Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares @ Pabst Theater

In our January Picks, we featured Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares, scheduled to appear in concert at the Pabst on Friday, January 18. The show has been rescheduled for Friday, May 16. All tickets previously purchased will be honored and current ticket holders will be contacted by the Pabst to inform them of the change. Here’s what we said: “The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir, more poetically known as “Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares” (the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices), have moved at least one critic to describe their singing as “the most beautiful music on the planet” (St. Louis Post Dispatch). Dropping jaws around the world since 1951, members of this ensemble are handpicked from rural farms and villages across Bulgaria and train extensively in the unique musical structures that give them their ethereal sound. It’s been hip to be worldly in the past couple of decades, and the Voix Bulgares have garnered international attention from sources as disparate (nay, unlikely) as Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, Linda Rondstadt and the United Nations. But it’s not because they’re kitschy, overproduced or in any way unauthentic. What does it really say about them? Everyone loves them, and you will too. 414-286-3663. pabsttheater.org” We believe this will all still be true in the spring.

Family Dinner

Fried chicken Collard greens Cheese grits Candied sweet potatoes Three generations Father >> Daughter > Fiance, 9 yr old son, 15 yr old soontobe daughter, 14 yr old soontobe daughter Daughter > Partner, 12 yr old daughter, 9 yr old daughter, 7 yr old son > Kids’ dad Daughter > 5 yr old son Two dogs (trapped in bedrooms), One dog (free to roam the house), Two cats (trapped in basement), One tortoise (happy on the buffet), One guinea pig (cuddled and hand-fed salad), Seven hermit crabs (quickly fed and then ignored out of respect for the crabaphobe) Laughter, squealing, Iloveyou across the room. Paper plates, rooster salt and pepper and shakers. Hugs, song lyrics, wooden spoons brandished and a decided lack of aprons and hot pad holders. Cubist turtle picture drawn in one quiet corner of the house. Lego worlds built and disassembled. A rare 60 minutes stolen on the Nintendo 64 while dinner cooks downstairs. We’ve repeated this scene with minor variations at least 5 times in the last two weeks. We are lucky. We are blessed. We are family.

Wall Street Journal loves The Norman Conquests

Deserved and markedly positive attention was paid to Milwaukee this weekend in a major coup for the city and its arts scene with a glowing review in The Wall Street Journal of The Norman Conquests at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. “Revivals of so complex a theatrical undertaking must of necessity be rare, and I very much doubt you’ll see a better one than this,” writes the Journal’s drama critic Terry Teachout, amidst praise for Artistic Director Joseph Hanreddy, the Rep’s resident acting ensemble and the costume and set design. Read it for yourself online — then head over to The Rep’s website and get your tickets now. This show is a huge deal, and it closes in two weeks, so this is your last chance to see it for a long time. As Terry Teachout points out, this ambitious production is rarely, if ever, revived in America.

National webzine announces Latina writing contest

We received this press release today from Austin, Texas: Following a reverse trend in publishing, Latinitas Magazine, the first digital magazine made for and by Latina youth, is augmenting its successful online publications with the launch of a print magazine for “‘tweens” in 2008. To gather “voces authenticas” (authentic voices) from all over the United States, the magazine is launching the Latinitas Magazine National Writing Contest, seeking feedback from Latina youth ages 14 to 21 on what it is to be Latina. Winning writers will see their articles published in the print and online issues of Latinitas Magazine. Media tends to either neglect or misrepresent Latina identity, crystallizing her in over-sexualized images or excessive portrayals of servitude. Aside from ABC’s Ugly Betty, much of mainstream media depicts Latinas as uneducated gangster “cholas” or maids. According to media watchdog Children Now, negative media portrayals of youth have been associated with damaging body image and self-esteem among children and teens, particularly among girls who often find themselves marginalized by media. Contest Criteria: Contestants should be between the ages of 14 and 21. Submissions should be 800-1000 words in first person or Associated Press style on one of the following subjects: What is it like to be a Hispanic/Latina female in your hometown? What does it mean to be a Hispanic/Latina female to you? As a Hispanic/Latina female, are you doing something in your community to make a difference? If so, what? Describe the biggest challenge facing the young Hispanic/Latinas today. Applicants should submit articles to latinitasawards@yahoo.com by midnight February 10, 2008 or mail a copy: Latinitas P.O. Box 4284 Austin, TX 78765 “Latinas come from the barrios and the ‘burbs. We are hoping to hear from Hispanic young women who represent the large diaspora of Latinas,” explains Alicia Rascon, Latinitas co-founder. “I was born in Mexico, but you have other Latinas in the United States who may have never seen their family’s country of origin – yet they practice the culture and traditions of that place. Those are the stories we are excited to read.” The U.S. Census reports that by 2025, one in every five teens will be Latino. Clearly, what goes on among Latina teens not only affects the Latino community, but also has an extraordinary impact on the nation as a whole. VITAL Source hopes you’ll spread the word and wishes you luck!

