February Has Been a Great Month for New Music!

Earlier this week, I received a voice mail from a Modlin Center patron with a simple message of thanks for the performance of Osvaldo Goljoiv's Ayre performance last week with Dawn Upshaw and Orquestra Los Marranos. It was a remarkable evening of music making and I was proud to be able to present it in Richmond.

Mr. Golijiov, Ms. Uphaw and all of the musicians and electro-acoustic engineers, were in Richmond for three days while they prepared for the concert. While in residence, they had the opportunity to work with our students and faculty in music. Our composition students had a private coaching and review of their own compositions with Maestro Golijov (pictured here discussing a composition with a student) and the entire company of musicians met with students and faculty in music to discuss the rehearsal process and the specialized performance practices required for Ayre.

And to top it off, our own ensemble-in-residence, eighth blackbird, fresh off their Grammy win for best chamber music performance, was part of the Orquestra Los Marranos. The sextet was featured in the first half of the concert and our audience was simply transported by the performance of works by Stephen Hartke and George Crumb.

I am so proud of the Modlin Center's role in commissioning and presenting new music and while it is not always appreciated by all of our patrons, I honestly believe it is the most important work we can do to help further the growth and development of the art form.

So, February's been a great month and sincere thanks to those of you who appreciate and support our efforts in this area.

Onward!
kp

The Life of a Sound Guy...

Well, this is my fourth attempt at an inaugural post for the MCA blog. That sentence is about as far as I got with my first three. (Many poor sentences were harmed in the making of this post). First impressions are everything, and not only is this my first post to the Modlin blog, but it is in fact my first post to any blog ever. I'm feeling a lot of pressure! I am confident, however, that this is going to be the one.

I am coming to you live from the orchestra seats in Camp Concert Hall where the final rehearsal for Osvaldo Golijov's Ayre (performed by Dawn Upshaw and several other incredibly talented musicians) is about to begin. For many other shows I would be tucked away in my little corner of the hall behind the audience by now, at the helm of our Soundcraft Series Two audio console. That is where I stand, carefully twisting knobs, riding faders and doing my best to bring you a subtle yet pleasing aural experience. But this show (and a few others every season) is complicated enough to tour with their own audio engineer, relegating me to a supporting role in which I mainly make sure all of our equipment is behaving and that their sound guy understands the unique acoustic characteristics of our spaces. (And laying down the law if they don't).

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mike Burns. I am the newest member of the Modlin crew, hired in July of 2007. My official title (too big to fit on my official Modlin stationary) is Production Associate/Audio Specialist. The description above is only part of what I do here (although it is my favorite); in addition to live sound engineering, I also assist Bill Luhrs (production manager) and Matt Land (assistant production manager) with all technical aspects of the hundreds of shows, lectures, forums, etc. that grace our stages each year. Together we make up the production crew, headquartered in the production suite, second floor of Booker Hall. We're working on getting an official "production crew signal" spotlight installed on the roof here. It will be on constantly, I'm sure.

I think I'm going to go out with that. The rehearsal is drawing to a close and I have to get back to work resetting the stage for tonights performance. A production associate/audio specialists work is never done here at the MCA...

By the "Blog" of Cats

Thank you to the 125 of you who came out to the theatre to see last night's dramatic reading of By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr. I think you might agree that it was really a phenomenal piece of theater with a lot of merit. What's impressive about the Monday Night World Theater series is that those ten actors, and stage manager Donna had mostly never seen each-other before Saturday at 1:00pm when the company had its first rehearsal.  With the high level of talent involved, it looked as though we had been rehearsing for weeks, and I think that everyone who stayed for the talkback was surprised by that fact. (another fact: Nobody you saw on stage had a "real" Irish accent)

Speaking of talkbacks, hopefully in the next few days, the Modlin Center will add a Mod-cast (Modlin Podcast) of the session after the show so that you can hear some of the really great questions posed by members of the audience and the deep discussions which ensued. As a student in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University, I am naturally enthralled with discussions about character analysis and symbols, but I think you will enjoy hearing it as well. 

It is bitter-sweet for the reading to be over, but if you did see the show, I would love it if you visited the Audience Reviews page for the show and left a comment or question.

That's it for now, see you at the box office,

Paul

Another Arlo fan

Here's another photo of Arlo Guthrie with a big fan. Susan Farris is one of our volunteer ushers--one of our unsung heroes! Volunteer ushers are an integral part of our presenting business, and we could not offer such a rich and varied selection of events without their support. One of the perks of the job can be personal interaction with the artists.

Thanks, Susan, for sharing your photo with us. Keep up the good work!

Piotr, Yuja and Arlo...oh my

The Modlin Center has been hopping over the last several days, but there is always time to hang out with Arlo Guthrie (just ask Modlin Center student employee Joe Nelson) during his two day visit this past week. When we heard that Piotr Anderszewski was regrettably canceling his Richmond appearance due to illness, we had to immediately jump into action because the scheduled concert was only a week away. Within 24 hours, Kathy Panoff had booked pianist Yuja Wang as a replacement. Although we had a lot of work to do, we were pleased with this replacement. Yuja performed with the Shanghai Quartet (Modlin Center favorites) last November to rave reviews from audience members. We knew having her replace Anderszewski was better than having someone unknown to Richmond audiences. Over the next couple of days, we sent out press releases, contacted ticket holders and notified those patrons that enjoyed Yuja in November that she was returning to the Modlin Center. The box office was busy with calls coming and going, but we managed. And the end result was a great success. Yuja, at only 21, played like she was on fire. I'm sure we'll see her back here again.

