Weekend Arts Digest: May 17 through 19

Posted on May 17, 2013, 4:05 pm
4 mins

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Photograph by Christopher Reicks

This weekend has so much happening in the arts, so we are recommending four different events that you might want to check out.

For young and old: SYSO at Benaroya Hall on Sunday, May 19

Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras is the largest youth symphony program in the country, and the talent is top notch. The Seattle institution just recently celebrated its 70th anniversary with a concert featuring its four orchestral ensembles, from the Symphonette to the Seattle Youth Symphony, the highest tier in the organization, who performed Ravel’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” This Sunday, SYSO will play “Pictures” along with Brahms’ “Tragic Overture” and Debussy’s “La Mer.” This is SYSO’s last performance of the season, and these young artists under the direction of Maestro Stephen Radcliffe always put on a remarkable show. It’s one of the most affordable ways to get a full symphonic experience in town.

Program begins at 3PM at Benaroya Hall on Sunday, May 19. General admission $25. Tickets available on SYSO’s Web site.

For art enthusiasts, patrons and collectors: Cornish BFA Show, through Friday, May 24

Cornish College of the Arts is displaying its annual BFA show, titled Expo 13. The 45 participating graduates put out an impressive array of art in painting, photography, installation, sculpture, video, and everything in between. Many pieces are available for purchase and quite affordable, so interested parties who can spot emerging talent can support artists beginning their careers and add to their collections without breaking the bank. To get a peek at what is on display, you can read columnist Jeremy Buben’s coverage of Expo 13.

For dance fans: Whim W’him at Seattle Center Playhouse (Formerly Intiman) through Sunday

The brainchild of choreographer Olivier Wevers, dance troupe Whim W’him fuses contemporary dance with ballet, creating works that are at turns beautiful and bold, whimsical and melancholy. This latest show “Third Degree” will include two new creations (one choreographed by local dance wunderkind Andrew Bartee, one by Wevers), a piece by internationally acclaimed choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa titled L’Effleure danced solo by Bartee, and the return of Wevers 2007 piece FRAGMENTS, which is set to arias by W.A. Mozart’s and his “Ave Verum Corpus.”

For mature audiences: Saint Genet at On the Boards through Sunday

Performance troupe Saint Genet recently premiered their latest work “Paradisiacal Rites” at Donaufest in Austria, and the North American premier was last night. It is not for the faint of heart; the three-hour performance delves into the sacred and the profane and the performers themselves will be under the influence of exhaustion and more than a few chemicals. However, the show can be extremely rewarding if you have the stamina for it and enjoy cutting edge performance art that pushes boundaries. Even if you can’t imagine staying for the full show, the first act or two alone may be worth the price of admission because of the outrageously intricate and gorgeous set design. You can read my short essay on Seattle Arts News if you want a primer on the aesthetics of Saint Genet and “Paradisiacal Rites” that doesn’t divulge too much about the performance.

T.s. Flock is a writer and arts critic based in Seattle and co-founder of Vanguard Seattle.