Arts talk

By JOHN FLEMING and MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2001

New opera to open Greater Miami 2005 season

Anna Karenina, an opera with music by David Carlson, has been commissioned by the Florida Grand Opera to premiere in 2005 as part of the opening season of the Ziff Opera House in the Performing Arts Center of Greater Miami. Based on the Tolstoy novel, the opera libretto will be written by Colin Graham, who will also direct. Music director Stewart Robertson will conduct.

"Colin is on a third draft that has been reworked extensively," said Carlson, who has not begun writing the music yet. The composer envisions a cast of four major roles along with 18 other principals plus a chorus.

Carlson's Dreamkeepers was commissioned by Utah Opera for the 1996 state centennial. He also composed Midnight Angel for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Glimmerglass Opera and Sacramento Opera in the 1993-94 season. His Quantumsymphony was premiered in December by the Florida West Coast Symphony in Sarasota.

The $255-million performing arts center in downtown Miami is scheduled to open in 2004.

Naples Museum of Art sets closing back

The Naples Museum of Art will remain open through July 15 instead of closing for the season on its earlier announced date in June. The museum, enjoying heavy attendance during its premiere season, exhibits "Breaking Barriers" April 6 through June 1. The show brings in contemporary Cuban art from the Museum of Modern Art, Fort Lauderdale, and appeared at the Tampa Museum of Art in 1998. Call (941) 597-1900. The museum reopens Oct. 2.

Visual, performing artists win awards

Award winners in the Pinellas County Arts Council's Artists Resource Fund grant program for 2001: visual artists Eugenia T. Ceaser, Janis Smith, Jane McMillan and Hermann Trappman, St. Petersburg; Gayle Pritchard, Safety Harbor, and Bethany M. Souza, Largo; Elizabeth Brincklow, Dunedin; and performing artists Kwabena Dinizulu and A. Paul Johnson, St. Petersburg, and Peter Blauvelt, Madeira Beach. The grants, totaling $12,137, are part of a one-time-only second round of funding and will be used for designated objectives, such as the purchase of equipment and to further recipients' careers. The 2002 awards process begins in September.

Gulf Coast Museum of Art seeks volunteers

The Gulf Coast Museum of Art seeks volunteers to assist in such areas as customer service, general office assistance, museum store and special events. For information contact the museum, 12211 Walsingham Road, Largo, FL 33778, or call (727) 518-6833, ext. 206.

- Compiled by performing arts critic John Fleming and art critic Mary Ann Marger

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