New directors, new directions

The day I found out that the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra would be announcing the music director to replace Andreas Delfs after the 2008-2009 season, I went to bed wondering when the Milwaukee Art Museum would get their ducks in a row and pick someone to replace Director and CEO David Gordon, who will be leaving in March. I didn’t have to wonder long — I got an email the next day from the MAM press team announcing that a “successful museum director,” Daniel T. Keegan, would be taking the job. After months of what I imagine to have been sweaty deliberation, secret rehearsals, googling for dirt, maybe even confessional audition tapes, two of the city’s brawniest art organizations rang in the new on the same day. Their choices make sure statements about how they see themselves and where they hope to head in the next few years. The Symphony’s choice, Edo de Waart, is absolutely magnetic. At 23 he served as Leonard Bernstein’s assistant conductor at the New York Philharmonic; over the course of a storied, cosmopolitan career, de Waart has conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Holland, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and most recently the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Edo de Waart also brings an extensive catalog of recordings with a number of orchestras on major music labels. In person he is full of European charisma — funny but focused, comfortable and sincere. He just moved to Middleton with his wife and family, but everyone, including Edo, went to lengths yesterday to stress that this is not a late-career move made out of ease or laziness. De Waart called the MSO “a great sleeper orchestra,” unfettered by the weighty reputations that sometime “exceed reality.” In the past he has spoken with impressive conviction about what a wonderful symphony orchestra can do for a smaller city, or a city in transition (take a look at this interview about his work with the orchestra in Hong Kong). His experience in opera conducting — including but not limited to the Met in New York and L’Opera National in Paris — as well as a track record of taking chances on contemporary composers and lesser-known repertoire should prove revitalizing to the MSO. And I think Milwaukee is going to love him. Daniel T. Keegan, a different choice for a different beast, comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum from the San Jose Museum of Art, rather persistently described in the press so far as a “Silicon Valley museum.” The phrase gives a lot away about what MAM was looking for in its new leader; San Jose’s most notable distinction, besides its expansive collection of West Coast and Pacific Rim art, is its use of technology and multimedia in exhibitions and galleries. Their podcasts are award-winning, and you can dial their audio guides from your cell phone. The Milwaukee Art Museum has been reaching for a savvier demographic — a multi-tasking, wireless, gadget-infatuated and quick-on-its-feet group of people — for some time, with […]

Naked is a state of mind

2007 was quite a year. It’s a true and complete summary, and pretty much expresses the one universal aspect of the passage of the twelve month period we’ve culturally agreed spans a calendar cycle. The events themselves were for me,as for you, momentous in ways, predictable in others. Periods of unbelievable chaos intermingled with bouts of monotony and fits of restlessness. And like you, I grew in ways and probably shrank in others. Also like you, I learned a few things and remembered a few I’d forgotten (to my detriment) and which, like thousands of other unimaginative columnists and bloggers reflecting on the old year and projecting for the new, I will share with you now in list form. Living on your own terms is better than lots of money. It truly is, unless money alone is how you set the terms. When you’re happy and you know it, then your face will really show it. People respond to positive vibrations, of course they do. Strangers smile at you, old men chat you up at the hardware store, kids and dogs climb all over you (but not cats – they’re consistently drawn to whoever doesn’t like them). Don’t fake it, though. That’s creepy and easy to identify. Speak your mind when you have the chance. I learned this one the hard way, with a now-former dear friend. By the time I was honest about my fears for her, it was too late. I was already irrelevant. Save your change. A lot of people already know this, but I came late to the game. Naked is a state of mind. This is possibly the most interesting thing I learned this year, when we published last month’s holiday cover featuring a beautiful young woman clad only in snow and a big red ribbon. Most folks loved the playfulness of it, though a few were concerned that we were objectifying women (Incidentally, we’re almost all women over here). Some mused (including two other publishers – go figure!) that we might have done it to sell more ads: a crazy idea, as anything vaguely risqué in Milwaukee tends to scare away more advertisers than it attracts. I’ve taken the liberty of showing, through a sloppy application of Photoshop, that she’s actually less naked than if she were wearing a bikini. We got almost halfway through the month before the crazies started weighing in, but I guess it was inevitable. The one below is my favorite. Needless to say, fisher8624 never wrote back. I’ll leave you with it, as well as my response. VS —–Original Message—– From: fisher8624@yahoo.com Subject: Your Nude Cover FYI – a whole army of good upright people are taking stacks of your magazine with the nude cover and throwing them in the nearest trash can. STOP SPREADING PORN !!! We do not live in the backwoods of Africa where people run around with nothing on !! Your cover people may have such uncivilized tendencies but most of our society is civilized […]

call for entries!

Looking for something to do now that the holidays are pretty much done with? Spend some off-time with the family reliving memories by going through old photos for the Milwaukee Moments photo contest. The Milwaukee Press Club announces a photo contest for the 162nd City of Milwaukee Birthday Party to be held January 29, 2008 at The Pfister Hotel. Residents and amateur photographers can pick out their best captured Milwaukee Moment and view contest rules and entry instructions on the web site. Submissions must be uploaded electronically. All FedEx/Kinko’s locations throughout metro Milwaukee are available to scan photos and assist residents in submitting their snapshots. The public may vote for the winning photo from ten selected finalists online January 18-25. The winner will be announced by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at the City of Milwaukee’s 162nd Birthday Party. This year’s event will be held at the recently renovated Grand Ballroom of The Pfister Hotel. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Milwaukee Press Club website. The “Milwaukee Moments” photo theme will be utilized throughout the event and the ten finalists will be present. For more information visit www.milwaukeemoments.com.

