This is some of the best news we’ve heard in an age: The Delaware Symphony Orchestra—on the verge of collapse last summer—has announced its annual chamber series. The season begins Oct. 9, with concerts also in February, March and April. On Tuesday see—and hear—DSO’s string players perform “The Most Beautiful Music in the World.” You’ll hear Mozart’s Divertimento for Strings No. 3, K. 138 in F Major, Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 in C Major, Puccini’s Three Minuets for Strings and Gershwin’s Lullaby for String Quartet, all directed by maestro David Amado, who is celebrating his 10th season with DSO. Before the show, meet new manager Diana Milburn. All concerts are Tuesday evenings in The Gold Ballroom of the Hotel du Pont. March features the orchestra’s brass, April the winds. Single-concert tickets are available, or subscribe to the whole series. DSO is one of our greatest treasures. Help keep it alive. 652-5577, delawaresymphony.org
More Sweet Symphony
The Dover Symphony will open its 45th season with “Vive la France” on Oct. 13 at Calvary Assembly of God in Dover. “Vive la France” includes Bizet’s rousing Symphony in C, Mouret’s Symphonies de Fanfares (you’ll recognize it as the opening of music of “Masterpiece Theater”), Faure’s hauntingly melodic Pavane, and the overture to Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (with the instantly recognizable Can-Can theme). Stefan Xhori, violinist with both Delaware Symphony Orchestra and Dover Symphony Orchestras, will be featured as soloist in Poeme by Chausson. Donald Buxton conducts. Don’t miss it. 270-1903, doversymphony.org
Speaking of Amados…
The Market Street Music Thursday Noontime Concert on Oct. 11 features the Pyxis Piano Quartet. In residence at the Delaware Art Museum, Pyxis regularly plays to sold-out audiences. Hear violinist Meredith Amado (name ring a bell?), violist Amy Leonard, cellist Jie Jin and pianist Hiroko Yamazaki play in downtown Wilmington during lunchtime. The concert begins at 12:30 p.m. at First & Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 N. Market St. 654-5371, marketstreetmusic.com
Toast of the Coast
Coastal Concerts Presents Pianist Andre-Michel Schub and Friends on Oct. 13. Schub is a grand prize winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, recipient of the Avery Fisher Recital Award and winner of the Naumberg International Piano Competition. Music director of the Norfolk-based Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Music Series, Schub will be joined by two exceptional Virginia Arts Festival soloists, flautist Debra Wendells Cross and cellist Andrew Janss. Scheduled for the program are Schubert’s Wanderer fantasy for piano and Beethoven’s cello sonata in C major. You’ll want to get to Lewes for this concert. 888-212-6458, coastalconcerts.org
Name That Tune
We all know more classical music than we think. On Oct. 14, the second concert of the Smyrna Opera House chamber series, the Copeland String Quartet will play music the audience will have heard before, not in a concert, but at the movies. Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachmusic” (“A Little Night Music”) has been in at least a dozen films, from “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” to “Daddy Day Care” to “X2” to “Pride and Prejudice.” This concert of classical music promises to be a fun one. 653-4236, smyrnaoperahouse.org
Before the Tide Goes Out…
The Delaware Theatre Company’s 2012-2013 season—its first under new director Bud Martin—begins with a bang and some top-notch talent. “The Outgoing Tide,” a drama by Barrymore Award-winning playwright Bruce Graham, runs Oct. 10-28, starring no less than the critically acclaimed Michael Learned. You know her from “The Waltons.” Her role as Olivia Walton earned her three Emmy awards, and she later received an Emmy for her role as Mary Benjamin in her own series, “Nurse.” She is also a People’s Choice Award winner and four-time Golden Globe nominee. “The Outgoing Tide” offers surprising humor as it explores the ebb and flow of a family dynamic. In a summer cottage on Chesapeake Bay, Gunner has hatched an unorthodox plan to secure his family’s future but meets with resistance from his wife and grown son. According to the Chicago Sun Times, this drama, by Philadelphia’s most acclaimed playwright, Bruce Graham, “hums with dark humor and profound emotion.” “Tide” won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Chicago’s Best New Play of 2011 after its premiere at the Northlight Theatre in Chicago. Theatre Mania calls the show “thought provoking and moving.” “When I read the play the first time, I found myself laughing out loud,” Learned says, “and at the end I wept. Not because it was so sad, but because it was so right, so human, so perfect. It is the story of a flawed family dealing with life and death choices. I am in love with this play and its richly human characters.” Martin directs. “We are thrilled that Michael has agreed to do this show,” he says. “We all know her as a wonderful TV actress, but most people do not know the extent of her talent as a stage actress. Her willingness to come to Wilmington is a testament to just how important this play is and offers a rare and marvelous opportunity for our audiences to see her live on stage.” Learned’s Broadway credits include Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man,” starring roles in the world premieres of Arthur Miller’s “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan” and Neil Simon’s “Actors and Actresses,” and national tours of “On Golden Pond” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” Her feature films include “Life During Wartime” and “Power,” directed by Sidney Lumet. Tickets to “Tide” are going quickly, so act now. 594-1100, delawaretheatre.com 594-1100, delawaretheatre.com
Dark Irish
Prepare to be spooked. In “The Weir,” a few mates have gathered at a country pub for pints and a tale or two when a pretty stranger from Dublin joins them. The lads weave yarns of ghosts and hauntings to win her attention, but when she joins the storytelling, her tale becomes the eeriest of all. Conor McPherson’s award-winning portrayal of loss, loneliness, and love brilliantly depicts the wit and wiles of the Irish soul. Don’t miss the UD Resident Ensemble Players’ production at the Roselle Center for the Arts in Newark Oct. 4-13 831-2204 rep.udel.edu
Can You Spell “Fun?”
