April 4, 2011, Monday - Mill City Farmers Market Spring Preview Party at Spoonriver

Time: 4:00pm - 7:00pm

Location:  Spoonriver, 704 2nd Street South

Become a Friend of the Market and donate any amount towards the sustainability of your Mill City Farmers Market.
 
To say THANKS, please join us at the Spring Preview Party at spoonriver restaurant April 4th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm.

Come for a delicious sampling of healthy, mouthwatering treats, meet our new vendors and greet some of your old favorites, too!

April 3, 2011, Sunday - Chamber Music at MacPhail

Time: 7:00pm

Location:  MacPhail Center for Music, Antonello Hall, 501 South 2nd Street

Tickets 

GRIEG String Quartet in G minor
Roger Frisch, violin
Milana Elise Reiche, violin
Rebecca Albers, viola
Arek Tesarczyk, cello

STEPHENSON Sonata for Trombone and Piano
R. Douglas Wright, trombone
Laurinda Sager Wright, piano

BRAHMS Trio in C major for Violin, Cello and Piano
Sarah Kwak, violin
Beth Rapier, cello
Timothy Lovelace, piano 

Explore rich and diverse chamber music repertoire performed in the intimate setting of Antonello Hall at the MacPhail Center for Music. Experience the extraordinary talent of Minnesota Orchestra musicians in familiar and rarely performed works that will touch your heart and ignite your imagination. This is as close, intense and breathtaking as music gets.

Please note: Seating in Antonello Hall is general admission.  House opens approximately 45 minutes prior to concert time. Concert is approximately 90 minutes long with one intermission. 

April 3, 2011, Sunday - Guitar Workshop at MacPhail

Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm

Location:   MacPhail Center for Music, 501 South 2nd Street

Guitar Workshop: Kristian Anderson
“Links in a Chain” – Two Simple Steps to Make Practice Easy

Whether it’s a blues solo, tricky jazz chord changes, or the most difficult classical guitar music, MacPhail guitar instructor Kris Anderson will show you how to apply two simple practice techniques that may change how you look at practicing forever! This work­shop is open to guitar students of all levels and who play any style of music. To actively participate, bring your guitar and the music you are currently working on to have the opportunity to work with Kris one-on-one, or merely come and observe.

$5 General Admission at the door; Free to MacPhail students

April 3, 2011, Sunday - ensemble dal niente at the Southern Theater

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South

The Chicago-based ensemble dal niente performs a range of music from the past century: European avant-garde, American high modernism and styles influenced by popular music and jazz. For this performance, the group tackles the cutting-edge music of composer and University of Minnesota professor James Dillon, showcasing an array of solo and ensemble pieces featuring Twin Cities soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw, clarinet, vibraphone, piano, string quartet and more. Dillon’s catalogue is rooted in the European classical tradition, touched by his formative exposure to Scottish pipe music, and displays a wide interest in other music from jazz and Delta blues, to the Hindustani classical tradition and Oriental court music.

April 3, 2011, Sunday - NT Live Filmed Frankenstein at the Guthrie

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: Guthrie Theater, McGuire Proscenium Stage

The Guthrie Theater presents an NT Live filmed presentation of Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein, a play by Nick Dear based on the novel by Mary Shelley.

Oscar-winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) returns to his theater roots with a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Boyle makes his National Theatre debut directing a "large-scale and theatrically and visually ambitious stage production."

This production contains adult themes and sexual situations.

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Second Story Reading: Donna Jo Napoli and Ricki Thompson at The Loft

Time: 2:00pm

Location: The Loft, 1011 Washington Avenue South

Second Story, the Loft’s reading series for writers of young adult and children’s literature, presents authors Donna Jo Napoli and Ricki Thompson.

Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and an award-winning writer of children's fiction. Her books have been translated into Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish and will be in Thai and Polish soon. Her writing ranges from contemporary fiction to fantasy to historical novels. She also writes mathematics tales and science tales as well as books geared toward helping deaf people learn to read.

