Art & Culture

The Cranston Fire affected lives on the Hill. It burned seven homes. It also threatened the Hill’s biggest entertainment and education event of the year.

In the July 19 issue of the Town Crier, Pamela Jordan, president and head of school for Idyllwild Arts, published a letter to the community. She described the origins of Jazz in the Pines, even before the first festival in 1994, its history and volunteers.

A ‘musical smoothie’ blending eclectic sounds and songs To say that Gigi “Gee” Rabe knows music is an understatement. This virtuoso accordion and steel drum player holds a Master of Arts in ethnomusicology from the UCLA, and has completed her Ph.D. coursework in the same field. Her areas of research, which influence and drive her…

Mayor Max II is very happy about the Cranston Fire disaster’s amazing outcome. Firefighters, early responders, hot-shot teams and supporters from the community unified cooperatively to save animals and this made him very happy, too. The mayor reported, “At 3 a.m., we went to the fire line to see how much time we had to…

Gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, for Idyllwild Arts’ 25th-annual Jazz in the Pines festival. This year’s event honors Marshall Hawkins, festival co-founder and director of Idyllwild Arts’ jazz program. Many alumni-turned-professional jazz musicians are returning to honor Hawkins, their mentor. As always, crafts, jewelry and artwork are for sale in the festival…

Sweet and swinging standards from the Great American Songbook Vocalist Lauren Koval and the Paul McDonald Sextet, next at the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series, will serve up swinging and sultry jazz and pop standards from the Great American Songbook. Jazz is legacy and lineage — an illustrious line of singers, bandleaders and instrumentalists whose music…

Brendan Constantine has been teaching with Idyllwild Arts summer poetry and creative writing programs for most of the last 17 years and agreed to tell his class’ evacuation story. More than 200 kids plus teachers and counselors were abruptly moved off campus. Subsequently, many students were picked up by their parents in Banning that afternoon….

This Thursday’s Idyllwild Summer Concert Series will continue as planned with the Lauren Koval Sextet at 7 p.m., and Robbie and Bill at 6:15 p.m. ISCS organizer Ken Dahleen said this will be a celebratory concert with all emergency personnel involved in the Cranston Fire being invited up on stage. The concert originally scheduled for…

The 25th-annual Jazz in the Pines festival is only weeks away — the weekend of Aug. 10 to 12. For several years, Marshall Hawkins, the creator of the festival, had an idea to spotlight jazz, America’s music, and feature Idyllwild Arts Academy students at the same time. He wanted more than an evening recital or…

Idyllwild Arts will present the annual culmination performance of the Summer Chamber Festival Orchestra, and Festival Choir and Ensemble at Walt Disney Music Hall, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The IA Summer Music Program provides a unique experience for young artists attending intensive two-week programs led by world-renowned teachers, designed to offer outstanding musicians the opportunity to refine their skills. The performance…