Our next monthly MinnPost members ticket giveaway will start at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and feature the following offers:

• Minnesota Orchestra — One pair of tickets to A Christmas Oratorio on the date of your choice: Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. or Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.
• Minnesota Opera — Two pairs of vouchers good for any performance in the 2018-19 season.
• Park Square Theatre — Two pairs of tickets to Marie and Rosetta on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
• VocalEssence — One voucher for two tickets to Welcome Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley
• University of Minnesota, Northrop — One pair of tickets to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and two pairs of tickets to Nathan Laube in Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
• Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus — Two pairs of tickets to A Million Reasons to Believe on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. at Ted Mann Concert Hall
• Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts — One pair of tickets to Katha Dance: The Hungry Stones on the date of your choice: Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. or Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
• Westminster Town Hall Forum — Two pairs of premium reserved seats for Michael Beschloss – Presidents of War: 1807 to Modern Times on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at noon.
• Dakota Jazz Club — One pair of tickets to Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway: Sibling Revelry on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are distributed via our partner offers page on a first-come, first-served basis to MinnPost Gold and Platinum members, who support our work with contributions of $10 or more per month.

Those who make a qualifying donation before 9 a.m. on Nov. 6 will be eligible to participate in this month’s giveaway. Members can create a MinnPost.com user account and verify their login status in advance via our partner offers page.

If you have any trouble donating, creating a MinnPost.com user account, logging in, or viewing our partner offers page, please contact us at members@minnpost.com.

Also, we would like to again thank the partners who provided our October offers:

• Minnesota Orchestra — Shaham Plays Prokofiev
• Minnesota Opera — Any performance in the 2018-19 season
• Park Square Theatre — The Agitators
• VocalEssence — Music for a Grand Cathedral
• Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus — A Million Reasons to Believe
• Westminster Town Hall Forum — Mona Hatta-Attisha: What We Can Learn from Flint, Michigan
• Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts — James Sewell Ballet
• Dakota Jazz Club — Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton
• Cantus — Alone Together

With a cast of more than 50 characters, 11 scenes and nearly 20 songs, Interact Theater’s “Hot Funky Butt Jazz” bubbles with energy, music and motion. Revisiting a show that has seen a couple of different stagings, the creators – the Interact ensemble and artists from New Orleans – have set it firmly in the NOLA of the early 1900s, a time when Jim Crow was in full force.

Working New Orleans musicians Zena Moses, Jeremy Phipps and Eugene Harding have been key members of the team. (Fun fact: Moses is Irma Thomas’ goddaughter.) They’re back, reprising their roles as wise and powerful voodoo priestess Marie Laveau and Funky Butt band members Stringbean Russell and Zutty MacNeil. The Funky Butt was a late-night club where legendary black cornetist Buddy Bolden once played.

Director and Interact founder Jeanne Calvit grew up in Baton Rouge. Over a decade, she and script supervisor/composer Aaron Gabriel made several trips to New Orleans. The show has the grit of historic authenticity. It also speaks to our present time. Bits of dialogue sound contemporary. An example: “Some folks only see differences, but some make choices to change themselves. Look inside and see love instead of hate. Or hate instead of love.” Reference is made to the Robert Charles riots, which began in a shootout between a black man and a white police officer.

The story flows from the French Quarter to the docks, an early NAACP meeting to a minstrel show, a high-society tea house to the brothels of Storyville. An early scene in the French Market bustles with life and rhythm. It’s here we meet Professor James London (Michael Wolfe), a black man on his first trip to the Big Easy. He’s traveling with white dancers Victor and Eileen Manor (Scotty Reynolds and Heather Bunch) as the conductor of their band. “In Chicago,” Eileen explains to a group of disbelieving bystanders, “it’s very fashionable to have a Negro band leader these days. You should catch up to the times.”

Keep an eye on London. There are several memorable characters: Marie and Stringbean, Victor and Eileen, church deacon Cora Russell (Cayla Pierson), madames May Moreaux and Fanny Bloom (Ivory Doublette and Sheridan Zuther), the prostitute Kidney-Foot Jenny (Stephanie Muue), vaudeville queens Candy Dapple and Coco Vaughn (Sam Videen and Jeffrey Haas). But London stands out. He moves through the play, listening and learning. New Orleans changes him. Hearing jazz changes him. The “hot” music derided by whites as an immoral influence (“Jazz is music gone mad!” “It plunges people into depravity!”) gives him the courage to stand up for himself.

Also keep an eye on child actor Messiah Moses Albert as Little Louie. The kid knows his lines, he can dance, and he doesn’t seem the least bit self-conscious before an audience. When he picks up a horn and blows, you know which Louie he is, if you haven’t already guessed. We may be seeing the next Trombone Shorty.

“Hot Funky Butt Jazz” is powered by music, including a raunchy song (“Sin in Sin-copation”), a hilarious song (“Small-Time Vaudeville”), a wistful song (“Jasmine in the Wind”) and a song with teeth (“Mista Jim Crow”). It’s about many things: history, jazz, human struggles, racism, survival and improvisation in the face of oppression.

It may ultimately be about hope. Twice during the play, near the beginning and again near the end, Marie Laveau tells us we all get three wishes: to remember the souls from the past, to be happy in the present, and to hope for the future.

If you’re not yet familiar with Interact, it’s a professional theater whose trained (and paid) actors are mostly people with physical and mental disabilities. The theater is part of Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, whose mission is to create art that challenges perceptions of disability.

Part of the Guthrie’s Level Nine initiative, “Hot Funky Butt Jazz” continues in the Dowling Theater through Nov. 18. FMI and tickets (all $9).

The picks

Now at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center in Plymouth Church: Uprising Theatre Company: The Laramie Project Cycle. A rare pairing of two plays about the brutal Oct. 1998 slaying of Matthew Shepard on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Created by the members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project, who traveled to Laramie a month after the murder, “The Laramie Project” has been seen by more than 30 million people across the U.S. In 2008, Tectonic returned to Laramie to explore how the town had changed in the decade since the murder. “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” explores how history is written and rewritten. The two plays are running in repertory. FMI and tickets ($20 each play, $30 for both). Shannon TL Kearns founded Uprising Theatre after performing in a production of “The Laramie Project.”

[cms_ad:x100]Thursday and Saturday at the Trylon: “All Quiet on the Western Front” with live soundtrack by the Great River Film Orchestra. The Oscar-winning 1930 film about the brutality and futility of war is still shockingly contemporary. The Trylon will screen the Library of Congress silent version, where the imagery is the star. Great River member Keith Lee explained, “Our musical take is to show this movie simply for what it really is: a horror film. And given World War I being the cultural and technological start of the modern 20th century, we will be employing modern electric instruments and improvisation.” Lee, Matt Sowell and Nathan Grumdahl will make their debut as the Great River Film Orchestra. Proceeds will benefit the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, dedicated to ending homelessness for Minnesota veterans. FMI and tickets ($25); Thursday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m.

Friday through Sunday at the Cowles: Zenon Dance Company 36th Season. With its signature blend of modern and jazz dance, the Minneapolis-based company is presenting new works and favorites from its repertory. The season opened last weekend and concludes this weekend with a world premiere by emerging New York choreographer Sam Kim (“Procession”), a Zenon premiere by Minnesota choreographer Wynn Fricke (“Just Her Time”), Gregory Dolbashian’s look at fierce intimacy and physicality (“Eternal Reveal”) and Mariusz Olszewski’s tribute to the mambo, the cha-cha and salsa (“Pink Martini”). 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($34).

“Laws and Disorder,” The Washington Post

The Washington Post and ProPublica teamed up to examine decades of public records — from committee rosters to voting histories — to put data behind the theory: Congress has been weakened as a legislative branch. The journalists studied how often the elected representatives meet in committees to discuss legislation (it’s on the decline), and how often rank-and-file legislators have the opportunity to propose amendments (not often). “Debate is strictly curtailed, party leaders dictate the agenda, most elected representatives rarely get a say, and government shutdowns are a regular threat because of chronic failures to agree on budgets,” the report says. “That 1970s Saturday morning jingle ‘I’m Just a Bill’ would have to be rewritten for today’s Congress.” — Jessica Lee, local government reporter

“Canonization for the Masses,” Jacobin

Eileen Markey, reflecting on Oscar Romero’s recent canonization by Pope Francis, and the collective, up-from-the-bottom movement he has come to represent, envisions what it could mean if the church took a bolder step to honor the Central American martyrs of the 1980s as a whole. — Jonathan Stegall, user experience engineer

“The problem with polls,” The Daily

If you’ve been refreshing polling or election prediction websites nonstop for weeks, stop. Then listen to this podcast. It’s only a half-hour. The New York Times’ Nate Cohn explains how, while there have been problems with polling in recent elections, a lot of the issue is that people think polls are predicting the outcome of the race. He explains how the Times decided to do live polling this year to demystify the process and help people understand statistical sampling in polls, another issue as people seek more data about politics but don’t really understand how to interpret it. — Greta Kaul, data reporter

“Minnesota Experimental City: the 1960s town based on a comic strip,” The Guardian

The Guardian’s Steve Rose relates the tale of the proposed city built in the middle of … Minnesota farm country, a place that would have been covered by a massive dome and powered by its own nuclear reactor. Proposed opening? 1984. Hard to imagine what could possibly have gone wrong. — Peter Callaghan, state government reporter

“The Inside Story of How Uber Got Into Business With the Saudi Arabian Government,” Bloomberg

The Saudi Arabian government reportedly owns more than 10 percent of the rideshare pioneer Uber, and once transferred more than $3.5 billion in one lump sum to the company as an investment. Bloomberg takes a look at that “mega deal” and how the company is reckoning with its ties to the Middle East country after Saudi agents killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The boost in cash from the Saudis came as Uber was in a battle against rival Didi Chuxing in China. — Walker Orenstein, environment and workforce reporter

Did you know the Armistice was signed at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of World War I? And now we’re approaching the 100th anniversary of that momentous occasion: Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018.

Commemorative events will take place around the world, including the Twin Cities (on Victory Memorial Drive and at Britt’s Pub). What happened in Minneapolis on that day in 1918? “A big siren tore the midnight silence … By 4 a.m., the downtown streets were clogged with merrymakers.” (Read more here.)

The last two surviving veterans died in 2011 and 2012. Both were 110.

Gov. Mark Dayton has proclaimed Nov. 11 Armistice Remembrance Day in the State of Minnesota. And Northrop is going all out to make the day memorable and meaningful.

[cms_ad:x100]A Bells of Peace ceremony will take place from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Northrop Plaza. It will begin with a reading of Laurence Binyon’s 1914 poem “For the Fallen.” An honor guard will toll a bell 21 times (a variation on the 21-gun salute). Then the names of the more than 1,400 Minnesota soldiers killed in combat during World War I will be read aloud. The ceremony will conclude with “Taps.”

Inside Northrop, Minnesota artist David Geister’s three-panel, 30-ft. “WW1 America” mural will be on display in the lobby. Created for the Minnesota History Center’s 2017 World War I exhibit, the mural is now housed in the Minnesota Military Museum at Camp Ripley, which loaned it to Northrop for the day. Geister will be there to talk about his design and process. WWI artifacts will be on view, borrowed from the Military Museum.

Starting at 4 p.m. on Northrop’s big stage, the Oratorio Society of Minnesota will perform a concert, “Lest We Forget.” The centerpiece will be the joint U.S. premiere of British composer Patrick Hawes’ choral work “The Great War Symphony,” which will be performed the same day at Carnegie Hall.

At Northrop, Matthew Mehaffey will lead the Oratorio Society of Minnesota Chorus, the U of M School of Music Men’s and Women’s Chorus, soloists, an orchestra and the U of M Wind Ensemble in a program that will also feature Northrop’s newly restored Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ. (Hawes is an organist.) Songs popular during the war and works by Dupré, Holst, and Ralph Vaughan Williams will lead up to Hawes’ symphony, which the composer has described as “a musical monument in memory of all those who gave their lives during the first World War.”

