Category Archives: Arts

Sing or Listen to “Messiah” at ‘The Kate,’ Dec. 20

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The seventh annual ‘Messiah’ Sing or Listen, sponsored by Cappella Cantorum will be held Sunday, Dec. 20, when singers rehearse at 3:30 pm in sections, for a performance at 4 p.m. in the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Art Center, 300 Main St. Old Saybrook, CT 06475.

The Singalong is open to all, featuring professional soloists, Bring your ‘Messiah’ scores if you have them or they will be provided.

There is a $10 fee for singers and audience. The audience is invited to sit in the back, witness the short rehearsal and ‘The Sing’ at 4 p.m.

Tickets are available through the Box Office at 877-503-1286, www.thekate.org or day of performance.  There are no reserved seats.

For more information, contact Barry Asch at 860-388-2871 or visit www.cappellacantorum.org

Next Concerts in ‘Musical Masterworks’ 25th Season Dec. 5 & 6

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MM_25_Logo_CMYK Vector Whiteborder jpg[1] copyMusical Masterworks is celebrating a quarter century of magnificent chamber music at Old Lyme’s First Congregational Church, beginning with the first concerts of their season on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m.

This concert will feature two of chamber music’s rising stars: violinist Bella Hristova and, in her Musical Masterworks debut, pianist Anna Polonsky. They will join with one of Musical Masterworks’ favorite horn players, Eric Ruske, and Musical Masterworks’ Artistic Director and cellist Edward Arron, for a program including trios by Schubert and Brahms, Schumann’s Three Fantasy Pieces for horn and piano, and a work by contemporary composer David Ludwig.

Musical Masterworks has prepared a very special 25th Anniversary Season of chamber music.  “This anniversary season, we will celebrate with masterworks of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann,  Brahms, Dvorák, Ravel and Bartók, alongside vibrant and transporting works by some of the most dynamic composers of our time,” said Edward Arron, Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks.

In a bold break from their traditional programming of repeat concerts on Saturday and Sunday, on Feb. 13 and 14, 2016, Arron and pianist Jeewon Park will play the entire cycle of Beethoven’s works for piano and cello, providing a fascinating window into the arc of Beethoven’s career.

Book_cover_MM_25_YearsIn celebration of this milestone anniversary, Lee Pritchard and Jamie Murphy, Musical Masterworks’ Honorary Director and Founder, respectively, have embarked on an exciting project to chronicle Musical Masterworks’ 25-year journey.  Assembling treasured photos and recounting the memories and milestones shared by its audience, musicians, volunteers and staff over the years, Pritchard and Murphy have compiled a commemorative book that will be available for purchase beginning with Musical Masterworks’ October concerts.

“This keepsake book relates fascinating facts and memorable moments that have brought us to where we are today,” said Alden Rockwell Murphy, President of Musical Masterworks.  “The photos capture the energy and excitement of our journey, as well as the array of magnificent musicians who have been with us over the years; we are thrilled to be able to share our story with the community that has nurtured us.”

Edward Arron

Musical Masterworks Artistic Director Edward Arron

“Our special season will culminate with Mendelssohn’s glorious Octet for Strings, led by Musical Masterworks’ veteran violinist, Chee-Yun,” said Arron.  “I feel extraordinarily privileged to be the curator of this unique concert series. As the years go by, I continue to be inspired by the beauty of the Congregational Church, the art of chamber music, the artistry of my colleagues and the warmth of our audience.”

The anniversary season will be celebrated with a free gala party after the final concert on May 1, 2016 to which all ticket buyers will be invited.

To purchase a series subscription ($150 each) or individual tickets ($35 individual; $5 student) to this 25th season, visit Musical Masterworks’ new website at www.musicalmasterworks.org or call 860.434.2252.

Ridegeway-Korsmeyer’s Fall Exhibition on View at Old Lyme Library Through Nov.

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Renni Ridgeway-Korsmeyer's signature painting in the 'Landscapes Reimagined' show which opens at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Friday, Oct. 16.

