Summer Arts Calendar 2008


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JUNE

5 — 28 [VISUAL ARTS] Tilt's third annual juried show brings five nationally known artists (Lorraine Dauw, Stephen Funk, Danielle Kelly, Chris Knight and Eva Speer) to the Everett Station Lofts, with challenging works and site-specific installations. Tilt, 625 NW Everett St., Suite 106, 908-616-5477. June 5–28 Free.

5 — 28 [VISUAL ARTS] Eric Franklin's eerie glass sculptures are filled with noble gases that glow with preternatural light. Laura Russo, 805 NW 21st Ave., 226-2754. June 5–28. Free.

6 — 8[DANCE] Oregon Ballet Theatre wraps its '07-'08 season with a Russian program featuring Rubies—the revved-up third of Balanchine's gem-inspired Jewels—the classical Raymonda and artistic director Christopher Stowell's world-premiere work Tolstoy's Waltz. Keller Auditorium, 1111 SW Broadway. 7:30 pm Friday, June 6. 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, June 7. 2 pm Sunday, June 8. $14-$120.

9 [WORDS] David Guterson reads from The Other, his latest attempt to top Snow Falling on Cedars. Good luck, David. Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 228-4651. 7 pm, Free.

13 [WORDS] Salman Rushdie reads from his new novel, The Enchantress of Florence. Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 228-4651. 7 pm Friday, June 13. Free.

21 [DANCE] A Taste of Portland Dance: Meet your local culture purveyors with free contemporary dance performances by Minh Tran and Dancers, Polaris, the Northwest Professional Dance Project and the Agnieszka Laska Dancers. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 715-1866. 5 pm Saturday, June 21. Free.

24 — 29[STAGE] Avenue Q, the Tony-sweeping, foulmouthed-puppet musical, is on tour with Fred Meyer Broadway Across America Portland. Keller Auditorium, 790-2787. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, 1 and 6:30 pm Sunday, June 24-29. $23-$63.

June 27 — July 20[STAGE] Les Misérables: You never thought you'd see the biggest musical of the past 30 years in Tigard, but Broadway Rose doesn't care what you think. Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 SW Durham Road, Tigard, 620-5262. 8 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays, June 27-July 20. $20-$30.

27 [CLASSICAL] Peter Schickele joins Chamber Music Northwest musicians in music by Schickele, whose serious compositional talents have been overshadowed by his classical-music parodies, and his narration of Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 294-6400. 8 pm Thursday and Saturday, June 26 and 28. Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Road, 294-6400. 8 pm Friday, June 27. $10-$43.

27 [CLASSICAL] The Oregon Bach Festival is extending its reach to Portland. Now you don't have to drive I-5 to hear veteran Bach conductor Helmuth Rilling's plush, outdated but immaculately performed interpretations of J.S. Bach's mighty choral-orchestral works, this one featuring his Mass in B Minor. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, oregonbachfestival.com. 7:30 pm Friday, June 27. $15-$55.

30[STAGE] i]Rumors[/i]: This year's highly anticipated Anonymous Theatre production—in which actors are cast and rehearse individually, and don't meet their fellow players until curtain—is Neil Simon's classic farce about a dinner party gone wrong. The Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., theatrevertigo.org. 7:30 pm Monday, June 30. $20.

JULY

July 2 — Aug. 10 [VISUAL ARTS] Jacqueline Ehlis creates some of the most austere, challenging art to be found in the Northwest. Her light installation and paintings are the latest in curator Ruth Ann Brown's ongoing series of endowed exhibits, titled Couture. New American Art Union, 922 SE Ankeny St., 231-8294. July 2-Aug. 10. Free.

JulY 3 — Aug. 2 [VISUAL ARTS] Seattle artist Jac Chartier creates highly saturated paintings using pigments and stains, filtered through waxy layers of paint and acrylic gel. Intensely colorful yet still minimalist in feel, the works are not to be missed. Elizabeth Leach, 417 NW 9th Ave., 224-0521. July 3-Aug. 2. Free.

July 3 — Aug. 2 [VISUAL ARTS] Multimedia Artist Sonia Kasparian can always be counted on for haunting work that often comments on feminist topics. For her July show of multimedia sculpture and installation, the artist says she has some new tricks up her sleeve. Butters, 520 NW Davis St., 248-9378. July 3-Aug. 2. Free.

