Category Archives: Arts

Old Lyme’s DeMeo is One of ‘Five Women Painting,’ Opening Reception, Friday

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‘Sunset through the Branches’ by Rosemary Cotnoir is one of the featured works in ‘Five Women Painting.’

The ninth annual Five Women Painting show Oct. 6 through 9 at the Essex Art Association Gallery features a large selection of new works by Pam Carlson, Rosemary Cotnoir, Claudia Van Nes, Kathleen DeMeo and Janet Rayner.

The gala opening party is Friday, Oct. 6, from 5 to 8 p. m when a selection of wines, homemade appetizers and desserts will be offered and all five artists will be on hand to greet visitors.

The show showcases a wide diversity of styles, medium, sizes and price point by these five established artists. DeMeo, who lives in Old Lyme, primarily does abstract monotypes and Cotnoir from Essex paints large semi-abstract oils and does stone sculptures, Carlson, also from Essex, paints water scenes and landscapes in acrylic, Rayner from Haddam uses pastels for her realistic paintings while Chester resident, Van Nes works mainly in watercolor.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, from 1 to 4 p.m., Rayner will give a pastel demonstration and on Sunday, Oct. 8 from 1 to 4 p.m., Van Nes will create a painting using pen and ink and watercolor, and Carlson will give an acrylic demonstration.

There will be a free drawing for a painting during the exhibit as well.

The show is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and by chance that afternoon; Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Essex Art Association Gallery is at 10 North Main Street, Essex.

For more information, call 860-767-8996 or visit the ‘Five Women Painting’ Facebook page.

Community Music School Announces Caroline Wholean as one of Greenleaf Award Winners

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Lyme-Old Lyme High School senior Caroline Wholean.

AREAWIDE — The selection committee for the Carolyn R. Greenleaf Memorial Fund of Community Music School has chosen two local music students as the recipients of the Fall 2017 Carolyn R. Greenleaf Music Award: pianist Caroline Wholean and violinist Schuyler Dragoo.  This award is given each semester to two high school students who have demonstrated exceptional musical ability and motivation, and awards a semester of private lessons at Community Music School in Centerbrook.

Caroline Wholean is a senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. Her rigorous academic schedule is supplemented with rowing for the crew team, competing on the math team and playing clarinet in the high school band and wind ensemble. A student of Community Music School for 12 years, she has taken violin and piano lessons and is a member of the String Ensemble. She was recently awarded the Connecticut Secretary of State’s Excellence in Citizenship Award. Caroline plans to continue her music education in college next year.

Schuyler Dragoo is both a violinist and a vocalist who will be entering her sophomore year at Haddam-Killingworth High School. Schuyler has been studying violin for eleven years with Irene Rissi in Waterford. She has participated in the CT Southern Region Orchestra for the past four years, and has attended Point CounterPoint, a chamber music camp in Vermont, for the past five years. Schuyler will be singing with the select choir in school this coming year, and is looking forward to using this scholarship to further her vocal technique and abilities at the Community Music School.

The Carolyn R. Greenleaf Memorial Fund was established at the Community Foundation of Middlesex County in 2008 by her friends to honor Greenleaf’s dedication to music and education. The Carolyn Greenleaf Memorial Music Award is open to students of Middlesex County and the Lymes and is awarded twice a year, based entirely on merit.

Editor’s Notes: i) Community Music School is an independent, nonprofit school which provides a full range of the finest possible instruction and musical opportunities to persons of all ages and abilities, increasing appreciation of music and encouraging a sense of joy in learning and performing, thus enriching the life of the community.

ii) Community Foundation of Middlesex County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Middlesex County. Working with charitably-minded individuals and organizations to build permanent endowments since 1997, the Community Foundation has provided 850 grants totaling more than $2.5 million to organizations for the arts, cultural and heritage programs, educational activities,  environmental improvements, and for health and human services. 

Award-Winning Photographer Presents ‘Tools of Travel Photography’ at CT Valley Camera Club Meeting

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Shadows of camels and their riders in the Sahara desert in Erg Chebi, Morrocco (Photo by David H. Wells)

The guest speaker at next Monday’s (Oct. 2) meeting of the Connecticut Valley Camera Club (CVCC) will be award-winning photographer/videographer David H. Wells, who will give a presentation titled, “The Tools of Travel Photography.” The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Lymes’ Senior Center, 26 Town Woods Rd., Old Lyme, Conn.  All are welcome.

Wells uses whichever technology he feels is most appropriate for the specific situation to create visual narratives. He is based in Providence, RI, affiliated with Aurora Photos and is also a photo-educator. One editor described him as a “… specialist in intercultural communication and visual narratives that excel in their creative mastery of light, shadow and sound, stills and video.”

Wells became the photographer he is today by first trying on the styles and/or methods of other well-known and historic photographers. Then he mastered the challenging discipline of color slide film. He fused all of these experiences, over 30-plus years, to develop his own style, built on a mastery of light, exposure and tonality, framing and composition with predictable and consistent control over focus and depth of field.