This is Renni Ridgeway-Korsmeyer’s signature painting in the ‘Landscapes Reimagined’ show, which opens at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Friday, Oct. 16.

The Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is hosting an Opening Reception today from 5 to 7 p.m. for its fall art exhibition, “Landscapes Reimagined,” which features work by Renni Ridgeway-Korsmeyer.  The public is invited to attend. All works are for sale and a percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Library.

Ridegeway-Korsmeyer holds graduate degrees in both education and psychiatric social work and spent many years as a teacher and psychotherapist. To her, it felt natural to move from working with people as a psychotherapist to expressing feeling on canvas as an artist.

She is an elected artist in the Madison Art Society, Guilford Art League, and the Essex Art Association, and is an associate artist in the Lyme Art Association, the Clinton Art Society and the Mystic Art Association. Her work frequently appears in the juried shows of these societies, as well as in other juried and invitational art exhibitions and galleries.

Ridegeway-Korsmeyer lives in the Old Lyme, Conn., art community, where she discovered her love of painting. She works in oils and pastels and enjoys each medium equally. In her subtle sensitive landscapes of the shore, sky and marshes, she notes that changes in nature, like the feelings and emotions of the artist and viewer unfold, shift, and evolve.

She studied with prominent artists and art teachers in the Old Lyme and has participated in plein air classes throughout New England. Her work can be found in private collections in Connecticut, New England and throughout the United States.Ridegeway-Korsmeyer continues to paint en plein air and in her studio in Old Lyme.

The ‘Landscapes Reimagined’ show runs until Nov. 30.

The Library is located at 2 Library Lane, off Lyme Street in Old Lyme. Winter hours are Monday and Wednesday, 10am to 7pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 6pm; Friday, 10am to 5pm and Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Parking: If the Library’s parking lot is full, additional spaces are available on Lyme Street. There is also a lot behind the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall across the street from the Library.

Reading Uncertainly? ‘The Sympathizer’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen

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The_SympathizerHow often do we take sides while harboring a suspicion that the other fellow’s view actually has some merit? Nguyen’s narrator, never named, but referred to as “The Captain,” states his position at the outset: “ … I am also a man of two minds … I am simply able to see any issue from both sides.”
The Captain is a Vietnamese, ostensibly working for the American forces at the tail-end of the Vietnam (or “American,” as it is called there) War, while acting as mole, an undercover agent, for the Vietcong and the northern forces. Born in North Vietnam of a Vietnamese mother and a father who is a Roman Catholic priest, he leaves for the south and is immediately enmeshed in contradictions. One of the first is the obvious double-meaning of the word “father.”
There he becomes part of an unusual three-man team, the “we” of this compelling take: Bon, an ardent anti-communist, Man, an equally committed communist, and The Captain, who deliciously equivocates through the saga. It is, in fact, a perfect elaboration of the yin and yang culture that dominates the Far East, from the I Ching, to Lao Tse and Confucius. Forces seemingly in opposition are in fact complimentary — they cannot exist without one another.
Nguyen, in the role of The Captain, argues men of “utter conviction” are “insufferable,” noting “The General”, to whom the narrator reports, “ … was a sincere man who believed in everything he said, even if it was a lie, which makes him not so different from most.” The narrator then goes on to puncture every conceivable balloon of human fatuity. We live, he claims, in a litany of contradictions.
Witness another character, “The Congressman”, who berates the “controls” of communism but then describes his “democratic” system as even more autocratic, using censorship and control, because, as he says, “Americans are a confused people.” The Captain comments: “ . that omnipresent American narcotic, optimism, the unending flow of which poured through the American minds continuously whitewashing the graffiti of despair, rage, hatred, and a nihilism scrawled by the black hoodlums of the unconscious.”
Here is a delicious story of the last days of that War and what followed in both the United States and Asia. “We are all puppets in someone else’s play.” And the story is often hilarious, too. The Captain describes, in three joyful pages, his attempt to masturbate with a dead squid!
Nguyen ends with yet another double meaning, “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom,” as The Captain finally realizes the two senses of this phrase. But he remains “the most hopeful of creatures, a revolutionary in search of a revolution.” A thriller in one sense but a social commentary in another and a challenging counterview to this year commemorating the end of that War.
Opposite ideas are indeed complimentary!
Editor’s Note: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen is published by Grove Press, New York 2015.

