Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

My last mention of the Queens College Orchestra was back during my first semester here. It was then led by Maestro Maurice Peress, but because of his sabbatical, is now being led by various guest conductors. The repertoire from tonight’s concert, conducted by JoAnn Falletta is also being performed tomorrow, conducted by Tong Chen and Alex Yu.

June 2011 … Edward Smaldone

Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra … Ned Rorem
Preamble and Amble
Love Letter
Recurring Dream
Perpetual Motion
Medley and Prayer

Scheherazade … Rimsky-Korsakoff
The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship.
The Kalendar Prince.
The Young Prince and The Young Princess.
Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship breaks against a cliff.

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Vanya, and Sonia, and Masha, and Spike… OH MY! I must say that even though I very much enjoyed the show, and very much understood the plot, I will never remember the title! Because of its repetitive listing, I think I’ll recap the story a bit differently this time, and summarize each character rather than the scenes and the acts.

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The following blog post is about my experience at the Becoming Global: The Renaissance and the World conference. Organized by Clare Carroll (my Renaissance Comparative Literature professor, as well as my Arts in NYC Professor), James Saslow (the Art History advisor and professor at Queens College), and Quiñones Keber, the conference was meant to enlighten those who attended about what was happening in other areas of the globe during the time of the European Renaissance. How did the Europeans, affected by their own rebirth of culture, interact with the different communities that shared the globe with them? In the class taught by Professor Carroll, we are studying just this. (more…)

I am not sure how many people in the United States know about the significance of the date “March 11.” I know I wasn’t aware of its association for quite some time – until this year to be exact. On March 11, 2004, 191 innocent civilians were killed in the train bombings in Madrid. There is never any rational reason for terrorism, but there may have been a desire to foil the upcoming general elections in Spain. Though the terrible act of violence succeeded in switching the political parties in Spain, what we must take from the events is not the politics – but the people. (more…)

After a full day of volunteering – handing out stickers and making arts and crafts – at the Museum of Natural History for WNET’s PBS show Sid the Science Kid, I went with my parents to a concert at The Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch in the Upper West Side. The concert was titled “La Flor de España,” featuring the choral group Polyhymnia, a group that sings early choral music. There was also an organist, Sarah Davies, who played several “interesting” pieces. Not only were the composers featured in this concert of Spanish origin – like me – but they were from one of my favorite musical time periods – 13th to 16th century! (more…)

How I Learned to Drive was a spectacular tragedy. The story is Lil Bit’s (Casey Drane) life narrative, told from the point of view of her 35 year old self. In a series of flashbacks, she tells of her history with her Uncle Peck (Chris James). Though from the title their relationship might seem as innocent as a lamb, Uncle Peck wasn’t only a driving instructor for Lil Bit. From the young age of 11, when Lil Bit and her World War II veteran uncle were alone together, he would sexually molest her. This secret, though it seems very unlikely that it was well hidden as Lil Bit’s aunt (Nikki Daddiego) knew about it, lasted for seven years until she went off to college and abruptly ended it on her 18th birthday. Uncle Peck proposed to his niece, promising to divorce her aunt. When she refused, he resorted to drinking – a practice he had forgone as long as Lil Bit was with him – and eventually drank himself to death. (more…)

And here’s the second opera I went to this past weekend: L’Incoronazione di Poppea! Before starting with a summary, describing the set, or raving about the music and talent, I want to give the photography credit to Sean Moonsammy – a student at the Aaron Copland School of Music as well as one of the leads (Ottone) in the Thursday and Saturday performances of the opera. (more…)

The last time you heard me talk about Turn of the Screw was last semester when describing one of my theatre design projects. You probably thought that would be the last you’d hear of Benjamin Britten’s opera… but you thought WRONG! New York City Opera, recently moved from Koch Theatre in Lincoln Center to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, put on four performances of this 1954 magnum opus. I was extremely excited to finally see the opera I had spent so much time working on and listening to in my dorm room. On stage, my imaginations would finally come to life right in front of my eyes! (more…)

I must apologize for my lack of content this semester so far. It is surprising how something that comes so naturally can turn out to be so difficult once a break is taken. I do best when I go to an event and come right back home to blog about it. When I lack time and resources to do so, I end up procrastinating – my least favorite thing to do in the whole entire world! This is what has happened to me recently. As my avid readers know, my last post was about a convention I attended in Philadelphia. Having stayed up late every single night, I had no time to write daily about my experiences as I had wanted to. For this reason, it isn’t until now that I have come to write about the Mask and Wig Club’s Beautopia: A Face Odyssey. (more…)