If You Can Make It There

New York, New York will have a chance to savor the talents of a Central Texas musical ensemble this Saturday when the Southwestern University Chamber Soloists perform at Carnegie Hall. The six-member group, which includes percussionist Hsueh-Yung Shen, violinist Alejandro Mendoza, clarinetist Raymond Schroeder, pianist Kiyoshi Tamagawa, cellist Hai Zheng, and vocalist Virginia Dupuy, will perform Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8, Ingolf Dahl's Concerto a tre, and the world premiere of Shen's The Three Last Poems of Anne Sexton. Shen, an Associate Professor of Music at Southwestern, is also the group's Artistic Director. He composed the work after Ms. Dupuy, who founded the Chamber Soloists in 1989, steered him toward the poems of Ms. Sexton. He found the last three before her suicide to be vivid and "concise enough to set to music." The concert will be held at 8:30pm in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

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African-American
Theatre, Part II

Back in November, this column marked the presentation of the first part of a two-part symposium for local African-American theatre artists. Titled Setting Our Agenda, this event by the Progressive Arts Coalition was designed to give artists of color and their allies a place to come together and talk about opportunities, strategies, and ways of working. On Saturday, February 3, part two will be held at the Helm Fine Arts Center at St. Stephen's School. Panels and workshops will be offered, Dr. Joni Jones, UT Professor of Speech, will discuss "African American Theatre: What Is It in the Nineties?"; Austin librarian and activist Clifton Griffin will be honored, and the student winners of the Fifth Annual Keith Curry Memorial HIV/AIDS Poster Contest will be recognized. For info, contact Boyd Vance or Dewy Brooks at 447-5343.

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Getting Seen

Austinite Sheryll Lewis never expected much attention when she first began crafting art objects out of Victorian postcards, seashells, and old heart-shaped candy boxes. But she's gotten plenty -- first from friends here in town, then antique collectors and dealers around Central Texas, and now from a national magazine. In the February issue of Victoria, the magazine that celebrates hearts, flowers, and the style and sentiment of the Victorian Age, four of Lewis' shell-bedecked creations are featured, including one in a full-page illustration. In the weeks since the issue hit the stands, Lewis has been deluged with orders from across the country. The artist is gratified that business is booming but says her work has never been about money. "I just wanted to keep that craft alive," she says. "I'd like to teach it to my niece, who has expressed some interest in learning it, and maybe to get a reputation as a folk artist."

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