The concert will be broadcast live on Classical MPR, KSJN 99.5 FM and online.

The picks

Tonight at Magers & Quinn: Erin Gibson presents “Feminasty: The Complicated Woman’s Guide to Surviving the Patriarchy Without Drinking Herself to Death.” What else do we need to say about this? Go, laugh, weep, and stop off at one of the numerous hipster Uptown bars for a drink (just one!) on your way home. Gibson, aka Feminasty, is the Emmy-nominated creator and co-host of the comedy podcast “Throwing Shade.” 7 p.m. Free.

Wednesday at the American Swedish Institute: Nordic Accordion: Music and Poems in a Nordic Mood. Bart Sutter is a poet, essayist, and playwright who has written eight books, had four plays produced, and won three Minnesota Book Awards in three different categories. Ross Sutter is a singer of Scandinavian, Scottish and Irish songs and American traditional and popular songs; he accompanies himself on guitar, dulcimer, button accordion and bodhran. Their sibling act is a blend of music, storytelling, and poetry. Well, who wouldn’t like that? They’ll be at ASI with accordionist Art Bjorngjeld for a show about the experience of Scandinavian immigrants, their ancestors and their descendants. This will also be the book launch for Bart’s new poetry collection, “Nordic Accordion,” just out from Nodin Press. 7 p.m. Register here ($15/12).

[cms_ad:x101]Opens Thursday at the Off-Leash Art Box: “Not About Heroes.” U.S. military veterans get in free to all performances of Hero Now Theatre’s production of Stephen MacDonald’s play about poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. Both were World War I British officers who witnessed the horrors of trench warfare. Both were in a war hospital in Edinburgh when they met and developed a deep friendship. Based on their letters and memoirs, “Not About Heroes” is a play about war, truth, and two artists’ evolving self-awareness. Arrive early to familiarize yourself with some of the poems; stay after to hear current veteran-artists talk about how creative work has helped them deal with their military experience. View a display of clay masks from the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance’s Veterans Unmasking Project. This production is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Humanities Center and its Veterans Voices program. Nov. 8-10 and 15-17 at 7 p.m., Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. FMI and tickets ($10-20, free for veterans).

Starts Thursday at the Ritz: “The Great Gatsby.” Collide Theatrical, creators of original Broadway-style jazz dance musicals, did a great “Dracula” and “Dance ’Till You Drop.” They’re back with their own world-premiere take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” a timeless tale of fabulous wealth, doomed love and the futility of trying to recapture the past. With a cast of 12 dancers, two vocalists and a live jazz band, this could be one of the best bets in the Twin Cities for a fun night out. Thursday, Friday and the Saturday matinee are previews; Saturday night is opening night. FMI and tickets ($26-50). Closes Nov. 18. Some performances have already sold out.

Inspiration can strike at any time, in any place. For Mathew Janczewski, founder and artistic director of Arena Dances, it came while he was driving home from a residency in Northfield. He was listening to public radio and heard a conversation between Sophie Chou, a data journalist at PRI, and Minneapolis composer Joshua Clausen.

Chou had taken the information from a year of mass shootings in the U.S. and converted it into a data sonification – non-speech sound. The sound she chose was a single note on a piano. The sonification was thousands of notes, each representing a mass shooting. Notes played more rapidly indicated a greater frequency of shootings; louder notes, those where many people died.

When Clausen heard the sonification (on the radio), it sounded to him “like an SOS that has come to us from a great distance.” Inspired – and with Chou’s blessing – he wrote a choral work called “Requiem” incorporating her sonification.

What he could add was dance.

This weekend at the Fitzgerald, Mathew Janczewski’s Arena Dances will give the world premiere of “Hold My Hand,” a new work by Janczewski set to Clausen’s “Requiem.” The music will be performed live by the MPLS (imPulse) Choir and soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw. Clausen has added five minutes to his original composition to make room for more dancing. Along with six Arena dancers, “Hold My Hand” will feature 10 student dancers from St. Paul area high schools.

“It was awesome having the students there,” Jancewski told MinnPost earlier this week. “You could chat with them, hear their voices, discover what thoughts, issues, feelings and fears they have, being in high school right now.” The students helped to shape the dance, adding more layers.

What was it like for Janczewski to work on this project? “Honestly, this has been the best experience I’ve ever had in my 23 years of making dance. I’m always interested in having community be part of it. For this work in particular, people were responding, jumping in, wanting to do whatever they could to fulfill it.”

Are people in the audience going to cry? “I have cried already,” Janczewski said. “There might be some tears, yes.”

But it’s not all grief and sadness. “Hold My Hand” – and the rest of the evening’s program – is infused with what Janczewski calls “undercurrents of hope.” Maybe we’re on the brink of learning the lessons of the past. Maybe we’re ready to start making progress. Meanwhile, we can come together, stand together and support each other.

[cms_ad:x100]Also on the program: “Run with Me,” a men’s quartet. The premiere of “One Room,” a trio danced to music by Nils Frahm. The premiere of a new work by Clausen, “You Are Water Too,” set to words by Ben Weaver, performed by MPLS (imPulse), Shaw and the new music ensemble Zeitgeist. And “Threshold,” a repertory work for six women. Themes include intimacy, equity, conversation and negotiation.

“Hold My Hand” will have a single performance Saturday at the Fitzgerald at 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($17.50-26.50). Representatives from three gun violence prevention organizations, Protect Minnesota, Survivors Lead and Moms Demand Action, will be on hand to talk and provide information and support.

The picks

Tonight at the Loft: Big Ideas: Fairy Tales featuring Daniel Mallory Ortberg. Writer, author, podcaster, dispenser of advice as Slate’s “Dear Prudence,” Ortberg has a new book, “The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror” that takes classic tales and gives them a contemporary spin, making them even darker. NPR called Ortberg’s collection “evil, antic and modern.” 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall at Open Book. FMI and tickets ($15/10)

Starts tonight (Thursday, Nov. 8) at Target Center: Cirque du Soleil: “Corteo.” Born in a village near Quebec City, Cirque du Soleil is now the largest theatrical producer in the world. Currently touring North America, “Corteo” – Italian for cortege – has been seen by 8 million people in 64 cities in 19 countries. The story: A clown imagines his own funeral, a festive parade in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by angels. The cast includes 51 acrobats, musicians, singers and actors from all around the world. FMI, times and tickets (start at $45). Through Sunday, Nov. 11.

Saturday at MacPhail: “Masters of the Keyboard.” MacPhail launches its annual Spotlight Series with an evening of exquisite piano music. Co-hosted by series curator Mischa Santora and Classical MPR’s Steve Staruch, the program will include Bach’s A-major sonata for violin and keyboard (with Flying Forms’ Marc Levine on violin and Tami Morse on piano); Mozart’s D-major sonata for two pianos (Irina and Julia Elkins); tunes by Ellington and Monk, plus original compositions (Bryan Nichols); and an Arensky piano trio (Michael Sutton, Charles Asch and Irina Elkins). 8 p.m. in Antonello Hall. Pre-concert conversation at 7. FMI and tickets ($25/15).

Hot ticket: “The Midnight Hour” with Greg Grease

“The Midnight Hour” is the debut album from Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge. They began working on it in 2013, then put it aside to score Marvel’s “Luke Cage” series for Netflix. Released in June, the album is a lush, layered, sophisticated fusion of soul, jazz and hip hop. Their U.S. tour will stop at the Cedar on Dec. 2, with Muhammad on Fender guitar, Younge on keys, a jazz rhythm section and a full orchestra. Greg Grease of Astralblak (formerly ZuluZuluu) will open; he released his first solo record, “Down So Long,” last September. FMI and tickets ($22 advance, $25 day of show). Muhammad and Younge played a Tiny Desk concert in July, if you want to take a look/listen.

The Twin Cities are home to many nationally and internationally known arts-related organizations. These include the Playwrights’ Center, the American Crafts Council, Northern Clay Center, Springboard for the Arts, the Textile Center, Arts Midwest, the Loft Literary Center, Artspace, HighPoint Center for Printmaking – and Forecast Public Art, now in its 40th year.

Founded in 1978 by Jack Becker, the St. Paul-based nonprofit has a global reach. Forecast works with communities of all sizes to plan and develop public art projects of all kinds. It supports hundreds of artists each year with grants, professional development and technical assistance. It publishes the biannual Public Art Review, the world’s leading magazine on the subject.

Recently, and locally, Forecast worked with artists Greta McLain and Drew Peterson to involve students at Sheridan School in northeast Minneapolis in creating a vivid, community-driven mural for the building’s exterior. It led the project to commission HOTTEA’s massive yarn installation at the Mall of America in 2017. Forecast helped Hopkins enliven a three-block street that connects its downtown Mainstreet with the future LRT station on Excelsior Blvd. And it awarded grants to artists including Philip Espinoza Day, whose Lowrider Garage Project will teach Twin Cities youth the discipline of the Chican@/Latinx art car form; Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, whose “In the Camps:  Refugee Musical” will be given two public staged readings; Ifrah Mansour, whose “Ayayo’s Dream” will lead to an art installation on the West Bank; and Lacey Prpic Hedtke, who will research lost buildings of each Minneapolis neighborhood.

On Sunday (Nov. 11), Forecast will celebrate its anniversary with a party at Can Can Wonderland, the multipurpose arts space and indoor mini-golf course on the eastern edge of St. Paul’s Creative Energy Zone. There will be signature cocktails, appetizers, complimentary copies of the latest Public Art Review (a $30 value) and music by DJ Just Nine. Plus a behind-the-scenes tour of Can Can’s new expansion-in-progress, the artist-designed, 5,000-square-foot “Strange Paradise.” 4-7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($20-40). Proceeds support the Forecast Future Fund.

The picks

Tonight (Friday, Nov. 9) through Sunday: New Native Theatre: “Red Running Into Water.” Directed by Rhiana Yazzie, Blossom Johnson’s play deals explicitly with sexual assault as it tells of a young Navajo woman named Nana who refuses to be a statistic. 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Takoda Institute, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at All My Relations Gallery and 2 p.m. Sunday at Public Functionary. Pay-what-you-can at the door. Continues next week in other community venues. FMI.

Sunday at Macalester’s Mairs Concert Hall: Chopin Society: Shai Wosner. Born in Israel, Wosner moved to New York at 21 to study with Emanuel Ax at Juilliard. He’s that rare classical pianist who gets improvisation – the risk and thrill and freedom of it.  At this solo recital, he’ll present works by composers who captured the spirit of improvisation in their written music: Schubert, Chopin, Gershwin, and Ives. The selections he’ll play are on his latest recording, “Impromptu,” which Gramophone called “a veritable feast of spontaneity.” A renowned Schubert interpreter, Wosner will conclude with the Sonata in G Major. 3 p.m. in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center. FMI and tickets ($30).

Sunday on your teevee: Minnesota Original. In the fifth broadcast episode of MNO’s new season, TPT’s crew visit Al Milgrom at his home on his 95th birthday. May we all be as sharp, vital, and opinionated, but less messy, when we turn 95. This profile of the outspoken cinephile who founded our Film Society is filled with clips and history. Somali artist Ifrah Mansour performs her poem “I Am a Refugee” as images of colorful people fill the screen. It’s incredibly moving. When Devin Wildes, a young man with autism, is told the crew wants to know his story, he replies, “True story: Making art.” He’s a very good artist. He also loves to talk about his art – in front of hundreds of people. Jocephus Lomax, aka Music Man Joe, plays his horn on the streets of Minneapolis. “People say I lift them up a little,” he says. Indeed he does. Watch Sunday at 6 p.m. on TPT or view individual stories online.

