The Gusto Blog

On Friday, Urban Design LLC (21 Elm St., East Aurora) will host an exhibition and sale of about 30 posters from the extensive collection of Hans Sachs, a German Jewish dentist whose entire trove of early-20th century posters was seized by the Nazis on Kristallnacht, in 1938. Sachs survived the war, and much later his son Peter set out to reclaim some of the collection, which he finally achieved after years of legal battles. The show runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday. Call (877) 500-0870 or visit www.urbandesignreclaimed.com for more info.

--Colin Dabkowski

This tile, formerly embedded into the pavement on Porter Avenue, includes a line from a short story by Ray Bradbury.

In my recent tour of Buffalo street art -- the results of which where were published on Sunday in a story that merely scratched the surface of the city's slowly growing street art scene -- I came across several tiles embedded into the pavement at various crosswalks around town. I described these pieces, some of which are referred to as "Toynbee tiles," as "chiseled into the pavement." But an anonymous emailer informed me otherwise yesterday. Here's that emailer's more accurate representation -- perhaps gleaned from firsthand experience, perhaps not -- of how the tiles are integrated into the streets:

...so-called "Toynbee" tiles are not chiseled into the street; but rather are made out of pieces of vinyl (even a vinyl floor tile), which is then laid upon the street and covered with black tape (fabric works best) so as to hide the new tile and keep it in place while the pressure of vehicles pushes it into the asphalt and eventually wears the tape away.

Fascinating stuff. Keep your eyes peeled for more of these tiles, which exist in many well-traveled areas around the city.

--Colin Dabkowski

 

Last week, the University at Buffalo professor, writer, photographer and activist Bruce Jackson was kind enough to lead a guided tour of his photography exhibition, "Being There," in the Burchfield Penney Art Center. The sprawling show, which runs through June 16, includes photographs from his time documenting prisons in the south, trips to Alaska and Mexico, Buffalo's grain elevators and his large circles of literary and academic friends. Here's Bruce:

--Colin Dabkowski

The Black Keys, joined by the Joy Formidable, will perform at 6 p.m. July 8 on the Outer Harbor Concert Site (325 Fuhrmann Blvd.).

Tickets are $48 advance and go on sale at noon May 23 through www.ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations, or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

For more information, visit www.outerharborconcerts.com or www.wedg.com.

By Mary Kunz Goldman

The recordings of Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster Michael Ludwig, pictured above, will be beamed all over Canada on Sunday morning on Radio-Canada from 10 a.m. until noon. The show is Alain Lefevre's program "Espace Musique."

They can be beamed into your home too! Listen live by going directly to:www.espace.mu/espace-musique . Click on the second icon, "Écoutez Espace Musique."

Meanwhile, this sounds like a pretty nice station. When I tuned in just now they were bingeing on what appears to be an entire CD of some of my favorite Lieder by Schubert and Beethoven. So I am staying tuned! Between songs you can work on your French. It's cute how the French pronounce Schubert's name Shoo-BEAR.  

Anyway ... remember this station, and remember to tune in Sunday at 10 a.m.!

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer season will take the musicians to several of Western New York’s best public spaces and performing venues.

The BPO will perform 12 times, including several free outdoor concerts and the return of Summer Nights@Kleinhans.

• The summer season kicks off with the BPO’s return to Bidwell Park in the Elmwood Village on June 25 and Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora on June 27, each beginning at 7 p.m. These free, outdoor concerts will be conducted by Matthew Kraemer, and will feature a mix of Americana.

• At 7 p.m. June 29, the BPO will perform a concert at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown. Matthew Kraemer conducts this concert of classical favorites, including works by Rossini, Copland, Dvorak and Beethoven, concluding with the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. The concert is free for children younger than 6; $10 for students and $20 general admission. A family four-pack is available for $49. All tickets will be available through the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra box office at 885-5000 or www.bpo.org. Tickets include admission to the park.

• The BPO’s second season of Summer Nights@Kleinhans will kick off at 7 p.m. July 6 with Tchaikovsky Spectacular, conducted by Matthew Kraemer. Audiences are invited to pack a picnic supper or sample the wares of the Buffalo food trucks and enjoy the grounds of the concert hall and its historic neighborhood setting.

Summer Nights@Kleinhans will continue at 7 p.m. July 19 with A Tribute to Dave Brubeck. The jazz composer and pianist, credited with introducing jazz to the Baby Boom generation, was 91 when he died last year. The BPO will pay tribute to his legacy with a performance featuring the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, formed by his sons.

JoAnn Falletta will take the podium for the final Summer Nights@Kleinhans concert, at 7 p.m. July 26. España features Spanish-inflected music by Chabrier, Falla and Rimsky-Korsakov. Special guest artist Celil Refik Kaya, who won the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, returns to the scene of his triumph with this concert. Tickets for Summer Nights@Kleinhans range from $19 to $49 and can be obtained by calling 885-5000 or visiting bpo.org.

• The BPO and the Bisons continue their Independence Eve tradition on July 3, when the Bisons play the Rochester Red Wings at Coca-Cola Field starting at 6:05. After the game, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will take the field, joined by the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and led by Paul Ferington, for a program of patriotic favorites followed by a fireworks display. Tickets are available at www.bisons.com.

• Over a two-day period, the BPO will share its best with Western New York through a series of free performances at Canalside.

The afternoon of July 13 offers audiences a chance to see what orchestra members do when they’re not rehearsing for a concert. Chamber groups, jazz quartets, and percussion ensembles featuring BPO members are all on the schedule.

