We told you about the call for artists for Kettle Art Gallery’s first juried art exhibit. Remember those 400+ artists who entered the Portfolio Review? The judges were asked to narrow the competition down to 55 artist’s works and last night was the unveiling. We’ll let the video speak for the rest.

At the moment, because performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and rehearsals for A Christmas Carol are overlapping, the Dallas Theater Center is currently employing 39 actors.

And all of them seem to be local.

Back in September, a video and architectural renderings of the new Perot Museum of Nature & Science were released. Groundbreaking on the $185 million building happens later this year with construction scheduled to be completed in 2013.

But a recent visit to the website of the design firm Morphosis – prompted by lead architect Thom Mayne being named to  President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities — uncovered new, even more detailed images. The Morphopedia models give a much more vivid sense of a chief characteristic of many of Mayne’s daring designs: They often look almost ramshackle or left unfinished.

In fact, somewhat like the Wyly Theatre, the Perot Museum on two sides will look as though it’s suspended above the ground, as if it might fall, held up only by angled columns that seem insufficient for the task. Unlike the Wyly, the effect doesn’t make the building seem to rise (the Wyly’s tubes draw the eyes upward) but more as though the museum is crumbling or sliding downhill. This effect is amplified by the external escalator that looks as though it’s slipping down the southeast side of the bulding, while the walls around it gape open.

If some North Texans are not exactly warming to the hard-edged, industrial qualities of the Wyly — which, just to be perverse, I’ve started to like — the even more-radical Perot may well give them conniptions.

Here’s the best of what’s screening over the weekend at VideoFest:

Saturday

Animated Shorts – The highlight of this package of four films is Don Hertzfeldt’s I Am So Proud of You. The 21 minute film is the next in the animator’s “Everything Will be OK” series and follows a man learning about some family secrets. It’s not as sublimely funny as his Oscar-nominated Rejection, though it’s equally strange. Still, Hertzfeldt’s manipulation of his simple line drawings will have you constantly asking, “How’d he do that?”

Animated Shorts screens at 6:15 p.m.

Albert Maysles Presents – The famed documentarian will be in town to show a pair of films that look at some of the biggest celebrities of the 20^th Century. Muhammad and Larry follows Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes as they prepared to duke it out in the ring in 1980. The film recently aired as part of ESPN’s 30 in 30 sports documentary series. Maysles will also show Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out – a concert film that shows the Rolling Stones on stage performing as well as yucking it up backstage with Jimi Hendrix. Maysles made the film with Ian Markiewicz, who will be in town to receive an award from the festival.

Albert Maysles Presents screens at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday

A Reason to Live – Dallas filmmakers Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell new a couple whose son committed suicide. The experience left the Mondells with many of the same questions that the parents surely had – primarily, how are the warning signs so easy to miss? A Reason to Live compiles interviews with teens who suffered from depression and attempted suicide and talks to their parents as well to try and prevent future tragedy. This should be required viewing for any parent with a teenager in the house

A Reason to Live screens at noon.

YouTube: A History – VideoFest opens its doors this year to the wide world of online video. A pair of UTD doctoral students currated the program, which shows everything from silly viral videos with millions of hits to shorts that expand the possibilities of online video. Click here to listen to a recent KERA radio story on the program.

YouTube: A History screens at noon.

Texas Show – Of note in this year’s compilation are a pair of shorts with strong North Texas ties. Dig Deep features Kettle Art’s Frank Campagna discussing the changing face of his beloved Deep Ellum, from the demolition of the Good Latimer Tunnel to the entrance of the DART Green Line. The film was made by Manny Mendoza and Mark Birnbaum, whose newspaper documentary, Stop the Presses, aired recently on Channel 13. Sleet/Snow was produced by student filmmakers at UTA and previously screened at this year’s AFI Dallas International Film Festival. And it’s worth a second showing. It follows a guy and his girl friend (but not his girlfriend – yet, anyway) as they drive to Odessa to pick up a painting he bought. In just 13 minutes, the characters are able to work through a complicated and satisfying emotional arc.

The Texas Show screens at 8 p.m.

Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the great peaks of classical music, but opportunities to hear it live are rare — at least around here. That makes this weekend’s concerts by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra doubly desirable. Or triply, if you consider the conductor, Jaap van Zweden.