Ricki Thompson holds an MFA from the Vermont College Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is a former winner of the Loft Mentor Series. Her young adult historical novel, City of Cannibals, was published by Front Street Books in 2010. Her poetry and essays have appeared in a variety of journals and magazines, including the Threepenny Review, the Christian Century, Highlights and Ladybug. She has recently completed a young adult novel, Seduction, and a middle grade biography of Django Reinhardt.

Second Story is curated by Swati Avasthi and Heather Bouwman.

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Keyboard Master Class: Julia & Irina Elkina Russian Traditions in Piano Pedagogy at MacPhail

Time: 12:30pm–2:30pm

Location: Antonello Hall, MacPhail Center for Music, 501 South 2nd Street

“Simply dazzling” is the way the American Record Guide has described the Elkina Piano Duo. Together they have won several international Duo-Piano competitions and are internationally recognized performing artists known for their brilliant interpretations of four hand/two piano repertoire. They received their piano training in St. Petersburg, Russia and completed their Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees at the University of Minnesota.

Come experience Russian traditions in this piano Master Class with Julia and Irina Elkina! Irina and Julia will introduce the structure of Russian music schools, practice regimen and performanceopportunities. They will discuss and teach you how to integrate the best of Russian piano pedagogy methods into your piano lessons. During the class, three preselected students will be taughtwith a focus on sound production, projection and balance—a few of the unique traits of Russian piano pedagogy. Some time will be devoted to answering your questions!

$5 General Admission at the door; Free to MacPhail students

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Food Blogging at Open Book

Time: 1:30pm-4:30pm

Location: Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue South

Food Blogging
Instructor: Claire Stanford

Been wanting to start a food blog? Have a food blog already, but want to take your blogging to the next level? In this single-session class, you will learn how to get your food blog off the ground. We will look at what makes a successful food blog, primarily in terms of writing and content, but also photography, design, and marketing. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to start their own food blog or how to improve an existing food blog. $10.00 copy fee payable to the teaching artist.

Registration fee (seat): $46.50
Age Group: Adult
Level: Open to All Levels

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Central Library Spring Clearance Sale: All the books you can fit in a grocery bag for $2! (8 days - ends April 9)

Location: Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall

Book Store Hours:

11 AM - 2 PM, Mondays
10 AM - 5 PM, Tuesdays
10 AM - 5 PM, Wednesdays
10 AM - 7:00 PM, Thursdays
10 AM - 5 PM, Fridays
10 AM - 4:30 PM, Saturdays

The Minneapolis Central Library Bookstore, operated by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County, is hosting a three-week Clearance Sale this spring. The store will be stocked with thousands of books in every genre.

The sale will offer the following weekly specials:

•March 17 - March 25: 50 % off used books
•March 26 - April 1: $.25 per book
•April 2 – April 9: All books you can fit in a grocery bag for $2

Call 952-847-8102 for more information.

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Benefit for Japan at MacPhail Center for Music

Time:  6:00pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, 501 South Second Street

Suggested donations are $15 per adult and $10 per student.

"Kizuna" is a Japanese word that means "strong bond," and that's what three Twin Cities-area women are calling the organization they have set up to raise money for earthquake relief in Japan. Their first event is a fundraiser at MacPhail, featuring music and a silent auction.

Performers will include musicians on the MacPhail faculty, including Reiko Imrie, Momoko Tanno, Takako Seimiya and Asako Hirabayashi. Local jazz musicians T. Mychael Rambo, Doug Little, Charanga Tropical, David Hamilton, Timm Holmly, Rob Meany, Kate Lynch and Chris Beaty also will perform.

A silent auction will feature sports memorabilia from new Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka plus Japanese pottery, downtown Minneapolis hotel packages, Twins and Timberwolves tickets, and gift certificates from local Japanese restaurants.

There also will be a video booth where benefit participants can record messages of support to Japanese people that will be put on YouTube or Facebook.

The event is being organized by Yuko Miyamoto, who works as a program manager for the Meet Minneapolis convention and visitors association; Tomoko Fujiwara, who is also from Japan; and Jessica Manivasager, a local lawyer who worked in Japan.

