By Land and Sea and Air - paintings, drawings and etchings

The David Hunt Library  located bucolic village of Falls Village in the Litchfield Hills on 63 Main Street is hosting an art exhibition featuring the work of Robert Andrew Parker through October 10. 

The poet Marianne Moore said, "Robert Andrew Parker is one of the most accurate and at the same time most unliteral of painters. He combines the mystical and the actual, working both in an abstract and in a realistic way." Ms. Moore's is an apt description of Parker's recent work in this exhibit including serial images of an Avro Bison aircraft combining print and watercolor and a series of ships in the far distance, possibly warships. These are accompanied by landscapes, images of animals, and water conveying an overall sense of movement and adventure.

Besides being a foremost American artist, illustrator, and printmaker, Parker is also a writer and a working musician. Bob continues to perform with his band mates locally at the Interlaken Inn and other spots.

Parker's artworks have appeared in the pages of The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Esquire just to name a few. His drawings and paintings have accompanied the writings of Franz Kafka, Vladimir Nabokov, W. H. Auden, and Marianne Moore. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Morgan Library and Museum, and private collections throughout the world. Most recently, Parker was the subject of a Century Masters career retrospective at The Century Association in New York.

For more information www.litchfieldhills.com and www.huntlibrary.org

Art and Dining in Falls Village Connecticut

Falls Village is a bucolic town located in the far northwest corner of the Litchfield Hills. In addition to several excellent hiking trails, the  village has several shops, a library boasting an art gallery, a museum and a fabulous country inn making this a wonderful spring destination.

Mullins Deep End

The David M. Hunt Library, located on 63 Main Street in Falls Village, CT in the center of town has planned an art exhibit that will run through May 17.  The featured painter is Patty Mullins whose exhibit, "Collected Stories," presents a selection of the artist's narrative and landscape canvases.

Patty Mullins, a resident of Sharon, is well-known for her evocative paintings, the narrative elements of which are a natural fit for the Queen Anne architecture of the David M. Hunt Library which has, like the paintings, numerous spaces to be alone, quiet, and thoughtful. The intimate landscapes of our region are also found in Ms. Mullins' canvases, particularly the ones inspired by wetlands in Lakeville, Cornwall, and Sharon.

Mullins Orpheus

In a recent statement, the artist described her work: "For me, painting is a process of discovery. Like an archeologist, I start with an idea of what I'm after, but don't know exactly what I'll find; images trigger memory and emotion, and as I paint I follow the emotion and find layers of meaning...elements in my paintings include personal history, the history of painting, loss, desire, skewed vision, vertigo, self-absorption and self-containment. My current body of work includes landscapes, figures, portraits of objects, and a recurrent theme: for the real subject of my work is time; the spaces and the things that people leave behind."

Patty Mullins exhibits her paintings locally in New England, as well as in New York and Philadelphia. Her work has been shown at the National Academy Museum, and is in the collections of Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond Learsy, Bianca Jagger, Campbell Scott, and Jamie Wyeth. Ms. Mullins' work can be previewed on her website, www.PattyMullins.com.

Falls Village Inn

After viewing this art show, stop into the Falls Village Inn located on 33 Railroad Street in the heart of this bucolic village.  The Falls Village Inn features a lunch, taproom and dinner menu that acknowledges a desire for classic American comfort fare. Gorgeous accommodations are also available in comfortable rooms designed by Bunny Williams.

For more information call 860-824-0033 visit http://www.thefallsvillageinn.com.

For information on Hunt Library http://www.huntlibrary.org.  For information on the Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

Music Mountain’s 84th Season Continues Shanghai String Quartet August 31

America's oldest continuing summer chamber music festival, Music Mountain, continues its 84th Anniversary Season with a weekend of classical music by the Shanghai String Quartet on Saturday, August 31st (6:30PM) and Sunday, September 1st (3PM) featuring guest artist Haochen Zhang, piano. Music Mountain is located on 225 Music Mountain Rd. in Falls Village Connecticut.

Music Mountain has a long-standing reputation of bringing some of the finest and most widely admired chamber musicians and guest artists to Falls Village each summer, and this weekend is no exception. Award winning talents from around the world have filled Gordon Hall with the sounds of exceptional music. 