Tuesday at the Westminster Town Hall Forum: Michael Beschloss: “Presidents of War; 1807 to Modern Times.” Beschloss is the award-winning author of nine books on presidential history, the presidential historian for NBC News and a contributor to “PBS NewsHour.” He’s written about so many U.S. presidents he may be able to give us some perspective on the current one. Noon at 1200 Marquette Ave. in Minneapolis. FMI. Free. Come early (11:30 a.m.) for a sing-along with Dan Chouinard, with Bill Chouinard on Westminster’s pipe organ.

Springboard for the Arts, the St. Paul-based, nationally important nonprofit that invests in artists as an asset for building stronger communities, economies and neighborhoods, has won a 2018 Bush Prize for Community Innovation, the Bush Foundation announced today.

Now in its sixth year, the Bush Prize is awarded annually in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. The prize honors organizations that are extraordinary in what they do and how they do it.

Springboard is one of six organizations being recognized for their successful community problem solving, and for working inclusively in partnership with others. Springboard will receive an unrestricted grant of $440,000 and promotional support and materials from Bush.

The other 2018 Bush Prize winners are Nexus Community Partners (Minneapolis/St. Paul; $495,000), Northwest Indian Community Development Center (Bemidji; $500,000), Mid-Dakota Education Cooperative (Minot, North Dakota; $288,000), Capitol Area Counseling Service (Pierre, South Dakota; $500,000) and Native American Community Board (Yankton, South Dakota; $182,000). The dollar amount of the grant is equal to 25 percent of the organization’s prior fiscal year budget, up to $500,000.

[cms_ad:x100]Previous arts-related Bush Prize winners include Juxtaposition Arts, Lanesboro Arts, Plains Art Museum in Fargo and South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in Sioux Falls.

Springboard connects artists to the resources they need to make a living and a life. It connects communities to artists who can lead creative problem solving. It freely shares its work to encourage widespread integration of culture into daily life.

Earlier this year, Springboard bought a former Ford dealership and parking lot on University Avenue in St. Paul. When the renovation is complete – the target is 2020 – the space will serve as Springboard’s permanent home.

The picks

Now at the Guthrie: “Noises Off.” We haven’t yet seen this (we want to!) and it’s getting widespread raves (from Twin Cities Geek: “So Nice I Saw it Twice”). Michael Frayn’s classic comedy is a backstage farce about an acting troupe rehearsing and performing something called “Nothing On.” Writing for the Twin Cities Arts Reader, Kit Bix notes that “sardines, plates and doors figure prominently … the eight doors open and close 360 times – and no, that’s not a typo.” The turntable stage caused some trouble on opening night but none since. Meredith McDonough directs a stellar cast (in alpha order): Remy Auberjonois, Raye Birk, Kimberly Chatterjee, JuCoby Johnson, Laura Jordan, Nathan Keepers, Kate Loprest, Sally Wingert, Johnny Wu. On the proscenium stage. FMI, times and tickets (start at $29).

Wednesday at Rondo Library: Known by Heart poetry performance. This occasional series (supported by Friends of the St. Paul Public Library and Springboard for the Arts, see above) aims to help people make sense of their lives, give voice to their perspectives and build community. Poetry can do that. Donte Collins, Margaret Hasse and Naomi Cohn will explore the question, “What does it mean to know something by heart?” The first youth poet laureate of St. Paul, Collins is a McKnight Artist Fellow and winner of the 2016 Most Promising Young Poet Award from the Academy of American Poets. Hasse is the author of five books of poems, including “Between Us.” Cohn is a poet, teaching artist, therapist and founder of Known by Heart. 6:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday at Galaxie Library in Apple Valley: Club Book: Deborah Blum. Science writers rock. They take research and results and turn them into books you stay up late to read. Blum specializes in the history of science, which sounds potentially even duller, and pens best-sellers. One reviewer described “The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York” as “a vicious, page-turning story that reads more like Raymond Chandler than Madam Curie.” Blum’s latest, “The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century,” tells of the unsung heroes who worked to keep the food we eat from killing us. 7 p.m. Free. FMI. If you can’t make it to the live event, you can hear a podcast later.

The Walker Art Center has named its third female executive director in a row. Mary Ceruti, who currently leads SculptureCenter, a multidisciplinary organization in Long Island City, New York, will follow Olga Viso, who followed Kathy Halbreich.

Both Viso and Halbreich completed large capital campaigns and major transformations to the Walker’s 1971 red brick Barnes building and campus. Ceruti, who will start in late January, comes to a Walker that has Halbreich’s gleaming, angular Herzog & de Meuron expansion and Viso’s transformation of the Sculpture Garden and the Walker’s grounds, with the unifying HGA-designed entry pavilion the crowning touch. Building- and grounds-wise, the Walker seems good to go for the next several years.

Ceruti’s hiring comes almost a year to the day when Viso announced that she would step down. Viso’s final months were shadowed by the “Scaffold” controversy: the installation, public outcry over and removal of a gallows-like sculpture in the Sculpture Garden that referenced the hangings of 38 Dakota men in Mankato in 1862. Between Viso’s departure and now, an “executive office” of four administrators ran things. After the glare of an unfavorable spotlight – the “Scaffold” controversy made international headlines – Walker news settled back down into previews, reviews and speculation over who the next ED would be.

Ceruti has led SculptureCenter for nearly 20 years. Before then, she was program director for Capp Street Project in San Francisco. She began her career at Philadelphia Museum of Art. She’s known for supporting emerging artists, attracting and developing talent, and understanding artists’ needs. Whitney Museum director Adam Weinberg describes her as “one of the most respected and well-liked arts leaders in New York … admired by the artists and her staff for her courage, kindness and integrity.”

[cms_ad:x100]At SculptureCenter, Ceruti has overseen all aspects of program, planning, and organizational development, spearheaded two major building projects, organized dozens of group exhibitions of contemporary art, and curated special projects and commissions by over 50 international artists. In 2013, she co-curated the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Ceruti said in a statement, “I am honored to be selected as the next director of this great institution and believe it is uniquely positioned to create new models for how museums work with artists and diverse constituencies. … SculptureCenter and the Walker share a commitment to art and artists as catalysts in contemporary culture and both are working internationally to identify the art and artists that most creatively and urgently express the concerns, issues and ideas of our time.”

Ceruti will join a cohort of female museum directors in the Twin Cities that also includes (in alphabetical order) Alison Brown at the Science Museum, Kaywin Feldman at Mia, Dianne Krizan at the Children’s Museum, Kristin Makholm at the M, Cedar Imoden Phillips at the Hennepin History Museum and Denise Young at the Bell. And Lyndel King at the Weisman, who announced in June that she will step down – but not until June 2020, giving her time to raise funds for her successor.

Born at the Minnesota Opera in 2011, “Silent Night” came home last weekend for the first time in seven years. It was a triumphant return. On opening night – the night before Armistice Day, though it was already Armistice Day in Europe by then – a color guard held the American flag while Courtney Lewis led the Minnesota Opera orchestra in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Then the house lights went down, the audience settled into their seats, the stage lights came on and war was declared.

We spent the next two hours in a Berlin opera house, in bunkers, in No Man’s Land and at a surreal party given by the last crown prince of the German Empire. Men fought, died and were buried. Snow fell. Day turned into night turned into day. It was thrilling, terribly sad and vividly cinematic, with bayonets-flashing, bombs-exploding battle scenes and projections that added depth and realism. Eric Simonson’s staging was superb. The fight scenes (fight director: Douglas Scholz-Carlson) looked shockingly real.

A large revolving platform on the stage took us from one location to another as the story was told of an impromptu Christmas Eve ceasefire between some Allied and German soldiers during World War I. For a few hours, the men experienced peace, camaraderie and humanity. The next day, the fighting resumed.

[cms_ad:x100]“Silent Night” was written by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who were brought together by Dale Johnson, then the opera’s artistic director (now its creative adviser). This was the first time Puts and Campbell had worked as a team. Puts had never written an opera before. Campbell based his libretto on the screenplay for the film “Joyeux Noël.” The world premiere played to standing-room houses at the Ordway.

It’s not unusual for a new opera to find success in its hometown, then fade away. Not so “Silent Night.” In April 2012, it won the Pulitzer Prize for music. In December 2013, a performance recorded in 2011 was broadcast on PBS. It has since had several productions across the U.S., in Montreal, at the Wexford Festival in Ireland and the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York. More are scheduled for 2019.

Twenty-first-century opera can be daunting, music-wise. There’s no “O mio babbino caro” in contemporary opera, no “Nessun dorma” or “Habanera.” You won’t leave “Silent Night” humming any tunes, but you will feel the power of the music. Puts’ score is sensuous, poignant and anguished. It can be jarringly dissonant. At times, the strings seem to teeter on a brink, then glide downward to oblivion.

In opera, the focus is often on the music. But operas don’t happen without librettos, and librettos (usually) come first. In Campbell’s libretto for “Silent Night,” the story is clearly drawn and beautifully paced. The characters have their own personalities. And they sing in three languages: the Scots in English (with a Scottish brogue); the Germans in German; the French in French.

In the Ordway’s production, soprano Karen Wolverton reprises her role as the opera singer Anna Sørenson. Miles Mykannen is her lover, Nikolaus Sprink, a tenor whose voice and actions spark the truce. Edward Parks is the cultured French Lt. Audebert, Andrew Wilkowske (also returning) his aide-de-camp Ponchel. He’s a breath of fresh air. People ask him for a haircut when they don’t need one. Troy Cook is Father Palmer, a Scottish priest helpless to prevent young Jonathan Dale (Christian Sanders) from enlisting and later from channeling his grief into cold-hearted vengeance. Each stands out as memorable, believable and fully human.

Two hours of dread, death, and battle would not make an inviting night at the opera. Campbell’s libretto also contains little fireflies of humor, brief flashes that make it OK to smile or laugh. And they always seem to come at the right time.

“Silent Night” is being hailed as a modern classic. We can’t imagine a better production than the one at the Ordway right now, through Nov. 18. Three performances remain: Thursday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. FMI and tickets (start at $25).

The picks

Tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 14) at the Parkway: Gabriel Kahane. We first saw singer/songwriter Kahane at the Southern in 2011, where he sang about a sandwich relish and put music to a poem by Galway Kinnell. He was enchanting, and we’ve tried to catch him ever since when he’s come through town. Kahane is touring behind his new album, “The Book of Travelers,” and here’s the story behind it: The day after the 2016 presidential election, he boarded a train at Penn Station and spent two weeks traveling nearly 9,000 miles around the continental U.S. with no phone or internet, talking to dozens of strangers, recording his conversations from memory in a diary. Kahane calls the album “a plea for empathy.” Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8. FMI and tickets ($22/28).

Friday and Saturday at the O’Shaughnessy: Karen L. Charles Threads Dance Project: “In the Margins.” Charles has been dancing since she was 5 years old, but she didn’t realize her dream – starting her own dance company – until 2011, when she founded Threads. Its mission is “to examine, expose and celebrate the threads that connect us.” Charles believes that dance can improve humanity and make the world a better place. “In the Margins” reaches out to people who are often marginalized: the deaf/hard of hearing and women. The first half, “To Hear Like Me” incorporates sign language and projections, some with song lyrics. Guest artist Canae Weiss is deaf. The second half, “Femthology,” features works about women from the Threads repertory. 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($30-5). Here’s more about Charles, the company and the program.

Sunday at Plymouth Congregational Church: “King David.” Organist-choirmaster at Plymouth and founder of VocalEssence Philip Brunelle is celebrating his 50th year at the progressive Minneapolis church like it’s 1999, with one festive event after another. On Sunday, Brunelle will lead the Plymouth Choir and St. Mark’s Cathedral Choir, soloists, actors and celebrity narrators in a performance of Arthur Honegger’s rarely-heard symphonic poem “King David.” With 89 voices, a 16-piece orchestra, and narrators who will bring it – Jearlyn Steele, Don Shelby and Bradley Greenwald – this will be an afternoon to remember. The subject is biblical; the music is a blend of Middle Eastern influences, jazz, Baroque styles and Gregorian chant. 2 p.m. Free, with freewill donations accepted.