Proceeds will go to the Japan American Society of Minnesota Kizuna Benefit for Pacific Tsunami and Japan Earthquake

April 2, 2011, Saturday - How'd They Do That Workshop at the Guthrie - Arms and the Man

Location: McGuire Proscenium Stage

Guests to be announced

What was the inspiration for the set? Was the play rewritten in rehearsals? Aren't those wigs itchy? Through this eye-opening workshop, you can learn how the Guthrie's artists and staff create a production - from early development and designs to rehearsal, costume fittings and staging of the play.

Time - Workshop begins at 9am

Cost - $15 per person

Click to Register. 

April 2, 2011, Saturday - Family Class at MCBA

Time:  11:00am-2:00pm (lunch break at noon)

Location: Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1011 Washington Avenue South

"Marble Paper for Your Hardcover Sketch Book"

For families with children in Grade 3 and up

Create beautiful and colorful designs on paper by using the ancient art of traditional Turkish Ebru paper marbling. Participants will create multiple sheets of marbled paper and then construct a hard cover sketchbook that incorporates their beautiful paper.

$40 ($36 members) per adult/child pair; $20 ($18) each additional participant

Register for this workshop.

April 1, 2011, Friday - Lunch With MacPhail

Time:
Free lunch and program:  Noon – 12:45pm
Private Spotlight Preview:  1:00 – 1:30pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, 501 2nd Street South

Grab a friend and join us at noon on Fridays for a free lunch and insight into MacPhail’s programs with President, Paul Babcock.
Following lunch, stay for a private* performance, previewing music from our Spotlight Series.

Dates are as follows:

April 1, 2011
Musical Folklore
Peter Ostroushko, mandolin and fiddle

June 3, 2011
Technology in Music Education
John Iverson, Disklavier Piano
(note this event begins at 11 am)

*Performances are a part of the Lunch with MacPhail event and are not open to the public

Call 612-767-5343 or email Schroder.amanda@macpahil.org to RSVP, space is limited.

April 1, 2011, Friday - Mentor Series: Kristin Naca with Kimberly Brown and Carolyn Williams-Noren at The Loft

Time: 7:00pm

Location: The Loft, 1011 Washington Avenue South

The Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose presents poetry mentor Kristin Naca reading with program participants Kimberly Brown and Carolyn Williams-Noren.
Kimberly J. Brown (nonfiction) has been a Loft Mentor Series finalist and received honorable mention in the “Dogs and the Women Who Love Them” essay contest in 2009. Her poetry has appeared in What Have You Lost? and Seeds from a Silent Tree. A writer of both poetry and creative nonfiction, she is working on a memoir about surviving the 35W bridge collapse. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a creative writing minor and currently works as a technical writer. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife, Rachel Anderson.

Carolyn Williams-Noren (poetry) works as a fundraiser and writer for two small non-profits. She also runs, gardens and writes essays about parenthood. Her poems have appeared in Spoon River Poetry Review and the online journal Literary Mama, among others. She was nominated for a 2009 Pushcart Prize and received a 2010 Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Fellowship. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two young daughters.

Kristin Naca (poetry) teaches courses in poetics, Asian American and Latino poetry and creative writing at Macalester College and is Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD) Fellow. Her poems have appeared recently in Harpur Palate and Indiana Review and are forthcoming in Bloom and Rio Grande Review. She has been a member of the Macondo Workshop in San Antonio, Texas, since 2002. Her first book Bird Eating Bird was selected by Yusef Komunyakaa for the National Poetry Series and published October 2009 by HarperCollins.

April 1, 2011, Friday - MacPhail Faculty Concert Series

Time:  7:30pm

Location:  MacPhail Center for Music, Antonello Hall, 501 South 2nd Street

MacPhail’s faculty concerts offer an opportunity to hear great music from MacPhail’s outstanding faculty of teaching artists. With over 165 faculty members teaching 35 instruments, many faculty members use these concerts as an opportunity for collaboration and innovation.

All faculty concerts are free to the public.

