A Kite’s Tale, created by Chicago’s Blair Thomas & Company is the story of a little girl who sets out to fly her kite and takes a magical journey through her own imagination.  Employing hand puppets, bunraku puppets and giant costumed characters, this wordless narrative is accompanied by a live performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, performed on solo piano by Kathryn Goodson.

The performance will take place at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, on Saturday and Sunday May 12 and 13, 2012 at 2pm as part of Family Sundays at Rivera Court. The event is free with museum admission (which is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for youth ages 6-17). For more information, call 313-833-7900.

This delightful 40 minute long family show has been seen at venues such as Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Music Institute of Chicago, and at the National Puppetry Festival, in Atlanta.

A Kite’s Tale was conceived, directed and designed by Blair Thomas. The story is by Blair Thomas in collaboration with the puppeteers: Sam Deutsch, Sarah Fornace, Dan Kerr-Hobert, and Julia Miller.

Blair Thomas & Company is a Chicago-based company that creates and performs contemporary puppetry and visual theater locally, nationally, and internationally. They are dedicated to the art of the puppet and its relationship to live music as an expressive form, in addition to the art as a spectacle form. They create unique, artistic experiences that are vital to the cultural life of Chicago and influential to the field of contemporary performance nationally and internationally. BT&C have twice received the UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry, and Mr. Thomas was also the first artist to be awarded the Jim Henson Artist-In-Residence position at the University of Maryland. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune says: “very few cities have a native theater company such as Blair Thomas and Company, where visual delicacy and an open heart are at the core of the art.”

Pianist Kathryn Goodson is an international performer, teacher and coach, and has appeared in recital throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan with leading wind instrumental and vocal artists. At the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor since 2005 she has served as collaborative pianist-coach; in 2008 her position expanded to include musical direction for Robert Swedberg’s opera studio. Recordings of Goodson’s work include Barn Burner and Melodrama (Albany) with Randall Hawes, Voices of the Holocaust (Block M-University of Michigan) with Caroline Helton, In Transit (Innova) with saxophonist Timothy McAllister, as well as international radio and television broadcasts. At schools such as Stanford University, the Conservatoire de Genève and the Musashino Music School in Tokyo, Goodson has taught classes in solo and collaborative repertoire, returning often to the Karlsruhe Music School in Germany to teach American Art Song. Educational outreach also involves concerto soloist appearances for Detroit Symphony Orchestra youth concerts, and, since 2005, musical coordination of a children’s series for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. As artistic director Goodson has served in Stuttgart for the Internationale-Hugo-Wolf-Akademie, in Ann Arbor for two Charles Ives festivals with the Phoenix Ensemble and currently for Concerts4aCause of Northside Community Church. Goodson received a doctorate and master of collaborative piano with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan, studying also with Eckart Sellheim. As a Fulbright Scholar to Germany 1992-1994, she received the Konzertexam in Art Song with highest honors with Hartmut Höll at the Karlsruhe Music School. Her bachelor of music in piano performance was earned with Robert Shannon at Oberlin Conservatory.

Chai Shuai

Performing a program entitled Dialogue between the Traditional and the Modern, including folk and Chinese Opera works as well as contemporary works by both Chinese and Western composers such as Xie Wenhui and Victoria Bond, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble (pronounced HWA SHA) makes their Lincoln Center Debut at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, May 7 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.lincolncenter.org and at Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway (65th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue); For more information, call 212 671 4050.

Founded in 1995, and currently touring the United States with performances in New York and Boston, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble of the China Conservatory has become one of the most dynamic and technically impressive chamber ensembles of China. Under the strong leadership of Professor Zhang Weiliang and Maestro Tsung Yeh, the ensemble has achieved international acclaim. Its musicians, who are mainly young conservatory teachers, have won numerous instrumental competition awards in China and abroad. Their repertoire ranges from traditional Chinese folk music and Chinese opera music to contemporary Chinese and international classical music. The ensemble has recorded several CDs and has performed in the United States, France, Portugal, Australia, and in Asia and Africa. For this performance, the program will feature six world premieres commissioned by the ensemble for this US tour.

