Nope, classical music doesn’t have to be boring, no matter what some fans of punk, ska, rock, hip-hop, grunge, reggae, etc, etc, might think.
Christina Waters’ cover story shows some ways local supposedly high-brow musicians are trying to experiment and open the doors of perception.
Take the Marea Ensemble, which performs The Juliet Letters as a participatory experience: candlelit, hosted in a winery/coffee bar, with wine, food, and intentionality built into the program for the audience to actually write letters during the performance. Not your parents’ classical piece.
The same group performs Alex Temple’s Behind the Wallpaper with live electronic effects, including a mix of delays, reverbs and formant shifting, which would make an electronica music fan happy.
The Santa Cruz Opera Project has performed Bach’s Coffee Cantata in a working coffee shop—with coffee tastings built into the recitatives and has also set a version in the 1970’s with the retro bar at the Elk’s lodge as its stage.
There’s great joy in musicians who find ways to keep performances fresh and modern blending contemporary and classical notes, as you’ll see in the cover story.
We’ve got two other big additions to the cultural lineup this week: the annual Alfred Hitchcock festival returns and for a new twist, they have asked amateur filmmakers to present works with the rubric that each one had to use the phrase, “Why would you say that?,”; they must use the famous Hitchcock Vertigo Shot (a zoom technique he created with a dolly) and they were only given 48 hours to write, produce and edit their films.
That’s bringing life to the 100-year-old career of the horror master in a story by Mat Weir.
Then there’s a new twist on a UCSC opera with one written about ‘Star Trek” and featuring its characters.
Our writer, DNA, says: The Trial of Spock takes place on March 8 and is a concert performance, an opera-in-progress. Focusing on the music and storytelling, this three-act opera is, in one way, a no-frills experience without costumes or stage blocking. In another way it’s a chance to get a window seat on a maiden voyage.
Speaking of voyages, our Wellness columnist, Elizabeth Borelli, follows therapists who use psychedelics as part of their practice. Santa Cruz is a frontrunner in the modality, as she would say, breaking new ground, or mind space.
I suspect some microdoses might really apply to some of these new performances and take you to explore strange new worlds.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
STREAMING A Steelhead Trout on the West branch of the Soquel Creek up in the hills of Soquel. Photograph by Tyler Maguffee
GOOD IDEA
Santa Cruz City Schools will break ground on its 100-unit Educator Housing Development at 313 Swift Street on March 18 with a small ceremony at 2pm.
Made possible by community support in passing Bond Measures K & L in 2022, the project received necessary city council and planning commission approvals last year and has now obtained final construction permits.
The new housing complex, made up of 11 studios, 28 one-bedroom apartments, 50 two bedroom apartments and 11 three-bedroom apartments, will be available for both certificated teachers and classified support staff employed by Santa Cruz City Schools. The project is expected to open in 2028 and will feature rents at 60-70% of market rates to lower the cost of living for 100 education employees.
GOOD WORK
Our lives are full of turning points. They can be dramatic “Aha!” moments or subtle insights that quietly nudge us in a new direction. Cabrillo Gallery presents Turning Points, an exhibition of photographic artworks by artists from all over the country, each with different takes on this theme. For this exhibition, selections were made from a call for entries by Ann Jastrab, the Executive Director of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel.
The exhibit runs March 9–April 10 (closed 3/23–27 Spring Break + 3/31 Cesar Chavez Day). The reception is Saturday, April 4, 3-5pm, Cabrillo Gallery, 6500 Soquel Drive, Room 1002, Aptos. HOURS: Mon – Fri, 9am-4pm, Wed + Thur evenings, 6-8pm, Closed weekends
