Arts+Culture North Texas

New Music Director for Dallas Opera

General Director and CEO Keith Cerny announced Frenchman Emmanuel Villaume as the 56 year old organization’s 3rd Music Director at a press conference this morning.

Regarding his choice, Mr. Cerny explained,

“Over the past year, I have actively sought input from a wide variety of sources, both inside and outside Dallas. I was delighted to see the intense level of interest in this position from candidates of the highest caliber, many of whom have extraordinarily busy careers conducting at the world’s leading opera houses.”

“Having carefully weighed all input, spoken with a number of these candidates, and traveled extensively to watch contenders for the position in both rehearsal and performance, I made the decision to appoint French-born conductor Emmanuel Villaume as Music Director of The Dallas Opera.”

Maestro Emmanuel Villaume will open the Dallas Opera’s 2013-2014 season, “By Love Transformed”, conducting Georges Bizet’s Carmen, October 25 – November 10, 2013.

The critically acclaimed Villaume has appeared in the world’s most important and prestigious opera houses. These include engagements with the Metropolitan Opera (Madama Butterfly, Samson et Dalila, andCarmen); Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Les contes d’Hoffmann and La rondine); Lyric Opera of Chicago (Samson et Dalila, Manon, and The Merry Widow); Washington’s National Opera (Werther, La rondine,Norma, Le Cid, Les contes d’Hoffmann and Lucia di Lammermoor); San Francisco Opera (Madama Butterfly and Werther); Los Angeles Opera (La rondine and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein); Santa Fe Opera (Les pêcheurs du perles and Carmen); Opéra de Paris (Rigoletto); Teatro la fenice in Venice (Thaïs and Il crociato); Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tosca); Madrid’s Teatro Real (Les contes d’Hoffmann and Werther); and Debussey’sPelléas et Mélisande at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I am honored to be selected as Music Director of the Dallas Opera and to be a part of such a talented artistic community,” said Emmanuel Villaume. “The Winspear Opera House is one of the most beautiful performing arts venues in the world, and I am excited to be working with the superb orchestra and dedicated staff of the Dallas Opera.  I look forward to helping create even more brilliant performances with this impassioned opera company.”

Mr. Cerny told journalists gathered for today’s announcement:

“The Music Director’s role encompasses three vital elements.  One, of course, is to conduct mainstage performances for the company, at least two productions per year.  The second is to work closely with me and members of the company’s artistic staff, on artistic planning, auditions, and other major musical decisions.  The third is to spend time in the North Texas community – meeting donors and community leaders, and helping the Dallas Opera to achieve the highest possible levels of artistry and impact.”

“Maestro Villaume will work in a multi-faceted capacity during the production season, but our new Music Director will also spend time outside the regular season spreading the word about TDO throughout the Metroplex.

“I also believe that Emmanuel Villaume will prove an excellent ambassador for the company while attending to his many national and international conducting engagements,” Cerny added, “and will help the Dallas Opera to continue to attract the best singers, directors and designers at work in our field today.”

-THE DALLAS OPERA

For more info visit dallasopera.org.

 

CLOSING SOON: Theresa Chong: Drawings

Theresa Chong: Drawings, on view at Holly Johnson Gallery since February, will close May 11.

Theresa Chong’s delicate works on rice paper consist of meandering lines punctuated by minute painted elements that convey a sense of rhythm, meter and lyric beauty. References to opera, architecture, calligraphy, and literature abound in her work, but at its core, it remains fundamentally abstract. The work of the abstract expressionists – their energy and spontaneity, as in the work of de Kooning and Pollock – and pop artists – particularly the clarity of line in the work of Lichtenstein – act as powerful influences as well.

Music acts as a further catalyst for Chong, who studied the cello at Oberlin College and, as a graduate student at the School of Visual Arts, came under the influence of John Cage. While working in New York for composer/conductor Peter Kotik, Chong had the opportunity to meet Cage several times; Cage’s use of chance in his music, as a way of expanding the range of sound, considerably affected her approach to art. Chong’s special brand of spontaneity is evidently musical in origin, but not in its scope or aim. The ephemerality of her paper and marks, bearing the working methods, care and meticulousness of a cartographer, prevents such oversimplification, offering viewers a range of psychological and aesthetic experiences. Aside from its inherent preciousness and fragility, paper and its specific selection is of great importance to the artist. Indeed, it took a decade-long scavenger hunt to find a supply of a much beloved indigo-dyed paper.

- HOLLY JOHNSON GALLERY

For more info visit hollyjohnsongallery.com.

500x Gallery Member Application Deadline May 1!

Texas oldest artist-run art space is accepting applications for membership through Wednesday, May 1.

Artists applying to become a dues-paying member need to submit a portfolio on a CD, including the following:

• Letter of Intent
• 20 Images of Recent Work (.jpeg)
• Resume
• Artist’s Statement

Send submissions to:
500X Gallery
500 Exposition Ave.
Dallas, TX 75226

500X members are responsible for maintaining and running the gallery.