The Sound Unseen films-on-music festival is under way, and as always, it covers various genres, extremes, and intersections of music and culture. Kudos to Jim Brunzell and Rich Gill for keeping this niche party humming.

“Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes,” which screens on Sunday afternoon, is a must-see if you love John Coltrane … or Kendrick Lamar. If you believe Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff were the greatest record producers of all time … or you keep close track of the very interesting young hip-hop producer Terrace Martin. And especially if you think jazz is dead.

As Martin says in the film, “Blue Note is the past, present and the future. It’s always doing something different. It’s always turning on the next generation to something that could change their life.”

Swiss filmmaker Sophie Huber’s feature-length documentary chronicles the birth, development, near death and phoenix-like rise of the most important label in the history of jazz. Let’s just say in the history of American music, because jazz is American music. This tale hasn’t been told since German filmmaker Julian Benedikt’s Peabody-winning “Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz” in 1997, and a lot has happened in the 20 years since.

[cms_ad:x100]Founded in 1939 by friends and passionate jazz fans Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jews fleeing the Nazis, Blue Note was never about signing stars, making money or pumping out hit records. Best-sellers were accidents. Blue Note was about freedom: creative freedom, freedom of expression, freedom for the artists to reflect their experience, respond to their times (including the civil rights movement), push their own boundaries and speak their truth.

That’s what Lion and Wolff wanted to hear. They gave us John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Art Blakey, and the list goes on and on – nearly 1,000 records, many iconic, all lovingly recorded and produced, all documented in notebooks by Lion and photographs by Wolff.

Also in the studio, contributing one track, were jazz legends Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Shorter first recorded with Blue Note in 1959; Hancock signed on in 1961. Huber shows us the label’s past, present and future, living and breathing and making music together.

With access to all things Blue Note, Huber has made a satisfying, illuminating film that squeezes 80 years of history and music into just under 90 minutes. New and archival interviews, performance footage, photographs, studio banter, and those instantly recognizable album covers come together in a cohesive whole with a stellar soundtrack.

The long, incredibly fruitful, warm and respectful collaboration between two white German Jewish jazz afficionados and the musicians they signed and recorded, who were almost all African-Americans, stands in sharp contrast to the xenophobia and racism that have always plagued us and are on the rise today. From the start, Blue Note made sure black artists were heard. That continues today, with commitment and without question.

What’s clear from the film is that jazz is very much alive, and it stays alive by changing while staying rooted in its own deep, rich history. Jazz is innovator, borrower and lender. It makes new music. It takes Disney tunes, Broadway hits and songs by Radiohead and welcomes them into the jazz fold. It shares licks, sensibilities and beats with hip-hop. Kendrick Lamar’s platinum-selling, Grammy-winning “To Pimp a Butterfly” is filled with jazz influences and features jazz musicians (Glasper, Akinmusire). Terrace Martin describes Lamar as “a jazz musician by default. It’s in his DNA.”

In one of our favorite stories from “Beyond the Notes,” Bruce Lundvall (Blue Note’s CEO from 1984-2010) tells of hearing about a London-based jazz/hip-hop fusion group that wanted to sample Herbie Hancock’s 1995 Blue Note release “Cantaloupe Island.” When they asked Lundvall, “Are you going to stop us?” Lundvall replied, “No, you can sample the entire Blue Note catalog. Let’s make an album.”

But at Blue Note, it’s still about freedom. Norah Jones is with the label today because she can record what she pleases. So can José James. Born and raised in Minneapolis, now based in New York, James signed with Blue Note in 2012, soon after Don Was became president. (Was is every bit as visionary as Lion, Wolff and Lundvall were.) James has since released four dizzyingly diverse albums on the label; his latest, “Lean on Me,” is a heartfelt homage to soul man Bill Withers. James isn’t featured in the documentary, but he’s another example of how Blue Note stays in the black.

[cms_ad:x101]“Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” screens just once during Sound Unseen: on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. at the Trylon. FMI and tickets ($12/14). This will be its Minnesota premiere. Here’s hoping it returns later for longer.

When it rains, it pours. Another documentary about Blue Note is following closely behind Huber’s. Wim Wenders was executive producer of Eric Friedler’s “It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story,” which is currently making the festival rounds. We’d like to see that, too. Landmark? MSP Film Society?

In the 1950s, the Twin Cities powers that be plowed through the African-American neighborhood of Rondo in St. Paul, making way for the I-94 freeway and a lasting scar of displacement and legacy of injustice. But that is not the only story of Rondo, and Sunday at Penumbra Theater, the sold-out “Rondo Family Reunion: Verse and Vision” event will attempt to fill in the gaps.

Produced and organized by Minnesota poets Hawona Sullivan Janzen and Clarence White and photographer Chris Scott, the project will shine a light on the lesser-known history of Rondo via readings and performances by Seitu Jones, T. Mychael Rambo, Robin Hickman, Lauren Williams and Anika Bowie, and words from St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III.

Janzen, a historian and curator of the art gallery at U Rock in Minneapolis, spoke with MinnPost about the project.

MinnPost: Where did the inspiration for “Rondo Family Reunion” come from?

Hawona Sullivan Janzen: The project started in 2016. Springboard for the Arts partnered with the Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, which is the neighborhood [association] that serves the Rondo community, to invite artists of African-American descent to participate in a series of free workshops about doing community-based art projects. Everyone who participated was eligible to apply for this special grant fund that they had, to do projects on Rondo.

So Clarence White, Chris Scott and I met in that program. We knew each other from some other ways, but we didn’t know we had these Rondo connections. So at Rondo Days, Clarence and I did this crazy project where people would come and sit and talk with us and we would compose a poem for them in about an hour. We learned about all these people in the community, and we learned that we couldn’t write a poem for every single person in the community, so we did what we could on that day and had this seed of ‘Maybe we should do something else again.’

Thank god the Center For Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota has this amazing grant that’s funded by the McKnight Foundation that’s specifically for artists of color to do work in their own communities. So Chris, Clarence and I put together a proposal, and that’s how the “Rondo Family Reunion” got funding and got started.

MP: What provided the poetry and photography focus?

HJ: Clarence and I had this booth at Rondo Days and this idea to write these poems, but in between the time of when we submitted the proposal and when Rondo Days came, Philando Castile was killed.

He has strong connections in the neighborhood, and he went to Central High. … The Rondo Days festival is very much about people who have connections to the community coming back on that day and seeing each other again and connecting, but also commemorating the loss that the community suffered when the people’s homes were taken and the freeway came through.

But that day, on everybody’s mind was Philando. So many people that sat down in our chairs were talking about that, so I, as a person with a background in public relations, noticed how many stories there were in the news about him and the community, and while I was relieved that his story wasn’t marginalized — you know, the stories talking about him giving food to kids who didn’t have lunch money and all these things — but I just kept thinking, ‘Why is it that the only time the media comes to talk about us is when we are suffering from grief and experiencing loss?’

The reason I thought the project was great was because I thought, ‘Here’s a chance to share the stories of our community and the richness of it, not just when someone has died or in the moment when we’ve just experienced some painful injustice.’

MP: There’s more to the story of the neighborhood.

HJ: Absolutely. The contemporary stories are what are really important to me. I was trained as a historian, so I often ponder the role that our history plays in who we are and who we are becoming as a people. There are people in Rondo who know nothing of the history of that land, and then there are people there who don’t feel like they can ever move beyond the history of what happened on that land. But they’re all living there together and walking around those spaces together, and they all have these stories of which that place is a part of.

MP: How much does Philando’s memory have to do with the project?

HJ: There is a poem in the project that was written because a woman sat down in the chair who was completely unrelated to the community, and she talked about how the loss of Philando and people coming together to try to do something about the grief the community was feeling had changed her feelings about this kind of thing. She got up at 4 in the morning and wanted to do something, anything, for Valerie Castile and her family, so she worked with some friends to create a mandala outside the church where his funeral was going to be.

What that raised in me was that people are hungry for a chance to do something, to engage in a kind of way, and then I sat with that for a minute and I thought, ‘So am I.’ I’m a poet, I’m not a politician, and I pick up my pen or I type it out on my typewriter when I’m struggling with something, and I was really conflicted because I thought, ‘Is that enough? People are dying, and it seems like the only thing I can do is pick up my pen.’

So I was thinking about that, and also, ‘Who’s next? Whose story is going to be lifted up next?,’ and praying that that was not going to be a story that came out of loss of another life. So the project, for me, was about lifting up these amazing stories of our community and not waiting for loss to make that happen. I guess it felt like it was some sort of act of rebellion to simply write stories about people that didn’t have to be because they had done something extraordinary. Because in the context of living in America with all of the things that we encounter — trying to live your best life, to have friends, to celebrate, to come together, to cook, to have kids, to walk your dog — sometimes those acts are tremendous acts of courage, yet we just see them as people not really connecting to the crisis at hand.

MP: How did everyday people inform the project?

HJ: For me, it was about both lifting up and illuminating the stories of old, but also bringing people back to the community who had grown up there and for a variety of reasons had left. To both see the new Rondo, but to claim their space in the legacy of this community both past and present.

MP: How do you impart that with the “Rondo Family Reunion”?

HJ: It’s a three-part project. For part one, we’ve chosen a few of the poems and images from the project and invited people who have connections to the community to read it on stage. And then there will be a slide show of some of the historic images that Chris Scott has gotten when she went to meet with people, when she went to talk with people about their families, and the new images she’s captured, as well.

This summer, excerpts from the poems and photos that Chris has taken will become a public art lawn sign project. We’ll invite people in the neighborhood to host a lawn sign this summer; there’ll be 21 of them, with each one of them telling someone’s story. We’ll even have these little real estate boxes that will tell you all about the project and a map that tells you where all the lawns are so that you can walk all around the neighborhood and see all 21 stories.

Then during the week of Rondo Days, we’ll have a book release where we’ll give away free copies of the chapbook that we’ll publish with the poems and photos in it. So this is really the beginning of the three activities that we’re hoping will help to carry the stories of the community forward.    

It’s a good year for Minneapolis-based literary publishers Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions and Coffee House Press.

Two of the finalists for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, “Milkman” by Anna Burns and “Everything Under” by Daisy Johnson, were Graywolf books. “Milkman” won. Its pub date has been pushed up to Dec. 4.

Graywolf, Milkweed and Coffee House took three out of 10 finalist slots on the National Book Awards poetry longlist. On Wednesday, Justin Phillip Reed’s “Indecency,” published by Coffee House, won. The book is available now.

When the Loft holds its inaugural Wordplay book festival in May, we expect some showing off from all three of our nationally known literary presses.

MNO takes a break

On Sunday evening, TPT’s “Minnesota Original” will wrap the first part of its ninth broadcast season about Minnesota arts and artists. Four stories will profile Star Tribune photographer Carlos Gonzales, painter Alison Price, multimedia artist Sieng Lee and Brownbody, a performing arts company that explores black history on ice.

Covering sports, politics and daily life, Gonzales has captured the Twins and the Wolves, the 2008 Republican national convention and a rainbow in the sky over Paisley Park after Prince’s death. “Every time I look at an image, I see how it could be better,” he says. Price finds inspiration for her vivid paintings of trees and nature in the Mississippi Valley gorge, which she visits once or twice each week. She sees trees as witnesses to all the cultures, languages, and traditions that have been brought to the Twin Cities.

[cms_ad:x100]Lee came with his family to the United States at age 3, from a refugee camp in Thailand. His complex, symbolic works explore what it means to be Hmong becoming American. As a black competitive figure skater in a predominantly white sport, Deneane Richburg “felt I had to check my blackness at the door.” Wanting to flip the script, she founded Brownbody, a company that combines figure skating with modern dance and theater to explore topics like Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow. In her multilayered performances, everyone is black.

In a “Game of Thrones”-worthy move, MNO will return with six more new episodes – the second half of season nine – sometime next spring. Meanwhile, you can watch everything online anytime, including stories that haven’t yet aired. That’s TPT’s new tack, and we like it. It’s kind of like going to Spotify or Apple Music and listening to just the songs you want to hear, or wandering around and making new discoveries.

