Last year’s inaugural Music Lovers Seminars with George Shangrow brought familiarity and heightened pleasure to the classics of chamber music as performed during the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (OICMF). This year, OICMF brings Shangrow back for another series of seminars, each taking place over two days, to familiarize concert-goers with the pleasures of the four major concerts during the 11th annual Music Festival. The lectures are a component of the OICMF’s IM: In Music year-round education program.
Orcas Center’s first exhibit composed entirely of abstract art is drawing a strong response from local artists, says Fred Enge, coordinator of the upcoming September show. In order to plan the necessary gallery space, it is important to know how many artists will take part, and how many works will be included, he points out. Any artist planning to participate who has not already notified Fred should do so by Friday, Aug. 15 at 376-2726; or email fredenge@rockisland.com.
Three Generations, a bluegrass band comprised of three generations of family members and a few great friends, will perform at Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.
“Outlaw Dreams,” a football movie coming to Eastsound on Aug. 17, all began on the Vikings football field one day in 2005.
As part of the Farm Education and Sustainability for Teens (FEAST) program, students have been learning about and building a shed kiosk and bench at The Funhouse, using a variety of natural and sustainable building techniques. To complete the project a number of Orcas Island community members have been donating their time, expertise and resources to the project.
The Actors Theater of Orcas Island announces a script-in-hand presentation of the new play “The Dixie Swim Club” at the Grange. The play is about five Southern women whose friendship began on their college swim team who set aside a long weekend each year to recharge their friendship. Every August they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to laugh, catch up and meddle in each others lives. “The Dixie Swim Club” focuses on four of these weekends over a period of 33 years.
The San Juan Preservation Trust held its first annual “Summer Social” event on Saturday, Aug. 2 on Dodie Gann’s Red Mill Farm on San Juan Island. Billed as a “Celebration of Art, Islands and Conservation,” this event was a collaboration of the Preservation Trust, the artists of Plein Air Washington, and Gallery San Juan in Friday Harbor.
Chief Baker, the Orcas Island based musical ensemble, will be performing for the Music in the Park Series at the Eastsound Village Green on Sunday, Aug. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. The band will perform their eclectic repertoire of Reggae, Roots, and Funk, playing both originals and covers.
Crow Valley Pottery opens their fourth annual Potter’s Festival on Friday, Aug. 8 from 4 to 7 p.m. with an opening reception that will feature demonstrations by Orcas Island artist Robin Rodenberger, music by Katie Jensen and wines from Vercingetorix Wines.
For three weeks in July, plein air (open-air) artists from the San Juan Islands and across the state (representing Plein Air Washington Association) will be painting on San Juan Preservation Trust properties and public lands throughout the islands. The artists and their easels will occupy roadsides and public parks as they capture impressions of the San Juans on canvas.
From the Bellingham-based artists who brought Dream Science Circus and Circus D’Orcas to Orcas Center, audiences will delight in “Sleeping on the Ceiling” on Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26. Joining Ukoiya and Islando, the creators of these performances, will be a half-dozen other professional dancers, acrobats and jugglers, and a host of local children, to the wonder of audiences of all ages.
Hope… Hum… Stomp… Strum… This is the sound of “Twirl” – original music composed by sister-brother duo Grace (most recently staring as Belle in Orcas Center’s production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’) and Clint McCune. This band, with 15 years of touring and performing under their belt, brings an integrity and magic to the stage.
On July 30, the featured noon concert at Emmanuel Church will be a presentation of classical pieces by a group of local cellists. Members of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, entering its 34th year of performances in Bellingham, are joining Orcas Island cellist, Dale Heisinger, a 25-year member of the orchestra.
