Davis music landscape gets vocal

By Jeff Hudson Enterprise arts writer

Ordinarily, there aren’t many classical music performances scheduled in Davis on a Monday night.

But Monday, Feb. 6, will be a rare exception, with the American Bach Soloists coming up from San Francisco to perform at Davis Community Church, while the oft-heralded St. Olaf Choir (based at St. Olaf College in rural Minnesota) will sing at the Mondavi Center. Both concerts will start at 7 p.m., so even if you’d like to attend both, you’re going to have to choose.

■ The American Bach Soloists, a professional early-music group founded in San Francisco more than 30 years ago, will offer a generous sampler illustrating the range of J.S. Bach’s musical compositions, including the Third Brandenburg Concerto (BWV 1048, dating from 1721), the Concerto in D Minor for Harpsichord (BWV 1052, from 1738), and a sacred cantata for solo soprano (“Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” BWV 51, from 1730).

The soprano will be Canadianborn Hélène Brunet (who comes from Quebec, and has sung with the Bach Soloists several times).

Alongside the three works by Bach will be pieces by several of Bach’s contemporaries, including a chamber orchestra piece by Telemann (Sinfonia Spirituoso in D Major), a sacred vocal piece by Vivaldi for soprano and chamber orchestra titled “Laudete pueri Dominum,” with a text drawn from Psalm 113 (RV 600, from 1713-1719), and a bassoon concerto by Vivaldi.

The Bach Soloists are coming off December’s well-attended concert of Baroque-era Christmas music, which they performed at the Mondavi Center and in the Bay Area. Longtime music director Jeffrey Thomas will conduct.

There will be a pre-concert talk at 6 p.m., with the music starting at 7 p.m. The seating capacity at Davis Community Chuch (412 C St. in Davis is limited. Tickets are $101-$39, online at AmericanBach.org.

YoloArts hosts work of Shonna McDaniels

Special to The Enterprise

YoloArts and Gallery 625 present “Shonna McDan- iels: The Black Woman Experience,” a solo exhibition featuring the mixedmedia artwork of artist and community activist McDaniels. The show opens Friday, Feb. 3, at YoloArts’ Gallery 625 in Woodland.

McDaniels is a Sacramento-based artist with an extensive background in art instruction and mural design. In 1996 she founded the Sojourner Truth Art Museum, and is the executive director. The museum preserves Black history and celebrates the accomplishments of African American people and their legacy. The Sojourner Truth Art Museum offers resources to document, preserve, and educate the public on the history, life and culture of African Americans.

McDaniels’ résumé includes work on more than 150 murals in the landscapes of Sacramento, Stockton and San Francisco.

In her artist statement McDaniels writes, “The primary theme that drives my art practice today is celebrating the beauty of the Black woman. I’ve always been devoted to creating portraits that are inspired by the Black woman’s joy, hope, love, dignity, strength, and essence of her soul. I work with layers of African textiles, collage paper, design patterns, symbols, and vibrant skin tones. Each layer serves it’s very own meaningful purpose. It is my hope that with each theme I explore and with each portrait I create, something vital is etched into the memory of the viewer.”

“Shonna devotes so much of herself to promoting the accomplishments of African American culture in our region while pursuing her own dedicated artistic practice,” said Janice Purnell, creative director at YoloArts. “It’s an honor to feature Shonna’s work and I encourage everyone to come out and celebrate art and Black

■ The St. Olaf Choir is a nationally recognized 75-voice college choir that hails from St. Olaf College, a private Lutheran school founded in the 1800s by Norwegian immigrants.

St. Olaf College has a 300-acre campus, with an enrollment of some 3,000 students in Northfield, Minn. (population 20,000). And yes, while those Minnesota winters can be icy, the state also seems to produce more than it’s share of good singers.

The St. Olaf Choir has a long history — it was organized more than 100 years ago, and has earned nationwide renown through their many concert tours. Conductor Anton Armstrong is a 1978 graduate of St. Olaf College, and Armstrong has been leading the St. Olaf Choir for over 30 years.

The St. Olaf Choir will be showcasing their vocal skills at the Mondavi Center on Monday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. — part of a West Coast tour. Tickets are $25-$50 general, $10 students of all ages, online at MondaviArts.org.

This weekend

There are still a few tickets remaining for three events at the Mondavi Center during the coming week:

■ American-born jazz vocalist

Cécile McLorin Salvant brings her quintet to perform on Friday, January 27, 7:30 p.m.

■ Nina Totenberg, longtime correspondent for NPR since the 1970s, will talk about her many decades covering the U.S. Supreme

Court — and her long personal friendship with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, February 3, 7:30 p.m. ■ Vocalists from the San Francisco Opera Center will sing selections from famous operas, backed by the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Christian Baldini, on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m. The concert marks the return of the annual Barbara K Jackson Rising Stars of Opera concert, and tickets are free ... Those free tickets were all claimed several months ago ... but there is always a “no-show factor,” and unclaimed reserved seats will be released shortly before the concert begins, so if you arrive early, you may be able to get a ticket on the day of the event.

History Month with us on the First Friday in February.”

McDaniels will be attending the opening reception, 5:30 to 8 p.m. and give an artist talk from 6:30-6:45, Friday February 3, coinciding with the downtown Woodland First Friday event. Music will be provided by guitarist Kevin

Welch from the band, Boca do Rio. Zim Cuisine of Davis will be providing small bites inspired by the cuisine of Zimbabwe. Samplings of Yolo County wines will also be available. The artwork is also online at yoloarts.org/ online-galleries.

“Shonna McDaniels: The Black Woman Experience” continues at Gallery 625 through April 4.

Gallery 625 hosts exhibitions and receptions every other month. New exhibitions typically open on the first Fridays of February, April, June, August, October, and December.

Gallery 625 is at 625 Court St. in Woodland, in Yolo County’s Erwin Meier Administration building, and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, contact YoloArts at 530309-6464.