The picks

Tonight (Friday, Nov. 16) at Raymond Avenue Gallery: Opening night for the 5th Annual Yunomi Invitational. The show keeps growing but the gallery stays the same size, which makes for an interesting crowd scene of makers, collectors and fans. Yunomi are clay or porcelain cups without handles, traditionally used for tea and, in Minnesota, wine and spirits. A single yunomi can also be the gateway drug to a lifelong pottery obsession, so you’ve been warned. Seven new potters have been invited this year, making 36 in all, for a grand total of 820 yunomi to choose from. 6-8 p.m. The show will stay up through Dec. 22. 761 Raymond Ave. at University, St. Paul. Free.

Friday through Sunday: The Rose Ensemble: “Empire, Religion, War, Peace: Music from Europe’s 30-Year Conflict, 1618-1648.” In its final season, the ambitious Rose presents an all new program that explores the calamitous effects of the Thirty Years’ War, in which eight million lives were lost. Combining music for voices and instruments by 17th-century composers with readings from a firsthand account of the war, developed in collaboration with the Dark Horse Consort, the performance will feature Bruce Jacobs on organ and the Augsburg Choir. 8 p.m. Friday at University Lutheran Church of Hope (Minneapolis), 8 p.m. Saturday at Church of St. Albert the Great (Minneapolis), and 3 p.m. Sunday at Church of the Assumption (St. Paul). FMI and tickets ($38-10).

[cms_ad:x101]Monday at the Guthrie: Happening: Amber Sanctuary. What does “sanctuary” even mean anymore? When synagogues, churches, bars, outdoor concerts and schools can be scenes of mass shootings, where can we go to feel safe? Maybe the Guthrie’s Level 9, the amber-hued space on the ninth floor, with windows looking out and down over the river. To date, the Guthrie’s “happenings” – periodic and timely events in response to the world around us – have been performances and/or conversations. This will be loose and unstructured, except for an origami activity and a Mourner’s Kaddish at the end of the day. Stop in anytime for quiet reflection. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Artscape will return on Nov. 27. Happy Thanksgiving!

Best was born in Minneapolis in 1884. As a child, she saw a postcard of an alpine lake that inspired her to explore the mountains for herself. In a 1924 article, she recalled that postcard when she promoted “visual education,” a teaching system that brought photographs and moving pictures into Minnesota classrooms for the first time. She was also the first to advocate for physical education in Minnesota schools. She spoke to local students and adult audiences alike, encouraging an appreciation of nature through her wilderness films and hand-colored slides.

Best studied in the United States and abroad and became a medical doctor. Together with her husband, Dr. Robert Best, she ran a private hospital in Minneapolis known for its charitable work with Native American children. The couple’s home, “Sundance Lodge,” on Lake Harriet Boulevard, was a meeting place for scientists, poets, and mountain enthusiasts.

[cms_ad:x100]Cora spent nine summers in Yellowstone National Park, then turned her attention to Canada. In 1922, she became the first female section head of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC). At the time, women were not seen as capable mountaineers. Men often removed women’s names from expedition lists and rarely allowed them to lead on difficult routes. One 1920 newspaper even claimed that female climbers should be disciplined for wearing mountaineering pants in public.

Best chaired club meetings in 1923 and 1924 at the Curtis Hotel in Minneapolis. The group offered women a new freedom to travel and take on athletic challenges that were previously reserved for men. Some members went on to achieve first ascents while others took part in scientific research, such as glacial retreat studies. Best’s climbing partner and close friend, Audrey Shippam, was an active member, and the two chased adventure together for more than a decade.

Records show that Best may have been the first woman to be granted a full guiding license for all U.S. and Canadian national parks. She and Shippam joined the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, a group that included royalty, writers, and Hollywood stars. They became the first to paddle Big Bend, a two-hundred-mile stretch of white water on the Columbia River in Canada.

Best’s determination and personality made for entertaining headlines. Newspapers detailed her time in the Arctic, where she drove dog sleds and hunted whales with the Aleut. In Alberta, she hunted big horn sheep and collected rare fossils. She spoke of a hunting trip through Manchuria, where she and Shippam fought “bandits” at gunpoint. They made their escape from the war-torn region disguised as teenaged boys.

Best had a dozen first ascents in Canada, broke climbing records in Japan, and was given lifetime memberships in the American, Canadian, and Swiss Alpine Clubs. In 1924, she became the first woman to guide her own party through the notorious “Death Trap” over the glaciers that straddle the Continental Divide near Lake Louise. That year, she stood on the peak of Mount Sir Donald and completed a second ascent of the dangerous Mount Sir Douglas Haig.

Best was the first woman to guide on Mount Odaray, and she and Shippam scored the first female ascents of Mount Hungabee, a route with a 4,000-foot sheer drop along its final approach. While working with the famous mountaineer Conrad Kain, they recorded first ascents of Mount Iconoclast (“The Smasher”) and several other peaks in southeastern British Columbia.

One of the biggest alpine challenges of the 1920s was Mount Robson, “The Great White Fright” (12,972 feet). Best attended the 1924 ACC camp with her sights set on being the first woman to summit the heavily glaciated peak. Her attempt in August was cut short by bad weather, and Canadian Phyllis Munday summited days later. Undaunted, Best returned in September and made the ascent in record time, hauling moving picture cameras to make the first films of the mountain along the way.

In the late 1920s, Best developed a lung infection while climbing in Switzerland. She died in her Minneapolis home on November 19, 1930.

For more information on this topic, check out the original entry on MNopedia.

“A look back on Ontario Parks’ outhouses,” Parks Blog

On the 125th anniversary of Ontario Parks, architect Matthew Harvey offers background you didn’t know you wanted on the various outhouses that populate the park system. Harvey shares how the park architecture we see today is based on the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps designs (created as a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal), but there’s always room for improvisation: “Designing outhouses is like playing jazz standards. You have a basic structure and you follow it, but it’s also always changing to adjust to the conditions.” — Corey Anderson, creative director

“Covering the Koreas,” Columbia Journalism Review

Tammy Kim writes about her work covering North and South Korea since May of this year. She has taken the task of trying to write about these issues in a way that doesn’t center on the interests of the U.S., and in this piece she shows the ways that has influenced what gets covered. — Jonathan Stegall, user experience engineer

“The best way to save people from suicide,” HuffPost Highline

Warning: This is not light reading for your holiday weekend. This piece is dark. But it is truly an incredibly thoughtful — and well-reported — piece, one that explores a public health crisis that affects nearly everyone: suicide. The writers track the depressive spiral of a 29-year-old woman in what’s a crucial read for a better understanding of the epidemic on behalf of both patients and health-care workers. “The fundamental mystery of suicide has long made it an object of fear and contempt within the medical establishment,” they write. “Even now, most mental health professionals have no idea what to do when a suicidal person walks through their door.” — Jessica Lee, local government reporter

“Once upon a time, your Thanksgiving turkey took a very long walk to get to your table,” The Washington Post

As you prepare to start the annual Turkey Trot this year, keep this in mind. According to this Washington Post piece by Tim Carman, you are honoring not so much the holiday as the long-ago, pre-refrigeration days of the march of turkeys from farm to butcher. — Peter Callaghan, state government reporter

“La Prensa” is the first state-wide Spanish-language and bilingual newspaper in Minnesota dedicated to informing and representing issues pertinent to the Latinx and Chicanx community.

Every ten years, the United States government conducts a census to learn about the demographics of the nation’s population. In Minnesota in 1990, the Latinx and Chicanx population was changing rapidly on pace with other parts of the country. Due to increased violence and economic disparities in Mexico, Central America, and South America, thousands of people were migrating to the United States in search of more stable living conditions. In Minnesota, industries like agriculture, meat packing, education, and healthcare recruited both low-wage laborers and the professional class. In order to document the new population in Minnesota, the government sought out volunteers from these communities to help conduct the 1990 census.

One volunteer to help was Mario Duarte. He had moved from El Salvador in 1982 with his family in order to flee the civil war. As a census volunteer, Duarte traveled around the state of Minnesota meeting different Latinx and Chicanx families. He noticed that there was no easy way for them to communicate across the state with each other. Cell phones did not yet exist, and the internet was available only to a few individuals. Duarte decided that the best way to keep the community informed about current events, politics, education, and immigration was to create a bilingual newspaper.

At the time, there were other newspapers for communities of color in Minnesota, such as the “Asian American Press” and the “Spokesmen Recorder.” Duarte decided it was important for Latinxs and Chicanxs to have a voice also. In 1991, he started La Prensa, the first Spanish-language newspaper in the state. Since many second and third generations of Latinx and Chicanx people, most of them living in the Twin Cities did not speak Spanish, let alone read it, Duarte decided to make the newspaper bilingual in order to reach more people.

[cms_ad:x100]Under Duarte’s tenure as editor, “La Prensa” was a weekly publication. When the newspaper was first established, he was its only employee. He gathered the stories, completed the layout, and delivered the newspapers to local businesses, schools, and community centers in the Twin Cities. Duarte also wanted to ensure that the rural Latinx community had access to the newspaper. He mailed out large bundles to individual towns each week; from there, they were distributed to other communities.

After working as La Prensa’s lead editor for over a decade, Duarte turned the newspaper over to his daughter, Lorena. She originally started working at the newspaper as a writer and served as lead editor between 2001 and 2006, when she returned to Minnesota after graduating from Harvard University.

Lorena Duarte was also born in El Salvador and moved with her father to the West Side of St. Paul in the late 1980s. While she was growing up, there were not many Central Americans living in Minnesota. As a result, Lorena became integrated into the dominant Chicanx and Mexican community. Her ability to understand the complexity and differences among the Latinx community resulted in La Prensa covering a wide variety of stories, ensuring all ethnic groups were represented.

In 2006, the Duartes sold the newspaper to El Cine Latino Communications Networks, which later sold it to Latino Communications Network. In 2018, although La Prensa remains a weekly publication, it is distributed inside another Spanish-language newspaper, “Vida y Sabor.” The newspaper serves as an important place for local businesses to advertise, for community members to write editorial pieces, and for readers to learn about current events. Since “La Prensa” is also available online, its circulation now extends beyond Minnesota.

Editor’s note: Words in Spanish are gendered; Latinas are the female equivalents of Latinos. The same is true of Chicanas and Chicanos. For the sake of inclusion, this article uses the terms Latinx(s) and Chicanx(s) and to refer to men and women at the same time.

For more information on this topic, check out the original entry on MNopedia.

Like many young people from Greater Minnesota, Andrea Duarte never planned on going back to her hometown after finishing college.

“To be honest,” she said, “I never really thought about going back to Worthington. In my mind my plans were always something like, ‘Stay in St. Paul, the state capital — or go off to Washington, D.C.’ That’s where you go if you want to do important things.”

But then Duarte had a revelation. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Worthington, a southern Minnesota agricultural hub of some 13,000, she knew all too well that even though the majority of her town’s residents now look just like her and her family, power still rests in the hands of the white minority. In Worthington, Duarte said, people of color (or POCs, a term she prefers) are workers, not leaders.

For most of her childhood and early young adulthood, Duarte just accepted that that was the way things worked in Worthington. Then, while completing her degree in political science at St. Catherine University, Duarte slowly began to see things in a different light: There is plenty of important work that could be done in her hometown.

[cms_ad:x100]“Growing up, I knew I was Latina, I knew my parents were Mexican immigrants, but I never really settled in my own head what that meant to us living in a place like Worthington,” Duarte said. Thanks to her supportive parents, she’d had time to be a leader in her school, taking advanced classes, participating in clubs and activities and even holding the title of class president, but Duarte always felt like she was just a little different.

“I was always one of few Latinos or students of color in most of my advanced classes or extra-curricular activities,” she said. “I knew that only a few students of color usually make it out of Worthington to go on to college. I was one of them, but I didn’t really start thinking about why that was until I left.”

