West Seattle, Washington
05 Friday
Next weekend, you have two chances to support young performers and their school – parents from Alki Elementary 
want you to know that second- through fifth-graders have been working hard on their production of “Annie Jr.,” which will take the stage in the West Seattle High School Theater at 7 pm Friday, February 8th, and 2 pm Saturday, February 9th. It’s the third year that Alki students have worked with a director from Youth Theatre Northwest in an intensive six-week after-school program – and the results of their work (along with all the parent volunteers who are helping) will be all the more sweet if they’re performing to a packed house of West Seattle supporters. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and you can order them via e-mail – contact Nikki Eisenhut at nicolelee916@yahoo.com or Davina Dilley at thedgreen@yahoo.com.
(WSB photo from August 2012, Caspar Babypants at Summer Concerts @ Hiawatha)
Next Sunday starts with something “super” long before the football game: The musician with a big following among little fans is performing to benefit the scholarship fund for the South Seattle Community College Preschool Co-op. At 10 am on Sunday (February 3), Caspar Babypants performs at Brockey Center at SSCC (WSB sponsor). Proceeds will help pay tuition for preschool families in need. Admission is $10 at the door, kids under 1 free.
And more showbiz news: Our WSBeat correspondent Megan Sheppard reports seeing Thomas Haden Church at Admiral Safeway. One quick check of Google News revealed this Deadline.com story reporting that he is in Seattle because filming has just begun on “Lucky Them,” described as an “’un-romantic comedy’ about a female rock journalist on assignment to hunt down her musician ex-boyfriend.” Don’t know if they’re shooting over here; keep an eye out for film-crew sightings. But we do know that Seattle-based director Megan Griffiths has filmed on this side of the metro area before – with “Eden,” partly shot in White Center in 2011.
The weekend after this year’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service – one service project continued today at Denny International Middle School: A three-level stairwell mural celebrating where the students have come from, and where they’re going. On the first level – the 6th graders’ floor – a reminder to never forget your roots:
On the second level, the 7th graders’ floor, a work in progress honoring the scholars as they take shape and grow up:
And on the third level, the 8th graders’ floor, the art parallels their growth as they get ready to take flight (to the left of the totem pole, we’re told, the Space Needle will be depicted):
According to Seattle Public Schools, MLK Day of Service work at Denny, with other beautification projects as well as the mural, included district/school personnel and CityYear team members, as well as volunteers from Starbucks.
That’s the “instrument petting zoo” from the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra‘s “Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday” event today at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), a celebration of symphonic music for and by students – including the SYSO’s free mini-concert:
Afterward, SYSO musicians coached students from the eight participating Southwest-region schools – we peeked in on one session in Sealth’s Little Theater, where Alex and Jack from SYSO were working with viola players:
(WSB was a media sponsor for today’s event.) Find out more about SYSO and its programs at syso.org!
Two youth-music notes today:
First, whether you’re interested in enjoying a mini-concert, exploring youth-music resources, or both, tomorrow’s the day for the free Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday event, presented by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), including a mini-concert by the SYSO:
The community is invited to hear the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) perform excerpts from (its recent) Benaroya Hall concert at a free mini-concert on January 26th at 10:30 am at Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium.
After the mini-concert, Seattle Youth Symphony musicians will mentor younger musicians who participate in the SYSO in the Schools program at Arbor Heights, Concord, Gatewood, Roxhill, Sanislo, Highland Park and West Seattle Elementary schools, as well as at Denny International Middle School. These student musicians will have the opportunity to participate in master classes, chamber ensemble demonstrations, and play side-by-side with Seattle Youth Symphony. SYSO thanks media sponsors West Seattle Blog and Classical KING-FM for their support of Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday. For more information about the event, contact Kathleen Allen, SYSO Director of Education, Communication and Partnerships at kathleen@syso.org or 206.362.2300.
You can find out more about SYSO here.
Second, band musicians from Denny and Sealth presented the schools’ third and final winter concert last night, and Denny principal Jeff Clark shared photos:
(Those are the Denny Beginning and Junior Bands.) He says it was a great night:
What a thrill it was to hear the fantastic music performed by our amazing bands at Denny and Sealth (Thursday) evening. Equally impressive as the sound of the music was the number of our scholars performing: 73 in the DIMS Beginning and Junior Band, 70 in the DIMS Senior Band, 19 in the DIMS Jazz Band, and 70 in the CSIHS Symphonic Band! Music is thriving in our pathway thanks to our outstanding students, families, and teacher, Mr. Pimpleton!
