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2 guitar trios performing Friday in Scottsdale

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

The California Guitar Trio is no stranger to Arizona having played numerous gigs at the Chandler Center for the Performing Arts, the Musical Instrument Museum and the Salt River Ballroom at Talking Stick Resort and Casino. But for the first time, the trio will take the stage at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Oct. 14 And they will play alongside the Montréal Guitare Trio – described as “the hottest guitar ensemble in Canada” by the CBC – in the Virginia G. Piper Theater in a show divided into three sets; one 25-minute set for each trio and a joint performance. “We’ve become good friends with the Montréal Guitare Trio over the past 12 years we’ve spent touring together with them and we’re excited to meet up with

The California Guitar Trio and the Montréal Guitare Trio will take the stage separately and then together to shred strings for a two-hour performance at the Virginia G. Piper Theatre at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Oct. 14.

(Special to the Progress)

them again since we haven’t seen them since last February,” said California Guitar Trio member Paul Richards. Although the trio is excited to hit the road with its longtime friends, the group is most excited to introduce its newest member, Tom Griesgraber, and his unique stringed instrument, the Chapman Stick.–

Tom Griesgraber is the new member of the California Guitar Trio and plays an unusual instrument called the Chapman

Stick. (Special to the Progress)

He replaced longtime member Hideyo Moriya, who left the group. seeGUILTAR page 36

Home & Garden Show returns to Westworld

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Homeowners will find plenty of helpful displays and merchandise at the Maricopa County Home & Garden Show, the largest home show in the Southwest that is set to return to WestWorld of Scottsdale next weekend.

In addition to hundreds of home improvement vendors, holiday lighting, unique copper skillets and kitchen accessories and seminars by local pros, the Tiny Homes Street of Dreams exhibit shows off the creative bounds one can explore with a downsized home. “It’s always just a super popular feature and people love coming to tour the homes and learn more about the rules and regulations, the area, how they can incorpo-

The Maricopa Home & Garden Show is set to return to WestWorld of Scottsdale beginning Friday, Oct. 14 through Sunday and will feature over 900 vendors as well as 15 tiny

homes on display. (Special to the Progress)

rate tiny living and even investments into tiny home businesses into their lives and their businesses,” said event coordinator Heather Fillipo. Fillipo said she has seen a growing interest in these homes as more guests go in and out of the 15 tiny homes on display.

“Part of it is just the ease and portability and a lot of them are on wheels, so you can have vacation homes wherever you like because they are small,” she said. “Even if they aren’t on wheels, as long as the rules and regulations of the area allow it, you can kind of put them wherever you’d like and I think that’s very appealing to people. The portable ones are also very appealing for businesses since we have many mobile businesses popping up these days.” The show will offer over 900 vendors and could attract anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 people over its three-day run from Oct. 14-16.

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 9, 2022 35 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Opera gives insight into wounded soldiers’ lives

BY BRIDGETTE REDMAN

GetOut Contributor

When Tess Altiveros was debating whether to take on a new project at the Seattle Opera, the conductor, Michael Sakir, told her, “This opera will change your life.”

She took the job — performing as the central character in a new opera, “The Falling and the Rising,” roles which she and Sakir will reprise for the Arizona Opera Friday, October 14, to Sunday, October 16, in Phoenix and Saturday, October 22, to Sunday, October 23, in Tucson. “I will never forget him saying that and it did change my life,” Altiveros said. “It changed my perspective. It changed my understanding and made me sit up and pay attention to the fact that I had my own prejudices that I needed to deal with.

“Mostly, it enabled a path for dialogue with a group of people that I have never been able to sit across the table with and certainly not make art with. It changed my view on myself as a citizen and my view on this world.” “The Falling and the Rising” is a fiveperson opera based on the true stories of American military service members and veterans who have been wounded in the line of duty.

Conceived of by Army Staff Sgt. Ben Hilget, who was an opera singer before he enlisted, it took shape when he, Zach Redler and Jerre Dye visited the Walter Reed Medical Center to interview wounded soldiers.

