Eight Concerts of World-Class Music

by Scott Speck, Music Director, West Shore Symphony Orchestra

There's a bumper sticker my musician friends put on their instrument cases that reads, "So much music - so little time!"

That's the way I feel as Music Director of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. Each season we play eight concerts of world-class music for you. And yet, the storehouse of incredible, emotionally searing, stunningly gorgeous, mind-blowingly transcendent music is huge beyond measure. How will we ever get through it all?

Easy: we won't. Every season we introduce you to music you may not have heard before! Our musicians and I feel that this is music that will move you and change you, music that you simply need to hear.

At the same time, we know what a pleasure it is to be happily re-acquainted with old friends, the great unassailable masterworks of the repertoire. And so creating each season is a fun and stimulating balancing act: something old and beloved, something new and refreshing.

The 2008-2009 season features a blockbuster Opening Night performance of Respighi's Roman Festivals and Berlioz's Roman Carnival; a special chamber orchestra performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons; and such favorites as Beethoven's Fifth and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 2. But we've also mixed in some masterpieces by Nielsen, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams and Chris Theofanidis.

And all this music, old and new, will be performed by the musicians of your West Shore Symphony - an orchestra whose spirit and virtuosity have been an increasing source of musical excitement, enlightenment and pleasure to me (and I hope to you) with each passing season.

So much music - so little time! I look forward to welcoming you to the West Shore Symphony's 2008-2009 season.

Tickets for the West Shore Symphony Orchestra's new season are available at the Frauenthal Box Office, Star Tickets Plus Outlets, online at www.starticketsplus.com, or by calling 800-585-3737. For more information call (231) 726-3231 or visit www.wsso.org.

Fun White Lake Area Events Usher in Autumn

by Amy VanLoon, Executive Director, White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce

With summer on its way out, autumn is a great time of year to come to the White Lake area, take in the changing colors and become part in our festivities. We have several old time celebrations lined up your whole family can enjoy together. The White Lake area has a host of fun family events coming up!

While overlooking beautiful White Lake, we rejoice in autumn with a farmers market, live entertainment, children's activities and food and beverage tent at Fall Fest, Saturday, September 27. Stroll through the arts and crafts section of the festival. Previously known as Octoberfest, the Fall Fest shindig will kick off at 10:00 a.m. to midnight at the North Mears parking lot in downtown Whitehall.

Saturday, October 11, we celebrate the season for pumpkin harvest at our annual Pumpkinfest. The famous pumpkin roll event is going into its eleventh year, as downtown Montague comes alive with hundreds of rollers registering for their turn to roll their pumpkin down Dowling Hill. The contest is divided according to age groups ranging from three and under to 70 and over. Pumpkins start rollin' at 11:00 a.m. with events celebrating everything pumpkin and pumpkin roll registration beginning at 9:30 a.m. Roll on into Montague for an event like none other!

Visitors come to our area every year to experience the site of our breakthtaking woodlands changing into their autumn colors. See what all the excitement is about with Depot to Depot, our self guided fall color tour, Saturday, October 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In Muskegon, it starts at the Muskegon Convention and Visitors Bureau, 610 W. Western Avenue. In Whitehall, it starts at the White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, 124 W. Hanson Street. Sightseers will enjoy a beautiful 22 mile route between the two information centers with points of interest along the way.

For more information on any of these events or about the White Lake Area, please call the chamber to speak with a friendly information specialist at (231) 893-4585 or 1-800-879-9702. Be sure to check out the website at www.whitelake.org.

Three New Exhibits at MMA

from the Muskegon Museum of Art

Portraits, printmaking and sculpture are featured in three new exhibits at the Muskegon Museum of Art. Also new is the museum's Distinguished Lecture Series offered in conjunction with the exhibits.

The museum is the first stop for the nationally touring African-American portrait exhibit Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection.

Through October 26, museum goers will be able to explore the portrayal of the African head in representational and conceptual portraiture. The modern and contemporary artists featured in this exhibition, both directly and indirectly, portray the social, political and culture nuances of the African face and head in fine art and popular visual culture.

The MMA's inaugural presentation of the traveling exhibition will feature more than 20 works in a variety of media: painting, works on paper, photography and sculpture. Romare Beardon, Chuck Close, Elizabeth Catlett, John Briggers and Robert Mapplethorpe are among the artists represented.

Camille Ann Brewer, curator of the exhibition, will offer a lecture about Looking Ahead and its artists Thursday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the museum's new Distinguished Lecture Series.

Looking Ahead was organized by the Flint-based Mott-Warsh Collection, a significant private collection of works dated from 1940 that was created by more than 125 African-American artists of the African Diaspora. The Muskegon presentation is underwritten by L-3 Communications, Combat Propulsion Systems.

