Slava Ukraini 2022
Hand Ukrainian flag fundraiser

Fundraiser for Ukraine on Saturday to Feature Performances, Crafts, Pierogi and Activities for Children

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On Saturday, April 23 Housatonic Community College (HCC) will host a fundraiser for Ukraine featuring a craft fair, art auction and culturally immersive event. — an announcement from Housatonic Community College
The fundraiser, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will feature live performances, craft sales, pierogi sales and activities for children. All activities will take place in the HCC campus courtyard at 900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, off of Interstate 95 Exit 27. A $2 donation is encouraged and all proceeds will go to help the people of Ukraine. Free parking is available and the community is encouraged to attend.

Composting 2022
Earth Day Compost Giveaway 2022

For Earth Day, You Can Get Free Compost on Saturday, April 23 at Darien Recycling Center

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In celebration of Earth Day and Darien’s successful food scrap recycling program, residents are invited to pick up a bucket or two of nutrient-rich food scrap compost on Saturday, April 23, 2022, at the Darien Recycling Center, 126 Ledge Road, from 7 am – 2:45 pm. The compost will be next to the transfer station building, and  volunteers will be available to help. — an announcement from the Darien Advisory Committee on Sustainability and the Darien Beautification Commission
Food scrap compost can be used in vegetable gardens, flower beds, or to enrich lawns in place of chemical fertilizers. Please limit container size to six gallons so that everyone has the opportunity to take some. Any leftover compost will be available for pick up the following Saturday, April 30.

Alan McIntyre
Alan McIntyre headshot

Darienite Alan McIntyre Honored for Service as Stamford Symphony Board of Trustees Chairman

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Alan McIntyre of Darien was honored Saturday at The Palace Theatre in Stamford for his service to Stamford Symphony as chairman of the Board of Trustees, and for services to people in Fairfield County. — an announcement from Stamford Symphony

McIntyre remains on the board and will continue to chair the Orchestra’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee. McIntyre joined the board in 2010, becoming chair in 2015. During his tenure, he oversaw the hiring of a new chief executive and the appointment of Music Director Michael Stern. He also made the leadership gift to the Orchestra’s Crescendo Fund for the Future of Stamford Symphony.

Art Exhibits
Larry Silver, Sitting at Water's Edge

Photographs by Larry Silver on Exhibit at Fairfield U and Online; Reception and Lecture, March 24

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Fairfield University Art Museum is presenting an exhibit of photographer Larry Silver’s works along with a lecture and an opening reception on March 24 and a panel discussion on March 26. “13 Ways of Looking at Landscape: Larry Silver’s Connecticut Photographs,” is a solo exhibition of more than 100 works by Silver, on view March 25 to June 18 in the Walsh Gallery in the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. Silver — a Photo League inspired photographer still working today — moved from Greater New York to Westport in 1973 and began exploring the area with his camera. This exhibition, guest curated by curator and art historian Leslie K. Brown, will bring together over 40 years of Silver’s work, made of and in Connecticut, and consider how he continues to push the boundaries of what landscape and looking are, and can be. Silver has written that his move to Connecticut “opened my eyes to a whole new direction in photography” and the new images “made me feel reborn.”

The first part of the exhibition’s title is a nod to poet Wallace Stevens, who also called Connecticut his home for decades, and specifically his poem, “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Curator Leslie K. Brown explains, “Both Silver and Stevens share several synergies between their work, including focusing on the natural world and examining subjectivity, syntax, and seeing.”

The installation at the Fairfield University Art Museum’s Walsh Gallery will echo Stevens’ iconic poem and be installed in clusters.

Education
The Adams Family Theatre 308

‘The Addams Family,’ Presented by Theatre 308, Runs March 17 to 19

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Darien High School’s Theatre 308 will present its spring musical, The Addams Family, with performances from Thursday, March 17 through Saturday, March 19 at 7 p.m., along with an additional matinee show at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 19. — an announcement from Theatre 308. The Addams Family, directed by Tim Sorensen, is a musical comedy that follows the well-known characters from Charles Addams’s original cartoons as they face Wednesday Addams’ coming-of-age and budding romance with a “normal” boy from Ohio. After secrets are revealed and both families are thrown into turmoil, The Addams Family tells a story of family, love, and embracing the comfort of one’s own darkness. Tickets can be bought online at Theatre308.org or at the door.

Darien Library
Art museum

Online Lecture: ‘The Femme Fatales of Art History’ About ‘the Most Famous Paintings of Women’

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Visit museums throughout the world to see famous portraits of women in this online lecture presented Tuesday, March 8, by Darien Library. — an announcement from Darien Library

Ronnit Vasserman will discuss the significance of the work at the time it was created and how the artwork continues to inspire and be part of popular culture. Some examples of these museum treasures include Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre in Paris and Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer at Mauritshuis in the Netherlands. A thorough analysis of each work including dimensions, material, year(s) created and an introduction to the artists will be explained. About the Presenter
Ronnit Vasserman is the founder of Art Connect Group, a full service art consulting firm located in New York.