Member Duties:

• Monthly Dues
• Working During Show Openings
• Gallery Sitting (during open hours)
• Attendance of All Member Meetings

Member Benefits:

• Monthly Showing in the Members Gallery
• 2 or 3 Person Show in the Main Gallery (once per year)
• Associating with Fellow 500X Members
• DFW Art World Connections

For more information visit 500X.org.

Dallas Film Society Announces 1st Ten Films for Dallas International Film Festival

Lineup features new films made in Texas as well as films from around the world

DALLAS, TX, February 28, 2013 —The Dallas Film Society announced today the first 10 films chosen to screen at the 7th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival, presented by AutoNation Volkswagen Dealers on April 4 – 14, 2013.   Overall, approximately 180 films from all over the world will be screened during the 11-day Festival. These first 10 films not only represent works from America, and Texas in particular, but also films from the United Kingdom, Canada, Africa and France — truly an international offering.

BUCK WILD (USA)
Director:  Tyler Glodt

Set in Texas, BUCK WILD follows four friends whose hunting trip goes horribly, gruesomely awry after they accidentally shoot the deer lease’s owner. While covering their tracks, the boys get into even more of a mess that includes conniving cops, eccentric New York gang bangers, a seductress named Candy and a growing plague of zombies.

THE DIRTIES (Canada)
Director:  Matt Johnson

After years of being picked on at school, best friends Matt and Owen decide to make a revenge fantasy movie about their bullies. But what starts out as a funny and creative way to cope with their daily abuse starts to become an actual plan for Matt who wants to make their lighthearted fiction into a violent reality.

GOD LOVES UGANDA (USA)
Director:  Roger Ross Williams

GOD LOVES UGANDA reveals how various pastors and politicians, both in the US and abroad, are trying to convert Ugandans to fundamentalist Christianity, complete with anti-gay views and policies. With so much of Uganda’s population under the age of 15, these influential powers are preaching to vulnerable minds with violent consequences. This film gives an enthralling look at a movement that is both a threat to human rights and a contradiction to the Christian message of love thy neighbor.

JUMP (Ireland)
Director: Kieron J. Walsh

JUMP follows the intersecting lives of four very different twenty-somethings as fate brings them together on New Year’s Eve. United by their connection to a crime boss and the disappearance of an innocent man, Greta, Pearse, Johnny and Marie are dangling on the edge of legality and redemption, and their actions will have consequences for them all.

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GET MORE INFO ABOUT THE DALLAS INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL >

SMU Announces National Center for Arts Research

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Southern Methodist University announced today that its Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business are leading a collaboration with the Cultural Data Project (CDP) and numerous other partners to create a National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) at SMU. The center, the first of its kind in the nation, will analyze the largest database of arts research ever assembled, investigate important issues in arts management and patronage, and make its findings available to arts leaders, funders, policymakers, researchers and the general public. The vision of NCAR is to act as a catalyst for the transformation and sustainability of the national arts and cultural community.

“In today’s competitive environment, arts and cultural organizations, from museums to orchestras, need to do more than create great works of art. Arts organizations must have a more research-driven understanding of their markets and industry trends in order to more deeply engage existing audiences and reach new ones,” said José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts. “As an arts school and research entity, SMU’s Meadows School is uniquely positioned to not only serve as a hub for this critical data, but to apply our expertise to develop new insights that can be shared with arts organizations around the country.”

The CDP, based in Philadelphia and formerly part of the Pew Charitable Trusts, collects extensive data from thousands of arts organizations in the United States. By combining and analyzing CDP data and data from other national and government sources such as the Theatre Communications Group, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Census Bureau and the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the new National Center for Arts Research will create the most complete picture of the health of the arts sector in the U.S. The goal of the center is to become the nation’s leading source of expertise on: 1) arts attendance and patronage, 2) understanding how managerial decisions, arts attendance and patronage affect one another, 3) the impact of the arts on communities across the U.S., and 4) the fiscal trends and fiscal stability of the arts in the U.S.

The new collaboration will also draw on the academic expertise of Meadows and Cox faculty in the fields of arts management, marketing and statistics. Dr. Zannie Voss, chair and professor of arts management and arts entrepreneurship in the Meadows and Cox schools, will serve as NCAR’s director and Dr. Glenn Voss, the Marilyn R. and Leo F. Corrigan Endowed Professor of Marketing at Cox, will serve as research director.

“The research and analysis at NCAR will result in an in-depth assessment of the industry that allows arts and cultural leaders to make more informed decisions and improve the health of their organizations,” said Zannie Voss. “Findings will serve as a catalyst for discussion within the arts about how to collectively seize opportunities and address critical issues.”

NCAR will maintain a website with an interactive “dashboard,” created in partnership with IBM, which will be accessible to arts organizations nationwide. Arts leaders will be able to enter information about their organizations and see how they compare to the highest performance standards for similar organizations in areas such as community engagement, earned and contributed revenue, and balance sheet health. The website will also foster public discussion of best practices and solutions and offer a dedicated YouTube channel for video responses, as well as an online resource library with helpful tools and templates. Nationally prominent leaders in the arts will be invited to serve as Center Fellows, who will share expertise and focus research attention on critical issues in the field. NCAR also will publish an online “state of the arts” report each year and hold a symposium to discuss significant findings.