PURSUITS | Spotlight
CULTURAL COMMINGLING By Steve Gill
IT WAS PATTERNED AFTER THE SERIES OF SPECTACULAR CONCERTS orchestrated by the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, a string of knockouts that earned the host venue the appellation “the Carnegie Hall of the West Coast.” Its mission, which it’s been pursuing since 1998 and in a palatial facility of its own since 2010, includes “bringing monumental cultural experiences to the heartland of America.” Oh, and house manager Shane Granger believes that “this year’s lineup of performers stands to be one of [its] most impressive yet.” Moving from strength to performance strength has become a reliable joy for audiences, and a matter of course for Edmond’s Armstrong International Cultural Foundation. The 16th season of mastery at Armstrong Auditorium got underway with an October visit from the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, which filled the hall with the melodies and movements that have resonated through the souls of its home country for centuries. There’s plenty more to come on the performance slate …
THE 2013-2014 PERFORMING ARTS SERIES
THE CANADIAN BRASS Thursday, November 7
Five guys with matching outfits and shiny instruments do not a worldclass ensemble make … unless the players each have virtuosic skill and collectively possess a staggeringly huge repertoire spanning jazz, marches, Broadway tunes, Dixieland, classic American standards, yet more classic Baroque-era compositions and even (as if that weren’t enough) 200-plus wonders of their own creation. Oh, and they’re pretty funny, too.
70 SLICE // NOVEMBER 2013
MOSCOW FESTIVAL BALLET Monday, January 27 and Tuesday, January 28 This is one of life’s guarantees: A 25-year veteran of the Bolshoi Ballet knows a little something about dance. The great Sergei Radchenko founded the Moscow Festival Ballet in 1989 – who better than an internationally renowned Russian company to present Tchaikovsky’s soaring opus “Sleeping Beauty”? And since the 50-member troupe is already set to visit Edmond to start 2014, why not share another wonder choreographed by the legendary Marcus Petipa – Leon Minkus’ “Don Quixote” – the following day? JENKINS-MALONE PIANO DUO Sunday, February 16 Among Armstrong’s many amenities, two of the foremost are the Steinway concert grands imported from Hamburg. But a piano, however magnificent, should be more than mere decoration – so Armstrong College faculty members and longtime performance partners Mark Jenkins and Ryan Malone have assembled a Liszt of classical favorites (sorry about that) for an evening of intricately entwined ivory-tickling. HAIFA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF ISRAEL Thursday, February 27 Founded in 1950, the HSO is billed as the most significant musical institution in the north of Israel – and speaking of significance, this is its first ever American tour. The ensemble is working up a catalog of classical favorites as well as a viola concerto by one of its home nation’s foremost contemporary composers; a perfect showcase for star soloist Avshalom Sarid.