Going back to school has never been funnier than it is in the Tony-winning “The 25th Annual Putnam Couty Spelling Bee.” This hilarious tale of overachievers’ angst chronicles the experience of six adolescents in the spelling championship of a lifetime. Get in on the action. “Spelling Bee” will have you holding your ribs. See it through Oct. 28 at The New Candlelight Theatre. nctstage.org
Simply Beautiful
Now at the Delaware Art Museum, “So Beautifully Illustrated” shows the work of Katharine Richardson Wireman, who studied with Howard Pyle before embarking on a 50-year career as an illustrator. Her illustrations, which often featured domestic scenes, ranged from advertisements and fashion features to children’s books to covers of magazines such as The Country Gentleman. Drawn from the museum’s renowned illustration collection and some private collections, “So Beautifully Illustrated” features 48 oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings created between 1912 and 1950. Richardson Wireman’s ability to offer a range of subjects and moods created great demand among magazine editors. She excelled at depicting women, children, and families in domestic settings and everyday situations. In addition to illustrating magazine covers, Richardson Wireman illustrated children’s books, magazine articles, and educational materials. “So Beautifully Illustrated” continues the series of exhibitions focused on the Golden Age of Illustration and the students of Howard Pyle. See it through Jan. 6. 571-9590, delart.org
The Moment is Now
If you enjoy still life painting, see “The Aesthetic Moment: The Art of Still Life” now at Delaware Art Museum. This Outlooks series exhibition features 11 regional painters with different styles, but a common love for the genre. “Aesthetic Moment” is an apt title, given that “aesthetic” derives from the ancient Greek word for “perception.” The still life arrangements are uniquely perceived and rendered by the artists, then perceived uniquely again by the viewer. The featured artists are Stanley Bielen, Deborah Deichler, Dolya Dogal, Paul DuSold, Renee Foulks, Frances Galante, Scott Noel, Carolyn Pyfrom, Carlo Russo, David Shevlino and Frank Trefny. The guest curator is Paul DuSold of Philadelphia, who has shown his work widely across the United States over the last 30 years, concentrating on still life. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and has taught at various regional art schools. His unerring eye reveals a range of still life subjects, themes and styles that will astound you. See it though Jan. 6. 571-9590, delart.org
A Man For This Season: Edgar Allan Poe
“Picturing Poe: Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Stories and Poems” at the Brandywine River Museum shows how the master of the macabre inspired other artists, making him one of the world’s most illustrated authors. See drawings, paintings and first-edition books illustrated by 30 artists, including Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Robert Motherwell and F.O.C. Darley, who Poe selected by hand. See it through Nov. 15.
Don’t forget to see Andrew Wyeth’s recently opened studio. Schedule a Tuesday to see how a true American master thought and worked. Tours take place every Tuesday through Nov. 13. Make your reservation for a remaining date soon. (610) 388-2700, brandywinemuseum.org
Young at Art
A grant from the Warhol Foundation changes the approach to art at Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts for awhile by opening the curation process to the public. That means you can help create exhibits with the artists themselves, making it less about objects and works that hang on the walls, more about social interaction. See for yourself when planning for “Imperfect City” begins for an opening in March. Till then, don’t miss “Young Country,” a traveling show of art that speaks of place. Organized by DCCA, it hit UArts in Philadelphia and Salisbury University in Maryland before its exhibition in Delaware. “Young Country” examines how artists living in fringe art centers are re-defining ideas of fine art, class, and “country” in America. The exhibition features artists who use rural images and subjects such as horseracing, honkytonks, and homesteading to address how the visual culture of a region shapes perception and identity. The show features work by artists from Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle, New York, Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, and other areas. The show grows as it travels. See it now.
The Art of Business
Little-known fact: The library at Hagley holds the records of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Hence “100 Years of Picturing the Nation’s Business: Photographs from the Collection of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America,” which celebrates the chamber’s centennial. The exhibition shows famous—and not-so-famous—photos, some capturing significant moments such as reaction to the stock market crash, aftermath of the Dust Bowl and news of the Titanic sinking, some showing iconic companies such as Ford Motor Co. and American Airlines in their earliest days. While you’re there, see “The American Eagle: Symbol of Freedom and Enterprise to the du Pont Family.” The bird was an important symbol, one that Mrs. Louise du Pont Crowninshield collected and displayed in her ancestral home, Eleutherian Mills. The exhibition is on view through Jan. 1. 658-2400, hagley.org 658-2400, hagley.org
It’s All About Us
In 1962, the interstate highway system was just getting traction, the Delaware Memorial Bridge had only one span, and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry had not yet set sail. Fifty years later, the state is a much different place, and through it all, Delaware Today has been there to document the changes. See how in “Delaware Yesterday, Delaware Today: 1962-2012” at the Delaware History Center in Wilmington. The exhibit shows how the magazine has evolved from a small black-and-white publication with regular features like the quaint Flo Knows Fashion into the glossy, full-color publication you read today for the latest on great restaurants, the arts, emerging lifestyle trends, home design, interesting personalities and more. Objects from the collection of the Delaware Historical Society round out the story. “Delaware Yesterday, Delaware Today: 1962-2012” is informative, entertaining and nostalgic, and we humbly submit that you’ll find it as interesting as we here at DT do. 655-716, hsd.org
