Arts briefs | April 28 edition
Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 28, 2022
Hear masters of Irish music
Renowned Irish fiddle player Gerry O’Connor will perform at 7 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Vashon Havurah. O’Connor will be accompanied by Richard Mandal, a San Francisco-based guitar player.
O’Connor is from Dundalk, Co. Louth, and grew up in a family of musicians, dancers and singers, all taught at home by his mother. He is known worldwide as a soloist and as a founder band member of Lá Lugh, Skylark and Oirialla.
He has recorded 14 albums, with his first solo album “Journeyman” hailed as a landmark album of Irish fiddle music. He has performed with famed Irish music world performers including members of the Chieftains, Boys of the Lough, Planxty, De Dannan, Irish Rovers, and Bothy Band. He is also highly regarded as a violin-maker and a producer of other artists.
Mandel has performed with legendary Irish musicians including Paddy Keenan, Jimmy Keane, Gerry O’Connor, Mick Moloney, Paddy O’Brien, Tony DeMarco and many others. He plays in the trio Three Mile Stone with mandolinist Marla Fibish and fiddler Erin Shrader. Donations are $25 at the door and $20 for an advanced reservation.
Contact janstrolle@comcast.net for advanced reservations. The Havurah is located at 15401 Westside Hwy SW. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Masks are required.
Opera lovers, rejoice
The curtain will rise on Vashon Opera’s spring production of Franz Lehár’s masterpiece, “The Merry Widow,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
Principals in the production include Jennifer Krikawa, Brendan Tuohy, Charles Robert Stephens, Mackenzie Taylor, Namarea Randolph-Yosea, Robert McPherson, Hugh Davis and Arthur Keast.
The company’s conductor and music director, James Brown, will once again wield the baton, with able assistance from performance and rehearsal pianist Even Stults. Julie Gibson is the production’s choreographer. “The Merry Widow,” a rollicking operetta set in Paris with waltzes and polkas galore, has charmed audiences worldwide since its debut in 1905.
Vashon Opera founder and star Jennifer Krikawa promised “a beautiful Belle Epoque production,” complete with exquisite costume degin by Alex Lewingson and Frances Rankos.
For tickets, visit vashonopera.org.
Save the date for Spring Studio Tour
After going dark for two years due to the COVID pandemic, Vashon Island Visual Artists (VIVA) is bringing back its Spring Studio Tour, Saturdays and Sundays, May 7 and 8 and 14 and 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The Studio Tour features 36 studios and galleries representing 90 artists and craftspeople.
Watch your mailbox for a tour brochure — every Vashon household will receive one. Brochures with the tour map can also be picked up at Vashon’s restaurants and realtor offices. The website, vivartists.com, also offers an interactive online map with details about each studio or gallery.
Several locations include the works of multiple artists. All items are available for sale from greeting cards to large sculptures and framed paintings. Tour creations run the gamut from items that are beautifully functional to those that are decidedly decorative. Individual studios or galleries may require visitors to show proof of vaccination and/or to wear a mask.
Pottery galore in May
The Vashon Heritage Museum will present a mini-exhibit, “Vashon Pottery of the 1970s and 80s” — part of “Akio Takamori | Clay on Vashon,” a month-long collaborative celebration of clay and the pottery community of Vashon between the Museum, Vashon Center for the Arts, and Mukai Farm & Garden.
“Vashon Pottery of the 1970s and 80s” takes a look at the tight-knit community of Vashon potters and clay artists and tells the story of the state of ceramic art through those years. The display includes the history of artist Akio Takamori’s time on Vashon.
For more information on the multi-venue pottery celebration, visit vashonheritagemuseum.org, vashoncenterforthearts.org and mukaifarmandgarden.org.
