Growing up, Grace Potter always had a strong taste for celebrity. She remembers wishing she’d some day just morph into Ariel, of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. When it started to look as if coronation was out of the question, she embarked on another path to fame, joining up with some college buddies to form the band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
Ulali, the Native American a cappella singing group. has performed nearly everywhere: the Smithsonian’s Folkways 50th Anniversary Gala at Carnegie Hall, Woodstock 94, the Hollywood Bowl, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Madison Square Garden, even the Olympics. They have traversed the world too. From Fiji to New Caledonia; Portugal to Brazil.
And on Wednesday, August 25, at 5:30 p.m. they play the Aquinnah Cultural Center.
Combine your love of literature and music by spending the evening with vocalist Stephanie Miele as she sings Broadway ballads inspired by children’s literature.
Yes, there are quite a few.
Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern and Lerner and Loewe have all whetted their creative fires by igniting the child within.
Examples include C’est Moi from Camelot, Many a New Day from Oklahoma, and Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine from Showboat.
On Sept. 12 Nectar’s will host a Wintertide Coffeehouse Reunion Concert featuring popular New York singer-songwriter Dayna Kurtz and Island artists Jemima James, Dan Waters, Kim Hilliard and Kevin Keady.
Wintertide was a mainstay on the Vineyard for many years, and was recognized by Billboard as one of the top performing arts centers in the nation. It also provided entertainment for teens when there were no other options on the Island.
At the end of last Saturday’s afternoon performance at the Yard Mary Paula Hunter, the founder of the dance company Jump, took a bow with her dancers, all of them teenage girls. The girls wore what one might expect classically trained dancers to wear. Leotards, ballet shoes, a tutu or two here and there.
Ms. Hunter, on the other hand, wore the ragged remains of a wedding dress. She was also covered in food.
Vocal coach Heidi Carter’s program You Are Your Voice, Your Voice is You is designed to rejuvenate your speaking and singing voice. The program takes place today, Tuesday, August 10, at 10:30 a.m. at Woodside Village II in Oak Bluffs. The program is free, with donations accepted. For details, call 928-593-9473.
Come to the cabaret, my friend, come to the cabaret. Billed as the Satsang lounge the Yard will be hosting this modern day art extravaganza featuring musicians, performers, dancers, artists, writers and filmmakers on Saturday, Sept. 18. Essentially, a smorgasbord of creative mediums.
What to expect? Who knows, except for the unexpected. This is the first edition of Satsang Lounge on the road. The lounge began at the Wesbeth Theatre in New York City and now calls Los Angeles home.
At six o’clock on Tuesday, State Beach seems as it does any other day of the week at this time. Calm waves lap the shore as seagulls fly above and toddlers race through the sand.
Perhaps Helen Brunner’s life is just one endless series of inspirations, where everything is magical and amazing. One rather thinks, of course, that the Juilliard-educated mother of four who pioneered Suzuki training in England, simply sees her life that way. And her music students are at the center of it, whether those are Island children, to whom she offered a free (and magical) hour of personal instruction on Sunday, or her own grandchildren and others playing Vivaldi, Bach and other (amazing) pieces as the London Gold Group.
