Michael Janairo

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Author: Michael Janairo

  • David Miller joins Sorelle Gallery roster

    'Blue Lagoon' Mixed Media on Paper 38 x 50 by David Miller (Courtesy Sorelle Gallery)

    David Miller, a painter who lives in Saratoga Springs and is a retired professor from Skidmore College, has recently joined the roster of artists represented by the Sorelle Gallery at Stuyvesant Plaza in Guilderland, the gallery has announced.

    A 2001 Times Union review of a retrospective  exhibition of his work at the Tang Museum said: “His joy infuses the gestural, calligraphic line and color on his canvases, much as it did for the Abstract Expressionists, to whom he clearly owes a debt.”

    For more about Miller and the Sorelle Gallery, click here.

  • The Acting Company brings As You Like It to Troy Music Hall

    The Acting Company has seen its share of stars trod the floorboards since the classic theater troupe was formed in 1972 by actor/director John Houseman. Kevin Kline, Rainn Wilson, Patty Lupone and David Ogden-Stiers are a few of the thespians who have acted in a company production.

    Over the years, The Acting Company — called the “major touring classical theater in the United States” by The New York Times — has played to more than 3 million people in the U.S. and around the world. After a string of performances in New York City, the Manhattan-based company hits the road with its production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” They’ll stage the second show of their tour this week in Troy.

    7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $15-$36. Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, 30 Second St., Troy. 273-0038; http://www.troymusichall.org

    — Mike Lisi

  • Albany Symphony Orchestra @ Palace Theatre, 3/9/13

    By Mary Jane Leach

    Albany Symphony Orchestra presented a colorful concert Saturday night at the Palace Theatre, using visual art as inspiration for instruments to create aural images for our ears.

    The Palace’s large stage was ideal for the concert, as each piece used large sections of brass and woodwinds, as well as a full complement of strings, with many percussion instruments spread around the periphery of the stage.

    The first piece, “Trama” by Gabriela Ortiz, while not inspired by a specific painting, was nonetheless pictorial, creating a tapestry of images and events from Mexico, weaving in different genres of music: folk, jazz, and classical. “Trama” is the orchestral version of a movement from “Altar de muertos,” a string quartet by Ortiz. With its skillful and expansive orchestration and its use of color, it’s hard to imagine its origin as a string quartet. (more…)

  • Photos: The Place Beyond the Pines

    Take a look at the just-released photos from Focus Features for The Place Beyond the Pines, which was filmed in Schenectady and stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Rose Byrne.

    The movie is slated to open in limited release on March 29, but then opens wide on April 12.

    No new word yet on a special advance screening in the Capital Region.

    [nggallery id=10402]

  • Watch: Sean Rowe performs ‘Downwind’ on Jimmy Kimmel

    Check out his backing band, Railbird.

    Read past Sean Rowe coverage:
    Review of Helsinki Hudson show in Feb. 2012.
    Sean Rowe signs with Anti Records
    Watch: Sean Rowe’s “American” video

  • Troy artsist featured in the NY Times

    Troy artist Gina Ochiogrosso is part of a group exhibit at the Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle in Westchester County, and has been written up in the New York Times.

    This is from the NY Times write up:

    The might of the environment also informs the work of Gina Occhiogrosso, who traveled from her home in Troy, N.Y., to attend the opening reception in New Rochelle. Her piece “Slump,” a series of 24 gouache-on-paper panels, takes weather-ravaged billboards as its subject.

    You can read the full report here.

  • SPAC adds Momix to the mix this summer

    MOMIX, the celebrated troupe of dance illusionists led by choreographer Moses Pendleton, will perform its fantastical multimedia artistry at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs.

    The company will present its highly acclaimed production of “Botanica,” a performance that fuses elements of dance, theater and cinema to create larger-than-life images from the natural world.

    “MOMIX’s ‘Botanica’ is a glorious melding of music, dance, theater and technology that is breathtaking in scope and innovative to its core,” said Marcia J. White, SPAC’s president and executive director, in a written statement. “It is an opportunity to see the beauty and imagery of nature, magnified and dramatized through the brilliant lens of choreographer Moses Pendleton.”

    Created in 2009, the production follows the rhythms of the seasons, the changing shape of life on Earth and the passing of a day. Set to an eclectic score that ranges from bird song to Vivaldi, the performance is enhanced by costumes, projections and giant puppetry designed by Michael Curry — acclaimed production designer for Cirque du Soleil, Disney’s “The Lion King” and the Metropolitan Opera.

    Known internationally, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists led by Pendleton, a choreographer and director for more than 40 years. In addition to worldwide stage performances, the company has also worked in film and television.
    The evening will also feature a special “Enchanted Family Night” pre-show from 6 to 8 p.m., with magical scavenger hunts on the lawn, illuminated balloons, whimsical glow-in-the-dark face painting, and Sparkles on Stilts.

    Tickets are $30 and go on sale March 18 at http://spac.org.

    — Jennifer Paterson

  • Olivia Quillio seeks kickstart for her debut album

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oliviaquillio/olivia-quillios-1st-studio-album-the-bomb

    By Kaitlyn Jasnica

    The clock is ticking for “The Bomb.”

    Albany singer-songwriter Olivia Quillio — who won the Times Union-College of Saint Rose Garage to Glory music competition in 2011 — has turned to Kickstarter to help fund the release of her debut album, “The Bomb.”

    She has until midnight Friday March 1 to raise $3,500 through the online fundraising platform. As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, she had raised $2,952.

    “The eight songs from this album are the songs I won Garage to Glory with,” Quillio said. “It’s been a long time coming for this album, and I have a second one written already. I’m not the same girl that wrote ‘The Bomb,’ but people need to see that girl to see who I am now. Many people really liked the songs on the first album and have been anticipating its release.”

    Although she spent two years recording the songs, Quillio still needs funds for more recording, mixing, mastering and printing (CDs and vinyl). Her music is a mix of folk-inspired lyricism and melodic jazz tonality played on ukulele and guitar.

    Kickstarter is a website that helps people fund projects. If a person wants to help fund a certain project, they pledge money. Money will be charged only if the project reaches its funding goal.

    After the person seeking funds sets a time frame to reach his or her goal, the date cannot be extended, and those who fall short of their goal receive nothing. Quillio is feeling a sense of urgency as her deadline nears.
    (more…)

  • Howard Fishman brings ‘Instructions’ to Skidmore

    HOWARD FISHMAN (Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos)

    “No Further Instructions,” a performance by Howard Fishman with New York Times travel journalist Michael Benanav, takes place at 8 pm Friday tonight in the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. The program combines original music, historical memoir, storytelling and photography to document the duo’s exploits and experiences as American Jews in rural Romania.

    Fishman uses music to better understand his heritage and identity as a Jewish American, and the voice is decidely Jewish, but the music he creates as a singer, guitarist, composer and bandleader often flirts with jazz, soul, country, blues and gospel. Fishman’s most recent recording is 2011’s “The Howard Fishman Quartet Vol. III: Moon Country.”

    Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and the Skidmore community, and free for students and children. Please visit http://www.skidmore.edu/zankel for ticket information.