Classical guitarist pushes genres
The Haines Arts Council will present classical guitarist Brad Richter on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Chilkat Center.
Richter has performed in nearly 1,000 concerts across North America and Europe, more than 50 of which were aired on NPR’s “Performance Today,” according to his website. Performance Today’s Fred Child said Richter is “a guitarist who, like Paganini, is known for ignoring the generally accepted limits of his instrument.”
The guitarist was awarded a scholarship to the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago despite no formal training and later accepted a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London.
He has since pursued a career in concert performance and won multiple awards and competitions including the International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship.
“Brad is a fantastic classical guitarist from Arizona that I came into contact with a year ago through Arts Northwest,” arts council president Tom Heywood said.
Tickets will be sold at the door and cost $15 for general admission, $12 for council members and $5 for students.
‘WrestlingJerusalem’ returns
The Haines Arts Council will screen Aaron Davidman’s “Wrestling Jerusalem” Sunday, January 13 at 7 p.m. in the Chilkat Center auditorium. The film is a rendering of a one-man play written and performed by Davidman, a seasonal Haines resident who is an actor, director and playwright in Berkeley, Calif. Davidman portrays 17 different individuals in the film, including male and female Israelis, Palestinians and American Jews. Davidman’s characters move between three set locations—an open desert, a dressing room and a live theater audience.
“The result is a unique hybrid of stage and cinema that reignites hope for the future of this troubled region,” according to the film’s website.
Davidman performed the 80-minute play Off-Broadway in March 2016. It is based on his travels in Israel and the West Bank. A New York Times drama critic hailed the play as “smartly-written” but faulted its pace. A Washington Post review said “the actor’s physically dexterous conjuring of his gallery of Middle East characters gives the show an engaging dynamism all its own.”
Tickets are $5 at the door. This is the second screening of the film in Haines.
Soup tastings during First Friday
Progressive soup sampling will be a feature of the new year’s Jan. 4 First Friday event downtown with more than 12 businesses and nonprofits offering warm soups.
Participating entities will also be participating in the zero-waste campaign. “Working with Haines Friends of Recycling and the Haines Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Arts Confluence is providing 100 percent compostable bowls, napkins and small drinking cups and Haines Compost is providing composting buckets that will be picked up after the event,” confluence director Carol Tuynman said.
The confluence will serve oyster stew and painter Caitie Kirby will display her oil paintings on wood, “Shades of the Desert.”
“A wild imagination with a little bit of wanderlust is a powerful thing to my still-young mind, influencing me every day,” Kirby said. “I am inspired by small things, large things, imaginary creatures, new skies and fleeting emotions.”
First National Bank Alaska, Haines Chamber of Commerce and the Haines Visitor Center will collaborate and serve Zuppa Toscana and more at the visitor center.
The Magpie Gallery will serve “Lemony Lentil Soup,” lightly spiced with cumin, ginger, cardamom and turmeric.
The Haines Sheldon Museum will serve Seafarers Stew, a salmon chowder. The museum will also host an “art therapy” event from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to draw, color or paint a lighthouse image. “This First Friday Lighthouse Art & Wellness craft activity is designed to bring a little light and cheer in the New Year while paying homage to the historical significance of lighthouses on the Lynn Canal,” a museum press release states.
The Pioneer Bar, Mountain Market, Moosterious Emporium, Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center, Haines Home Building Supply and the Aspen Hotel will also have soup to sample.