In the midst of managing the great pianist swap, we had two fabulous, sold-out nights with American folksinger Arlo Guthrie. His fans loved him! His storytelling is just as much a part of his performances as his music. And I'm sure he brought back feelings of peace and love to all his Woodstock-remembering fans. But even the college students in the crowd were impressed by Arlo, like Joe in the photo above. I think his music touches everyone, young and old. You can't get much better than that.

Until next time,
Samantha

Out of the Box (Office)

Hi again Modlin Blog-readers,

Finally, the weather has calmed down a little bit, and the Modlin Center's climate has returned to normal (it was especially hot in the Box Office- during two consecutive shifts, our ticket printers broke down out of what seemed to be protest of the uncomfortable temperature!)

The last time I posted, I talked all about the upcoming play reading (By the Bog of Cats) that I am working on, which is going very well. I just saw a copy of the program today and am getting very excited about meeting all of the artists over the weekend (I will be sure to keep you up to date when they all get here for the first rehearsal).

Another project that I am working on is the University Dancers' 23rd Dance Conert, Leap, which is also quickly approaching (opens February 28th) and is nearing completion. All of the pieces that I have seen are absolutely phenomenal, and some of the most special ones are being choreographed by Richmond students who have taken a choreography class. I have seen some great dance shows here at the Modlin Center (my favorite this year: Hubbard Street Dance, last year: Cirque Eloize) and I think this one will be right on par with those professional troupes. I'll be backstage, and hope to see you there!

I also would like to express my gratitude for anyone who came out to see The Baltimore Waltz last weekend, which I was also a part of (I know...busy February), thanks to the support of the campus and Richmond community, we were able to raise a good amount of money which has been donated to the Carl Vogel Center (an AIDS research organization named for the playwright's brother). I was really touched by the support of everyone who offered anything after the show, it really made me feel good to have been able to help make a difference.

I'll be posting again very soon with some more details about By the Bog of Cats, look for it this weekend. Thanks for reading,

Paul

what Frank Lloyd Wright and Optimus Prime have in common

The comparison is admittedly a little bit shallow. If I were to dig deeper into the movie (the original cartoon, not the horrid live-action version from last summer), I could probably find even more connections on many different levels. And I'm omitting the obvious connection that they're both dead (spoiler alert for the cartoon!).

Both Frank Lloyd Wright, design genius, and Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, have the ability to transform.

Okay, I'll officially leave Optimus behind for now (his transformation from truck to robot, while completely awesome, has had a bit less of an impact) and focus on art (I will eventually get to Frank too).

When I attended the Art Works for Virginia conference a few weeks ago, I learned about a transformation on a large scale. The keynote speaker for the conference was John Barrett III, the mayor of North Adams, Massachusetts. North Adams had been a factory town, and with the closure of these businesses, the town was in a major slump. The town is now the home of MASS MoCA. Mr. Barrett explained how he had worked to convince several Massachusetts government entities to take a chance on an art museum. This is an exceptionally abbreviated version of the story - the mayor spoke about how the whole process unfolded, and it was frustrating and incredible at the same time.

Jobs created by the museums have provided an economic transformation, but it seems like art itself had a transforming effect on the area as well. Mr. Barrett admitted that he often didn't understand a lot of the art (trees hanging upside down?), but he knew that it made him happy. The museum had a huge turn-out for their grand opening, and it has helped to build up the whole North Adams area - it is a town attractive to both residents and tourists.

This story really got me thinking about ways in which art has transformed me personally.

During a particularly difficult and frustrating job search many years ago, I found myself spending a lot of time at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It was a place I could go to get away and enter another world. My favorite place to go at the time was the decorative arts section. I was constantly drawn to the furniture room in particular. The Frank Lloyd Wright chair and window always captured my attention, no matter how many times I'd seen them recently. I would just stop and stare at the beauty of these pieces and wonder about the imagination from which they had emerged. For some reason, these works transformed me into a calmer and more thoughtful person, at least for a little while.

In my job at the Modlin Center, I'm surrounded by art that holds plenty of possibility. Our schedule around here is kind of crazy sometimes, and I confess that it gets a bit overwhelming. But one of my favorite ways to become re-centered is to really look at what we have here from a patron's point of view and take a little while to fully appreciate it.

This past Saturday, we had 2 performances featuring Ira Glass of NPR's This American Life. I confess that I didn't know too much about him or the show prior to that day, but what I did know was that this was going to be a busy day. When I went into Camp to hear some of his stories, I forgot all about the craziness of the week that had just finished and the week that was soon to start. As Mr. Glass presented stories that others had told and added his own commentary and music, he transformed these seemingly banal subjects into tales that kept the audience entranced. His use of music in particular was just amazing. He created a perfect soundtrack to each story, and this reminded me yet again that I'd love to have a soundtrack to my own life that mysteriously followed me around (it would, without a doubt, have to include Cinnamon by The Long Winters and Diamonds on the Inside by Ben Harper). On that Saturday, I was so glad I had taken some time to truly appreciate the art of what Mr. Glass does - it's amazing, and it showed me once again the true power of art.

I look back to other events in our buildings that have struck me (to name just a few: Speak Theater Arts' N*W*C, University Museums' slave ship Henrietta Marie exhibit, Cirque Éloize's Rain, and the Netherlands Bach Society's Mass in B minor, BWV 232) and forward to other events coming up (Washington Symphonic Brass and DJ Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation in particular). I feel so fortunate to have such easy access to such amazing art, and I can't wait for the next transformation!