8 — 10 & 18 — 20 [STAGE] JAW, Portland Center Stage's playwrights festival, is now in its 10th year and stronger than ever. This year's public events include the return of the Commission! Commission! play-writing slam, readings of local work, and plays by Constance Congdon, Sally Oswald and...Storm Large? The Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. Various times July 8-10 and 18-20. Free.

11 & 12 [DANCE] Northwest Professional Dance Project: Dancers nationwide audition to take classes and perform works from big-name choreographers. This year's batch includes BodyVox's Jamey Hampton, Limon Dance Company mentor Donald McKayle and Washington Ballet artistic director Septime Weber. Newmark Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 828-8285. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, July 11-12. $33.50-37.75. Also at Lincoln Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, Aug. 15-16. $25-$28.

14 — 19 [CLASSICAL] The Orion Quartet plays Beethoven's magnificent Op. 130 quartet along with great quartets by Bartók and Haydn. Their second concert (augmented by the Miami String Quartet) features music of Mozart, the great 20th-century composer Alfred Schnittke, and George Enescu, while a third pairs them with the young, adventurous and audience-friendly Imani Winds. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 294-6400. 8 pm July 14-19. $10-$43.

16 [WORDS] Barbara Ehrenreich reads from her latest work of satirical comedy, This Land Is Their Land. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm Wednesday, July 16. Free.

17 [CLASSICAL] Anthony de Mare plays solo and four-hand works (with Steven Mayer) by everyone from Vladimir Horowitz and Oscar Peterson to Art Tatum and Frederic Rzewski. Miller Hall, World Forestry Center, 4033 SW Canyon Road, 228-1388. 7:30 pm, July 17. $13-$32.

July 20 — Aug. 10[STAGE] Spoon River Anthology, Edgar Lee Masters' collection of epitaphic poems, performed with live folk music by Mount Hood Repertory Theater. Mount Hood Community College, 26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, 491-5950. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays, July 20-Aug. 10.

24 -27 [CLASSICAL] Chamber Music Northwest presents French fare. On July 26-27, New York summer refugees André Watts, David Shifrin, Tara Helen O'Connor, Toby Appel and other classical music stars play Romantic chamber music of Cesar Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns, plus Maurice Ravel's ravishing, too-seldom-heard 20th-century masterpiece, "Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and Strings." On July 24-25, they perform a good portion of Claude Debussy's luminous chamber music. Various locations and times. See cmnw.org for details. $10-$43.

AUGUST

2 [DANCE] Usually Ten Tiny Dances, a showcase for local modern performers, takes place on a small stage inside a restaurant, but this month it has been released into the wild. Viewers stroll from place to place, watching new work by Tere Mathern, Hand2Mouth Theatre, Linda Austin, Mike Barber and others. South Waterfront, Southwest Moody Avenue and Curry Street, 971-998-4810. 4-7 pm Saturday, Aug. 2. Free.

7 — 30 [VISUAL ARTS] Obsessed with rust and the beauty of decay, Rio Wrenn presents Shrine Cloth to Discard and Waste, an installation created from postconsumer waste and found objects. Rake, 325 NW 6th Ave., 914-6391. Aug. 7-30. Free.

15 ­— 16 [STAGE] Foreman Fest: Linda Austin's annual freeform performance event, in which local artists create new work inspired by or derived from Richard Foreman's publicly available notebooks. Performance Works NorthWest, 4625 SE 67th Ave., 777-1907. 8:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Aug. 15-16. $15-$50.

22 [DANCE] Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is worth a road trip: Technically stunning dancers with a killer contemporary rep (including pieces by Jirí Kylián and William Forsythe) perform under the stars. Britt Festival, Jacksonville, 541-779-0847. 8:30 pm Friday, Aug. 22. $15-$47.

Aug. 30, 31 & Sept. 1 [VISUAL ARTS] The 12th annual Art in the Pearl presents work by 125 artists and craftspeople working across a broad spectrum of media. North Park Blocks along Northwest 8th Avenue between West Burnside and Northwest Glisan streets, artinthepearl.com. 10 am-6 pm Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 30-31, 10 am-5 pm Monday, Sept. 1. Free.

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