FRIDAY, JAN. 15, 2010 >>>
 
1. Almodovar's passionate new film Broken Embraces is a voluptuary of a film, drunk on primary colors, caressing Penelope Cruz, using the devices of a Hitchcock to distract us with surfaces while the sinister uncoils beneath. It opens today at The Grand Cinema at 3, 5:50 and 8:30 p.m.
 
2. Bates Technical College's South Campus hosts Marilyn Strickland, the city's first female African-American mayor, and Harold Moss, Tacoma's first African-American mayor, for its Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration "Community: Past, Present and Future" at 11 a.m.
 
3. The Second City Chamber Series presents Lieder und Kammermusik featuring Schubert's Songs, Schönberg's Cabaret Songs, Brahms' Two Songs for Voice, and Viola and Piano, Op. 91, and two versions of Schubert's "Trout" Quintet at 7:30 p.m. inside Annie Wright School's Great Hall.
 
4. Over the River and Through the Woods opens at 7:30 p.m. inside the Tacoma Little Theatre.

5. Roman Holiday's build-up is tight and suspenseful, every chorus explodes, and every hook is more gigantic than the last. They release their new CD tonight at 8 p.m. inside the Liberty Theater in Puyallup.

MICHAEL SWAN: TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009 >>>

1. Zoolights features more than a half-million lights - including the massive flame tree - from 5-9 p.m. at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

2. Classical Tuesdays in Old Town presents TangoHeart Quartet, plus wine and empanadas, at 7 p.m. inside Connelly Law Offices.

3. Randal Platt's Book Launch Party for Hellie Jondoe begins at 7 p.m. inside the Mandolin Café.

4. Tacoma Community College's Joy & Laughter Concert featuring the TCC Singers, TCC Voices, TCC Gospel Choir and improv from Taproot Theater begins at 7 p.m.

5. Mary Win and Daniel Adams perform alternative folk rock at 8 p.m. inside the Northern Pacific Coffee Company.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

RON SWARNER: WINE AND TANGO BENEFIT CONCERT >>>

Traffic congestion in Old Town Tacoma after quitting time is no fun â�" especially when a train is added. Instead of the road rage you're bound to encounter, wouldn't you rather just tango? The folks behind Classical Tuesdays in Old Town are betting you would, which are why they're hosting the TangoHeart Quartet as the main attraction for their benefit concert Tuesday. Led by Bertram Lecy, the quartet dedicates their lives to performing the music of Astor Piazzolla and the classic orchestrations of the golden age of tango.

I caught up with Pamela Ryker, the mastermind behind Classical Tuesdays in Old Town, for the scoop.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Why did you choose TangoHeart Quartet for the Classical Tuesdays benefit concert?

PAMELA RYKER: Tango is festive and a little out of the ordinary for a holiday event. And TangoHeart Quartet is one of the best. The quartet's leader, Bertram Levy, is a terrific raconteur and musician who divides his time between Argentina and the Puget Sound region. We like to create a convivial atmosphere at our gatherings and Bertram is great at that. The quartet is the perfect size group for the intimacy of this gathering.

VOLCANO: Do the Old Town Tacoma merchants rally behind your events?

RYKER: Absolutely. The reception for Tuesday�s concert will showcase Old Town gems. The Spar and Cafe Divino are donating the wines. Proprietress Nancy Oltman of Pampeana will provide the empanadas. The coffee will be donated by Old Town Starbucks.

VOLCANO: Will folks be able to dance?

RYKER: I have something up my sleeve.

VOLCANO: Why did you choose Old Town Tacoma to host Classical Tuesdays?

RYKER: Old Town Business & Professional Association approached me some five years ago asking that I start up a chamber music series for the Old Town District, to provide cultural balance with the Wine & Jazz Festival and the Blues Fest the district was already sponsoring. From the get-go the idea was to present a series of free chamber music concerts to be held on a regular basis in an Old Town venue. The series has generated strong community support, both in the in-kind and financial support of the Business Association members and North End neighbors, and also in the large core audience constituency and the Puget Sound musicians eager to perform on the series.

There you go. Throw a rose between your teeth and support classical music in Old Town. Upcoming Classical Tuesdays concerts can be found here.

[Connelly Law Offices, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m., $25, 2301 N. 30th St., Old Town Tacoma, 253.752.2135]

MICHAEL SWAN: WEDNESDAY, DEC. 2, 2007 >>>

1. Robert Horner, David Curry, Antonio Edwards, Lawrence Houston, Thorax Toole, Elliot Trotter, Madera Architectural Elements, Kate Burnham and Albert Desantis will each show 20 slides (20 seconds each) on the theme "Working" during Tacoma's Pechu Kucha Vol. 003 at 5:30 p.m. inside The Hub's Gallery.

2. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in partnership with Tacoma Art Museum present the South Sound Gingerbread Village Dec. 2-13 created by local designers, students, and artists from Affairs Chocolate & Desserts, BCRA, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Jonz Catering, Korsmo Construction, Paprika Catering, and local tile artist Claudia Reidener.

3. Sandpiper Gallery opens Unusual Adorments, unusual jewelry by Candyce Anderson, Kevan Atteberry, Lynn Di Nino, Di Morgan-Graves and Elayne Vogel, today with an artist reception from 5-7 p.m.

4. The Washington Center's 21st Century Masters Series features violinist Bella Hristova at 7:30 p.m.

5. Boris Budd & The Waterboarders will be inside Jazzbones at 8:30 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: COOL >>>

Tonight's Tacoma Community College Chamber Orchestra concert will be broadcast via Internet - live. You can watch and listen to the concert here.

