Discoveries: Arts and Culture

Sailing!  Always reminds me of the days on the boat with my husband.  Sailboat crossing under the Oakland bridge  Remember Jonathan Seagull in the 60's; here he is!   View of the Golden Gate from Alcatraz  Alcatraz Island, first a military installation, then a penitentenary then an American Indian preserve, now a museum  under the National Park Service 

This concert never fails to please, to uplift my spirits and to inspire all present...Conducted by Nicholas McGegan, who in the preview remarks, revealed that he once visited the villa where the composer Rossini had lived.  One of the singers he was working with in Europe, an American had rented the villa with her husband.  He was shown the "death room" which remains as it was....after a sumptuous dinner. Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) wrote an opera, La cambiale di matrimonio , with a soprano, Jacqueline Piccolino, who plays the daughter, Fanni; and  a mezzo, Clarina, who plays the good hearted servant, Nian Wang;   Brian Thorsett, tenor, who plays Edoardo Milfort, the father; and Efrain Solis, a baritone, who plays, Slook,, the Canadian who has come to claim his "merchandise" a wife to return with him, to Canada and his fortunes; , Anthony Reed , bass, who sings the role of Norton, the beloved of the daughter, Fanni; and finally, Matthew Stump, bass, who sings ...

Attended the inaugeral preview concert of the Coelis Vocal Ensemble directed by Artistic Director Hunjung Choi and her husband at Peace Lutheran Church in Danville.  The pastor  Harms is the chair of the Interfaith community, who is coordinating the 70th Anniversary celebration at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, with UNA-SF on June 27th , at which this choir will again sing songs inspired by the writings of Dag Hammarsjold  I am on the strategic planning board of the council, invited by UNA-SF  70th Anniversary Chairwoman, Mary Steiner, which is an honor and privilege and my pleasure.    "The 70th anniversary of the United Nations is an opportunity to reflect -- to look back on the UN's history and take stock of its enduring achievements.  It is also an opportunity to spotlight where the UN - and the internaitonal community as a whole -- needs to redouble its efforts to meet current and future challenges across the three pillars of its work: pea...

Conceived of, as a means of rehabilitation for the prisoners, the gardens on Alcatraz were at their height in this season, and are a great counterweight to the grimness of the ruins of the buildings of the penitentary grounds.  The Warden's House, a stately separate house is a hollow shell.  The  gardens were part of the officers'homes in the 1850s when the island was occupied by three large homes for the commandant and his officers in 1895.  "Near the citadel and officer's quarters, in little garden spots artifcially made by bringing earth from the mainland, were blooming in profusion poppies, geraniums, heliotropes, fuchsias and calla lilies."   When the Bureau of Prisons demolished two of the houses in 1941, the foundations were converted into gardens.  Staff gardeners and volunteers began replanting the gardens in 2006.   They were absolutely beautiful and at their height on our visit April 17.   Cellhouse Slope is planted with ice plant or "...

  Robert Haas, a colleague, and Jane Hirshfeld in the Morrison Library Jane read from her new collection, She started with " Fado " which means "f ate " in Portugal.  She was introduced by Haas as a "plain speaking poet".  He linked her with Denise Levertov, Gary Synder. Jane talks about the interconnections in life and their perishability, about the personal life and our argument or agreement...  She reads "My Proteins ", after a NYT article she read.  It was an audio featured poem in "t he New Yorker ".  Proteus changes shapes. Jane  reads "Mosquito".  He, I, We.   A memorable line:  " When we fall into beauty, the isolate dissolves."   The poet reads "My Species" and then "A Cottony Fate"  A line: "I, too, am 60.  There was no other life." Jane continues with "Quartz Clock", "I wake Early", and "In a kitchen where Mushrooms were Washed".  ...

Enjoyed this broadcast.    Act I France, c. 1560. Against the wishes of the Spanish King Philip II, his son and heir, Don Carlo, has traveled incognito to Fontainebleau, where negotiations are under way for a peace treaty between Spain and France. He has seen his intended bride Elisabeth, daughter of the French king, and fallen in love with her on sight. When he meets Elisabeth and her page, who have been hunting and become lost in the forest, Carlo offers his protection without revealing his identity. Elisabeth questions him about her future husband, apprehensive over her marriage to a stranger. Carlo gives her a miniature portrait of himself, and she realizes that he is the prince. It is clear to them both that their feelings of love are mutual. Their happiness ends with news that the treaty arrangements have been altered and Elisabeth is to marry King Philip, Carlo’s father. Elisabeth reluctantly accepts. While all around them celebrate the end of the war, Elisabeth...

The centerpiece; the energy of the dragon  being Free  Janet Roberts in the interior exhibition space of Ai Wei Wei's show  A wise owl  Honeycomb broken glass frames the "political prisoners" flooring portraiture  The Dragon's Tail... The artist states his mission and intentions.  Viewers examining the portraits  One of the greatest prisoners of conscience, now a leader in Burma  In memoriam, to Nelson Mandela  I heard one mother say to her little boy, "we can see what you do with your legos!"   Down a grim alleyway, that overlooks the former "laundry facilities is this giant structure on the ground floor. Evoking our remembrance of those wrongfully imprisoned and persecuted who wore the star  but note the life giving immortal crane imagery on the star The ruins of the laundry  Not works of art, but the actual elements still remaining. Urinals.  A y...

Wow, or Ow!  I have been absent for over a month.   I went to a great program on campus, today. that is UCBerkeley, as people here like to call it "CAL", but I do not feel that familiarity.  To me, it is Berkeley.  Met Alumni Robert and Nancy Mueller, who were very nice people; he is an architect and she works in real estate and they have lived here since their days at CAL. She and I were congruent in our observations during the tour.  It was very creative.  A professor created a course in Art History, focussing on the architect responsible for the buildings at Cal, which like the institution, itself, are diverse, and it would like to think,'democratic'.   Margaretta M. Lovell, Jay D. McEvoy Professor of American Art History created the course, for undergraduates which examines the architecture of John Galen Howard.  He did many other commissions in the bay area.  It is phenomenal how many buildings he has done at Berkeley, and there ...