“The Falling and the Rising” breaks ground in its goals and its staging. Projections play an important role in the production. It is filled with humor – there are traditional opera singing deliveries of such lines as “You’d better get your ass in gear.”

Hilget said the opera aptly captures the sacrifices that modern service members make. He said he and the other opera creators were immediately floored by the stories that they heard when they started interviewing people at Walter Reed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard, to date, more powerful stories of resilience and strength,” Hilget said.

“The Falling and the Rising” is a fi ve-person opera based on the true stories of American military service members and veterans who have been wounded in the line of

duty. (Ziggy Mack/Opera Memphis)

One of the first interviewees was a specialist who had been in a coma after being thrown from a Humvee. He dreamt a life that he didn’t have and even six months after he woke up, he was still trying to figure out what was real and what was not. “He gained the power of speech back through music therapy – he actually learned to sing before he could speak,” Hilget said. “He spoke with a profound wisdom for someone of his age and still in the middle of trauma.”

They spoke to so many people in a three-day period that he said they could have written 10 operas.

Dennis Whitehead Darling had just finished serving as the inaugural McCleave Fellow in Directing at Opera Memphis, a fellowship designed to fostering the careers of directors of color, when he

went to see Opera Memphis’ production of the opera. “It’s quite beautiful and poignant and painful and emotional and rich with beautiful themes of sacrifice and pain,” Darling said. He is now directing the Arizona Opera production. As someone who contemplated going into the military and whose father, uncle, “Rising and Falling” looks at both male and female soldiers brother and stepsister who were wounded in combat. (Ziggy Mack/Opera Memphis) all served, this opera touches on his ties. He said he feels people get a better understanding of what it takes to serve in the military and the sacrifice, duty and honor involved. “There are no live scenes of people being shot at, but it does deal with injury and that sort of falling that the soldier goes through emotionally and physically,” Darling said. “Then it’s about this wonderful triumph of the rising of how they somehow find this miraculous strength to overcome any sort of emotional or physical pain. It honors their sacrifice.” Altiveros said the music and score are designed to attract civilians and soldiers. She describes it as accessible and melodic. “It’s meant to help us appreciate and acknowledge the sacrifices that are made, the good parts and the bad parts about enlisting and the hardships of it,” Altiveros said.

While not traditionally a subject of opera, the stories of sacrifice and injury translate well to the art form, Altiveros said.

“The stakes are so high — there is a risk of life and death and injury and things like that, but real human relationships are affected and in a very large way,” Altiveros said.

“Anytime you can tell that story of human relationships on stage, it lends itself to opera. Opera can heighten that sense of emotion.” She recently spoke with art producers who were concerned about whether this opera would be too heavy and traumatic for audiences who are stressed in a postpandemic world. She was eager to allay those fears.

“It’s not that this does not address (traumatic) topics – the whole premise essentially is when a female soldier is hit in a roadside bombing, and they put her in a medically-induced coma. The entirety of the rest of the opera is her wandering through her subconscious and coming across these different soldiers’ stories,” Altiveros said.

“That is the background for these stories to happen, but it’s meant to leave you feeling uplifted. It’s not a downer.”

Altiveros said she cries in almost every single rehearsal because she is so moved by the stories, and she is certain the audience will be moved too.

“But it’s not meant to traumatize,” Altiveros said. “It’s meant to leave you feeling really hopeful about and grateful for the work that our soldiers are doing. It’s not meant to take you to a really, really dark place and then leave you there. I want to make sure people know that.”

If You Go:

The Arizona Opera’s “The Falling and the Rising” by Zach Redler, libretto by Jerre Dye

Where: Herberger Theater, 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix. When: Various times Oct. 14-16 Cost: See website for details Info: azopera.org

“For 30 years, we’ve had the same lineup of the same three members and our Japanese friend, Hideyo Moriya, has decided to move back to Japan,” Richards said. “So now, we have a good friend of ours, Tom Griesgraber, and he plays an instrument called the Chapman Stick – which is a guitar-like instrument that’s kind of like a guitar and a bass combined and you play it with it both hands on the fretboard, like a tapping instrument.” With the addition of a lower-sounding instrument, the trio has explored new bounds.

