Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored Resident Reporter. Greene has joined our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent for the next quarter, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
When people reduce Orlando to theme parks, I love to point out the beautiful surprises that don’t fit that bill and The Timucua Arts Foundation (Website) may be the best example of that.
Timucua White House is a performance space and the home of the Glazer family. Benoit Glazer designed and built the house, which seats over 100 people, early in his career as the Music Director for Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba at Disney Springs. The acoustics are perfect, and there aren’t any bad seats. The experience is ideal.
Wednesday, August 21st, is an event featuring Keith Lay (Website), a local composer and sound artist who has created several interesting events using sound and performance, specifically the concept of “deep listening.” This is part of a monthly series, with the August event being this Wednesday, from 7- 9 p.m. The next one is scheduled for September 18 at the same time. Donations are welcomed.
“Deep Listening is a composer’s sound practice devised by the legendary composer and thought leader Pauline Oliveros. It is open to everyone and devised to serve and expand our well-being, especially for those drawn to music and sound. DL meetings provide a safe space for musicians and composers to reframe their experience of sound, music, and performance as a group. The music we create together does not employ reading written music or require playing any instrument! It only requires an openness to listen in new ways: to nature, others, and ourselves.”
– KERRY O’BRIEN, THE NEW YORKER
This week, I’d also like to you go to another favorite spot of mine, the likes of which would be popular in any major city; The Imperial at Washburn Imports (Website). This Thursday from 7-10 p.m. the furniture/wine bar will feature a performance by Ricky Rodriguez, who is mostly known for his excellent guitar playing in a variety of local bands. He will be playing solo, and doing some interesting covers by folks like Gram Parsons, REM, Meat Puppets, Wilco, and Tom Waits. This is a bit of a different route than we get from many local musicians playing covers. Imperial is a very nice hang, with a great beer and wine selection.
Editor’s Note: Eugene Snowden will be visiting The Imperial the following night as well, as he makes a return to the local scene after a much-too-long absence.
Friday night at 9 p.m., The Falcon (Linktree) is hosting a night of stellar ambient music featuring Jeff Matz, of Lure Design (Website) and his band J. Matz.Product.Division (Bandcamp) will open for Eyelight.
The band is a spinoff of Tinnitus Rex, and Matz will be on guitar, and Billy Davis on no input effects loop, guitar, and samples. Their sound is in soundscapes, layered drones, and noise.
Eyelight, or Jehn Hovsepian, has been performing in the area for about 25 years but with long gaps between her gigs so don’t miss this chance to catch her live.
My final recommendation this week is something that I mentioned in a previous article. It’s the Orlando Museum of Arts Florida Prize show. It’s an annual show that is always brilliant, featuring ten world-class contemporary artists from Florida, and the last day to see it is Sunday, August 25.
The participating artists are, Bernadette Despujols, Hai Van, Mona Bozorgi, Francesco Lo Castro, Onajide Shabaka, Jason Seife, Carol Prusa, Njeri Kinuthia, Sheila Goloborotko, and this year’s winner, Yanira Collado.