Arts & Entertainment
Ivy Masterchef Junior show contestant

Darien Girl one of 16 Competing in MasterChef Junior Show on Fox Network

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Darien Fifth Grader Ivy Childs will showcase her cooking skills on Fox television’s MasterChef Junior, broadcast nationwide on Fox starting March 17. — an announcement from Fox, with additional information

11-year-old Ivy is one of a select group of 16 young chefs from across the country vying to be named the next “MasterChef Junior.” The competition show was actually filmed when Ivy was 8 years old and in Grade 2. MasterChef Junior gives talented kids between the ages of 8 and 13 the chance to showcase their culinary abilities and passion for food through a series of delicious challenges. On the Season Eight premiere, 16 junior chefs, between the ages of 8 and 13, receive a coveted white apron and must prove that they deserve to stay in the game by completing their first mystery challenge of the season.

Classical Music 2022
Greenwich Symphony Guest Conductor Joshua Gersen

Greenwich Symphony Performs Works by Elgar, Alberga, Rachmaninoff This Weekend

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Joshua Gersen will be the guest conductor in two concerts performed by the Greenwich Symphony this weekend as the search continues for a permanent conductor. — This article is from GreenwichFreePress.com. The program will open with “The Golden Palace,” a celebratory, lively and joyful work from “Sun Warrior” by Eleanor Alberga. That will be followed Serge Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which Gersen described as one of Rachmaninoff’s most famous and popular pieces, and features what he described as a fiendishly difficult piano part.

Music
Florence Price composer

Stamford Symphony Spring Concert Series Begins Sunday, Feb 27

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Stamford Symphony’s Spring Chamber Concert Series begins Feb. 27 at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan on Feb. 27 with the first of four concerts. — an announcement from Stamford Symphony
The series is aimed at encouraging new audiences to explore and appreciate classical music in a chamber size presentation. The second concert will take place at Westport Public Library on March 6, and concerts will also take place on May 1 and June 5 at locations to be announced.

Auditions

Young Composers Asked to Submit Music for the Young Composers Concert

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Attention Young Composers! The Music Department of the Darien Public Schools will be sponsoring the 22nd annual Young Composers Concert at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 6 in the Darien High School Auditorium. The deadline for submissions is March 14. — an announcement from the Darien Public Schools Music Department

This program is open to all students currently enrolled in the Darien Public Schools. It is a great opportunity for students to compose their own original music and share it with an audience.

Art Exhibits
Artist Adam Noel

Reception Saturday for Two Painters With New Exhibit at George Billis Gallery

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George Billis Gallery in Westport will be exhibiting paintings by artists Adam Noel and Karen Recor, starting Saturday, Feb. 12, with an opening reception from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

The George Billis Gallery is located at 166 Main St. in downtown Westport. — an announcement from the George Billis Gallery, with added information from the gallery website
ADAM NOEL

 

From Adam Noel’s page on the George Billis Gallery website:

Adam Collier Noel is an American photographer and collage artist who currently resides in South Florida. He graduated in 2002 with a BFA in photography from Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University.

Art Exhibits
works by Chloe Lamb left and Bill Scott right on exhibit at Hollis Taggart Southport

Hollis Taggart Southport to Open Parallels: Chloë Lamb and Bill Scott

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Hollis Taggart is pleased to present Parallels: Chloë Lamb and Bill Scott, a two-person exhibition of British artist Chloë Lamb (b. 1960) and American artist Bill Scott (b. 1956), who both work in the tradition of 20th century colorists and abstract expressionists. The exhibition features selections of their paintings, which are united by their handling of color and attention to the formal possibilities of oil paint. Opening Saturday, Jan.

Maritime Aquarium
Happy Feet the 4D Experience playing at The Maritime Aquarium

‘Happy Feet 4D Experience’ Now Playing at The Maritime Aquarium

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Follow Mumble the dancing penguin in amazing 3D while also feeling the polar wind, falling snow and icy spray in “Happy Feet 4D Experience,” the newest cinematic family adventure at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. — an announcement from The Maritime Aquarium

Opening today, Jan. 3, this 13-minute film is based on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ Academy Award-winning film “Happy Feet.”

Combining the excitement of digital 3D projection with 4D multi-sensory effects, “Happy Feet 4D Experience” brings a young penguin’s adventure to life and includes such in-theater effects as snow, wind, bubbles, scents and more. “Happy Feet 4D Experience” takes audiences to Antarctica to meet a lively colony of Emperor Penguins faced with a diminishing food supply.

Education
Kids playing instruments Play, Sing, Listen!

Stamford Symphony Launches Program to Engage and Educate Kids About Music

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Stamford Symphony is launching Play, Sing, Listen! The Education Fund of Stamford Symphony, a new initiative focusing on education and youth engagement across Fairfield County. 
The program is meant to ensure that all youth in local communities have access to high-quality music education opportunities encouraging them to explore, appreciate, perform, and create music. At the same time the program should nurture important life skills, including creativity, listening, problem-solving, and self-esteem. — an announcement from Stamford Symphony 

One of the program’s goals within the next five years is to “have at least one educational program (instrument bootcamps, chamber performances, masterclasses, etc.) in every town across Fairfield County.” Stamford Symphony is continuing to raise money for the project.