The Program includes:
Lang Tao Sha (Traditional)
Feng Qiu Huang, by Liu Qing (World Premiere)
Five Impressions, by Gao Ping (World Premiere)
Wild Geese in the Sandbank (Traditional)
Graceful, by Wang Dan Hong (World Premiere)
Nodes, by John Mallia (World Premiere)
Deep Night (Traditional Chinese Opera)
Less, but More, by Xie Wen Hui (World Premiere)
Bridge, by Victoria Bond (World Premiere arrangement for this ensemble)

Performers include: Huang Mei (guqin); Wang Yidong (Chinese percussion); Mark Baekbum Yee (cello); Chai Shuai (erxian & erhu); Qiu Ji (zheng); Ge Yong (pipa); Chen Yue (flute); Wu Huanghuang (yangqin); Huang Mei (ruan); Chen Yue (flute); Tomoya Aomori, Justin Doute (western percussion); Zhang Weiliang (xiao); Han Shi (violin), Eric Umble (clarinet), Sun Pei (piano). Tsung Yeh, conductor, Zhang Weiliang Artistic Director. Zhao Talimu, President of China Conservatory, serves as leader of this delegation.

Music/Words (www.musicwordsnyc.com), an interdisciplinary series founded and curated by NYC- based pianist Inna Faliks (www.innafaliks.com), continues its fourth season on April 23 and 30 on WFMT at 8pm CST. Faliks will play CPE Bach, Eric Satie, Schubert, Chopin. L.B. Thompson, Whiting Award winner, is the poet.

The series MUSIC/WORDS was recently praised by Lucid Culture as being “surreal, impactful, and relevant” and was described as “a throwback to the Paris salons of the late 1800s.” It celebrates links between poetry and music by presenting collaborations between exciting solo performers and acclaimed contemporary poets in the form of a live recital/reading.

Inna Faliks created the series in order to foster a chance for poets and musicians to work together and inspire each other, as well as to allow different audiences to come together for these musical-literary events. New published and unpublished works are read alongside performances of music old and new and connected by content, intuition, and inspiration.

According to Faliks, “I pair performers together based on their personalities and styles, and encourage them to choose the poems and music in varied ways that are strongly and intuitively connected.”

Founders of “Music for Farms” Emmanuel Vukovich (violin) and John McDowell (piano, percussion, composition), as well as special guest, young violinist Nicholas Frei, will perform a benefit concert  at Green Meadow Waldorf School’s new auditorium, Rose Hall in Chestnut Ridge, NY. The program for this concert, to be held May 4th at 8pm, will include Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins in D featuring Nicholas Frei, and the Solo violin Partita No. 1 in b, BWV 1002; Sonata No. 3, Op. 27 – Ballade, by Eugene Ysaye; Chant by Ana Sokolovic; Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25, by Pablo de Sarasate; and an original work by John McDowell.

Rose Hall is located at 307 Hungry Hollow Rd., Chestnut Ridge, NY. Advance tickets are $20 for general admission; $15 for college Students & Seniors; and $10 for students Grade 1-12 Tickets will be available for purchase online or in person at the Hungry Hollow Co-op, 841 Chestnut Ridge Rd, Chestnut Ridge. Day of show tickets at the door will be $5 extra per ticket. This event is sponsored by Threefold Educational Foundation. Proceeds will go to the Green Meadow Waldorf School, the Rockland Farm Alliance, and the Pfeiffer Center.

The Green Meadow Waldorf School is an independent day school, nursery through grade 12, located 30 miles from New York City in Chestnut Ridge, NY. Founded in 1950, Green Meadow is one of America’s oldest and largest Waldorf schools. From the young child’s imaginative experiences of discovery and play in their Early Childhood program to the intellectual challenges presented in their High School, Green Meadow students approach their education with interest and joy. The school also opened an Early Childhood Center in Tarrytown, NY in July 2011.

Rockland Farm Alliance is a community coalition that was founded to facilitate local sustainable agriculture in Rockland County, NY, and to provide educational resources to the community to promote awareness of the need for local food resources. RFA has been called “cutting edge” by state farming authorities in its innovative approach to preserve and revive farming in the lower Hudson Valley and greater NY metro area. Through hands-on learning programs and new community-supported small farms, RFA is striving to raise awareness around local food issues while increasing access to organic, locally grown produce.

The mission of the Pfeiffer Center, located in Chestnut Ridge, NY, is to practice, teach and spread awareness of the biodynamic method of agriculture and land care. This work takes the form of educational programs for adults and children, agricultural production, work with draft horses, beekeeping, and research.

Canadian Violinist Emmanuel Vukovich has played for audiences around the globe with artists such as Ida Haendel, Anton Kuerti, and Matt Haimowitz. Recipient of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music Golden Violin Award and The Canada Council for the Arts Orford String Quartet Scholarship, he was a member of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet, winner at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. Emmanuel began playing the violin with Danuta Ciring and left his native Calgary at sixteen to pursue studies with Masao Kawasaki and Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School in New York City. He completed his undergraduate degree with Denise Lupien and André Roy at McGill University. During this time he also pursued studies in Environment, subsequently devoting four years to work in organic agriculture. Having returned to music in 2011, Emmanuel is currently completing a graduate performance degree and teaching at McGill University, and has founded an international chamber music collective called The Parcival Project. He plays a violin made in Montreal by Denis Cormier.

