“C You Saturday”
Visual art, music
“C You Saturday” is a new monthly party at San Diego Institute of Contemporary Art’s North Campus that takes place every third Saturday night of every month.
This weekend is the inaugural event, and you’ll be able to participate in printmaking activities inspired by the architectural work of Edra Soto’s exhibit, Graft.
Be sure to get there right at 4:00 p.m., when the Art of Elan Chamber Music Ensemble will perform compositions that are in conversation with Soto’s art, ranging from Bach to Gabriella Lena Frank and Puerto Rican composer Angelica Negron.
Later in the evening, take a Q&A with Edra Soto and curator Guusier Sanders, a tour of the Narciso Martinez exhibition with Martinez and Executive Director Andrew Utt.
Martinez’s intricate and thoughtful work, pictured above, begs for a closer look. Find a full program schedule here, and you are encouraged to respond here — the Martinez exhibition tour has limited space.
details: 4-8pm on Saturday March 18th. ICA San Diego – North, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Free of charge.
San Diego Latino Film Festival: The Children of Las Brisas
Movie, Music
“The Children of Las Brisas,” a striking documentary about El Sistema, Venezuela’s famed national music education program, screens at the San Diego Latin Film Festival on Sunday. El Sistema offers music classes, intensive courses and orchestras for poor areas of Venezuela.
Did you know that Rafael Pajare of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra started on the program? Payare played in Simón Bolívar’s El Sistema orchestra with his contemporary Gustavo Dudamel, where the two conductors developed their friendship.
The documentary takes place long after Dudamel and Payaret, but gives a powerful insight into the lives of students in orchestras. The filmmakers followed three musicians over the course of a decade as they grew up in the program, pursuing their musical dreams while the turmoil of the country surrounded them.
The closing weekend of the 30th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival is full of possibilities. Check out Beth Accomando’s preview from KPBS hereand the full schedule here.
details: 11:15 a.m. Sunday, March 19. AMC Mission Valley, 1640 Camino Del Rio N., Mission Valley. $10-$12.
“XIX (Nineteenth)”
Theater
Previews begin Friday for The Old Globe’s latest world premiere, playwright Camp Powers’ “The XIXth (The Nineteenth).”
The action takes place at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, the 19th Olympic Games. On the medal podium, two black American sprinters raised their fists in protest. The play is directed by Carl Cofield and runs through April 23.
details: Previews this weekend are 8pm Friday and Saturday March 17-18 and 7pm Sunday March 19. The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. Lower priced previews start at $29+.
De La Torre Brothers: “Post-Columbian Futurism”
Visual art
The ICA San Diego Balboa Park location will be taken over by de la Torre brothers Jamex and Einar de la Torre. The exhibition includes two of the brothers’ signature lenticular works, depicted as Aztec gods, as well as the astonishing 2002 moon landing-style sculpture, Colonial Atmosphere, which was recently exhibited at the Cheech Museum’s inaugural exhibition.
Courtesy of the de la Torre Brothers
There is comic criticism in the work of the de la Torre brothers, and their works have a rare combination of intricate historical and sociological detail and a reduced wow factor.
details: Opens from noon to 5pm on Sunday 19 March. It can be seen until August 20. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free of charge.
“Getting Up, Always”
Dance, contemporary
San Diego Dance Theatre’s signature show runs this weekend with three performances at their home base, the Light Box Theatre. The company will perform original contemporary dance choreography by its colleagues Matthew Armstrong, Cecily Holcomb, Mario James and Artistic Director Terry Wilson.
Here’s a previous run by the company to get a taste:
details: 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday 17-18 March and 2.30pm on Sunday 19 March. Light Box Theatre, 2590 Truxtun Rd., Liberty Station. $20-$30.
“The Music of the Spheres”
Music, Classical
This performance by the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus features Missy Mazzoli’s mysterious “Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres),” which was commissioned for the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2014. Periodically, some musicians put down their instruments to send a humming hum through harmonicas— somehow, while also sounding sophisticated and symphonic.
Also on the program are Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with Tasha Koontz singing soprano solo and Philip Lima as baritone; and Nee’s 2021 commission of Alex Stevenson, “An Elemental Music.” Conducted by Michael Gerdes.
details: 7.30pm on Saturday 18 March and 2pm on Sunday 19 March. Mandeville Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Dr., UC San Diego. $19-$41.
‘The Outsiders’
Theatre, Music
I interviewed “The Outsiders” director Danya Taymor exactly a month ago for La Jolla Playhouse’s world premiere production of the musical adaptation — but I finally got a chance to see it last week. The Playhouse has just announced that they are extending the run until April 9, so you’ve got another week to catch it.
The play is heartbreaking and beautifully put together (with an absolutely unforgettable rainy battle scene). For the performance I saw, Ponyboy stunt double Trevor Wayne shined (there’s a “stay gold” pun in here somewhere) in the title role. It’s been a week and I still have the song “Great Expectations” stuck in my head. How long do we have to wait for a Broadway cast recording?
details: Shows Wednesday through Sunday, plus some Tuesdays. Closes April 9. La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Dr., UC San Diego. $89-$120 or $25+ for military with ID.
More weekend art events we’re covering:
Celia Alvarez Muñoz and Griselda Rosas are opening new exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla, and I had the opportunity to speak with both artists and get an inside look at the exhibits.
For Alvarez Muñoz, this is the first career retrospective of the 86-year-old artist from El Paso, Texas.
San Diego-Tijuana artist Griselda Rosas’ exhibition is her first solo museum exhibition.
For more art events or to submit your own, visit KPBS/Arts Calendar. And don’t forget to subscribe to my weekly newsletter KPBS/Arts Bulletin here.