“Because his instrument has a much wider range and the fact that he’s got such a full range of instruments, it’s almost like we added two people into the group because he can often play two parts at once when he has both hands on the fretboard,” Richards said.

Because of this, there is a unique contrast between the two acts. “The Montréal Guitare Trio comes more from the traditional classical guitar world where they play the traditional nylon string, classical guitars and they have quite a varied repertoire,” Richards said, adding: “The acoustic guitars we play are the steel string guitars and we often include some classical music in our repertoire and so, when we do these shows together, it creates almost a special showcase of what can be done on acoustic guitar in a two-hour show. It’s exciting because the audience has no idea what’s going to hap-

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 9, 2022 pen next, because of the varied repertoire and the amount of territory that we cover within the two groups.”

The California Guitar Trio plans to treat listeners to some new tunes as well as some classic songs made famous by other artists. “We have a few new pieces that we will play for the first time since the last time we’ve been to Phoenix,” Richards said. “One of the things that I have been enjoying working on is a classical piece by Italian composer Albinoni that has been sounding great with Tom and the Chapman stick and the two guitars.” However, he is most excited to play a classic tune with the Montréal Guitare Trio. “With the Montréal guys, one of the most popular pieces that we’ve played with them that we’re bringing back for the tour is the George Harrison song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ and I’m excited to hear how that goes with this new lineup of with Tom in the group.”

If You Go:

California Guitar Trio with Montréal Guitare Trio

When: 8 p.m. Friday, October 14 Where: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Virginia G. Piper Theater, 7380 E. 2nd St. Cost: Tickets start at $42 Info: Cgtrio.com and scottsdaleperformingarts.com

Know anything interesting going on in Scottsdale?

Send your news to agallagher@TimesLocalMedia.com

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“We have several large features in addition to our tiny homes,” Fillipo said. “We have our handmade headquarters where attendees can come in and make their craft to bring home with them. We have a lot of holiday-themed crafts. We have our Halloween-themed candles. We have macramé cactus ornaments for your tree and we have nice paintings that you can do.” The show also provides special educational opportunities for guests. “We also have our seminar stage, which is always great for education about home improvement products and that sort of thing,” Fillipo said. “One that I’m excited about is our cabinet painting seminar hosted by one of our vendors Spray-Net. They’re going to show everyone the ease and benefits of spray painting versus brush and roller painting of your cabinets and how that can be much more efficient and sometimes even more long-lasting.” Fillipo also said the show offers is a good opportunity to look for holiday gifts or companies that can aid with home decorating for the holidays.

The Tiny Homes Street of Dreams exhibit is a big draw at Maricopa County Home &

Garden Show. (Special to the Progress)

“We are coming up on the holidays here and so we do have several vendors that are going to be great resources for that,” she said. “We’ve got Level 5 Lighting, which installs permanent holiday lighting, and you want to stop by and talk to them.

“We’ll also have vendors that offer great wreaths and garlands for the holidays and then we have great local artisans offering nice gifts and stocking stuffers like candles, soaps, dog treats, jewelry, and tons of other items.” Whether guests come away with gifts, pamphlets, business cards, or just newfound knowledge, Fillipo hopes that guests enjoy themselves and make some good connections. “A lot of our attendees come with specific projects in mind, so we want to be able to provide them with a large number of options to get those projects done,” she said. “We are always hoping that people walk away feeling like they had a good time but also feeling more knowledgeable and that they’ve made good connections that they will carry out into the future.”

If You Go:

Maricopa County Home & Garden Show

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 - Sunday, Oct. 16. Where: WestWorld of Scottsdale 116601 N. Pima Road. Cost: $8 daily for adults, kids ages 3-12 are $1. Children 2 and younger are free. Info: mchomeshows.com

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