March 31, 2011, Thursday - Behind the Scenes at the Publishing House at Central Library

Time: 7:00-8:00pm

Location: Room N-408, Central Library, 300 Nicollet

Behind the Scenes at the Publishing House

How does an author's manuscript become a book? What do editors do all day, anyway? Ann Regan, editor-in-chief at the Minnesota Historical Society Press, will give an overview of publishing at a dynamic regional press.

This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Presented in collaboration with the Minnesota Historical Society.

March 31, 2011, Thursday - Cuban Film Festival at St. Anthony Main

Time: 7:30pm

Location: St. Anthony Main Theatre, 115 Main Street SE

With sell-out crowds at last year's festival, Minnesotans' love affair with Cuban cinema is clear. And it is also clear that there is a hunger for information about this intriguing island to our south, so rich in music and the arts. Yet, despite all that we have to share with one another, our government still denies us access. So, although most of us can't get there in person, we can get a taste of Cuban life through the movies.

The film is subtitled, and will be followed at a nearby bistro with a discussion.

Admission: $7.00.

For more information: www.minnesotacubacommittee.org or 763-228-2899.

March 31, 2011, Thursday - Danielson at the Southern Theater (3 nights)

Times:
Thursday, March 31 7:30pm
Friday, April 1 8:00
Saturday, April 2 8:00pm

Location: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South

Danielson, an avant-pop gospel band from suburban Clarksboro, New Jersey led by Daniel Smith (guitar, lead vocals) comes to the Southern Theater in April hot on the heels of the February release of its first new album in five years (Best of Gloucester County) featuring a new band line up that includes Patrick Berkery (drums), Evan Mazunik (keyboards/vocals), Elin K. Smith (vocals), Joshua Stamper (bass/vocals), Andrew Wilson (lead guitar) and indie music darling Sufjan Stevens.

The band has what can only be described as ecstatic vision. Fronted by cult artist Daniel Smith and comprised of an unusual consortium of family members and friends including his sisters Megan and Rachel and wife Elin, the band is known for its dramatic range, fearless writing about spiritual experience, innovative musical arrangements, and hand-made, deliberate uniforms. Danielson’s previous release, Ships—featuring long-time collaborators Deerhoof, Sufjan Stevens and WHY?—is a crowning achievement that Pitchfork called “nearly dizzying” with “music that builds to such immense heights.” Mythology-hounds have found in Danielson the full package, and tuning into its frequency can be as deeply rewarding in a literary-visual-musical way as are canonical acts such as Sun Ra, Parliament and David Bowie.

March 31, 2011, Thursday - Arms Around our Shelter Tour at People Serving People

Time: 8:30am-9:30am

Location:  People Serving People, 614 South 3rd Street

Tour People Serving People with staff members, and find out what a typical day at People Serving People is like in just a half hour.  Coffee and light breakfast served, and Q&A with staff afterwards. 

RSVP to Lauren at 612-277-0219.

March 31, 2011, Thursday - Free Yoga Workshop

Time: 6:30pm

Location: The Zenith, 901 2nd Street South - Unit 904

The next Yoga event in an ongoing series hosted by Victoria Rico will be March 31.  Victoria is excited to have Inanna Jessup, the Assistant Manager at CorePower Yoga, 501 Washington Avenue South, lead this session.  Inanna will guide the class through a C2 practice.

Space is limited - the first 15 people to call, text or email Victoria will enjoy this yoga class with beverages and snacks afterwards.  To make a reservation for this free yoga class at the Zenith Condominiums, contact Victoria at 612-554-7755 or victoria@victoriarico.com.

Victoria teaches at CorePower Yoga and wants to remind everyone that at Corepower Yoga (CPY) the first week is free.  Seven days of free yoga – what a treat! Even if you do not want to join CPY – it's worth it just to take a couple classes in the heat – although there are classes without heated studios.   Not only are some of the classes heated, but the humidity is cranked as well.  As you tap into your breath you will stretch, bend, twist, bind, sweat & detoxify. 

CorePower Yoga, 501 Washington Avenue, is located on the 2nd floor.  With 3 studios, there are a variety of classes throughout the day.  For additional information regarding the various classes at CorePower Yoga, click here.