This past Tuesday, Jake Parsky ’19 became the first performer in Program Board’s new Tiny Classroom Concert series. Parsky’s 15-minute set included four original compositions, with his voice and acoustic guitar accompanied by Jack Henry Lickerman ’21 on drums. As the name suggests, Parsky played in a room of his choice in front of a…
Arts, Home
Professor Cecilia Espinosa on conducting and Colombia
Professor Cecilia Espinosa Arango is an imposing, aristocratic figure. She has wild, short bobbed hair, in the style of Fran Lebowitz and Beethoven. Like many other Latin Americans who earn the title of orchestra conductor, in her professional context she translates to the eye as both animated and serious. Think of “The Incredibles’” Edna Mode,…
Opinion
Re-revolutionize Springfest
Two years ago, at the 2015 International Round Table, I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Chris Ward ’76. Mr. Ward is currently an executive at the consulting firm AECOM, based in New York City, but his background includes some far more important accolades and accomplishments. Namely — in his sophomore year at Macalester…
Arts
Bower’s Sunny New EP is the Perfect Antidote to Minnesota Winter
Bower is the moniker of Trent Bower: singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. After playing in bands in New Orleans and Los Angeles and touring the country as a drummer and bassist for artists like Amy Shark, Vance Joy and Taylor Swift, Bower is embarking on a career as a solo artist. He released his first solo…
Arts
Rostam live at Fine Line: An intimate, string-driven show
It’s around 8:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, and opening band Joy Again finish warming up the stage with an enticing chorus of guitars and jazz scales. A playful introduction to the main act, former Vampire Weekend member Rostam, whom the crowd awaits eagerly. Having left the critically acclaimed band in 2016, Rostam has focused more…
Arts, Home
Innerbloom: Exploring Silence
Innerbloom is a weekly series dedicated to creating an artistic dialogue around our mutual connections with nature. The series is submission-based, and seeks to bring a diversity of artistic voices to reflect on the ways we shape nature and nature shapes us. Each week, I introduce a theme that pertains to the overarching concepts of…
Arts, Home
Mitski doesn’t want to be “Your Best American Girl”
The recently reopened Palace Theatre in downtown St. Paul doesn’t try to impress by looking flashy. Neither does Mitski, the indie-rocker who opened there for the Pixies last week. On October 10, Mitski took center stage, wearing black, with her hair pulled into a low ponytail. Accompanied by a percussionist and a guitarist, she stood…
Columns, Features, Sexy Mac
Bringing Sexy Mac! Mattress Music: What’s on your sex playlist?
by Molly Lloyd [email protected] Music is one of those things that has an influence on all aspects of our lives. You can hear a song that you haven’t heard since middle school and inexplicably still know all of the lyrics. Movies manage to elicit emotional reactions from audience members purely through the well-crafted connection between…
Arts, Home
Lydia Ainsworth to perform new record at 7th Street Entry
Overlooking Los Angeles’ Echo Park is the statue “The Queen of Angels,” which became the inspiration for Lydia Ainsworth’s new record, Darling of the Afterglow. Ainsworth, a Torontonian electro-pop singer, released her album on March 31. She recorded the album in the same Toronto studio where she made her 2014 debut album, Right from Real….
Arts
Waxahatchee opens for The New Pornographers at First Avenue
What’s kitty-corner from the Target Center, covered in silver stars and arguably the coolest scene in downtown Minneapolis? FIRST AVENUE. The signage is unmistakable: bold capital letters against a background design like the staff lines of sheet music. On Tuesday, April 18, the dark Mainroom venue is well-packed by 8:00 p.m., when the opener, Waxahatchee,…