Van Zweden led a magnificent performance Thursday night in the Meyerson Symphony Center. Its impact was enhanced by acoustical adjustments: The canopy was raised about 10 feet and curtains were pulled in the reverberation chamber high up, letting the resonant hall resonate even more. The grand moments of the work, of which there are many, were spectacular (or should that be auricular?).

Van Zweden found plenty of grandeur in the symphony (the forceful scherzo pushed beyond grandeur), and the great finale was a noble statement of touching serenity.

(Van Zweden followed tradition in ending with the third movement. Bruckner wasn’t able to finish the work and there have been attempts to flesh out the sketches for his intended fourth movement, but these seem misguided. The quiet third movement seems a perfect conclusion.)

The DSO was in fine form, with some thrilling brass passages (the symphony offers a rare chance to hear Wagner tubas, which were nobly played Thursday night).

The icing on the cake at this concert was a lively account of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini before intermission. The excellent Stephen Hough was the soloist.

This is probably a program that will bring some people back for a rehearing.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra announced today that it will present a two-year, pops concert series that will feature  DSO-commissioned world-premiere works plus multi-media retrospectives by five leading film composers — and Sir Anthony Hopkins.  “The Masters of Film Music” are James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight), George Fenton (Gandhi), Theodore Shapiro (Tropic Thunder), Michael Giacchino (Up), Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia)  and Hopkins, who has composed and conducted scores for a number of films over the length of his better-known acting career, beginning in 1948 with Vice Versa. The Hopkins evening will be an “All-Time Great Music of Film” concert, which will include Hopkins himself. Hopkins’ new work will be conducted by DSO music director Jaap van Zweden. Howard, Fenton and Giacchino will conduct their own world premieres.

Tickets will go on sale in February.

If anything, the series is an achievement in scheduling and finagling. The series will be split between the 2010 Pops concert season and the 2011 Pops concert season. Onstage at today’s press conference in the Meyerson Symphony Center, van Zweden congratulated DSO Chief Marketing and Entertainment Officer Stephen Cook for putting together the entire undertaking. Also onstage with Cook and van Zweden were three of the composers, Fenton, Shapiro and Gregson-Williams.

When asked what kind of music he was thinking for this new work — whether he would stick with his film-score traditions or venture into something more ambitiously orchestral — George Fenton said that he felt part of the purpose behind the series was to honor the industry he works in. Nonetheless, he said, the commission clearly would demand something extra. Without a film to distract the eyes or inspire his composition,  “There’s nothing to hide behind.”

Gregson-Williams said that no limits had been imposed on the composers — in length or in size of orchestra or chorus. In fact, he was impressed by the presence of the giant Lay Family organ in the Meyerson and was considering what could be done with it.

Not, he added, that he actually promised to use it.

“Oh, I thought it sounded like a promise,” quipped Shapiro.

(more…)

Guest blogger Walton Muyumba is a University of North Texas professor who teaches classes on blues, jazz and American literature. He is the author of The Shadow and the Act: Black Intellectual Practice, Jazz Improvisation and Philosophical Pragmatism.

Al Jarreau makes “adult contemporary” music. That’s not a problem, except that Jarreau’s set at the Winspear Opera House Wednesday  — which opened the Larry Rosen Jazz Series — offered the opposite of jazz. With his five-man band and a back-up singer, Jarreau interpreted four standards, including “My Funny Valentine” and “Midnight Sun,” as smooth jazz numbers. Though Jarreau’s vocal style and the band’s musicianship were buffed and well polished, the music’s sheen was glaring, saccharine, and annoying. Jarreau was playful and jocular throughout his show, teasing the audience with witty repartee and even serenading Donna Joyner, Tom’s wife, with sweet birthday wishes.

The Ramsey Lewis Trio opened the evening, working through a selection of original pieces from their recent album, Songs from the Heart. Lewis and his rock-solid band mates, Leon Joyce (drums) and Larry Grey (bass), capped the set with a rousing blues and gospel medley. The compositions were pleasant, but the soloing sounded perfunctory, rote. Lewis’ music sits both within and adjacent to mainstream jazz: He’s always been interested in referring to straight-ahead, improvised jazz while letting the music drift into the pop and smooth jazz idioms.

Both acts put on a show, made the opening an event; however, the music felt canned and easy, rather than interesting, risky, dangerous or compelling.

