BREWS BROTHERS
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TO THE DOGS
One of the nation’s most innovative and fastest growing breweries has a presence in Gaithersburg.
The Gazette’s Guide to
Arts & Entertainment
Page B-8 www.gazette.net
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Thursday, November 21, 2013
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Page B-1
Documentary explores link between Washington church and children of Hiroshima blast
BRYAN REICHHARDT
Howard Bell, an American adviser, meets with school children as Hiroshima struggled to rebuild after the atomic bombing in 1945. The photo appears in a screening of “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard” on Sunday at The Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel. The locally made documentary tells the story of children who drew pictures in thanks for school supplies sent to them by a Washington, D.C., church. Sixty years later, church members went to Hiroshima to meet the people who had created the drawings.
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VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
ot long after Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, a church in Washington, D.C., sent school supplies to surviving children in the devastated Japanese city, which was struggling to rebuild. Using the crayons, pencils and paints from All Souls Church Unitarian, the children sent back two portfolios of colorful drawings made with the supplies as thanks. But it wasn’t until Shizumi Manale of Silver Spring saw the drawings in 2006 as the church was thinking about returning
them to Hiroshima that the idea of a documentary took root. “She was so moved by these pictures,” said filmmaker Bryan Reichhardt, also of Silver Spring, who had worked with Manale on a previous project. The remarkable reconnection after 60 years between the church and Japan is chronicled in the documentary “Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard,” screening on Sunday at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel. Reichhardt, who wrote and directed the 82-minute film, will be present at the event to answer questions from the audience. The exhibit of drawings from the documentary will be on view at Montpelier to Dec. 1.
See PICTURES, Page B-7
Introducing ‘Albert’ n
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n Where: Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Road., Laurel n Tickets: $5 n For information: 301-377-7800, arts.pgparks. com, hiroshimaschoolyard.com
Concert brings sounds of Belgium to life BY
CARA HEDGEPETH
WILL C. FRANKLIN STAFF WRITER
STAFF WRITER
If you’re new to the operatic world, Nick Olcott, interim director of the Maryland Opera Studio, suggests a comedy such as “Albert Herring,” opening Friday at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, to ease you in. “I think it’s important when people are going to come to the opera for the first time, they should come to a comedy because it is much more accessible and much more relatable than big tragedies,” Olcott said. “And this one, on top of everything else, is in English so you don’t have to know Italian.” Composed by British composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten, “Albert Herring” is the story of “hapless lad” Albert and his attempt to shed his good-boy image. His timing is unfortunate, however, as the presumptuous Lady Billows has decided
n When: Film at 1 p.m. Sunday, exhibit runs to Dec. 1
From Brussels, with love
Maryland opera students aim to break stereotypes BY
PICTURES FROM A HIROSHIMA SCHOOLYARD
The Maryland Opera Studio is a graduate program within Maryland’s School of Music. Every year, about 10 students are admitted to the studio, which functions as an academic
Belgium is known the world over for beer, chocolate, waffles and even actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. What many might not know is Belgium has a rich history of artistry, most notably when it comes to music. World-famous musicians, such as Jacques Brel and Josquin des Prez, called Belgium home. Without Adolphe Sax, who was born in Wallonia, Belgium, the world wouldn’t have the saxophone. Those are just some of the things Annick Kanter-St. Hubert wants folks to know, which is why she came up with the idea for the “Beyond Beer, Chocolate and Lace: Belgium’s Brightest and Best,” concert, which is set
See ALBERT, Page B-9
See BRUSSELS, Page B-4
ASHLEY POLLARD
Three students from the Maryland Opera Studio rehearse for “Albert Herring,” opening at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Friday. to break from tradition and crown a King of the May instead of a queen. “Albert Herring” is the first of two productions the Maryland Opera Studio will produce during the 2013-2014 academic year. The second, Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” will open in April.
ANNICK KANTER-ST. HUBERT
The Voix de Femmes women’s chamber choir will perform at the “Beyond Beer, Chocolate and Lace: Belgium’s Brightest and Best,” concert at Church of the Resurrection in Burtonsville on Sunday.