More photos ahead:
Thanks to the WSB reader who shared photos from the West Seattle Lions‘ mural dedication today at 17th and Roxbury – that’s artist Xavier Lopez Jr. above, signing his creation. Just last month, he was honored as a White Center Hero for his role in the mural art that’s popping up all around the area, including the work dedicated today.
(WS Lions president Jimie Martin with Mark Ufkes from the WC Chamber)
A map to all the White Center-area murals, including this one on the West Seattle side of Roxbury, can be found on the WS Chamber of Commerce‘s website.
(Male Anna’s Hummingbird, photographed by Danny McMillin, shared via WSB Flickr group)
If you haven’t checked the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar yet today – you’re missing a double-digit list of things to do in the hours ahead. Venues with live music this afternoon and evening include C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and Skylark Café and Club; health-care reform is the topic of a 2 pm community forum at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church; wellness author/practitioner Tierney Salter signs her new book at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor). And that’s not even half the list – see it all (and peek at the days/weeks ahead) by going here.
As the three-day holiday weekend begins, live music bookends the day – there’s still time to get the family to High Point Community Center for Caspar Babypants at 10:30 am, and then tonight, last thing on the list is Aaron Daniel‘s “One Man Banned” performance, 9:30 pm, Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), with happenings along the way including a sunset nature walk. See the full list on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – just go there and expand any calendar line of interest via the right-side plus sign.
That crosscountry-via-iPad musical collaboration between Admiral Theater manager/entertainment director Dinah Brein and South Carolina resident Jon Michaels has made the list of three finalists in the nationwide TV contest for a Today Show “jingle.” Brein is a veteran songwriter/producer whose work has been recorded for TV and film use as well as by recording artists, and while working in Nashville years ago, collaborated previously with Michaels, who called her during the holidays to ask if she wanted to work on the jingle. “He lives in South Carolina and I’m up here in Seattle so we got together on Face time on our iPads and churned it out,” she explained, adding: “Being able to use an ipad was great plus he got to meet my husband and 3 dogs, one of which was always trying to get me to use the word dog in the song.” The rules called for an original song, less than 2 minutes long, and if possible, mentions of the anchors’ names. Brein says they decided to take a “historic perpective in presenting (the show’s) longevity of 60 years and (its) family-like approach to the news.” Michaels will sing the song live with the other two finalists on January 29th. Brein’s not sure what they get if the jingle wins, “but as they say at the Oscars, it’s an honor to be nominated.”
This year’s winter concert for the Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School student ensembles has been spread across three Thursdays. We stopped in last night, during the second of the three free concerts in the Sealth auditorium. Above, the Denny Junior Orchestra; below, the Sealth Choir.
In both of our clips, the students were conducted by Heather Shaffer. The final concert of the series is next Thursday, with the Denny International Concert Band and the Chief Sealth International Concert Band, 7 pm.
P.S. Also coming up, another youth-music opportunity at Sealth – more than just a concert – also a chance for interested students and families to explore – Southwest Super String Saturday on January 26th:
The community is invited to hear the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) perform excerpts from last Sunday’s Benaroya Hall concert at a free mini-concert on January 26th at 10:30 a.m. at Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium.
After the mini-concert, Seattle Youth Symphony musicians will mentor younger musicians who participate in the SYSO in the Schools program at Arbor Heights, Concord, Gatewood, Roxhill, Sanislo, Highland Park and West Seattle Elementary schools as well as at Denny International Middle School. These student musicians will have the opportunity to participate in master classes, chamber ensemble demonstrations, and play side-by-side with Seattle Youth Symphony. SYSO thanks media sponsors West Seattle Blog and Classical KING-FM for their support of Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday. For more information about the event, contact Kathleen Allen, SYSO Director of Education, Communication and Partnerships at kathleen@syso.org or 206.362.2300.
Another public-art project is in the works for a West Seattle fire station. This time, it’s Station 32 in The Triangle (38th and Alaska), which has a $15 million rebuild coming up in a few years. The city has just put out an invitation for artists to apply for what would be a $90,000 commission, including the design and construction of the artwork. See the full details here; the application deadline is February 22nd.
With this week’s news of a city-county gun buyback, our society’s use of and relationship to firearms returned to the headlines. That makes a new art exhibit in West Seattle all the more timely, and you can see it during tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk. We visited The Admiral District’s Mind Unwind gallery/event space for a preview last Friday night, first night of “Gun Show 2013” by Vancouver, B.C., artist Brent Ray Fraser (above), who describes his images of guns and flowers as examples of yin and yang:
Gallery owner Krystal Kelley told WSB the exhibit was booked months ago, long before the Connecticut school massacre and other incidents brought “the gun debate” back to centerstage in our country. She wondered whether to cancel it – but decided that it might play into the discussion, helping people consider their own beliefs and feelings about firearms. This is part of an ongoing series of work by Fraser, about 60 in all so far, he says. He is at Mind Unwind tonight, creating art live, till 9 pm; the show continues till the end of the month, and you can also see it while visiting MU’s Treehouse Lounge loft (2206 California SW). P.S. Some of Fraser’s work in the exhibit is complimented by arrangements from Admiral’s Flower Lab.