At 7 p.m. that day, the orchestra will perform a Broadway-themed concert with soloists Gary Mauer and Elizabeth Southard. The Broadway veterans are also husband and wife, and have played opposite one another in major touring productions of Showboat and Phantom of the Opera, as well as many symphonic engagements. On July 14, the BPO will hold an afternoon of instrument demonstrations, workshops and a superhero-themed concert, with music from X-Men, The Incredibles, Spiderman, Batman and more.

• The M&T Bank Plaza summer noontime concert series is celebrating its 44th year, and the Buffalo Philharmonic will once again perform. Paul Ferington will lead the orchestra on July 16 in this free outdoor concert.

• Artpark is celebrating a milestone year, and for its 40th anniversary, the BPO will perform with a host of special guests at 8 p.m. July 25, recreating the park’s 1973 opening concert. Buffalo native turned Broadway star Michele Ragusa will sing selections from Phantom of the Opera, Music Man and My Fair Lady. Eminent pianist Norman Krieger, once the winner of the BPO’s Young Artists Competition Prize, will perform Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante. Dancers from the Festival Ballet of Providence and Neglia Ballet Artists will join the BPO onstage, dancing to selections from ballets by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

All tickets for the concert will be available at www.artpark.net

For further information about the summer concerts, visit bpo.org/or call 885-5000.

 

Albright-Knox Art Gallery Director Janne Sirén. Photo by Derek Gee.

Last night, in a speech that doubled as a kind of comedy routine, newly arrived Albright-Knox Art Gallery Director Janne Sirén gave a memorable introduction for the artist Andy Goldsworthy. (Goldsworthy was in Buffalo to talk about his nearly complete commission on which he's been working with the museum for several years). In it, he called on Western New Yorkers to take ownership of the museum and invoked Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum as an example of the transformative power of a cultural institution in the life and reputation of a region.

Siren's remarks give some clues about where he may take the Albright-Knox. I'll excerpt some of them here, and you can listen to the full audio of the introduction and Goldsworthy's presentation at the bottom of the post.

I’ve been in Buffalo now for five and a half weeks.

Let me just say what an honor it is to share in the spirit of your city, which I hope I can soon call earnestly my home city. One of the most common questions that I am asked is, ‘So, have you found a home and where is it located?’ And in fact I think I was asked that question before my nomination, at least spiritually speaking.

Homes are important. Of course they are. And I think the fact that that question is asked in this place, in Buffalo and at the Albright-Knox, tells something about this institution, this home of art, this home of unique individuals, this home of unique ideas, this home of constant innovation over a period of 150 years.

It is a humbling experience to stand here before you as the 11^th director of the Albright-Knox, one of the great global assets that the United States possesses, an amazing institution, an amazing history, and let me say, an amazing future which I hope to build together with you and all the other people in Western New York and Buffalo…

…

I really have no place standing on the stage tonight because we’re here to hear Andy Goldsworthy share ideas, thoughts with us. I also have no place on the stage tonight because what’s been accomplished over here on the campus of the Albright-Knox with Andy Goldsworthy over the past years I can take no credit in. That’s the work of Louis Grachos, one of the greatest directors that the field of contemporary and modern museums knows today. And you will see that history will bear his legacy far into the future.

So it’s just a significant honor for me to stand here humbly on the shoulders of a giant and to wish you welcome.

…

The Albright-Knox is really your museum. Be proud of it. Share information about it. And if sometimes you feel like it’s a little distant… what’s really the relevance of a museum in today’s world? Think of places like Bilbao. Nobody in Europe traveled to Bilbao 20 years ago. It was a place where bombs were exploding... really a not very pleasant place.

Then comes a museum director from the United States, and as the result of a long process, a museum is established: Guggenheim Bilbao, one of the great art museum of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, a museum that paid itself back in three years after it was constructed. It cost $200 million to build, that was in 1990. Three years later it had paid itself back. Every year, 700,000 people from different parts of the world travel to this destination. 300,000 locals, 150,000 to 300,000 locals visit every year. That’s been steady going for 15 years.

Be proud of your institution. If you’re not members yet, I ask you to become. Not because it’s a fiscal quest from me to you, but you deserve to be members of this wonderful institution. And if you know people who are not yet members, especially young kids, invite them. Buy them their ticket. $25, with that amount, a young person can come any day of the year as many times as he or she wants.

...

This is one of the great institutions in the world. Take ownership of it.

 

--Colin Dabkowski

Promoters announced today that two generations of shock rock will commingle at the Buffalo Outer Harbor Concert Site on June 14th. Glam/goth/greasepaint icon Alice Cooper will team with his ideological offspring, Marilyn Manson, as the "Shock Therapy 2013" touches down in Buffalo on that date.

Tickets - $20 advance, $30 day of show - go on sale Friday at noon through Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster locations, the Town Ballroom box office, (681 Main St.) and the After Dark box office (630 Elmwood Ave.) Tickets can also be charged by phone, via 800-745-3000.

Both Cooper and Manson have been on a creative roll of late, with the former releasing the excellent Bob Ezrin-produced "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" last year, and the latter enjoying the critical acclaim heaped upon his recent "Born Villain," hailed by many as a teturn to the form Manson exhibited on early albums like "Antichrist Superstar" and "Mechanical Animals." 

Ok, then. It might get loud. And it moist assuredly will get creepy. - Jeff Miers 

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