The whole series seems short on invention or challenge. I wondered as the evening proceeded why the planners did not think to bring Roy Hargrove to open the series. An alumnus of Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet High School and one of contemporary jazz’s premier trumpeters, Hargrove would have been an inspired choice. As well, had the organizers wanted to maintain the Texas flavor, the excellent Houston-bred pianists Jason Moran and Robert Glasper would have been fitting. Even more, given their annual appearances with the DSO, Branford or Wynton Marsalis would have given the series gravitas.

And had no one thought to invite Ornette Coleman back to Dallas-Fort Worth to blow the doors off the building, announcing his return to native grounds?

Though the Winspear Opera House is a beautiful, generous listening room, it seems suitable for almost any art music except for jazz. Jazz performances deserve — even demand — intimate performance spaces where listeners can dance, shout, sing or listen in close proximity to the musicians. Given the need to drum up physical and financial support for the programs at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, Rosen’s program is beneficial because of its strong commercial appeal.

Yet the jazz education promised from the evening did not materialize.

• John Gempel’s review for Renegade Bus

Every time I enter the Belleview St. side of the Southside on Lamar building, I always wish I had a skateboard. That and I wish I knew how to skateboard. It looks like endless acres of smooth shiny concrete which seems to be, as my son says, “the perfect conditions for skateboarding.” So it seems fitting that the ART of Skateboarding Benefit is hosting it’s 2nd annual event at the Southside on Lamar and the Janette Kennedy Gallery (housed inside the building).

I attended last year and had an absolutely divine evening. This event has something for everyone, even us non-skate-boarder types. Plus, it’s presented by Nomad Arts, locally renown for their fabulous parties. The night kicks off with cocktails and appetizers starting at 7 p.m. allowing guests time to peruse the 200 displayed boards. The skateboards, designed by celebrity artists, art students, TSRHC patients, clothing designers, graphic designers and local artists, are the focus of the evening, with a silent auction beginning at 8:45 p.m. In addition to the silent auction, there will be a DJ, skateboarding demonstrations and a showing of the team video, along with a few words from Honorary Chairman Al Coker and Professional Skateboarder and former TSRHC patient/Honorary Chairman, Jon Comer.

Jon Comer is the first professional amputee skateboarder. A former TSRHC patient for more than 10 years, Jon wears a Prosthetic Limb. He is featured in the award-winning documentary “Never Been Done”. Jon earned the respect of skateboarding legends like Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Mike Vallely who admire Jon’s success and determination. Jon pushes physical boundaries to pursue his life-long dream to achieve things that have never been done in the sport of skateboarding. His modest personality and sense of humor help inspire those with similar physical challenges. Whether a skateboarding fan or not, his life is a truly inspirational story to people of all ages and of all walks of life. Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas has worked closely with Jon & his family since he was a child.

Proceeds from this event will benefit the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital.

Art&Seek will be there with video cameras in tow, so please, tap us on the shoulder and give us your thoughts on this amazing benefit.

Below are a few pre-show videos with some of the key organizers.

2009 Promo:

2009 Pre-show interviews:

Tom Currie of Nomad Arts

Mike Crum - M.P.C. Productions

Bri Crum – Art of Skateboarding Chairperson

Below is Dallas-based artist Daniel Perez creating his skateboard artwork:

You may remember the Bucks Burnett exhibit we told you about last week, along with the video interview with Bucks himself. Thanks to our friend, local video-journalist extraordinaire Randy Eli Grothe, we bring you some rehash from that night.

The band performing is The BBC, Barry Whistler’s band. The still photos in the video were shot by Allison V. Smith. So much talent packed into one little video. Enjoy.

Legend of the Dot Race – Of the area’s four major pro-sports franchises, the Rangers are by far the most family friendly. Part of that is just the laid-back nature of baseball, and part of it is Chuck Morgan. For most of the last 25 years, Morgan has been the team’s announcer and been in charge of in-stadium entertainment, arranging everything from video highlights to scoreboard marriage proposals. And of course, the dot race. I can remember going to the old Arlington Stadium as a kid and cheering louder for my dot than Buddy Bell, et. al. (And rightfully so – back in those days, my dot had a better chance of winning.) In this program, Morgan will share 90 minutes of his video work from the pair of stadiums the Rangers have called home. Click here to read Unfair Park’s recent interview with Morgan.

R.E.M.: This is Not a Show – The band settles in for five nights of testing out new material in front of a live audience in Dublin. At times, the footage can be so showy and over produced that it can be hard to watch. It’s as if the filmmakers want to make sure you know that a Real Live Person is manning the camera. But the concerts offer a chance to hear some tunes you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else.