Tomorrow night, the West Seattle Community Orchestras start their new year, and as always, they’re open to new members. (The clip above is from one of the orchestras, the West Seattle Symphony, recorded at its holiday concert December 5th.) Here’s the official announcement:
Registration is open and ready for you for the Winter and Spring sessions of the West Seattle Community Orchestras. From our Debut Orchestra to Intermediate, full Symphony, and adult beginner groups, WSCO has a spot for anyone – from young student through experienced adult – interested in orchestral music.
First rehearsal of Winter session is Tuesday, January 8, at Chief Sealth International High School, and registration can be completed via our website, by e-mail or in person at the first rehearsal. For full details (rehearsal times and concert schedules) on each group, including Adult Beginning Strings Class, Adult Beginning Winds and Percussion Class, and the Debut, Intermediate and Symphony Orchestras, visit wscorchestras.org.
Three weeks from today, on January 26th, you are invited to Southwest Super String Saturday – a free event celebrating students, families, and music teachers from Roxhill, Arbor Heights, Gatewood, Sanislo, Concord, Highland Park, and West Seattle Elementary Schools, plus Denny International Middle School. It’s presented by Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO, a WSB sponsor), which explains:
This event showcases the efforts of students, professional music coaches and Seattle Public School music teachers who are part of the SYSO in the Schools program.
SYSO in the Schools provides free small-group lessons during the school day and out-of-school time to young musicians who have historically had inequitable access to music education. This program has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of students in orchestral music playing at higher levels of musicianship. Students have also gained self-confidence, built their skills in self-discipline, concentration and collaboration, and have had higher levels of academic achievement and school engagement.
As Carmela Dellino, former Roxhill Elementary principal and current SPS Executive Director for West Seattle Schools, explains: “We are so pleased to have SYSO’s continued support of the young string musicians in our Southwest Seattle schools. The free coaching provided by SYSO gives these students access to high quality, individualized music lessons that families in this area might not otherwise be able to afford. When I was principal at Roxhill Elementary, I saw students who, because the SYSO coaches were there to nurture their musical skills, not only persevered in their instrument playing, but brought that same focus to other areas of study. These skills prepare students, even at the elementary level, for college and career.”
Activities at Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday include: a mini-concert by the Youth Symphony Orchestra performing Emmanuel Charbrier’s España and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in d minor, Op. 47.; violin, viola, cello and bass master classes led by Youth Symphony musicians; chamber ensemble demonstrations; parent education sessions; and information from SYSO partner the West Seattle Community Orchestras. All students attending Super String Saturday are eligible for a full or partial scholarship to SYSO’s Marrowstone-in-the City summer program.
For more information about Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday, please contact Kathleen Allen, SYSO Director of Education, Communications and Partnerships at kathleen@syso.org or 206-362-2300. To learn more about SYSO and all of its programs supporting young musicians visit syso.org
On January 26th, you’ll find this all happening 10 am-1 pm at the Chief Sealth International High School auditorium (2600 SW Thistle).
Voting started today in the KJR Radio “Battle of the Bands” competition – and Chief Sealth International High School is this year’s only Seattle entry. Above, Sealth’s official video – watch it for the choreography as much as the music! This is the third year that Sealth is competing, and they’re hoping to top their previous finishes (2nd last year, 6th in 2010) – because the big prize is $10,000, which goes a long way for a school program. Look for Sealth on this KJR webpage, where you can vote daily from now through the 18th.
Resolved to laugh more in 2013? Here’s a chance to work on that, while supporting an up-and-coming West Seattle comic. Mona Concepcion is the only West Seattleite in a showcase of what she describes as “some very cool, new Seattle comics, including me!” at 8 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, January 2nd). It’s not in West Seattle – no comedy clubs here (yet) – but it’s not far; Comedy Underground is at 109 S. Washington in Pioneer Square on the south side of downtown. And if you buy your ticket in advance – here’s the link – it’s $5, half what it’ll cost you at the door. Mona was a funny writer long before she went into stand-up comedy; her website kirida.com has been on the WSB “Blogs” link-list page for years.
