Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: 804-443-3357
Fax: 804-443-6781
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SMS Presents Evening of Guitar, Sculpture, Poetry
Tappahannock (February 18, 2002) - Area residents can listen to Brazilian jazz guitar, view modern ceramic sculpture, and hear poetry read by a published local author-all on one night, right here in the Middle Peninsula. It's "Confluence," an evening of the arts presented by St. Margaret's School
Photo left: Jazz guitarist John Zaradin is one of three professional artists bringing their talents to St. Margaret's School on Saturday, February 23. The evening, titled "Confluence," is free and open to the public.
"We wanted to share the benefits of our artist-in-residence program with the community," said Fine Arts Chair Catherine Neuhardt-Minor. "This is a chance to see and hear from not one, but three, creative professionals."
The event is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 23 in the school's Community/Technology Center on Water Lane in Tappahannock.
Throughout the evening, attendees can view the work of British ceramicist Alex Hibbitt, St. Margaret's first artist-in-residence. Hibbitt's specialty is slip casting, a technique in which she pours liquid porcelain into molds of her own making to produce sculptural forms. Her current work examines the cultural influence of television through a series of monitor-shaped pieces that explore the relationships between surface, image and depth. Hibbitt's work has been shown in more than 15 exhibitions in this country and abroad.
Jazz guitarist John Zaradin, one of the world's best-known Latin American fingerstyle artists, will start the program. His career, which began in 1968 with a performance at London's Royal Festival Hall, has included appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company and at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Zaradin has recorded both solo and with his group, "Images of Brazil," and has published volumes of arrangements and books on technique.
Musical sets by Zaradin will alternate with readings by Neuhardt-Minor, who recently completed a post-graduate fellowship in poetry at Vermont College. The winner of both state and national awards, Neuhardt-Minor was one of a handful of poets whose work was interpreted by a visual artist and featured in an exhibition mounted by Washington's Corcoran Gallery last spring. In 2000, Neuhardt-Minor held a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, which resulted in a musical collaboration with the Eberli Ensemble and a New York City performance.
"Confluence" is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. In addition, guests will have the opportunity to purchase signed Zaradin CDs and selected pieces of Hibbitt's work. For more information, contact Neuhardt-Minor at (804) 443-3357.
