Arts

At the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, it's intermission during a production of "War Horse."

Eric Chirinsky stands at the bar of the Broward Center's new lounge Club Level, drink in hand, watching the Miami Heat battle the Chicago Bulls on a flat-screen TV.

"I just figured I'd check it out and see how our home team was doing tonight," he says.

But his wife, Katarina, isn't focused on pro basketball right now.  She's sitting alone, enjoying a plate of hors d'oeuvres and a glass of bubbly.

Hundreds of Miami-Dade middle and high school students listened to “Two Pianos” by Morton Gould. Afterwards, they wrote poems inspired by the music.  It was part of a contest called the Piano Slam.  The point is to inspire young people, using classical music, to create their own forms of artistic expression.

The audio/visual set-up at ArtServe, an "arts incubator" in Fort Lauderdale, could use an upgrade. To get there, the organization needs equipment like XLR cables and a 12-channel mixer, plus permits and the manpower to install the gear. In total, it's expected to require nearly $7,500 in funds. 

For artburstmiami.com

A gong hangs suspended from its stand, light dancing across its bronzed surface, each hammered dent hinting at some mysterious overtone waiting to be released. If you grab the right mallet and strike it, that light turns into sound, the complex interplay of indentations drives the air, caresses your eardrums, and vibrates your body. The sound swells, fills the room, and gradually dissipates.

Changes are ahead for one of the country's largest museums dedicated to showcasing and preserving Japanese culture and history. Tom Gregersen, senior curator of the Morikami Museum in Delray Beach, is leaving his post after 35 years with the institution. Gregersen came to the museum about six months after its initial launch in 1977, meaning he's been there "pretty much from the beginning." 

When Donald Cottrell, principal at Sunset School in Fort Lauderdale, first heard about the concept of Eco-Art Therapy -- which fuses education on environmental issues with art in a therapeutic context -- he was hooked.

It was more than seven years ago, and at the time, he was principal of Broadview Elementary School. He heard Byron Swart, an active force in Broward County's arts scene, present the idea at a City of Tamarac meeting.  

Today, Miami poet Richard Blanco will recite the poem he has composed for President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

This Sunday, Nigerian Afro-beat artist Femi Kuti will be performing in Miami. Femi is known for using music to protest against the Nigerian government -- a legacy he inherited from his father, the legendary Afro-beat pioneer Fela Kuti.

The announcement that a Miami-raised son of Cuban immigrants has been chosen as the inaugural poet for President Obama's swearing-in ceremony is causing a stir throughout South Florida.  And nowhere more than in our region's literary community.

In 1993, a young civil engineer named Richard Blanco wanted to try his hand at writing poetry.  So he took a class at Florida International University, led by English Professor Campbell McGrath.

About 150 talented, young artists from across the country are in Miami this week to hone their skills through classes and performances.

They were chosen from a pool of 10,000 applicants to take part in the 32nd annual YoungArts Week. Twenty of the participants are from Florida.

Tonight you and your kin have the chance to relive an American classic in The Wizard of Oz Sing-A-Long.

The Miami Shores Fine Arts Commission partnered with O Cinema to bring a lively night of costumes, contests, prizes and, of course, singing. 

Along with Dorothy, Toto, and witches of varying degrees of wickedness, be sure to say hi to WLRN's Michael Stock. He'll be emceeing for the night. 

Ever wanted to be on the operatic stage?

Now’s your chance – and you don’t even have to carry a tune or know a Gotterdamerung thing about opera.

Palm Beach Opera is expanding its talent pool of supernumeraries (non-singing extras) for its 2013 Season.

The “supers,” as they’re called, perform as guards, maidservants, townsfolk, water sprites, matadors, etcetera, according to the needs of the production.

Last month the National YoungArts Foundation celebrated the inauguration of their new national headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard at the Bacardi Tower, now known as the YoungArts Campus. The architectural landmark represents the first time YoungArts has had its own permanent home in its almost 32-year history. The iconic space will soon see an expansion under the direction of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

The stands in front of the teenagers’ chairs hold the same sheet music – the theme to “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”  But each of the young musicians has a different story to tell about anti-gay bullying.

Like the bi-sexual flutist, who says she’s pretty much been bullied all her life.

And the gay saxophonist, who describes how it “really gets to you inside and sometimes you start believing what people are saying.”

Even the heterosexual clarinetist is not immune.  She feels too many of her classmates use the word “gay” to describe something bad.

For artburstmiami.com 

Imaginarium Life is a complex, multi-media performance piece created by the brilliant dark angels at Bistoury Physical Theatre, Alexey Taran and Carla Forte. 

The performance documents -- through dance theater, sound and gorgeous cinematography -- the spiraling, chaotic world of an artist whose obsession with himself and his own imaginary world of self-inflicted wounds destroys him and the person he loves.