The Fine Arts Center

Thursday, October 22
Bowker Auditorium
$6 students, $8 adults

Reserve Tickets Online

Take your students on a multicultural music journey! Cuban percussionist Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques have had a powerful impact on both the Latin and jazz music scene, locally and internationally. Experience an eclectic mixture of traditional, Latin and world rhythms. He exhibits a forceful yet flexible sense of groove, derived from traditions of Afro-Caribbean hand percussion but also informed by polyrhythmic post-bop. This program demonstrates how jazz has bridged cultural, ethnic and economic differences; exemplifies democratic ideals; and influences other genres of music, both in the U.S. and abroad. Blending sounds from diverse cultures fused over time, the music created is truly unique. Recommended for all ages.

Curriculum Connections: Jazz and Latin jazz music, Cuba and US relations, Improvisation and Composition

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Sunday, October 18
Concert Hall 7:00 pm
$40, $30, $15, Five College/GCC/STCC students and Youth 17 and under: $15

When the internationally renowned Orquestra de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s most celebrated classical musical ensembles, returns to the United States it will tour with one of the most important young rising star conductors in the United States, 29-year-old Kazem Abdullah. The highlight of the tour will be the world premier of a new percussion concerto by Brazilian composer Marlos Nobre, which the Orquestra has commissioned for the extraordinary percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Funding provided by the Vidda Foundation and members of the Fine Arts Center’s Orchestra Circle.

Global Gourmet
Taste of Brazil: The fire of Brazil will warm the evening air as we prepare a Brazilian specialty for your culinary delight with (1) Churrasco with Melho Companha (Brazilian BBQ beef w/warm hearts of palm salsa, tomatoes & spices), (2) Grilled Chicken w/Avocado Cream or (3) the vegetarian option of Black Bean & Roasted Vegetable Ragout. Dinner includes rolls, salad, entrée w/appropriate sides, dessert, coffee/tea. When making your reservation please indicate entrée selection by number. $25.00 p.p. inclusive

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Awakening to Happiness: Cultivating Compassion

Friday, October 16 – Sunday, October 18
Florence Civic Center, Park Street, Florence
$20 per session; students and seniors: $10 per session Day of the event: $25 & $12 WMASS Tibetan Association members: sliding scale of $5 to $10 per session
By audience request.

The Second Healing in Tibetan Buddhism Series
Awakening to Happiness: Cultivating Compassion
With Khen Rinpoche, Geshe Lobzang Tsetan Abbot, Tashi Lhumpo Monastery, Karnataka, India Founder & Director, Siddhartha School, Leh, Ladakh, David Gardiner, Associate Professor of Religion, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado & Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo, Doctor of Tibetan Medicine Shang Shung Tibetan Healing Center, Conway, Massachusetts.
Four sessions offering practical Tibetan Buddhist techniques for experiencing joy in daily life: Analysis, Meditation, Deity Yoga & Mantra.

Open to all, regardless of prior initiation or practice. Presented in partnership with the Friends of Khen Rinpoche and the Manjushri Institute for Buddhist Studies

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Thursday, October 15
Amherst Cinema 7:00 pm
Tickets: $10; $5 for students and seniors. Online at click text and at the Amherst Cinema box office.

Tickets available for purchase online August 1

Join us for the Western Massachusetts launch of the 2nd annual state-wide Massachusetts Poetry Festival! Simultaneous readings around the Commonwealth on Thursday evening will ring in two days of festivities based in Lowell on October 16 & 17. James Tate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and the William Carlos Williams Award, and author of over twenty books of poetry and prose, Ellen Doré Watson, author of three books and poems, and James Haug, author of five books, will read from new and selected work. Presented in collaboration with the UMass MFA Program for Poets and Writers, the Juniper Initiative, the Amherst Cinema Arts Center and the UMass Fine Arts Center.

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Joyce Conlon: Coming of Age Artist’s Statement

Like a shadow cast or an image reflected on water, my work involves the transformation of form on a surface. I locate my work within the tradition of modern American landscape artists and others like Thomas Nozkowski who have been inspired by nature and its intersection with culture.
This series, Fence, began with a walk in the woods where I came across a neglected antique wire fence. I was and continue to be struck by the sculptural beauty of the forms that were once so similar and now bend and distort. The fence, that had stood straight and determined to mark the boundary between one side and another, sporadically recalls its former shape and purpose. Looking through the fence, the landscape is, in a sense, annotated for me.
Like many artists, I attempt to represent my subjective experience. As with the fence, I am affected by change both short and long term. Working with acrylics on board, I begin work by seeking and creating pattern as an organizing principle. I am interested in disrupting and reasserting connections with pattern and scale. Using a process of building up layers and sanding to reveal what lies beneath, I am able to burnish the surface and bring out aspects of buried history or palipsis.
I am interested in what happens when I let go of borrowed form and allow it to become altered much like what occurs when we grow and transform our identities over time.

When:
Thursday, October 15 – Thursday, November 12
Free and open to the public

Opening Reception of Joyce Conlon: Coming of Age

Thursday, October 15 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Fine Arts Center wants to know: What are you thinking?

From Marcia R. Wise’s artist statement: Whether working en plein air or in the studio, I am aware of the connection between art, spirit, and life. My focus is on color. I work to create visual brilliance by allowing the drama of light and color to shape my compositions while I experiment with color placement and color relationships. I begin with a sketch on prepared hardboard panels, and I apply the first layer of paint with brushes, creating a cohesive value study under-painting that serves as a value skeleton for successive applications of color. With a palette knife I apply one layer of paint at a time, while also scraping paint away, letting each layer dry between applications. I work toward a smooth finish on my surfaces, yet I want them to visually appear textured. Each layer of color is allowed to show through in the finished piece.
I love a deep, direct gaze. As I add and subtract paint, this process takes me out of time and deep within. It is there that I discover some part of myself within the intimate landscape of the other. This is the discovery that holds me captivated. Here I find glimpses of spirit within where any feelings of being separate fade into a sense of connection.
I find the same mystery and self-discovery while painting the landscape, and most always work en plein air so I can experience a connection with the spirit of the land. It is this process, this inner journey that speaks to me. As I recreate Nature’s beauty and mystery, I too, am recreated.

When:
Thursday, October 15 – Thursday, November 12
Free and open to the public

OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, October 15 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Working from her dream journals and historical/pop cultural symbols, she creates works that stir up something familiar and already know within us. Layering mixed mediums and media, she reflects the dark and quirky world around us and illuminates it.
Ludwig’s work is included in Cribs to Cribbage at Mass MoCA and her Scab Nation related works will be featured in a solo exhibition in NYC at Jack The Pelicans in October

When:
Thursday, October 15 – Thursday, November 12
Free and open to the public

OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, October 15 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

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