He was NOT There to Make You Miserable

Last night at The Barns at Wolf Trap, Ari Hest didn't play my favorite song of his off of Twelve Mondays, "I'll be There (To Make you Miserable)." But it doesn't take a keen mind to decipher why not. Hest was in a good mood, and that song would have thrown off the balance of the set list. "I've Got a Reason to Believe," "Sunset Over Hope Street," "Something to Look Forward to," the pop-laden "They're on to Me," and the dreamscape scenarios of "Cranberry Lake" and "Swan Song" were the thematic tracks throughout Hest's 90-minute set, all of which brimmed with such conviction and positivity that the crowd couldn't help but yell, "Come on Ari, stay happy!"

Sarah Siskind, a solid songwriter in her own right and a close friend of Hest's joined him on stage to play nearly inaudible lead guitar during crowd favorite, "The Weight," but added amazing vocal depth and texture to follow-up tunes "Set in Stone" and "Last so Long" ("Set in Stone" they wrote together in 24 hrs.). Following Siskind's exit from the stage, Hest once again addressed the crowd (for a self-deprecating guy he's quite the talker!) to inquire of any females to join him on-stage for a duet performance of "Cranberry Lake," a song Hest penned with singer/songwriter Amy Kuney years ago. An interesting note, my concert companion THINKS the same woman sang it with him at The Barns in 2011. She didn't know the words and her voice quivered, but it was a nice moment that has come to be a defining characteristic of Ari Hest shows.

In my opinion, Ari Hest is the guy that has remained in relative obscurity while his contemporary John Mayer exploded into mainstream culture. But as Hest said last night, "we're going to Germany in a couple days to play some shows, and they're actually singing my songs." We should all continue to keep an eye on this guy - the way I see it, he's always just one album away from the big time.

Setlist:

Reason to Believe
Morning streets
Ride the brake
Business of America
Until next time
The weight
Set in stone
Last so long
Give it time
How would I know
Cranberry lake
Dead end Driving
Anne Marie
Bird never flies

They're on to me
Sunset over hope street
Something to look forward to

First Look at Face of America

On Saturday, September 8, Wolf Trap will present the world premiere of Face of America: Spirit of South Florida. Today, I am thrilled to give you a sneak peek into this multi-disciplinary artistic adventure.

Below is Hurricane, one film segment from Face of America: Spirit of South Florida.

There are so many things I could tell you about Hurricane. How the wind cooperated perfectly through our filming. How it wasn't until we were finished that a park ranger shared that the colors for the hurricane warning flag are black and red. How in the moment I fully knew the beauty we were capturing and, yet, still today am overwhelmed by that same beauty.

I will spare myself the words because the video speaks for itself.

Watch it here.

Hurricane was filmed on Porgy Key in Biscayne National Park on November 2, 2011. To read more about the filming, please visit here. To learn more about the premiere production, please visit here.

Ari Hest: The Wolf Trap Interview

Full disclosure, this is an interview I conducted last year with the Brooklyn-based Ari Hest, but given the topics we tackled, we think it's still a very relevant vehicle to get you amped up for his show next Thursday at The Barns (which I can't wait for.) Hest first appeared at The Barns in November 2008 and made an appearance on the Filene Center stage as Special Guest to Sheryl Crow in 2009. Much to our delight, he's made The Barns his preferred Northern Virginia destination, back every year filling more and more seats each time around. Listen to the roughly 15 minute interview to hear Hest and me riff on his latest record, Sunset Over Hope Street, his love for Wolf Trap, his penchant for baseball, and why he prefers to operate these days without a major label.

Tickets for his show are still on-sale, but will likely be gone early next week so act fast if you're so inclined.

Ari Hest Interview by Wolf_Trap

Christine Lavin: Moving, touching, quirky and off-the-wall at The Barns at Wolf Trap

Quirky, funny AND touching --that's how Christine Lavin is described by Bob Grimes. He should know. As the Production Manager of The Barns, Bob Grimes is behind the soundboard at her shows (every two years, on average), and says she always gets the audience involved in her performances.

A contemporary folk singer from New York, Lavin was a founding member of Four Bitchin' Babes and has since released 20 solo albums. Her latest, Just One Angel is a compilation of holiday classics featuring 22 artists - including actor, and now musician Jeff Daniels (who played two nights at The Barns last spring).

Lavin is known for her sense of humor in her songs and on stage, evidenced in some video snippets below. If you're intrigued, come check her out at The Barns next week, Thursday, January 19th.