On Saturday evening, Shanghai String Quartet presents Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Opus 64 # 5, The Lark; Shostakovich: String Quartet # 6 in C Major, Opus 101; and Dvorak: String Quartet in A Flat Major, Opus 105. 

Sunday afternoon brings the acclaimed quartet back to perform Beethoven: String Quartet in C Major, Opus 59 # 3; and Schumann: Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 44. Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, Haochen Zhang will play a selection of his favorite concerts pieces. 

Haochen Zhang

Celebrated for their passionate musicality and impressive technique, the Shanghai String Quartet has become one of the world's foremost chamber ensembles. Since 1983, the quartet has regularly toured the major music centers of Europe, North America and Asia and has performed with many internationally distinguished artists. The Shanghai String Quartet currently serves as Quartet-in-Residence at Montclair State University and Ensemble-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. They have appeared at Music Mountain every summer since 1989. 

Award-winning pianist Haochen Zhang is already regarded as a seasoned master, lauded by critics and audiences alike. The young musician has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia and is set to make his Paris debut with a recital at the Louvre Museum, and his Vienna debut with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra in the spring. Zhang continues to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under the guidance of Gary Graffman.

The Music Mountain summer season concludes with Bard Festival String Quartet; guest artist, Xak Bjerken, piano (September 8).

For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126. 

Music Mountain presents Daedalus String Quartet: September 11, Country Music Gunsmoke, August 27th and Tempo del Fuoco: August 26th

"America's Oldest Continuing Summer Chamber Music Festival"

Music Mountain will host a double play of events this weekend starting with the duo Tempo del Fuoco on Friday, August 26th (8PM), followed by the toe-tappin' "New York's Band of the Year," Gunsmoke on Saturday, August 27th (6:30PM) and the acclaimed Daedalus String Quartet with award-winning pianist, Soyeon Lee on Sunday, September 11 (3PM). All three groups are just a sampling  of the 150 artists have graced the stage of Gordon Hall this summer, bringing together chamber, jazz and country music for the first time. Concerts are scheduled to run thru September 4th.

Formed in 2009, Tempo del Fuoco, the guitar and violin duo, recently began work on a project encompassing the development of the tango into their concerts.  Their Friday night program will feature: Piazzolla: L'Histoire du Tango, Wallace: El Primero, Schuttenhelm: "When the surface would suffice," Riley: Cantos Desiertos, and Pujol: Suite Buenos Aires.

Music Mountain's 1024 square foot dance floor will be hopping when Gunsmoke takes to the stage for a Saturday night of high-energy country and western music. The Fairfield County based band has been named "New York Band of the Year" six consecutive times and was just inducted into the Connecticut Country Music Association Hall of Fame. The audience favorite has opened for many country music superstars including Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., and Alan Jackson.  If you love authentic country & western music you won't be disappointed!

The lauded Daedalus String Quartet returns for an encore performance with Naumburg Award Winner, Soyeon Lee, piano. The quartet will offer a Sunday afternoon program including: the Schubert: Quartettsatz in C Minor, D703, the Beethoven: String Quartet in E Flat Major, Opus 74, and the Brahms: Piano Quartet in G Minor, Opus 25. Daedalus String Quartet has performed in many of the world's leading music venues in the US, Canada, and Washington D.C., as well as abroad in Amsterdam, Paris, and Japan.

Praised by The New York Times and Washington Post, Soyeon Lee has been joyously received by audiences and critics alike, performing as guest soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, as well as recital appearances in New York City, Washington D.C., Madrid, and Seoul, Korea.

Located in Falls Village, Connecticut, Music Mountain is located on Music Mountain Road, where a short scenic drive will bring music lovers to Gordon Hall with ample & free parking. Beer and wine are available and, as is the Music Mountain custom, audience members are invited to picnic before the concerts on the scenic grounds.

Ticket prices for the Music Mountain 2011 season are $30 at the door, $27 in advance. (Admission is FREE for those 18 and under.)  All concerts begin at 6:30pm on Saturday evenings and 3pm on Sundays, unless otherwise stated. Group rates and pre season ticket vouchers are available. Discounts apply through participating organizations. For a complete summer schedule, special ticket prices, and to download a ticket order form visit www.musicmountain.org or call 860-824-7126.

Music Mountain is located 225 Music Mountain Rd, Falls Village, CT.