The 92nd Boise Music Week is history, but for thousands of us, the joy of performing and/or hearing eight days of music, from chorales to show tunes, still lingers.
During intermission at the May 8 performance of "Hello, Dolly!" I spoke with Ralph McAdams, a life member of the Boise Music Week Board and twice its president (1971 and 1988). He said his Music Week debut was in "a little program at Garfield School - the old building that's gone - in 1937."
"All of us built sets, painted them, sang in the chorus, played in the orchestra. When Kenneth Artsler was a producer, I was his 'go-fer.' Everyone volunteers their time and labor. But we need cash for set materials, to buy rights for the show, etc."
The Boise Music Week charter decrees all performances are to be free of charge, and so they have been, thanks to the generosity of many businesses, corporations and individuals, including Jane Falk Oppenheimer and Velma Morrison.
Jane once played a tulip during Boise Music Week ("I peaked early," she chuckled). She, like Ralph, loved "Hello, Dolly!"
"Everybody was having the time of their life - the cast, the audience, the Morrison Center volunteers. You know, a lot of people never have seen a live stage production, and Music Week gives them that chance. The whole thing is wonderful!"
Board president Jim Perkins invited the audience, "If everyone involved gave just $4.36, we could pay for next year's show." To do your part, send a check to Boise Music Week, P.O.Box 155, Boise, ID 83701-1055. It's an incredible bargain!
'THE MESSAGE & THE MEDIUM'
What a deal - a FREE communications workshop for nonprofits on how to tell their story and get it heard. Sheri Freemuth and Rachel Winer both e-mailed that Holly Ross, director of the Nonprofit Technology Network, Portland, will lead it. (Her new-media presentation at the 2009 Idaho Nonprofit Center conference was terrific.)
Leaders of arts and culture organizations and environmental and civic groups should attend with their laptops. It's 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 20 at the Idaho Historical Museum, Julia Davis Park, sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and co-sponsored by the city of Boise Arts and History and Historic Preservation commissions, Ada County Historic Preservation Council, Preservation Idaho, Idaho Heritage Trust and Idaho State Historical Society.
RSVP by May 17 at www.preservationidaho.org.
PHOTO NEWS
Idaho Photographic Workshop, a merry band of amateurs and pros who love making images with light, has been going strong for more than 20 years. Thanks to a suggestion by board member Mary Stieglitz, the MK Nature Center is the new site for IPW meetings, starting Thursday, May 20, and continuing the third Thursday of each month. The meeting is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 600 S. Walnut St., behind the Idaho Department of Fish and Game headquarters. Free; public is welcome.
On May 28 and 29, Cal Werry will lead a workshop on "Macro Photography for Flowers and Nature;" on June 5 Allan Ansell offers a workshop on "Digital Outdoor Family Portraits." Both workshops will be at the Idaho Botanical Gardens. Information: www.idahophotographicworkshop.org.
FYI, WRITERS
Curious about freelancing? Steve Stuebner and I will lead an Idaho Writers Guild "Backtalk" session about the joys and pitfalls of freelancing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 22 at Sun Ray Cafe, Hyde Park, 1602 N. 13th St. Free; public is welcomed.
Information: www.idahowritersguild.com.
'OLD IS THE NEW GREEN'
For more than a century, Boiseans have been in hot water - literally. On May 22-23, free walking tours will visit historic geothermally heated buildings Downtown. Meet at 6th and Bannock streets at 6 p.m. Saturday or at 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. Sunday. Information: www.BoiseArtsAndHistory.com.
Freelance writer Diane Ronayne: dianeronayne@gmail.com
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