8 minute read
ARTS
from flying.”
Hearing about Bach to Rock rekindled a love Gross had during his childhood. “When I first heard about Bach to Rock, I had this epiphany that this was what I did when I was a kid,” he said. Gross first began playing the saxophone when he was in junior high and later graduated from playing in his high school’s marching band and orchestras to joining bands.
When Gross was a senior in high school, he played in a rock band, a R&B band and a Dixieland band, all of which he credits to his love of music education.
“I didn’t really start getting interested in the full complement of music and what could be done on stage until I was in those bands,” he said.
Because of this, his main goal is not to teach students how to play an instrument but to teach them how to become performers.
“The goal is not just to learn how to play the guitar, the goal is to have kids on stage performing live,” Gross said. “What got me really excited about music was being in a band, and that’s what happens here.”
For Gross, he doesn’t consider it a job well done until he sees the transformation he once had in his students.
“I look at the parents’ faces and children’s faces while the performance takes place and I’ll see the same transformation that happened to me when I went from being a saxophonist in the band to being up on stage playing the music I had always listened to,” he said.
Despite live performances being on hold for the better part of the past two years, Gross has attributed the help of his staff to being the reason why his students continue playing music.
“There are a lot of places to learn music outside of school,” he said. “A few things that differentiate us from the competition are the quality of our teachers, the atmosphere here and how inviting it is and our usage of technology.”
For technology, Gross has tablets on hand that have access to a portal for teachers to view each student’s profile. Within the profiles, teachers can examine the homework that students were assigned, their level of proficiency, their favorite music to play and what concepts they have already learned.
The portal is also accessible to students to allude to at home when they need to print out their music or want to keep track of their homework.
Even though technology has been a great tool for Bach to Rock, Gross feels it is the inviting atmosphere of his business along with the proficiency of the teachers at his facility.
“You can’t just be a good guitarist to teach here, you have to know music,” he said. “All of our students need to progress through playing notes, reading music, writing music, improvising and performing on a stage.”
Even though he is regularly reminded of how beloved his staff is by parents and students and feels proud of how well the technology has been utilized within his business, for Gross the most flattering comment is when parents tell him they can’t get their kids to put down or get away from their instruments.
Information: NorthScottsdale. BachtoRock.com
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Hales, curator of learning and innovation for Scottsdale Arts became interested in isolation’s effect on other artists.
“This idea started at the same time as the pandemic,” she said. “I am an artist working during the pandemic and I was curious what other artists were doing because this is such a global event.”
From there, she began reaching out to other artists and asked if they were making any art related to being socially distanced.
What she discovered was that some artists were doing so in an abstract way.
Hales described one piece that featured a couple trapped in a house who were agitated with each other and she thought, “This really speaks to me of living in the same place with the same people for months.”
“Artists have the ability to take emotions and experiences and put them into visual experiences,” she said. “I was really curious to see what was happening with the artist community.”
Hales also noticed several other elements within the artwork that added to the relevancy of the exhibition’s focus.
“It’s interesting that the art showed compassion for others but also showed a frustration of not being able to be close to others during this time,” she said. “There’s also elements of self-preservation and humor, which shows humanity through this really difficult time.”
The exhibition mainly features twodimensional art from 17 artists from Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico — all of which are either educational or interactive. “The gallery itself is an educational gallery so we plan the exhibitions there around an educational component,” Hales said. “We organize the gallery so that people can contribute their ideas as well as be clear on what our ideas for the exhibition were.” One of the pieces that is the most interactive in the exhibition is a Likert scale where people can answer questions by placing poker chips in tubes that correspond to their answers. There is also a sculpture and a 3D piece in the exhibition, which adds to the variety of artwork within the exhibition. “One of the things that’s interesting about looking at this group of artists is how varied their response is, which I think is the beauty of the exhibition,” Winfrey said.
Even though there are a plethora of ways that the artwork can be inter-
The art work at the exhibit explores how artists felt about the pandemic’s impact on their work and lives. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer) preted, Hales hopes that those who pass through the exhibition find a way to relate to the work.
“More than anything, I think everybody can relate to the work that is in this exhibition because everybody has been through this experience,” Hales said. “Even if you don’t relate to the work, then it will probably remind you of someone.”
“I think people are hungry for a way to understand and analyze their own feelings, much less all the people around them, and I think this show goes far to do that,” Winfrey added.
Hales also hopes that the exhibition allows people to think in ways they might not have before.
“We try to have people walk out thinking ‘oh wow! I hadn’t thought of that before' rather than feeling mystified by the things they saw,” she said.
A special grand opening for the free exhibit will be held Sept. 24 during which 25 people at a time will be able to view the exhibit and enjoy wine, sparkling water and light snacks.
Info: scottsdaleartslearning.org. Masks are required at the Scottsdale Civic Center.
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Old Town staple reopens after $1M remodel
BY MALLORY GLEICH Progress Staff Writer
If there’s one word to describe Old Town Scottsdale’s nightlife, that word would probably be “vibrant.”
There’s no shortage of bright lights, loud music and good old-fashioned fun: and these are three things that El Hefe has in spades.
El Hefe opened in 2010 at the corner of Indian Plaza and Saddlebag Trail as a restaurant and nightclub with Mexican cuisine, but the owners knew it needed more.
So, over the summer, the management group that runs El Hefe decided to give it a complete renovation that totaled $1 million.
Since May, the business has been closed for renovations and recently held a grand re-opening.
“We had the entire venue, exterior and interior, redone,” Lissa Druss, a spokeswoman for Riot Hospitality Group, a Scottsdale-based hospitality company overseeing 11 different concepts in Arizona, Tennessee and Illinois.
In Arizona, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, El Hefe, Farm & Craft, Hand Cut, The District, Maya, Clubhouse at Maya and Riot House fall under Riot Hospitality’s management.
New touches to El Hefe include 45-foot LED screens, new finishes and an updated food and beverage menu that “pays an ode to the concept’s love of ‘street style taqueria’ fair,” Druss said. There are all-new booths, new flooring and bar tops, lighting, sound system, and – most important, according to RHG – new décor. The exterior received new tile on the walls, lighting, plus a sign with the updated logo and an updated entry-way.
Some of the dishes include Super Macho Bowl, with choice of chicken tinga, picadillo beef or green chile pork with Spanish rice, charro beans, romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, pico de gallo and lime crema; Enchiladas Blancos, with green chile, corn, pepper jack sauce, chicken, romaine and Spanish rice; and
Riot Hospitality Group poured #1 million into remodeling El Hefe in Old Town, producing some stunning interior design work. (Special to the Progress)
Special “biergarten bites” will be available along with local beers at the Desert Brews series at Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows every Friday in October. seeEL HEFE page 37
Andaz Resort slates desert-style Oktoberfest
PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows is launching an Oktoberfest for desert dwellers.
Beginning Oct. 1 and continuing every Friday in October between 4-6 p.m., the resort is having a pop-up beer garden in the Olive Grove next to Weft & Warp Art Bar + Kitchen, 6114 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Tastings of specifically chosen beers from local breweries along with live music from a German band and Weft & Warp’s take on “biergarten bites” will be featured during the series, appropriately called Desert Brews.
Andaz Scottsdale has partnered with local breweries – SanTan Brewing Company, PHX Beer Co., State 48 Brewery, and Four Peaks Brewing Company – to offer tastings of German beers paired with the bites. Guests can also purchase additional beers from the breweries.
The brewery schedule is: Oct. 1, Four