Holiday Alchemy

SITE call for proposals

IN:SITE, a local organization fostering temporary public art in Milwaukee County, and Sherman Park Community Association are pleased to announce that they are collaborating on temporary public art installations in the Sherman Park neighborhood for 2008. There will be two five-month cycles of temporary public art, the first in April and the second in September of 2008. One project for each cycle will have a community involvement component. In addition, one project for each cycle will feature IN:SITE mentoring an emerging artist from the Sherman Park area. Currently, IN:SITE is accepting Spring 2008 proposals for the following sites in Sherman Park: Sherman Park (four city blocks, bounded by Burleigh on the north, Locust on the south, Sherman Boulevard on the west, and 41st Street on the east): This site is open to all artists, emerging or established, though the project must retain a community involvement component. IN:SITE encourages using the park’s pathways and using materials that will last up to four or five months. Sherman Park Community Association Office (3526 W. Fond du Lac Avenue): This site is only open to artists residing in the Sherman Park area. Interested artists should attend the meeting on Saturday, January 5, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. at Sherman Perk Coffee Shop (4924 W. Roosevelt). Please be sure to go to IN:SITE’s website for detailed descriptions and images of the specific sites. Once you have an idea of what you want to propose, submit a thumbnail sketch. To do so, fill out the proposal form and submit via email or by mail at P.O. Box 151, Milwaukee, WI, 53201. Submissions are due by February 1, 2008. The installations have to be in place before the May 3 opening. Please think inside the realm of TEMPORARY public art, outside of the permanent public art box. Your project could be a mural, sculpture, or a video. Since the stipends are not large ($200-$500), think about appropriate use of time and materials. Funding for the art is made possible by a matching grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB) with funds from the Challenge America program of the National Endowment for the Arts. The money from the WAB, supported in part by funds from the State of Wisconsin, is matched with funding through SPCA’s involvement in the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. VITAL wishes you luck with your proposals!

Call and Response

As teenagers, they learned that musicians get girls. Still embracing that high school mentality as adults, The Response “keep[s] getting older,” but their fans “stay the same age,” says bassist Mikey Blanchard. More playful than pedophiliac, the four-piece has a sense of humor that will surely inspire all kinds of journalistic inaccuracy as they make press for their overdue debut LP, releasing this month.

Keeping warm

I really love the winter, especially in these early weeks, when the cold is bracing but exhilarating, the snow is fresh and pretty and even the most dreadful parking conditions barely detract from the gingery warmth of early December. It’s always a tricky transition: what to do when faced with such deep wind chills and such early darkness, how to break out of my routines and get my friends out of their routines, whether or not it’s worth excavating the car (with no scraper and crappy wiper blades that haven’t been changed for years — I need to work on that) and the easiest way to turn off the television. But it’s been a few weeks of white-out weather, depressed thermometers and distance from the sun, and I’m starting to feel that cold winter blood pumping bravely through my veins. Here’s my loose, slushy road map through treacherous seasonal territory: Do something boring with someone else Watching TV reruns by yourself is sort of boring, but watching TV reruns with a bunch of friends and a six-pack? Infinitely more rewarding. Lately I’ve loved 30 Rock and Flight of the Conchords. Also Iron Chef America, mostly because I have a huge you’re-too-evil-and-slimy-to-be-real crush on Bobby Flay. Learn something I’ve been learning to play the accordion since I bought an old Crucianelli at a gas station in Door County in July, but I’ve really stepped up my game now that it’s too cold to leave my apartment. There have been times in the last few weeks when I’ve been too engrossed in “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” to answer my phone or grab drinks with my friends. Bonus: I’m learning Christmas songs. Get ready for Christmas This is probably the first Christmas since I was 13 that I’ve been genuinely excited about. I wish I could tell you why. Maybe it has something to do with watching too much TV, seeing commercial after commercial and holiday special after holiday special, enough to get me thinking that Christmas is a very real thing. Maybe it is also the snow. It could be that I decided early on this year to buy as many holiday wares as possible locally, fairly and preferably handmade. Thanks in large part to Art Vs. Craft and Paperboat Boutique (both brainchildren of local artist Faythe Levine), this year, most everyone in my family is getting something local and handmade, mostly by artists I know personally and adore, and one piece I commissioned from Liz Keuler, a friend and a Fasten Collective designer, for less than $5 (a holiday challenge/pact between my broke self and my broke sister). Even the kids are getting some artfully-made tokens of loveliness and a hopefully-not-too-preachy lesson that sometimes Christmas means more than video games, at least to your grown-up, sentimental, hip-and-conscious Aunt Amy. Relatives who aren’t getting art are getting cheese, bratwurst or craft beer. This is Wisconsin, after all. People expect it of me. I’ve never sent Christmas cards before, either, and […]

But Only Because People Are Asking