Three Great Solo Artists

Colin Stetson doesn’t just have his finger on the pulse of contemporary music. He seems to have all kinds of fingers playing a vast variety of genres. Stetson is best-known as a saxophonist but he also performs on the clarinet, bass clarinet, french horn, flute and cornet. He has performed with Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Tom Waits, performance artist Laurie Anderson and jazz-influenced composer Anthony Braxton.

And his style has wowed critics. “Stetson commands his saxophones using circular breathing, key tapping, overblowing and vocalizations… incredible that he records in single takes,” marvels the publication All About Jazz. And Pitchfork declared that Stetson creates a sound “that could come only from one person on earth.”

Stetson travels to this part of the earth for a unique Alverno Presents mini-festival, Solo Flight, that features works in music, dance and theater. Stetson will perform at Alverno’s Wehr Hall on Saturday, April 19. Jeanine Durning is a spoken-word artist who has won the Alpert Award for choreography and will perform at Lynden Sculpture Garden on Wednesday April 16 and Friday April 18. And Morgan Thorson is a dancer/choreographer and US Artist Fellow who will present her new work “Journeyman,” a two-phase project in which she will meet an individual she doesn’t know at a party on April 14, and through a one-on-one conversation will create a solo dance to perform privately for that person. Then on April 17 there will be two public performances of the dance at INOVA. There will also be a free panel discussion between the artists moderated by Sara Krajewski, Director of UW-Milwaukee’s INOVA Gallery, on Saturday morning at MIAD’s Todd Wehr auditorium.

April 14-19 at varying venues. Tickets are $20-$25, available online.

Music

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Romeo and Juliet April 18-19 at the Marcus Center 8 p.m. Tickets range from $$22-$102, available online or call (414) 291-7605.

Turner Hall Ballroom: Zucchero Tuesday, April 15. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $18, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Turner Hall Ballroom: Wake Owl Friday April 18. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $12, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

The Pabst Theater: Willy Porter Band on Saturday April 19. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

UWM Peck School of the Arts: Music from Almost Yesterday Thursday April 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Recital Hall (MUS 175). Admission is free.

Italian Community Center: Cure for Cabin Fever Series presents Jim Liban’s Third Coast Blues Collective with Joel Patterson on Tuesday April 15 at 6:30 p.m. and Larry Lynne Band on Thursday April 17 at 6:30 p.m. Admission and parking is free for guests.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music: Orquesta Tumbao Concert Saturday April 19 at the Helen Bader Recital Hall at 7 p.m.

Theater

Uprooted Theatre: My Red Hand, My Black Hand Monday, April 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15, available online or call (414) 278-0765.

Special Events

Turner Hall Ballroom: Milwaukee Day on Monday, April 14 featuring performances by Decibully, Juniper Tar and Whips. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $10, available online or call (414) 286-3663.

Last Chance

Tory Folliard Gallery: “The Figure in Clay” and “Concerning Nature,” through April 19

Soulstice Theatre: Still Life, through April 19

Fireside Dinner Theatre : Mary Poppins, through April 20

Ongoing

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: Lend Me a Tenor, through April 27

Next Act Theatre: Three Views of the Same Object , through April 27

Renaissance Theaterworks:  Skin Tight, through April 27

Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre: Bottle 99, through April 27

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: The History of Invulnerability, through May 4

Milwaukee Art Museum: Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art, through May 4

Inova Gallery: Lisa Selby: Must Come Down and  Benjamin DeMott: Teeter Jam, through May 18

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Ain’t Misbehavin’, through May 18

Museum of Wisconsin Art: Handmade for Hard Times, through June 15

Charles Allis Art Museum: FORWARD: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now, through June 29