Thanks to everyone for what by Sidney's counting was the second largest attendance at a salon (mid-60s). It packed a punch.
The evening began in the upstairs ballroom with a narrative storytelling on the trajectory of the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts -- from its birth as the product of a distinctly University of Chicago architectural vibe (Gothic, remote, insular) to the present vision of the Center as a free-ranging, welcoming and distinctly south-side platform for artistic experimentation. Steve Wiesenthal, University Architect and Associate Vice President for Facilities Services (and long-time salon attendee!), provided voice-over for a carefully prepared series of images that illustrated the almost hilarious contrast between the austerity of the University of Chicago (gargoyles: time warp?), and the architectural playground that is downtown Chicago. Theaster Gates, the Logan's Director of Arts Program Development, sung and deejayed, and William Michel, former Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Associate Dean of the College and now first Executive Director of the Center, headed up the Q&A.
Back on the ground floor, Heather Wittels, a violinist with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, played a set of three short, unaccompanied pieces. And Nick DeMaison, my partner in crime and Music Director of Opera Cabal, lectured on the company's mission -- to redefine & expand the meaning of what opera is and can be. Question: Is that opera? Answer: Yes, definitely.
-majel.
No comments:
Post a Comment