Arts Talk

By JOHN FLEMING and LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 12, 2003

It's official: They're a duet

Stefan Sanderling, music director-designate of the Florida Orchestra, was in the Tampa Bay area as a married man for the first time over the holidays. Sanderling and his longtime girlfriend, Isabelle Besancon, were married Nov. 23 in a ceremony at the Grand Hotel Esplanade in Berlin. Artistic administrator Jeff Bram represented the orchestra at the wedding.

The newlyweds attended the orchestra's New Year's Eve gala at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. They had intended to close on a house in St. Petersburg's Pinellas Point neighborhood, but the owner decided not to sell. Sanderling and Besancon live in Rennes, France, where he is chief conductor of the Orchestre de Bretagne and she is a cellist in the orchestra. Sanderling will return to the bay area to conduct the orchestra in Sibelius' Second Symphony on Feb. 28-March 2. He officially becomes music director next season.

-- JOHN FLEMING, Times performing arts critic

A memorable tapestry

You don't have to know your warp from your woof to be part of the Tapestry Project. The Arts Council of Hillsborough County asks you to bring a memento to one of the two sites in Tampa to be woven as you watch into three large tapestries by the Sandy Creek Weavers. Personal items such as photographs and small objects are suggested.

The weavers are Emily B. Hyatt and her daughter Victoria Hyatt-Peters, who work together on a 200-year-old loom. The finished pieces will become part of the permanent collection of each site. Take your memento to:

Jan. 14-17, Tinker Elementary School at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Jan. 21-24, Hillsborough County Center lobby, 601 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For information, call (813) 276-8250.

The arts council also is offering individual grants of up to $3,000 for artists to further their professional development with specific projects. You must be a legal resident of the county for at least 24 months and at least 18 years old. For details call the council or visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/agencies/arts_
council/services.html.

The St. Petersburg arts scene continues to hop, and local museums have made hopping from one to another easier and cheaper with the Arts Pass, a discounted ticket that gets you into six museums. The Arts Pass is $29.95 (plus tax) for one-time admission into the Salvador Dali Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida International Museum, St. Petersburg Museum of History, Florida Holocaust Museum and Great Explorations, The Hands-On Museum. Individual adult tickets would total $51, so you save more than 40 percent. The pass is good for one year. Buy them at the museums, the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, the St. Petersburg Hilton or the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Call(727) 821-4715 for information.

-- By LENNIE BENNETT, Times art critic

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