A storyteller is born

Duarte started St. Kate’s planning to major in social work. It seemed like a practical degree for a young woman interested in helping others. Her parents, who hadn’t gone to college themselves, supported this decision. Then, during an introductory social work class, Duarte learned about public policy and its impact on the lives of everyday people.

“For some reason, that discussion got me really excited,” she said with a laugh. She remembers her reaction, her voice rising in mock excitement: “I was like, ‘What are policies? How can they help or hurt immigrants? How do we make or change them?’ How can I get involved?”

During her summer before her sophomore year, Duarte went on a trip to Washington, D.C., led by Network, a social justice lobbying organization run by Sister Simone Campbell of the Catholic activist group Nuns on the Bus. The group, run by Catholic sisters emphasizing the church’s commitment to social justice, was lobbying U.S. senators in support of an immigration bill. Duarte and other students from across the nation went along.

On the Network trip, Duarte said, “I learned how to lobby, learned how to network, I learned the importance of storytelling.” She and her fellow students accompanied Campbell while she made the rounds in Washington. On those lobbying visits, the students learned how the simple act of telling the story of individuals negatively impacted by a law or policy could have the power to change the minds of lawmakers at the highest levels of government.

Duarte thought about her family and friends back in Worthington and how they struggled to get ahead. Anti-immigration laws or policies like the ones proposed by President Donald Trump directly impacted them, and because many feared that they could lose their jobs or be deported if they spoke up, they generally kept their heads down. Duarte wanted to come up with a way to tell her neighbors’ stories so that decision-makers would see that they are hard-working people who are key contributors to the livelihood of the state.

She came up with the idea to create “Stories From Unheard Voices,” a collection of immigration stories from Worthington residents. With the help of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Worthington and the Nobles County Integration Collaborative, Duarte identified 15 Latinos, all immigrants to the community, and set out to record their stories.

[cms_ad:x101]Seeking financial support for her project, Duarte applied for and was awarded a $16,500 Jay and Rose Phillips scholarship, targeted for private college students who intend to devote a portion of their lives to community service.

“The beginning of the idea [for Stories From Unheard Voices] was to elevate these voices from southwest Minnesota that are barely heard at the Capitol,” Duarte explained. “I wanted to bring their stories to our representatives and say, ‘This is what’s happening in Worthington and this is what you need to know. There are real people, families who are suffering from decisions that happen at different levels.’”

Since then, the project has morphed. Duarte has expanded “Stories From Unheard Voices” into an oral history of immigrants in her region. She’s created a website featuring the immigrant stories and photos, and she hoping to eventually turn the finished project into a book.

“I want community members to know that Latinx immigrants in Minnesota give a lot to the community in terms of economic growth,” Duarte said, “but I also wanted to ask, ‘What is the community doing for these immigrants that will help them prosper, will help their children continue on to better their lives?’”

Five of the stories are complete and up on the site, with more to come in the next weeks. In the future, Duarte plans to interview recent immigrants from other parts of the world like Africa and Asia, and to expand her project, recruiting other young people to collect immigrant stories to add to the project, showing how immigration is a central experience of American life.

“When I started this project, my main goal was to say to the people I interviewed, ‘You’re important and here’s a picture of you. Here’s your story,’” Duarte said. “Now, my ultimate goal would be for the City of Worthington to keep up this website and encourage people from all over the region to read these stories. It is an important part of our history.”

Aida Simon, bilingual program aide for the Nobles County Integration Collaborative, a Worthington School District program focused on supporting students from diverse backgrounds, has known Duarte since she was a young student involved in after-school programs. Simon is proud of her for coming up with this project, because, she said, Duarte could just as easily forgotten Worthington and its residents the minute she left town for the city.

“Andrea didn’t forget where she came from, her roots,” Simon said. That connection, that remembrance of story, is important, especially for recent immigrants.

“Each immigrant has their own story about why they left their home to make a new home here,” she said. “Most of the narratives we hear are still about the dominant culture,” so the fact that Duarte is gathering stories from unheard voices, from people who live on the margins of civic life in her hometown, is significant: “I have no words to describe how her project touched me and a lot of other people in the community so deeply.”

Shifting demographics

Mark Blegen, dean of health sciences at the University of St. Catherine, grew up in Worthington, and graduated high school there in 1990. The “white, Scandinavian, small town” Worthington that he knew as a kid bears little resemblance to the Worthington of today.

“My graduating class was about 160-170 kids,” Blegen said. “There was one African-American student and a handful of students that had come over from Laos with their parents. Otherwise, everyone else was white.”

Today, of Worthington High School’s 823 students, 64 percent are from minority groups. This change in the makeup of the school is also reflected in the makeup of the town, where over half of citizens are non-white.

The demographic change can be credited in large part to an influx of workers at Worthington’s major employer, the pork processing plant JBS, which offers some 2,400 jobs. Duarte’s parents were drawn to Worthington for work at JBS, though they’ve also moved around the region for jobs at other processing facilities.

While white residents used to make up the majority of employees at plants like JBS when Blegen was growing up, many have moved away from processing jobs. The workers who took their place come from all over the world.

“Worthington is such a different place from what it was when I grew up there,” Blegen said. When he learned that Duarte, a promising new student at St. Kate’s, grew up in his hometown, Blegen sent her an email. “Not many students from Worthington come to St. Kate’s,” Blegen said. “I reached out to her as a fellow Worthington Trojan.”

Blegen loved meeting Duarte and hearing her stories about growing up in a Worthington that looked vastly different from the town he knew. But he soon learned that some things about the town hadn’t changed.

“On the surface Worthington is no longer this white, Scandinavian town,” Blegen said, but when Duarte told him about the struggles that many immigrant families face, he wasn’t surprised: “I’m sure that under the surface there is still this established, hierarchy, this patriarchy.”

Simon said Blegen is right: “In Worthington, diversity is huge, but all of the big decisions are still made by white people. I’m hoping that young people like Andrea can change that.”

Homecoming

Duarte is scheduled to graduate this spring, and she’s planning her return to Worthington not long after. She won’t stay in southern Minnesota forever — earlier this year she was awarded a prestigious Harry S. Truman scholarship that will help pay for her eventual graduate studies, likely a JD in immigration law with a dual degree in public policy — but for the next few years at least, she wants to turn her focus to supporting the people of Worthington.

She has applied for a Lead for America fellowship, a new program that supports young leaders interested in public service through two-year paid fellowships in local government. If the Lead for America scholarship goes through, Duarte will turn her energy toward helping to diversify decision-making in her town through local government.

She’s even considering her own political future.

“I’m thinking about running for office myself,” she said. “I’ll probably start off local but I’ve always thought about a bigger position.”

Wilhelmina M. Wright, former Minnesota Supreme Court justice and current U.S. district judge, met Duarte when the Supreme Court heard a case at Worthington High School. She’s been a key mentor for Duarte ever since, encouraging her to consider specific colleges, supporting major life decisions, and even hosting her for Thanksgiving dinner.

“I’m not surprised that politics would be something that Andrea is interested in,” Wright said. “It is so clear that she wanted to give voice to the concerns of others and make sure they are heard. She is someone who really believes in the law and believes in government. I’m delighted that she has those ambitions.”

Duarte’s dreams for a new Worthington have met some roadblocks. Earlier this year, she supported Worthington High School classmate Cheniqua Johnson in her unsuccessful run for state representative against Republican Rod Hamilton.

“Cheniqua’s loss really hit me hard,” Duarte said. “I don’t understand why rural America is so conservative, especially where we live.” Though Johnson campaign volunteers signed up many first-time voters, it wasn’t enough to get their candidate into office. “I’m that we can’t get more POCs, more legal citizens, to show up and vote,” Duarte said. “We’ve still got work to do there.”

Instead of feeling discouraged by Johnson’s loss, Duarte felt inspired: “I realized that if we want things to get better, we need to have people that look like me in decision-making positions in Worthington. I’m heading home to work on that.”

Until then, Duarte has other work to do, including finishing up her college coursework, earning her degree (she’ll be the first in her family to do so) and snagging the latest scholarship. She’s busy, but not frantic, and she’s ready to start the next chapter in her life in a place she thought she’d left behind.

“My parents asked me, ‘Why don’t you do something bigger?’” Duarte said, shaking her head and smiling. “But I’m just a dedicated public servant now. It is big job: I’m coming home to help make things better for everyone.”

Drummer JT Bates chose Thanksgiving weekend to drop some bittersweet news. After decades of programming a sizable chunk of the new and innovative jazz music heard in the Twin Cities – first at the Clown Lounge in the basement of the Turf Club in St. Paul, then at Icehouse in Minneapolis – Bates is hanging up his booker’s hat.

On Friday afternoon, Bates posted on Facebook:

After 20ish years of booking a music series, I’m ready for a change. Starting in 2019, JT’s Jazz Implosion will discontinue its Monday residency.

The music that Mondays have featured will continue at Icehouse, including the touring shows that you all have helped make so incredible. Some parts of this transition remain undefined at this moment, but we know that music is a part of the DNA of Icehouse, so I am not worried, only excited to see how it can grow and change, and also be able to happen at other times and days besides late Mondays.

5 shows remain. [Note: As of today, three shows remain.] I will be around for all the shows in December, please come on through and say hello! Please keep your eyes on the Icehouse calendar for shows!

Later that day, Icehouse posted:

All good things come to an end unfortunately. A bittersweet announcement here that JT’s Jazz Implosion will come to an end at the new year. There is not enough gratitude and love in the world to give JT for the years of hard work and time he put into the Monday nights at the Clown Lounge and the last 6+ years here at Icehouse. The idea for opening a venue (and what became Icehouse) started over the course of many, very late nights at the Clown Lounge and thru tons of conversation with JT, Dave [King] and too many others to mention. To this day, hands down the best nights of live music we’ve experienced occurred during many many Monday nights. The scene he cultivated with so much love, thought and care for the music and everyone involved will never be replicated and we are so grateful he allowed us along for the ride. As a result, we are excited to maybe shuffle the deck some and begin hosting more jazz during other nights of the week as well with earlier start times. Stay tuuunnnneddd.

Bates is a drummer and a composer. He wants to do more playing and composing. We get that. (Bates released his first and so far only solo album, “Open Relationships,” in December 2016.) He also wouldn’t mind having Monday nights free. We get that, too. And for some music fans with day jobs, those late-night shows were too late. Jazz Implosion seldom got under way until 10 p.m., and when it was so good you didn’t want to leave until it was over, and then you hung around to talk about how good it had been and maybe chat up the musicians, who also hung around, you walked out the door around 1 a.m. On a school night.

[cms_ad:x100]Bates accomplished something a lot of bookers wish they could: He built a scene. People paid attention. We trusted his knowledge and his taste. As thanks and praise piled up in the comments on his Facebook post, themes emerged: “End of an era.” “Changed my life.” “Somewhere around 9 of my top 10 shows I’ve ever seen were Implosion shows.” “Highlights of my musical life.” “Thinking of all the opportunities and all the times the only place to be was at the Implosion.” “Full of gratitude for not only the music but what you as a human being brought to it.”

Speaking of gratitude, Bates made his first national TV appearance last week on “Late Night With Stephen Colbert” with Big Red Machine, Justin Vernon’s new group with Aaron Dessner. The song they performed was “Gratitude.” You can catch it here.

And here’s a profile of Bates that Britt Robson wrote for the Star Tribune in 2016.

If you want to catch the final nights of JT’s Jazz Implosion – and a lot of people will, once the news gets out, because that’s what people do – these are the last three shows: Dec. 3: Jim Campilongo Trio with Chris Morrissey and Josh Dion. Dec. 10: Chris Bates Red 5. Dec. 17: JC Sanford Quartet. FMI.

SPCO announces newest artistic partner

British early music expert Richard Egarr will be the SPCO’s next artistic partner, the orchestra announced today.