Musician and film composer John McDowell achieved worldwide recognition with his soundtrack to the Academy Award winning documentary Born Into Brothels. Winner of Best Musical Score at the Bend Film Festival, the score blends Western and Indian music in a mesmerizing mix. Known for much more than just his film scores, McDowell is also a highly gifted pianist, percussionist, producer, commissioned composer and conductor. His work over the past 25 years draws on classical, jazz, pop, and world music. McDowell served as founder, artistic director and leader of several musical projects including The Born Into Brothels Ensemble and the world music band Mamma Tongue. He has toured and recorded with Rusted Root and Krishna Das and has produced several albums including his solo CD Speaking the Mamma Tongue. McDowell’s formal education and subsequent informal global training has made him a largely self-taught ethnomusicologist of widely-ranging scale. John is co-founder of Music for Farms.

Nicholas Frei, a 2011 graduate of Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge, NY, began his violin studies with Anna Teigen, then continued with Bernard Zeller and Laura Seaton. During high school, Nicholas played with the New York Youth Symphony, several string quartets and chamber groups, and studied with Ann Setzer of Mannes and Juilliard. His senior year, he attended Mannes-Prep and was a Rockland County Morning Music Club Scholarship Finalist. Nicholas has spent his last three summers at the Meadowmount School of Music, founded by Ivan Galamian and has played in chamber master classes for musicians such as: Joel Krosnick, Paul Neubauer and Kazuhido Isomura. He is currently in a string quartet coached by Matt Haimovitz and studies with Emmanuel Vukovich at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

For further information contact Katie Ketchum at kketchum@gmws.org

Chicago’s Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS) in partnership with the Chicago Public Library is pleased to announce Melodies of Love and Loss, a free concert to be held on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 2:00 PM at the Harold Washington Library Center’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, 400 S. State Street.

Bringing together some of Chicago’s leading musicians, this special concert showcases music composed by both known and emerging Chinese composers. Curated by Yuan-Qing Yu, assistant concertmaster of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the program is inspired by and is an aural accompaniment to the wonderful stories of Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li, the latest selection for Chicago’s citywide book club, One Book, One Chicago.

Throughout April, the Chicago Public Library and its program partners offer a variety of events celebrating the book and the people it portrays, including an appearance by author Yiyun Li on April 19th at the Harold Washington Library Center. One Book, One Chicago is presented by the Chicago Public Library, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Allstate and BMO Harris. For more information and a full list of programs visit www.onebookonechicago.org.

Featured performers include pipa virtuoso Yang Wei, as well as Jessica Warren, flute; Mabel Kwan on piano; Elizandro Garcia-Montoya, clarinet; Dominic Johnson, viola; Mabel Kwan, piano; Aurelien Pederzoli, Jaime Gorgojo, violin; Anna Steinhoff, cello.

The program will include:

Dragon Boat: Traditional
Chou Wen Chung: Cursive for Flute and piano
Huang Ruo: Being for Clarinet and Viola
Tan Dun: C.A.G.E for piano
Lei Liang: Five Seasons for pipa quintet
Vivian Fung: Miniatures for Clarinet and String quartet
And, as part of our Migratory Journeys World Premiere series: Bin Li: My Hometown Far Away for Piano

About the Chinese Fine Arts Society: For 27 years, this professional, small, fully- independent arts organization has brought together people from diverse backgrounds over a common goal: to celebrate the beauty and majesty of traditional and contemporary Chinese music and art. CFAS is dedicated to promoting the appreciation of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural exchange and pursuing excellence in Chinese music, dance and visual arts.

Funding for these concerts are provided, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, City Arts Grants, and SMART Growth and the Arts Work Fund initiatives of the Chicago Community Trust and Affiliates.

About the book: Gold Boy, Emerald Girl includes nine expertly written short stories set in modern China. Through Yiyun Li’s unforgettable characters, we learn about a country and a people who are not so different from us. Li’s stories—whether about a young girl navigating life in the army or a group of widows who start a private investigation agency—offer a rich and varied portrait of China, and will resonate with Chicago’s readers. Discussions and events take place throughout April, including a conversation with Yiyun Li and Chicago author Achy Obejas at the Harold Washington Library Center on April 19. Visit your library and check out a copy of Gold Boy, Emerald Girl, take part in a discussion or attend any number of programs or performances. To learn more, inquire at your local library or visit www.onebookonechicago.org.

For further information about the Chinese Fine Arts Society or the above concerts, contact 312-369-3197 or info@chinesefinearts.org.