Every classical music concertgoer learns that there are things one simply does not do during a performance. Among the no-no’s that will typically get you tsk-tsked: laughing at the visiting soloist while he is playing, standing and cheering between movements of a longer work, and clapping while the orchestra is still playing.
All of these things happened in the auditorium of the University Theatre on Sunday during a performance by the Missoula Symphony Orchestra.
And all of them merely amplified the raucously joyous sense of occasion in the hall. It was a concert so stuffed with highlights, humor, brash power and ravishing beauty that the packed house of listeners found it necessary to create its own opportunities – before, during and after the music – to show its enthusiasm. [Read More...]
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Over the past six years, the Missoula Art Museum has worked to draw new faces into its galleries with Artini, a series of monthly events built around an ever-changing mix of artist talks, live performances, film screenings, snacks and drinks.
At this month’s event, new faces will be drawn in new ways.
On Thursday, Sept. 15, the MAM will present “Artini: Facetime,” an art auction with a twist: Each winning bidder will receive a commissioned portrait of him – or herself, to be created after the event by one of 10 participating artists. [Read More...]
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There has always been an element of storytelling in the music of local chamber-folk band Stellarondo (the band is, after all, named after a character in Eudora Welty’s short story, “Why I Live at the P.O.”). And there has always been a lilt of melody in the short stories of Yaak Valley-turned-Missoula author Rick Bass.
Next Wednesday, that middle ground will be mapped out when Bass and Stellarondo join together for two performances of songs and “scored stories.”
But please. If you come, don’t wear a beret. [Read More...]
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On Wednesday, concert promoters Knitting Factory Entertainment and Jade Presents separately announced a pair of performances that will take place within two days of each other in late October. But it seems unlikely that penny-pinching music fans will need to make a tough decision between the two, as they represent far poles of the contemporary popular music realm. [Read More...]
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Here are a few things I have learned since starting a gourmet popcorn stand at the weekend outdoor markets late last month:
- Everybody likes popcorn, but not everybody likes popcorn before their first cup of coffee in the morning.
- The building on the southeast corner of Higgins and Pine is 169 bricks wide, if you count (as I did) the half-brick on the end.
- Some people think “free samples” means “please, take all the samples on my table.”
- And, most soberingly: It takes money to make money – and it takes more than twice as much money as you thought it could possibly take just to hope to break even.
Actually, I had heard various versions of this last pearl of wisdom before I ever conjured the idea that would become my new weekend venture. I have even owned a small business in the past, and know from that experience how expensive it can be just to hang a name on a sign.
But apparently it was time for me to re-learn some old lessons when I decided, with just ten weekends left in this year’s outdoor market season, to introduce Missoula market-goers to Junkpit Von Lederhosen’s Cornutopia of Popped Delights.
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The first time I saw Mark Heimer, he humped my leg as he sang about taking me to church. The second time, I walked away with my shirt soaked by his sweat. The third time, we actually talked with one another.
There is nothing awkward about our relationship. Really, he has always treated me the same way he treats everyone else at his performances: with a hyper-intimacy that might be creepy if it weren’t so comically over-the-top and equitably distributed with the rest of the innocents on hand. [Read More...]
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