The "Cycles in Time" concert will feature three works: Elgar's Serenade for Strings,  Dvorak's Serenade for Winds, and Schumann's Symphony No. 4. 

[TCC Building 3, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m., $5 suggested donation, 6501 S. 19th St., Tacoma, 253.566.5000]

MICHAEL SWAN: SATURDAY, NOV. 14, 2009 >>>

1. Maestro Christophe Chagnard of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Maestro Harvey Felder of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra together present Mozart Meets Beethoven - an all out battle - in tuxedos at 7:30 p.m. inside the Rialto Theater.

2. King's Book's Open House and Poetry Marathon will feature 15 renowned poets reading their poems along with two open mic sessions from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

3. Art And Kimonos - featuring art by Lynn Farren, Sarah Utter and Karen Utter, plus a vintage kimono sale - will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Fibers Etc. in downtown Tacoma.

4. The Tacoma Art Museum presents "Redefining Northwest Art," a panel lecture on how the history, geography, and diverse cultures of the region have influenced the art of the Northwest from 1:30-4 p.m.

5. Doxology, Ben Union, and Roman Holiday play an 8 p.m. show at Jazzbones.

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY, OCT. 25, 2009 >>>

1. Matt Jaislles's movie Drug Cult - screening at 7 p.m. inside The Brotherhood Lounge in Olympia - has it all: lobotomies, drug fiends, sexy ladies, ruthless cops, a pregnant prostitute and dead bodies.

2. Tacoma poet Tammy Robacker will read and sign her first book of poetry, The Vicissitudes, during a celebration at bellaballs art studio from 2-4 p.m., hosted by Urban Grace Poet Laureate of Tacoma Antonio Edwards, Jr.
 
3. The Tacoma Youth Symphony Association presents A Night At the Movies Costume Concert at 3 and 6 p.m. in the Rialto Theater. 

4. The Tokens Improv host an Improv Seminar from 6-8 p.m. in the Broadway Center Rehearsal Hall.

5. Jazz guitarist ed Taylor and saxophonist Darren Motamedy perform at 8 p.m. inside Muckleshoot Casino.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: GO USA! >>>

"Rhapsody in Blue" is much more than a jingle for United Airlines. George Gershwin’s piece of music screams American optimism. If you close your eyes as it’s performed you can kind of see the Chrysler Building.

OK, try again.

Hear that American style of crossover between jazz and musicals and songs? It’s singing music, and very colorful. Gershwin wrote “Rhapsody in Blue” in 1924, the same year Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong were kicking ass and taking names. Yet, you can sense the French Impressionists in the piece. Dubbed the world’s first crossover piece, it’s a great combination  â€" American culture and Western European culture.

“Rhapsody in Blue” will be the highlight of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra’s season opener when American piano soloist Andrew Armstrong performs it before the Pantages crowd Saturday night. Although Google search results tag Armstrong â€" who first turned heads at the 1993 Van Cliburn competition â€" with the Gershwin song in numerous major symphonies, Armstrong tackles the song for the first time in this neck of the woods.

TSO titled opening night “American Rhapsody,” adding all-American ditties such as Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story, Aaron Copland’s World War II tribute “Fanfare for the Common Man” and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” which the Czech composer wrote while hanging out in the States during the 1890s.

So grab an American flag, and a glass of wine and salute Armstrong and the Tacoma Symphony Saturday night.

[Pantages Theater, Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m., $24-$62, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

CHRISTOPHER WOOD: SINFONIETTA GOES CHAPLIN >>>

“We’re not your grandmother’s chamber orchestra,” proudly proclaims Neil Birnbaum, executive director for Northwest Sinfonietta. “We … try to be more adventurous in our programming.”

Saturday, Jan. 31, the Northwest Sinfonietta, a nationally recognized 35-member troupe based in Tacoma, will serenade audiences with musical accompaniment to two Charlie Chaplin films â€" a performance unique in the orchestra’s 18-season history. A fresh repertoire should “attract a wider range of audiences,” Birnbaum believes.

Apparently Chaplin had a similar knack for risk-taking. "Shoulder Arms," one of the evening’s selected pieces, pokes fun at heroism in battle as Chaplin’s character and his "Awkward Squad" march to the front lines. Production on the film concluded in 1918, just as devastated soldiers returned home from the First World War.

“To choose the war as the topic of a comedy was very daring,” says musical director Christoph Chagnard.

Chaplin’s gamble paid off, and Arms further cemented his worldwide reputation as a comedic master.

Close to a century later, we still recognize the iconic face, the clownish gait, and gape at his extraordinary deftness in multiple disciplines â€" acting, writing, directing, even score composition. A gifted pianist and violinist, Chaplin invented the music for all his works.

“Watching his films, I couldn’t think of much better music to put on them,” says Chagnard.

See (and hear) this timeless talent at the Rialto Theater.

[Rialto Theater, Saturday, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., $21-$45, $55 ticket includes prix fixe dinner at Sea Grill, 310 S. Ninth, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

BILL TIMNICK: COQ AU VIN AND THE IMPRESSIONISTS >>>

The Northwest Sinfonietta performs an evening of pieces by premiere musical impressionists, including Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Rialto Theater.  Featured performer is pianist Joel Fan.  The program also includes music from Falla’s The Three Cornered Hat.

I can’t wait to soak up some of the atmospheres created by the masters of this genre, performed by a group as accomplished as the Sinfonietta.

I also can’t wait for the dinner deal orchestrated with The Tacoma Club: coq au vin, seafood paella or veal calvados for $48, which includes admission to the Sinfonietta concert. Dinner begins at 5 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. concert. 

Reserve your spot at 253.591.5894. If you already have concert tickets, you can still enjoy the food by calling 253.272.3218.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide