Monday, November 15, 2010

Scrap Arts Music

J and I were lucky enough to go to the Nazareth Arts Center for one of the best performances I have ever seen: Scrap Arts Music. If I tell you that Scrap Arts Music is an hour and a half of percussion on 147 instruments that you have never ever seen before, it doesn't even come close to explaining it.

If soap bubbles were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.
If ASL poetry were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If my turquoise ring were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If a chocolate milkshake were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If new leather gloves were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.

Maybe it would be better if you just saw for yourself!


Here's their calendar -- if you can swing it, do yourself a favor and go see Scrap Arts Music!

DateTimeVenueCity 




Jan 25, 2011
Tuesday
7:30 PMEllen Eccles TheatreLogan, UT
Jan 26, 2011
Wednesday
7:30 PMEllen Eccles TheatreLogan, UT
Feb 11, 2011 Friday10:00 AMPepperdine UniversityMalibu, CAEvent Notes
Feb 12, 2011 Saturday5:00 PMPepperdine UniversityMalibu, CAEvent Notes
Feb 15, 2011 Tuesday8:00 PMWells Fargo Center for the ArtsSanta Rosa, CAEvent Notes
Feb 18, 2011 Friday7:00 PMStage One at Folsom Lake CollegeFolsom, CAEvent Notes
Feb 20, 2011 Sunday7:30 PMScottsdale Center for the ArtsScottsdale, AZEvent Notes
Feb 25, 2011 Friday6:45 PMWortham Center - Cullen TheatreHouston, TXEvent Notes
Feb 25, 2011 Friday7:30 PMWortham Center - Cullen TheatreHouston, TXEvent Notes
Mar 1, 2011 Tuesday10:15 AMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 1, 2011 Tuesday12:00 PMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 2, 2011 Wednesday10:15 AMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 2, 2011 Wednesday12:00 PMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 3, 2011 Thursday10:15 AMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 3, 2011 Thursday12:00 PMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 4, 2011 FridayTBAKwai Tsing TheatreHong KongEvent Notes
Mar 4, 2011 Friday10:15 AMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 4, 2011 Friday7:30 PMAlaska Center for the Performing Arts -- Atwood Concert HallAnchorage, AKEvent Notes
Mar 12, 2011
Saturday
TBAAustralia TBC, QLD
Mar 24, 2011 ThursdayTBAKwai Tsing TheatreHong KongEvent Notes
Mar 25, 2011 FridayTBAKwai Tsing TheatreHong KongEvent Notes
Apr 7, 2011 ThursdayTBAAnnenberg Center-PerformingPhiladelphia, PAEvent Notes
Apr 8, 2011 FridayTBAAnnenberg Center-PerformingPhiladelphia, PAEvent Notes
Apr 9, 2011 SaturdayTBAAnnenberg Center-PerformingPhiladelphia, PAEvent Notes

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Looking Forward To Vij's Restaurant

J and I have decided that this year's vacation is going to be a train trip in the Canadian Rockies. (Of course I say "decided" like it means "decided". Our plans are aways evolving, and anything is possible!) If we make it to Vancouver, BC, I would very much like to visit Vij's Restaurant. I saw some recipes on line from there, and was inspired to buy one of their cookbooks.

Tonight I made a chickpea curry  -- Chickpeas in Star Anise and Date Masala--  and marinated lamb chops in coarse Dijon mustard before I grilled it. I had originally intended to make the Fenugreek  Curry that Vij's crafted for the lamb. But I mistakenly bought fenugreek seed, not leaves, so I decided that I would wait until another day.

That's a date, not a piece of meat, in the masala. 
The chickpeas were wonderful. I had never used black cardamom. It gave the chickpeas a wonderful, smoky flavor. Maybe you don't have all the called for spices in your cupboard -- well get out there and buy them! And maybe you've never had dates in your chickpeas? I never had. But take my word for it -- the dish was wonderful. I will definitely make this again!

Washing the chard is easy, if you know how!
I served swiss chard with the lamb and chickpeas. Here's a tip for washing greens: I fill the sink very full with cold water and throw in the greens. Then, after letting them lit, I pull them out before draining the water. Be sure to wash the sink because it will have a lot of dirt in it! Lather, rinse, repeat -- well, don't lather.

After the greens were nice and clean, I cut off the tough stems. Then I saute some garlic in my biggest frying fpan, give the greens a rough chop, and throw them in. Add a little water, then cover them tight. In about 10 minutes, they will be ready.


Chickpeas in Star Anise and Date Masala 



3 15-ounce cans chickpeas (or 1½ cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked)

2 black cardamom pods
1⁄3cup neutral cooking oil, like canola
1 medium-large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2½ tablespoons tomato paste
9 dried dates, pitted and chopped
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 whole star anise, or 1⁄3 teaspoon ground.
1. Drain the chickpeas and set aside in a nonreactive bowl.
2. With a knife, lightly crack the cardamom pods. Peel the shell to release the seeds and collect them in a small bowl. Discard the shells. With a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle, crush the seeds (you can leave them whole if you don’t mind biting into them) and set aside.
3. In a medium pot set over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the onions and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, until they have softened and started to brown. Stir in the garlic and sauté for a minute or so, until it, too, has softened. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the tomato paste. Add the cardamom and all remaining ingredients and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and ½ cup or more of water, enough to make them less than dry. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally to incorporate the flavors, and keep warm until serving. Serves 6. Adapted from Vij’s Restaurant, Vancouver, British Columbia
.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Nazareth College Arts Center: The Merchants of Bollywood

Honest, sometimes it feels like the arts options in Rochester are unlimited. This year we have subscribed to a series of programs from the Nazareth Arts Center. Last week our first program, the Merchants of Bollywood, presented. It was a great show, very enthusiastic and over-the-top as things from India can be when viewed with American eyes. I think the actors probably thought we were sticks-in-the-mud because we didn't much get into the call-and-response parts of the show. But I think the audience all enjoyed it. I'm including this clip from YouTube. But there is a long lead in before you actually get to the music, so sorry about that. 


The next program will be ScrapArtsMusic on November 14.

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, October 30, 2010

We are so lucky, here in Rochester, to have an orchestra like the RPO. Our concertmaster is Juliana Athayde, and I feel like the Orchestra has just gotten better and better since she joined us in 2005.

This week's concert was simply amazing, probably one of my favorites ever. The program included Mephisto Waltz No. 1 by Franz Listz. Here is a video of Bayram Karamenderes playing. The version we heard at the RPO was arranged for orchestra. According to the program, "Many composers of the Romantic era were drawn to the macabre. The medieval legend of Faust, the learned doctor who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for great knowledge and eternal your, attracted legions of them."




The second selection of the evening was Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and String Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The oboe solo was played by our own Erik Behr. Rochester audiences are very generous, but we all were proud of Erik's performance and he was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation. Erik was grinning ear-to-ear! This YouTube video doesn't really do justice to the piece. The oboe sounds kind of thin and tinny in it. But it will give you a (faint) idea of what the second movement was like.



The second half of the concert was Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 in D monor, Op 70. Dvorak usually pulls from the folk songs of his youth, and those are my favorites. This symphony doesn't come from that place, but rather is an experiment in expanding his creative range. Even still, I love Dvorak.



Isn't it wonderful that I can illustrate my blog posting with excerpts from the music itself? Amazing!