated, include the two step and promenade style dance. In a two step each couple follows the lead of the head dancers, forming a line behind them, whereas in the promenade each couple dances alone.
Diaz shared excellent pow-wow video examples and wore her own traditional regalia: a buck skin dress, a woven skirt and top. Accessories included her personal feather fans and peace pipes. Women’s shawls traditionally include fringe as long as 24 inches. Colors and designs on regalia evoke personal significance and must not be duplicated. Diaz for example wore red, green and black on the ruffle across her bodice, as the colors represent her husband’s service in the Vietnam War.
Keep your eye on Discover Dance as it aims to include Latin, Hula, Swing and belly dance in its fall lineup. For more information, please contact Susan Sinclair at 815-904-5585.
Upcoming Pow-wows:
AUGUST 1-2, Fourth Annual Intertribal and Traditional Pow-wow: About an hour and a half southwest of Rockford, hosted in Prophetstown, Illinois.
AUGUST 8, 14th Annual Honor the Mounds: View a true drumming and dancing pow wow display at Beattie Park in Rockford, Illinois. Also to include food, crafts and living history demonstrations.
July 8th, 2009 04:50pm
Christopher D. Sims
Poetry in Rockford is alive and well contrary to popular belief. With arecent renaissance coming to end, a new one is taking place in theRockford area.Since I returned home, I realized there was not much happening inRockford regarding poetry and spoken word. I had been living in Philadelphia, PAbefore I returned to the Rockford area arts scene. Philadelphia is a placethriving with culture and art. I had gotten used to seeing readingsand all kinds of arts events listed in Philly’s local papers. Although theObama work I was doing kept me too busy there, I enjoyed living ina city where poetry and spoken word were always being showcased.So, I came back home and wanted the same thing happening here inRockford.I had to take the initiative of getting two open mike venues going forpoetry and spoken word.Every Wednesday I host Poetry For The Soul. With a DJ who playscontemporary music, I share the mike with some of Rockford’s up andcoming poets and spoken word artists. Justin Saichek is one of Rockford’sbest and up and coming poetry talents. Visit us at Bar 3 at 326 E. StateSt. every Wednesday night at 9 PM to hear Justin, myself, and good music.At Katie’s Cup, Rockford’s best kept secret when it comes to cafes, Ihost Free Your Voice. An open mike for poetry, spoken word, musicians,and community discussion. You’ll hear me sharing my own work and askingcommunity-related questions. We have a good time and its an all agesaffair. Come to Katie’s Cup for Free Your Voice every other Thursday at7 PM. Poets, musicians and all are welcome!Free Your Voice is this Thursday.Yes, poetry is alive and well in Rockford. To learn more or get involvedfeel free to reach me at universoulove@hotmail.com.
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collective insights and contribution to this report.