The mostly conductorless ensemble hasn’t had a music director since 2004. Instead, it’s had an international series of artistic partners, starting in 2004 with Joshua Bell, Stephen Prutsman and Nicholas McGegan and continuing through today.

Egarr, a conductor and keyboardist, will join a stellar list of current artistic partners that includes British conductor and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Cohen; American pianist and MacArthur Fellow Jeremy Denk; Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst; Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja; and Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto.

In announcing Egarr’s appointment, SPCO Artistic Director and Principal Violinist Kyu-Young Kim praised Egarr’s “sense of adventure and boundless curiosity.” Egarr called the SPCO an “amazing bunch of musicians” with “brilliance, vision and commitment, open musical borders and the ability to inspire and communicate their passion to the public.”

[cms_ad:x101]Egarr made his debut with the SPCO in March 2017. His tenure as artistic partner won’t begin until September 2019, but he’ll return this week for a series of four concerts to include Handel’s “Water Music.” The concerts will take place Thursday at Temple Israel in Minneapolis, Friday at Humboldt High School in St. Paul, Saturday at the Ordway Concert Hall and Sunday at the Ted Mann. FMI and tickets.

Each artistic partner makes at least one visit every season. Denk was here for the 2018-19 opening weekend in September. Cohen led Bach’s “Saint John Passion” in November. Kuusisto was here last weekend, playing and conducting a concert of music by four American composers, most still living. He’ll be back in January for seven performances that include a highly anticipated set of improvisations with American composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey.

Up next (after Egarr), Kopatchinskaja will return in early December, this time with her longtime duo partner, Russian pianist Polina Leschenko. Cohen will conduct Haydn in late January and again in May. Fröst will be here in June to play Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and lead the SPCO’s season finale.

The picks

Tonight (Tuesday, Nov. 27) and tomorrow at Vieux Carré: Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road: Celebrating the New Orleans Tricentennial. Christopher is simply one of the most exciting clarinetists we’ve ever seen and heard. He takes the authentic sound and spirit of traditional New Orleans clarinet – Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard – and brings it into the present. Not by changing it, but by fully committing to its worthiness and aliveness. And there’s not an ounce of nostalgia, throwback or old-timeyness in what he does. Christopher has made several recordings and composed original music including “Treat It Gentle Suite” (2010), commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra. On Dec. 9, he’ll give the world premiere of another new work, “The Faubourg Variations,” at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. He’s one of a kind and worth your time. 8 p.m. both nights. FMI and tickets ($35 table/$30 bar).

Wednesday at Merriam Park Library: Minnesota’s Wanda Gág: Reinventing the Picture Book. “Hundreds of cats/Thousands of cats/Millions and billions and trillions of cats.” Sound familiar? Then you know something of children’s book author and illustrator Wanda Gág, whose “Millions of Cats” (1928) is the oldest American picture book still in print. Professor Jill Zahniser will talk about Gág’s work and “Roaring ’20s” personal life in this talk for the St. Paul Public Library’s Women’s History Lecture Series. 7 p.m. Free.

Wednesdays through Sundays at the Children’s Theatre Company: Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Grinch is so much fun that someone should stop it from coming! Too late for that – it’s already in full swing at CTC and winning raves. Again. Last year’s production was the highest-grossing show in the company’s history, selling 64,000 tickets and playing to nearly 100 percent capacity. This year’s “Grinch” is here through Jan. 6, but you might want to get your tickets now. Reed Sigmund is back as the big green meanie, Dean Holt as Old Max, Max Wojtanowicz as Grandpa Who, and Autumn Ness as Mama Who. Young Audrey Mojica is the new Cindy-Lou Who. FMI and tickets. Prices vary, and CTC uses dynamic pricing.

Thursday at Common Good Books: Larry Millett reads from “Metropolitan Dreams: The Scandalous Rise and Stunning Fall of a Minneapolis Masterpiece.” The first skyscraper in Minneapolis, the Metropolitan was demolished in 1961, a decision that forever labeled the Mill City dumber than St. Paul, at least when it comes to historic preservation. The former architecture critic for the Pioneer Press, Millett has been the esteemed chronicler of our regional architecture since “The Curve of the Arch: The Story of Louis Sullivan’s Owatonna Bank” (1985) and “Lost Twin Cities” (1992). Just out, “Metropolitan Dreams” is his latest from the University of Minnesota Press. Millett also writes Sherlock Holmes mysteries set in Minnesota. He’s annoyingly prolific. 7 p.m. Free.

Cat videos left the Walker in 2016, but the British Arrows live on and on, a seasonal tradition for 32 years. The annual reel of award-winning ads from across the pond is so popular it screens for a whole month, starting this year on Friday, Nov. 30, and ending Sunday, Dec. 30. The 2018 Arrows will be shown 95 times.

The Arrows may be the most commercials some of us see all year, except during the Super Bowl. Streaming services and DVRs have made it easy to skip ads or zip through them. Life is too short to endure 18 minutes of commercials per hour, the amount some cable channels run.

The Arrows ads are beautifully made and filmed, funny, serious, touching, and sometimes puzzling. Is TK Maxx the same as TJ Maxx? Who’s Anthony Joshua? What do meerkats have to do with “Coronation Street”? What the devil is Kwiff?

Our favorites this year: Audi “Clowns,” set to “Send in the Clowns” sung by Irish singer Lisa Hannigan. A British Airways/Comic Relief video featuring Gordon Ramsay, Sir Ian McKellen, Thandie Newton, Gillian Anderson and Rowan Atkinson. “Pride and Breadjudice,” a three-minute mini-movie full of gags. Nike’s “What Girls Are Made Of,” made for Russian television. (Nike made two more ads similar to this, btw: one for Arab women and the other for Mexican women.)

Three you’ll wish you could rewind and watch again: Virgin Fibre’s “Delivering Awesome,” an action-packed race of vehicles and characters inside a fibre optic wire; Honda’s “Dream Makers,” a celebration of the art of filmmaking; and FIFA 18’s “More Than a Game,” featuring soccer star Christiano Ronaldo, whom some of us will remember quite fondly from last year’s Arrows.

Most ironic: Wimbledon’s “140 Years,” in praise of the white everyone wears at Wimbledon. Ironic because Serena Williams wore a black catsuit at the French Open in June; it has since been banned. In the ad, white is called “the great leveler.” Awk-ward.

The four with the most serious messages: “We Are All One,” about the Athlete Refugee Team, a group of athletes unable to live or work in their own nations. The BBC’s “Differences,” in which we’re reminded that prejudice isn’t something we’re born with. Oxfam’s grim and devastating “The Heist No One Is Talking About,” which comes with a trigger warning. And the Commercial of the Year. Its topic is so unexpected that everyone who sees the Arrows should keep mum about it, as the British might say. FMI and tickets ($14/$11.20).

The picks

At Norway House: Fourth Annual Gingerbread Wonderland. Long before LEGOs, way before Department 56, people made little houses and whole villages out of gingerbread, frosting and candy. This show opened on Nov. 17, and the winners have now been chosen. They include a gingerbread St. Paul Hotel, a gingerbread Basilica of St. Mary, and (in the Best Kids’ category) a gingerbread Minnehaha Falls. FMI. $5; free for kids 12 and under and Norway House members. Closes Jan. 6.

[cms_ad:x100]Thursday at the Weisman: Patricia Hampl reading. This will be lovely in so many ways. With Dan Chouinard at the piano, Hampl – Minnesota’s memoirist, MacArthur Fellow, Regents Professor, writer of fiction, poems, reviews, essays and travel pieces, author of “A Romantic Education,” “Virgin Time,” “The Florist’s Daughter,” “I Could Tell You Stories” and more – will read from her work including her latest, “The Art of the Wasted Day.” 7:30 p.m. Free.

Thursday at the Minneapolis Central Library: Talk of the Stacks: Holiday Cookie Traditions. Call it Talk of the Snacks. Yes, there will be cookies – after the talk, while supplies last. Star Tribune writers Lee Svitak Dean and Rick Nelson will discuss their new collaboration, “The Great Minnesota Cookie Book,” with food writer Beth Dooley. The book collects recipes and lore from 15 years of the paper’s popular holiday cookie contest. Doors at 6:15 p.m., program at 7. First come, first served. Free.

Thursday and Friday at the Wellstone Center: Arbeit Opera Theatre: Gian-Carlo Menotti’s “The Consul.” There’s a new opera company in town, and all tickets are pay-as-able. Founded by Kelly Turpin, former company director of Mill City Opera, AOT means to inspire community engagement by presenting socially relevant operas starring top local talent. Ambitious for sure, but opera done well can stir the passions. AOT’s first production, “The Consul,” dates from the Cold War but could have been written yesterday. A family desperate to emigrate from a totalitarian country makes daily visits to its consulate, confronting indifference, corruption and endless paperwork. The performance will be followed by a talkback with AOT’s community partner, Advocates for Human Rights. Norah Long and Gary Briggle are among the cast. For ages 13 and up. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Sarah Rasmussen was named artistic director of the Jungle Theater in March 2015. In February 2016, she made her directorial debut as AD with Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” The cast was all women, except for a dog. The set was pink and spare.

A new era at the Jungle had begun.

In the three years and change since Rasmussen arrived, the Jungle has become noticeably and jubilantly more diverse. There are more women acting in and directing more plays written by women than at any point in the theater’s history – make that most theaters’ histories. “Bars and Measures” (2016) was the first play at the Jungle written by a black playwright (Idris Goodwin). It had a black director (Marion McClinton), lead actors (Ansa Akyea and Darius Dotch) and music director (Justin Ellington).

In October 2017, the Jungle launched JungleWrites, a playwriting program for “young women+.” It commissioned its first play, Kate Hamill’s “Little Women.” In February 2018, Rasmussen won a $250,000 grant from the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle. It will likely be re-upped in 2019 and 2020, for a total of $750,000. June brought a 50/50 Applause Award from the International Centre for Women Playwrights for gender equity.

[cms_ad:x100]Meanwhile, the 2017 season played to 93 percent capacity. The final figures for 2018 are expected to top that. Plus the Jungle now has a working turntable on its stage, and the building’s roof has been repaired. “The roof was very Dickensian,” Rasmussen said. “Water was dripping on people’s desks.”

The Jungle’s second-ever holiday play, “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley,” will open Saturday, Dec. 1. Co-commissioned with the Bay Area’s Marin Theatre Company, written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, directed by Christina Baldwin, it’s a parallel tale to 2017’s “Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley,” the Jungle’s first-ever holiday play.

In an interview earlier this month in the Jungle’s lobby, which looks and feels like a cozy living room, Rasmussen shared her thoughts on many things.

On “The Wickhams”

Christina [Baldwin] has coined a great word for this play – “sidequel.” It’s not a sequel to “Miss Bennett.” It’s actually an “Upstairs, Downstairs” version – what’s happening with the servants, what’s happening behind the scenes with Lydia and Wickham as the family is gathering upstairs.

Last year in “Miss Bennett,” I loved what [actress] Kelsey Didion did with Lydia. I thought she was delightful, and also there were some interesting inklings of maturation in that character. I think what’s interesting to the writers, Lauren and Margot, is this idea of allowing characters, especially women, to evolve. Lydia’s story, up to this point, is some poor choices and some silliness. But what if Lydia was allowed to grow up? What would she do differently? How would her relationship with her family change?

On casting James Rodriguez, who has often played thugs and bad guys, as romantic hero Mr. Darcy

He’s such a dear-hearted, sweet, kind, very intelligent man. He just is Darcy to us. I loved him in “Little Women,” too. I guess I like casting against type. Or maybe because I’m new, I don’t know how everyone’s always been cast. It’s fun to hear from actors, “I’m doing stuff here that I wouldn’t normally do.” Joy Dolo was never in a musical before “Fly by Night.” There’s risk in that, but that’s also where the energy comes from – someone trying something new.