As a photography educator, he leads students to learn how to master consistently these same elements of photography. He was featured in Photo District News as one of “The Best Workshop Instructors.”

A Sicilian sunset (Photo by David H. Wells)

His project on the pesticide poisoning of California farm workers was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Over the years he has worked on assignment for such magazines as Fortune, Life, National Geographic, Newsweek, The Sunday New York Times, Time, etc. He also worked for corporations such as Consolidated Natural Gas and DuPont as well as for non-profits such as the Ford Foundation and the New Israel Fund.

His work has been featured in more than 50 exhibitions and he has taught workshops at the International Center for Photography in NYC and at the Maine Media Workshops. He has received two Fulbright fellowships, a grant from Nikon/N.P.P.A., a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation’s Program of Research and Writing on International Peace and Cooperation.

For more information on David H. Wells, visit his website.

Connecticut Valley Camera Club is dedicated to offering its membership the opportunity to become better photographers. The club offers a variety of presentations and interactive workshops to help members expand their technical and creative skills. Photographers of all levels of experience are welcomed. The club draws members from up and down both sides of the river, from Middletown to Old Saybrook; from East Hampton to Old Lyme; and along the shoreline from Guilford to Gales Ferry.

For more information, visit the club’s website at https://ctvalleycameraclub.smugmug.com/. The Club’s meeting dates, speakers / topics and other notices are also published on the club’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CTValleyCameraClubPage/

 

‘I Hate Musicals: The Musical’ Opens at Ivoryton Playhouse

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Equity member Stephen Wallem plays the lead in Ivoryton Playhouse’s upcoming production of  “I Hate Musicals: the Musical.”

Simpsons’ television writer and producer Mike Reiss is back in Ivoryton with his hilarious world premiere of I Hate Musicals: The Musical. It’s the story of a cranky comedy writer trapped in the rubble of an LA earthquake.  His life is playing out before his eyes in the form of a musical — and he hates musicals …  With numbers sung by everyone from Sigmund Freud and Satan, will he learn to be less cranky?

Previews for I Hate Musicals: The Musical begin Sept. 27 and then the show opens at the Playhouse Sept. 29 and runs through Oct. 15.

Stephen Wallem*, a SAG Award-nominated actor best known as Thor Lundgren for seven seasons on the Emmy-winning Showtime series “Nurse Jackie”, will lead the cast as Alvin, the comedy writer. Stephen worked as a stage actor and After Dark Award-winning cabaret singer in Chicago before moving to New York to make his television debut on “Nurse Jackie.” Other television appearances include Randall on Louis CK’s surprise limited series “Horace and Pete” and Chad on “Difficult People.”

I Hate Musicals: The Musical features new music composed by Walter Murphy, composer of the 70’s classic A Fifth of Beethoven (which was included in the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever. The play is one man’s zany ride through relationships with mothers and fathers, analysts and wives and with a host of surprising characters making unexpected appearances. Ultimately, the story is a traditional one about life, love, show business, and the importance of being kind.

Reiss, who is writer and producer for the long running TV show, The Simpsons, also created the animated series The Critic; the webtoon Queer Duck and worked on the screenplays for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs; Horton Hears a Who!; The Simpsons: The Movies; and, My Life In Ruins. Ivoryton audiences turned out in droves in the June 2013 for his hilarious play, I’m Connecticut, which was a huge popular and critical success and Comedy is Hard in September of 2014 with Micky Dolenz and Joyce DeWitt.

Directed by James Valletti, the cast includes Playhouse favorite R. Bruce Connelly*, and Will Clark, Sam Given*, Amanda Huxtable*, Ryan Knowles*. The set design is by Dan Nischan, lighting by Marcus Abbott and costumes by Elizabeth Cipollina.

Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $50 for adults, $45 for seniors, $22 for students and $17 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org  (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Musical Masterworks Opens New Season, Oct. 21-22

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Artistic Director Edward Arron will emcee the first Musical Masterworks concerts on Oct. 21 and 22.

As Musical Masterworks opens its 27th season of chamber music, the organizers are pleased to be introducing a number of internationally-acclaimed new artists to this series, as well as welcoming back Musical Masterworks veterans, such as Chee Yun on violin, Todd Palmer on clarinet and Jeewon Park on piano.

The season’s first concerts are Saturday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, an acoustically rich venue for chamber music. 

Edward Arron, Musical Masterworks Artistic Director, described how special the series is to him, “I take great comfort knowing that, after all of these years, Old Lyme, Conn., remains a sanctuary for the magnificent art of chamber music.  As time passes, I feel more strongly than ever that the arts are an indispensable part of a healthy society, and a necessary escape from the constant distractions of the fast-paced world in which we live.”

Musical Masterworks’ season runs October 2017 through April 2018.  To purchase a series subscription ($150 each), a mini-subscription ($100 each) or individual tickets ($40 individual; $5 student), visit Musical Masterworks at www.musicalmasterworks.org or call 860.434.2252.