Hunting around for something to do in the coming week? Here’s a look at arts events along the Midpeninsula that you may not have heard about.
Concert
Christian Lane Organ Recital
Christian Lane, the winner of the 2011 Canadian International Organ Competition, will perform a wide range of music, including Bach’s “Passacaglia,” on Friday, Jan. 10.
The associate university choirmaster and organist at Harvard University, Lane has also taught at several summer programs, including England’s venerable Oundle for Organists. Passionate about commissioning new music and using the organ in collaborative settings, he frequently performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at Christ Church Portola Valley, 815 Portola Road, Portola Valley. General admission is $20; seniors and students $10.
For more information contact Matthew Burt at 650-851-0224, matthew@ccvpw.org or visit www.ccvpw.org.
Visual Art
Exhibition: Hi 5
Vibrant colors, simple black-and-white paintings, sculptures and more are all part of the new show, Hi 5, which runs from Jan. 14 to Feb. 23. The exhibition displays the latest work of five young Master of Fine Arts students in their first year of Stanford University’s Art Practice program. The participating artists are Eko Félix, Einat Imber, Christopher Nickel, Felicita Norris and Lauren Ashley Toomer.
Félix’s main passion is fiction and its link to reality. She demonstrates that in colorful, realistic 8″ x 10″ paintings, according to the Stanford Arts website. Imber makes objects that call attention to motion, sometimes taking a narrator’s position and describing things that have already happened or are about to unfold, usually promoting a conflict.
Norris’s paintings explore emotional states and relationships, focusing on a loss of innocence and desire. Her canvases can be large, 5 to 8 feet tall, and some show violent family scenes. Nickel’s large black-and-white panels, described on the website as slightly ominous, tower along the gallery walls. The panels are comprised of 36″ x 36″ printed squares, pieced together to depict 12-foot, disheveled concrete columns.
Toomer’s recent drawings are inspired by her investigation of what is contextually viable and ethical through art. Her large collection of masks, in varying sizes, has been created using bamboo and reed.
A reception will be held Thursday, Jan. 23, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery, 419 Lasuen Mall. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The gallery opens weekdays at 10 a.m. and weekends at 1 p.m.
Theater
Silent Sky
Henrietta Leavitt, who made startling discoveries in the man’s world of astronomy in the early 1920s, went through all of the challenges of her day. She was a woman in the early 20th century workforce. She worked in a position that was controlled by men. Driven by the desire to follow her dream in discovering and researching the stars, she juggled family, declining health, and the struggles that came with her job.
TheatreWorks will present the regional premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” a play about Leavitt’s life, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. The show, directed by Meredith McDonough, combines history, science and romance.
The run previews on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. and continues through Feb. 9. Tickets are $19 (for patrons 30 and under) to $73; savings available for educators and seniors. A $6 convenience fee will be assessed for online and telephone orders.
For more information and tickets, visit www.theatreworks.org or call 650-463-1960.
Concert
Go Baroque!
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra will present an educational performance on how cello, lute and harpsichord work together to form the harmonic and rhythmic base in Baroque repertoire.
The free Stanford Live Informance, on Jan. 16, will start at 7 p.m. at the Community School of Music and Arts, Finn Center, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View.
For more information, call 650-917-6800 or email info@arts4all.org.
For additional events taking place around the Midpeninsula, go to the online Community Calendar on Palo Alto Online.
Good job!