Today's Features

 The Los Alamos Concert Association presents the Borromeo String Quartet in a concert dedicated to the memory of George and Helen “Satch” Cowan, local patrons of the arts whose service to the community of Northern New Mexico will long be remembered.
“Satch” passed away in 2011 and George died last year.
Beginning with George’s service on LACA’s Board of Directors in the early 1950s, he and his wife supported the association’s efforts to bring great music to Los Alamos for more than 60 years. LACA’s unique program offering free tickets to young people, master classes with its artists and other youth outreach events will continue into the future thanks to the Cowan’s generosity.
Since their debut in 1989, the Borromeo String Quartet have become one of the most sought after strings quartets in the world, performing over 100 concerts of classical and contemporary music across three continents every season.
Audiences and critics alike champion their ability to bring back the contemporary fire to often heard works from the classic repertoire while making even the most challenging new music approachable.
As one of today’s most adventurous quartets, they continue to push musical, intellectual, and technical boundaries to a level achieved by only a very few.

The May 10 Spring Concert presented by the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra will feature the works of several well known composers from the mid-romantic period.
Director Don Gerheart, has chosen works which “have audience appeal and utilize all of the sections of the orchestra as much as possible, while still having a balanced program,” Gerheart said.
Procession of the Nobles opens the concert. Russian composer, Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov, was a master of orchestration and wrote this piece as part of his opera Mlada. It begins with the brilliant fanfares of the brass along with percussion, then proceeds to processional music, a majestic tune in the strings and concludes with an energetic march.
The other three works have the common theme of using incorporated folk tunes — from Russia, Germany and Czechoslovakia. The Caucasian Sketches #2, “Iveria,” by a pupil of Rimsky Korsakov, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, is a suite of four movements based on Russian folk music.
The Hungarian Dance Number 5 of Johannes Brahms was originally composed for piano, four hands, but has been arranged for full orchestra. Its lively melodies, familiar to many, are based on folk tunes of the Roma people.

The Los Alamos Arts Council announces the 46th annual Spring Arts and Crafts Fair, from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Fuller Lodge lawn.
The LAAC has been presenting the spring fair every year since 1967, and this year’s fair is sure to be the one of the best ever, according to executive director, Marlane Hamilton. Featuring nearly 100 artisans from across the southwest, the Arts and Crafts Fair offers both traditional and contemporary art forms. All of the items displayed are hand made or hand crafted.
The Arts and Crafts Fair will feature items such as pottery, weavings, clothing, woodworking, jewelry and more. In addition to the art, Sol y Luna will be performing guitar music and the Lads of Enchantment, the Los Alamos barbershop quartet will be at 2 p.m.
In the spirit of Mother’s Day, there will be a separate area where fathers can bring children to create special handmade gifts for mom. The service is free and provided by the First Baptist Church. Valynn Purvis will have an inflatable castle for children. Josephine Boyer will be on hand to do face painting and temporary tattoos.
While at the fair, take time to answer a few questions on the LAAC survey and receive an opportunity to win a round trip plane ticket to Albuquerque provided by the new Los Alamos air service, New Mexico Airlines.

The kids in “Spellbound,” next up in Mesa Public Library’s Free Film Series, study for hours every day, ever driven to reach their goal of memorizing the spelling of every word in the English language — or if not every word, at least whichever ones they are asked to spell at the Scripps Howard national spelling bee in Washington D.C.
Spelling isn’t all that interesting to most people and yet, watching these eight teens and pre-teens with their flashcards, dictionaries and indefatigable parents is completely absorbing.
The 2002 Oscar-nominated documentary follows the eight through regional spelling bees right up through the national championship.
Viewers see them not only with their massive word lists, but interacting with their families and friends in their homes and between rounds at the big bee.
Part of the movie’s charm is that you end up rooting for everyone and biting your fingernails every time any kid, even one you don’t “know,” steps up to the microphone. It’s easy to get caught up in the action.
Spelling might not initially sound riveting and yet, the final rounds feel just as tense and cutthroat as any other serious competition.
What’s the final word?
Can you spell it?