On hiring women directors

It’s been really great to see Christina directing. Women are actively looking for ways to have more agency and more opportunity, to use their skills and continue in their careers. We want to create those opportunities.

[cms_ad:x101]Not just in our fields, but in other fields, men are hired on their potential and women are hired on their experience. If we want to see more women directors, more women leaders, somebody’s got to take that chance and say, “I’m going to give you your first job.” People do that with men all the time.

Shá Cage is going to direct “School Girls: Or the African Mean Girls Play” [in March]. When we reach out to women like Christina and Shá, I always think it’s important to say, “Not only do I think you’re ready for this, but we’re going to be here to support you.” It’s one thing to give someone an opportunity, but you also need to be there to champion them.

On the Jungle’s size (148 seats), and remounting “The Wolves” at the Southern in January and February

Our season is full here. Because we don’t have our own scene shop, we have to build on our stage, so our space is in use every second of the year. We’re either putting in the next show or we’re running a show.

“The Wolves” ran really long waitlists during the first run [in April 2018]. In the final days, a young woman in high school came up to me and said, “I love this so much I’m going to bring six of my friends back to see it later this week.” I had to tell her she couldn’t.

We’re kind of busting out of our seams here. We could have sold more seats throughout last year. We put so much care and love into each of these shows, and it’s hard when people want to see them and can’t. So it feels like an exciting time to have a conversation about what that means. Does it mean that sometimes we bring things to another space? Does it mean we try to figure out a way to add a few more seats?

I love our space. I love the intimacy of it. I would never want to abandon that. I’m really glad I have the problem of having a theater that sometimes feels a little too small, rather than one that feels way too big.

I have changed things. But the goal wasn’t to change everything. The goal was to continue something, but with an open mind about who hadn’t gotten to participate in it.

I’m really proud of casts with people like Wendy Lehr and Terry Hempleman. This has been a home for them over the years. It’s great to have Angie [Angela Timberman] back in “The Wickhams.”

I love the intergenerational thing of folks that have built careers here mixed in with young folks. The dressing room for “Little Women” made me so happy, because there’s Wendy [Lehr] and Christina [Baldwin], these legends, and then there’s Megan Burns and Isabella Star LaBlanc, amazing young talent.

Wendy gave me the biggest hug after that show closed. She was like, “I loved being part of this! I loved these young people.” And the young people are giving me hugs and saying, “Oh my gosh, Wendy!” More and more, in our fractured, angry world, theater is a place where we can bring diverse groups of people together to tell a story.

On losing some audience members

I know I can’t be everything to everyone. For some people, this wasn’t for them. I’ve worn that, in a way, but that’s OK. One has to have a vision and stay true to that. But I’m really heartened that so many of our subscribers and donors have stayed with us. They express a feeling of loving the past and loving now, that those things don’t have to be in competition, that one can celebrate what came before and also be excited about what’s happening now and in the future.

On commissioning new work

My background is in working with writers and in play development. To me, it’s really exciting that we’re quickly becoming leaders in creating the work and how we’re creating it. What are we doing here, if we’re not trying to innovate and lift up this community, this talent and this audience?

Minneapolis is still a well-kept secret. People have sort of heard of us, and they know there’s a good arts scene here, but I want to continue to shine a spotlight on Minneapolis and say, “There’s a great arts scene here, and this is a place where things can begin.”

Audiences here will see the first versions of plays that will go on to be performed all over the country. These actors [at the Jungle] will always have their fingerprints on these characters. That’s a subtle thing, but it ups the bar for everyone.

When plays get published, on the title page it always says where they were first performed and what that first cast was. I think that’s my own kind of quiet, happiest acknowledgment in my career – that plays exist in the world that say, “This was premiered at the Jungle, and these people worked on it.”

We have some feelers out for more commissions, and we’re getting close on those.

On the importance of the BOLD grant to the Jungle

It’s allowed us to have conversations about the future. With not-for-profits, you’re always on the razor’s edge, even when it’s going really well. Even when we’re sold out, we only have 148 seats, and we don’t want to raise ticket prices. Our income is capped at a certain level, and that dictates a lot of the rest.

People don’t understand that. They really don’t. We’re like a little store, and everything’s handmade, and we want to pay people well. The BOLD grant has allowed us the luxury of time and space to create new opportunities for some new folks in our community. To say, “Let’s sit down and talk about what if.” We actually have the resources to start that conversation or to jumpstart some commissioning.

And I’m careful to say that we still need our donors. We still need our philanthropy. All of that. But the grant gives us a little wind at our back to dream bigger.

On how she rates her own performance so far

I think, if I’m being honest, I’ve exceeded a lot of my own expectations. That doesn’t mean that I feel done. I don’t think I would ever feel complacent or done, but if you would have told me three years ago that we’d be launching world premieres into the world, that we’d be selling at a really high capacity, that we’d have opportunities like this BOLD grant to be in conversation with other leaders in the field … I’m really proud of where we’ve gotten, and that feels like a big vote of encouragement to keep going.

When asked, “What feels important to you now?”

Plays that encourage the idea of connection. We’re barraged by information out in the world, and it feels very sacred and very radical to take time to turn off our phones, put them away and watch a story together. Stories help us feel connected to each other.

Humor is really important. Doing plays that have humor in them is a public service right now. Some interesting studies show that when people go see something and they laugh and feel connected to other humans, they’re more apt to go out and do something positive to change the world than if they’re hit over the head with a message that the world is a terrible place.

I know there are very important plays that remind us that the world is a terrible place. But I feel like I’m pretty aware of that. I’m getting that message loud and clear in my everyday life. And I really crave theater that reminds us what we have in common, that surprises us, that delights us, that talks about difficult issues, but through something that feels imaginative and hopefully like an invitation to talk rather than an attack of shutting people down.

“Entertain” is not a dirty word. Sometimes in our field there’s a feeling that if it’s important, it won’t be fun or it won’t be enjoyable. And I think that’s deadly for our field, frankly. So I’m interested in doing things that are substantive, but it’s also OK to have fun.

As Rumi said, “There are so many ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

***

“The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” opens Dec. 1 at the Jungle. FMI and tickets ($45-50). Closes Dec. 30.

Hello, James Jerome Hill’s “The Striped Skirt.” And Paul Manship’s “Group of Bears.” And Louise Nevelson’s “Untitled (Abstraction).” And Thomas Hart Benton’s “Shocking Corn.”

Welcome back. Where’ve you been?

In storage, on tour and mostly unseen for years – along with thousands of other works – as the Minnesota Museum of American Art moved around, experienced homelessness, faced its almost certain demise and rallied in a way all similarly threatened arts institutions should study very closely.

It’s a remarkable story that begins with the organization’s founding in 1894 as the St. Paul School of Arts, continues through seven name changes and a dozen more locations, and has a happy ending that’s also a beginning.

On Sunday, Dec. 2, the M (for short) will open the doors to its first permanent home, a large part of the first floor of the 130-year-old Pioneer Endicott complex in downtown St. Paul. After a year of adaptive reuse construction, the M’s more than 16,000 square feet of public space include some 6,000 square feet of gallery space. That’s where you’ll find the old favorites named above and 40 more works chosen for the opening exhibition, “100 Years and Counting: Selections from the Permanent Collection.”

[cms_ad:x100]There’s an inviting new lobby, an interior courtyard with 24-foot ceilings and a sky bridge, and a Center for Creativity with expansive arts education and community space.

And this is just Phase One. Phase Two will begin in 2019, adding another 12,000 square feet of public space, mostly galleries. Factor in another 6,000 square feet of office and prep space, and sometime in 2020 the M will occupy just over 34,000 square feet of the Pioneer Endicott.

The near-completion of the $23 million project is a far cry from where the M was in June 2009, when Kristin Makholm was hired as its director. She was the sole employee of a museum whose only address was a PO box. All it had was an art collection and eight board members who thought the collection mattered. Makholm raised awareness by touring important pieces around the state. She signed a two-year lease for a small storefront gallery space in the Pioneer Endicott. She found support.

And now St. Paul has an art museum.

“The biggest thing is, we’re back,” said Christopher Atkins, curator of exhibitions and public programs, at a preview earlier this week. “Not back in a quick sense, but as an organization with this hundred years or more of history as a cultural institution in St. Paul. We’re back with a real museum, real spaces, and a real place to feature art.”

The building itself is a museum of its own history, a fact acknowledged by labels and a timeline on the walls. Part of the M’s space was once an exterior alleyway between the Pioneer Building and the Endicott Building. Dings in the walls show where trucks scraped by. The floors are a pastiche of tiles, terrazzo and concrete. Brick arches soar, uncovered during construction.

The art in “100 Years and Counting” is arranged in part to show relationships and connections. Shapes and colors of different pieces play off and complement each other. A work of fiber art by Nancy MacKenzie hangs near a ceramic bowl by her husband, potter Warren MacKenzie. Frank Bigbear’s multi-panel collage “AIM and Art” features photographs cut from a book by Dick Bancroft, the photographer of the American Indian Movement. The work by George Morrison on a nearby wall was once owned by Bancroft.

“It’s a collection show that focuses on our ‘greatest hits,’ if you will,” Atkins said. “Some of these pieces haven’t seen the light of day for a long time. They’re coming out into a whole new century.”

The oldest work on display is probably Robert Arneson’s “Three-Spouted Vase,” which the museum acquired in 1959. The newest is Sheila Pepe’s large site-specific fiber art installation “Softly … Before the Supreme Court” in the M’s airy sculpture court.

Sunday’s opening day, free and open to the public, includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony, hands-on activities for all ages, live music and dance performances in the galleries. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. FMI. Future events include tours led by the M’s curators, artist talks, artist takeovers and a whole clutch of classes: painting, weaving, embroidery, drawing.

The picks

Opens tonight (Friday, Nov. 30) at the Park Square: “Marie and Rosetta.” Frank Theatre’s Wendy Knox will direct the regional premiere of a play-with-music by George Brant that was born at the Playwrights’ Center. Jamecia Bennett is Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Rajane Katurah Brown her young protégé, Marie Knight, and Gary Hines (Sounds of Blackness) is musical director in an evening that includes spirituals (“When You Were There When They Crucified My Lord?”) and nonreligious songs (“I Want a Tall Skinny Papa”). Bennett and Brown were last on stage together in CTC’s “The Wiz.” On the Park Square’s proscenium stage (“Triple Espresso” is on the Boss.) 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($25-60). Closes Dec. 30.

Saturday and Sunday at the American Swedish Institute: Julmarknad: Christmas Market and Festival. The ASI is beautiful year-round, but it truly sparkles during the holidays. This annual celebration has it all: live music and folk dancing, storytelling, Norwegian cattle calling, a meet and greet with Santa, and a thoughtfully curated market – not too big, not too small – featuring handmade items for sale by more than 40 local and regional artists. Bring the kids and make some crafts; visit the FIKA bake sale for cardamom bread. Julmarknad is included in museum admission, so while you’re there, be sure to see the “Handmade Holidays” exhibition – five lavishly appointed holiday rooms showcasing traditions, decorations and handmades from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and this year’s Czech American guests. The whole place is made for wide-eyed wandering. FMI.

Tuesday at Northrop: Nathan Laube in Concert: First solo recital on Northrop’s restored pipe organ. When HGA Architects and Engineers transformed the historic Northrop Auditorium from a big barn to a beautiful arts venue, they left room for the 90-year-old Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892, one of the great concert-hall pipe organs in the U.S., without knowing if it would ever be reinstalled. The organ was in bad shape, in pieces and in storage. Several years and $3.2 million later, it’s back and roaring. In October, the organ was featured in a pair of celebration concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra. On Tuesday you can hear it on its own, in a concert co-sponsored by Northrop and Foley-Baker Inc., the Connecticut company that brought it back to life. Internationally renowned concert organist Laube will put it through its paces with music by Liszt, Wagner and Reubke, and a world premiere by Henry Martin commissioned by Classical MPR’s “Pipedreams.” 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($21-10).