Two weeks after the Connecticut school massacre, another school is being made ready for the survivors of Sandy Hook, which may never reopen. It’s to be decorated with snowflakes made by well-wishers from across the country (this update from back East says some have even come from overseas!) – and today, you can be part of a West Seattle contribution. Just stop by Young at Art (5962 Fauntleroy Way SW) before 2 pm.
Songs and stories of Tibet will fill Kenyon Hall on January 13th, in a concert by the Switzerland-based Tibetan artist/activist in the video clip above, Loten Namling. We just received the announcement that West Seattle is on his U.S. tour schedule:
Loten Namling, winner of the 2012 Free Spirit Award, will present a concert of Tibetan songs and stories in West Seattle on January 13, 2013.
Loten is a noted Indian-born singer, musician artist, entertainer and cartoonist. His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, speaks of Loten as “a singer with a voice.” Based in Switzerland, the artist travels worldwide with his Tibetan lute, singing the songs of the 6th Dalai Lama, Milarepa, as well as other traditional songs of Tibet and his own music. He connects songs of the past to the reality of the present, taking his audience on a journey through the landscape of Tibetan spirituality.
On May 16, 2012, Namling began what he called A Journey for Freedom – One Man, One Path, Tibet. He walked from the Swiss capital of Bern to Geneva, dragging a black coffin inscribed “Free Tibet,” in order to attract attention to the Tibetans’ worsening situation in today’s China. On July 8 he arrived in Geneva, where he performed with the Swiss band The Young Gods in a concert organized by Young Gods singer Franz Treichler in support of Loten’s action, held in front of Geneva UN headquarters. In October 2012, Namling was given the Free Spirit Award in McLeod Ganj for his “Journey of Freedom” march.
Kenyon Hall is at 7904 35th SW.
Heard all those classic holiday favorites way too many times by now? Here are a few more holiday selections – recorded in West Seattle. Above, Belles and Beaux performing “Carol of the Wise Men” at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) earlier this month – you can find other seasonal performances on the Tibbetts YouTube channel (choral, keyboard, more). Meantime, we also happened onto 4th graders from Hope Lutheran School with a simple, short and sweet version of “Jingle Bells” :
Thanks to Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark for photos from Thursday night’s Denny/Sealth winter jazz concert at Chief Sealth International High School – above, the Denny jazz band; below, Sealth’s Jazz Band II (JB I performed as well). He writes:
The jazz musicians of Denny and Sealth did a fantastic job performing at our Winter Jazz Concert. Under the skilled direction of Mr. Marcus Pimpleton and Mr. Jorge Morales, our scholars shared their musical skills and talents to the delight of all in attendance!
Other Sealth and Denny ensembles have winter concerts coming up next month.
Next year, two young playwrights who attend Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) will get to see their work produced – as will audiences. The school shares the photo and the announcement:
Explorer West Middle School has received a second round of accolades from the Young Playwrights Program presented by ACT Theatre. More than 300 students from 16 schools (mainly high schools) in Seattle, Bellevue, Bainbridge Island, and Burien participate in the program. Out of hundreds of submitted plays, only eight are chosen to be produced as part of the Young Playwrights Festival in March.
One week ago, two of Explorer West’s seventh-grade, student plays won the opportunity be produced by regional companies as part of the festival. Lizzy Sutherland’s 10-minute, one-act play entitled, “Journey to a Journey to Earth,” will be produced by Ghost Light Theatricals. Sam Hoyt’s 10-minute, one-act play entitled,”The Play,” will be produced by Macha Monkey Productions.
Plays written by Marvin Hernandez and McKenzie Carlson received honorable mentions in the contest, and Mia Bilick’s play was featured at the awards ceremony and performed by professional Seattle actors.
Explorer West works with a playwright in residence from ACT Theatre. They help each seventh-grade student write a 10 minute, one-act play over the course of 10 weeks.
This is the second year that students from Explorer West have been honored. Last year, Finnley Kafer received the top prize and her play was produced at ACT Theatre.
(SIDE NOTE: The Young Playwrights Program is coming to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center next month, in partnership with Arts Corps, with an afterschool class for teens Mondays and Wednesdays from January 14th-March 20th. If interested, e-mail Kristina.Sutherland@acttheatre.org.)
Four months after announcing their business was for sale – the outgoing owners of Twilight Artist Collective just announced the Junction shop/gallery’s new ones. From the newsletter they just sent out:
First, THANK YOU for your support! It has been eight amazing years and we are ready to go, but extremely sad to leave.
The new owners of TwAC are photographer and jeweler, Christine Heidel, and local star/fellow photographer, Tracy Cilona! We are SO THRILLED for these amazing women to step in and take over the Twilight legacy. They have big dreams and endless energy, so the future of our beloved gallery is in deserving hands.
Here is what they have to say:
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