The Muskegon Museum of Art will feature Suspended: The Art of Geary Jones September 4 through November 9, featuring woven sculptures by the internationally recognized Grand Rapids artist.

Jones's tapestries are modernist in composition and are very diverse with an array of sizes and mediums to arrange, in the artist's words, "a mismatch of different forms of reality."

The MMA will host an installation designed specifically by the artist for the Walker B Gallery. Interspersed with earlier works, the sculptures will be suspended from both wall and ceiling to create an exceptional environment that is fully informed by the objects themselves.

Geary Jones will talk at the MMA on Thursday October 9 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the museum's Distinguished Lecture Series.

Masters and Multiples: The David and Ann Keister Print Collection from Grand Valley State University will be shown at the Muskegon Museum of Art September 4 through November 2. This exhibition explores the role of the master printer ("masters") who collaborate with and print editions ("multiples") for other artists in a professional workshop setting.

The exhibition features over 30 works printed and collected by master printer and Grand Valley State University professor of art David Keister, who worked in partnership with artists at Landfall Press, Chicago, from 1972 to 1975, and at Echo Press, Bloomington, Indiana, from 1980 to 1995. Keister remains an active printmaker today and continues to work with some of the top artists in the country.

The large-scale prints in the exhibit are abundant with representational imagery and rich abstraction from major contemporary artists including William T. Wiley, David Shapiro, Robert Cottingham, Ed Paschke, Alfred Leslie, Steven Sorman, Rudy Pozzatti and Claes Oldenburg.

Reception - The Muskegon Museum of Art Fall Exhibitions Reception for Masters and Multiples starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, September 11, and will be followed by lecture from Masters and Multiples exhibition curator David Keister at 7:00 p.m. The lecture is part of the museum's Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

The Masters and Multiples exhibition was organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art and David Keister with works assembled from the David and Ann Keister Print Collection of Grand Valley State University.

The Muskegon Museum of Art is located at 296 W. Webster Ave., next to Hackley Public Library. Hours are Sunday, noon to 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. General visitor information is available at (231) 720-2570 or by visiting www.muskegonartmuseum.org.

The Good, the Bad, the Fad: Women's Fashions, 1890 to 1990

by Joni Dorsett, Muskegon County Museum

One hundred years of women's fashion is explored in a new exhibit at the Muskegon County Museum.

Items from the museum's collection on display included dresses, shoes, hats, fans and handbags dating from 1890 to 1990.

Corsets and a feather fan help illustrate the fashions of the late 1800s when the ideal woman boasted a large and robust hourglass figure. Tricks used to supplement the look included blouses with puffed sleeves and tall hairstyles supported by wire and horse hair.

In the early 1900s, the ideal woman had an "S" shaped figure and wore a large hairstyle and hat to increase her height which was considered a sign of stature. In response to the world events, women's clothing embraced function over fashion and took on a masculine look as evidenced by a dark tailor made suit on display.

The 1920s were a time of excess when youth was a valued commodity after so many young people lost their lives in World War I. Beaded dresses on display were worn to speakeasies where flappers and jazz lovers enjoyed the prohibited excesses of life such as drinking, smoking, swearing and wearing makeup.

When America entered World War II, all natural fabrics were reserved for use in military uniforms. Women's clothing was made from synthetic fibers and became utilitarian like the suits on display. As women entered the workforce replacing men at war, work clothes became a necessity and jump suits, overalls, and dungarees found their way into women's closets.

The 1950s were a time of optimism, youth, and baby boomers. Party dresses were in fashion and teenagers became a fashion industry target audience. Movies such as Rebel Without a Cause and the Beat culture brought blue jeans and Converse sneakers into popular fashion. A poodle skirt on display was the outfit of choice for many teens.

Young people expressed their independence and rebellion in the 1960s with loud colors, long hair, large jewelry, miniskirts, and other outrageous clothing. A paisley jumpsuit helps illustrate the period.

Many shocking styles carried over into the 1970s when dressing in extremes was the fashion. Punk and glam movements pushed the limits, as did celebrities Elton John, David Bowie, and Cher. Platform shoes and bell bottoms on display were combined with tight fitting T-shirts as the teenagers' clothing of choice. Disco hit in the 1970s and polyester, wide lapels and flared pant legs were popular for men and women.

Clothing in the 1980s shifted from tight fitting to loose and baggy. Jeans and sneakers went from functional clothing to designer fashions while preppies and yuppies sported loafers and off the shoulder sweaters.

The Good, The Bad, The Fad: Women's Fashions 1890 to 1990 will be on display at the Muskegon County Museum, 430 W. Clay through June 2009.

The museum is open weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends from Noon to 4:00 p.m. with free admission. For more information about the Muskegon County Museum at 430 W. Clay Ave., call (231) 722-0278 or visit www.muskegonmuseum.org.