Felix Kloman_headshot_2005_284x331-150x150About the author: Felix Kloman is a sailor, rower, husband, father, grandfather, retired management consultant and, above all, a curious reader and writer. He’s explored how we as human beings and organizations respond to ever-present uncertainty in two books, ‘Mumpsimus Revisited’ (2005) and ‘The Fantods of Risk’ (2008). A 20-year resident of Lyme, he now writes book reviews, mostly of non-fiction that explores our minds, our behavior, our politics and our history. But he does throw in a novel here and there. For more than 50 years, he’s put together the 17 syllables that comprise haiku, the traditional Japanese poetry, and now serves as the self-appointed “poet laureate” of Ashlawn Farms Coffee, where he may be seen on Friday mornings. His wife, Ann, is also a writer, but of mystery novels, all of which begin in a bubbling village in midcoast Maine, strangely reminiscent of the town she and her husband visit every summer.

Two New Exhibitions on Show at LAA, ‘Summer Days, Starry Nights’ and ‘Purely Pastel’

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'Viareggio, Italy' by White is one of the signature paintings in the new show at the LAA.

Nelson White’s ‘Viareggio, Italy’ is one of the signature paintings in the new ‘Summer Days, Starry Nights’ show opening at the LAA on Friday.

The Lyme Art Association (LAA) at 90 Lyme St. in Old Lyme presents Summer Days, Starry Nights, a juried member exhibition celebrating portraits, landscapes, still life paintings and sculpture, from Aug. 7 through Sept. 18. Purely Pastel, a separate show presented by the Connecticut Pastel Society, will also be on view.

Caron's 'Summer Flowers' is featured in the show.

Jerry Caron’s ‘Summer Flowers’ is featured in the ‘Summer Days, Starry Nights’ show.

“The Lyme Art Association is pleased to offer this wonderful selection of affordable fine art that showcases the varied talents of our artist membership,” notes LAA Gallery Manager, Jocelyn Zallinger. “This exhibition includes representational work featuring many media, themes, and subjects from exuberant florals, pensive portraits, through of landscapes. There will truly be something for everyone.”

Buchanan's "Searching the Shore" evokes summer memories.

This painting by Clayton Buchanan (CPS), “Searching the Shore,”which  evokes summer memories, is featured in the  ‘Purely Pastel’ show.

The Connecticut Pastel Society (CPS) exhibition, Purely Pastel, in the Goodman Gallery, will be juried by Barbara Groff.  Awards will be given for excellence in the pastel medium.  The CPS will provide a free Triple Demonstration using pastels on Aug. 8, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Pastel paintings created at the demonstration, as well as other small works, including some by Allan Alain, will be available at the silent auction that runs the length of the exhibition.  This year’s triple demonstration artists are: Claudia Post (portrait/figure), Deborah Quinn Munson (landscape/objects) and Shauna Shane (animal subject).  Light refreshments will be available and the public is invited.

Cindy Streit Mazzaferro, CPS Membership Chair and Purely Pastel Exhibition Chair comments, “I am delighted with the wide range of breadth of artistry and so very excited to once again bring to Lyme some of the best pastel painting artists in CT.  Everyone in attendance is in for a treat and will be captivated by the luscious colors captured with this medium.”

The Lyme Art Association was founded in 1914 by the American Impressionists and continues the tradition of exhibiting and selling representational artwork by its members and invited artists, as well as offering art instruction and lectures to the community. The Lyme Art Association is located at 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme, in a building designed by Charles Adams Platt and located within a national historic district. Admission is free with contributions appreciated. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 5pm.

For more information on exhibitions, including how to enter a juried exhibition at the LAA, visit www.lymeartassociation.org or purchase of art, art classes, or becoming a member, call (860) 434-7802.