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Bits and Pieces 06.06.19

June 6, 2019

A Magic Violin

A free workshop production of “The Violin Maker,” a new musical fable by Stephen Dickman, a classical composer from Springs, will take place on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Guild Hall’s JDT Lab. 

The story is about an elderly violin maker whose instruments produce a sound that transports listeners to a realm beyond this world. Tradition demands that he pass on his art to his oldest son, whose plan is to turn it into a moneymaking venture, whereas his daughter wants to carry on the tradition. The plot takes many twists and turns as it elaborates the conflict between materialism and art for its own sake.

Mr. Dickman wrote the music, lyrics, and developed the idea for the story. Patricia Noonan wrote the dialogue and fleshed out the tale. The production is directed by Amanda Kate Joshi, with musical direction by Greg Pliska.

Celebrating Whitman

“A Visit With Walt Whitman,” a celebration of the poet’s life and writings on the bicentennial of his birth, will take place at the Montauk Library on Saturday afternoon at 2. Darrell Blaine Ford, a retired teacher, will tell Whitman’s story and recite his poetry, including readings from “Leaves of Grass,” and discuss its impact on American literature, while sporting a wild white beard and attired in 19th-century clothing.

Innovative Band   

The Dust Bowl Faeries, a band from Hudson, N.Y., that characterizes its music as “a fairy tale fusion of circus, post-punk, Gypsy, and psyche-folk,” will perform at the Southampton Arts Center on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The band was founded by Ryder Cooley, an installation and performance artist, and Hazel, a disembodied taxidermy ram who performs with the group. Rubi LaRue, Jon B. Woodin, Elizabeth LoGiudice, Andrew Stein, and Ms. Cooley create their unique sound with accordion, singing saw, ukulele, lap-steel guitar, and percussion. Tickets are $20, $15 for friends of SAC.

Chamber Concert

The Bridgehampton Museum’s chamber concert series will continue with the Poetica Ensemble, led by Chris Shaughnessy and Song-A Cho, on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the musuem’s archives building. The group has been performing for more than a decade at concert halls throughout the greater New York area, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as in Asia, Europe, and Canada. Tickets are $20.

Asian Arts Fest

A generous taste of Asian culture will await visitors to the Southampton Cultural Center when its annual Asian Spring Performing Arts Festival returns there on Saturday.

The event will feature a live performance from 5 to 6 p.m. of the Chinese Lion Dance, tea art, kung fu, Philippine dances featuring colorful costumes and ornaments, a performance on the guqin, a Chinese stringed instrument, and Chinese face changing, an important element of Sichuan opera.

The festival will begin at 3 with two hours of workshops for children and conclude at 6 with a Taste of Asia food festival. Tickets are $20, $10 for children and students under 21.


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