News & Notes: January 13, 2012: Dolly Parton, dance stamps and Harry Belafonte

News & Notes has been on hiatus for a bit but we are back!

Today we bring you some interesting tidbits on artists who have graced Wolf Trap stages and a new dance stamp.

Our friend Debra Levine informs us on her blog of a new round of 2012 postage stamps featuring choreography greats including Isadora Duncan, Katherine Dunham, Bob Fosse and José Limón.

Her performance at the Filene Center last July made the Washington Post's Chris Richard's best concerts of 2011 list; today Dolly Parton brings her talents to the silver screen with Joyful Noise, co-starring Queen Latifah.






Wolf Trap favorite Aretha Franklin is on the look-out for the next big diva putting out a call for videotape demos from opera singers. She'll sign a handful of her favorites to her label.


Finally, a new documentary is opening today on Harry Belafonte (who has performed at Wolf Trap many times over the years) chronicling his life as a performer and civil rights activist.

Have You Ever Thought About Working at Wolf Trap?

Today's post comes from Jackie Rucker, Director, Human Resources.

“I want to work at Wolf Trap! But, you don’t have REAL jobs, do you? I mean, like, YEAR-ROUND jobs?”

When people find out I work for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, that question (or one similar) often follows. And I love explaining all of the positions we have – everything from fundraising positions to help desk technicians and a lot of things in between.

Working at Wolf Trap is wonderful and unique for many reasons. First, you get to work in the performing arts! Regardless of whether or not you work directly behind the scenes there is always something interesting and creative happening around you. Wolf Trap is a place where you can see the fruits of your labor, and enjoy them. Programs like music lessons, master classes, opera productions, and so much more, are organized and performed on campus.

Art is all around at Wolf Trap. I'll give you an example. One thing Foundation employees look forward to during the summer months is a program called "A Little Lunch Music." It happens almost every week during our summer season, members from the Wolf Trap Opera Company serenade the Foundation staff in an informal office setting. It is a very special treat to step away from your desk and listen to an hour's worth of beautiful voices. Take a look...



If you've ever thought about working at Wolf Trap, now is your chance! Right now, we have several positions available including (but not limited to):

IT Support Tech (Full Time)

Graphic Designer (Full Time)

Development Assistant (Full Time)

Now for the hard part - "How do I get an interview????"

Well... be thoughtful in your cover letter - why do you want to work at Wolf Trap? What is your connection to our mission? And make sure that you're applying for a position you are qualified for.

Want to learn more? Check out our website for a full listing of positions.

Performing Arts Predictions 2012: Opera

photo by Ken Howard courtesy of Metropolitan Opera

Today's guest post comes from Baltimore Sun classical music critic and blogger Tim Smith.

There is nothing more foolhardy than making predictions. Just ask anyone who dismissed Rick Santorum’s chances of getting past single-digit numbers in Iowa, or was sure that Rick Perry would have vanquished all other Republican contenders by now. But, heck, I’m game. Besides, what can be safer than imagining how the opera world will fare in 2012?

Although not exactly comparable to the very out-of-date line about ‘how General Motors goes, so goes the nation,’ there is perhaps a little truth behind the notion that how the Metropolitan Opera goes, so goes the rest of the business. In this regard, I would imagine more companies -- in other countries, if not necessarily ours -- will test the opera-in-cinema waters that have proven so lucrative for the Met. There seems to be momentum left in this trend, even as it poses questions about long-term effects on the effort to get more audiences into opera houses.

This year may see at least a bit of a decline in Euro-trashy productions in, of all places, Europe. OK, maybe not the continental part, but at least the UK, where a late-2011 staging of Eugene Onegin at the English National Opera drew hearty praise for being revelatory, absorbing AND traditional -- no distorted character motivations or scenes set in public restrooms. (All right, the production was a co-venture with the Met, which may account for the traditional approach, but, still, it’s an encouraging development.)

It would be nice to see a trend toward the celebration of voices and interpretive skills, rather than physical attractiveness, but that may be years away (or never). Meanwhile, 2012 could see something else positive -- more attempts to integrate opera singers into the pop culture mainstream, not with the tired practice of crossover repertoire, but with such off-beat projects as Aretha Franklin’s just-announced contest to find fresh operatic talent.

If Aretha’s project were to produce a meaningful result artistically, and generate even a touch of the typical media blitz for an ‘American Idol’ winner, there could be quite a nice boost in appreciation for the operatic art -- the most desirable trend of all.