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SUNDAY • DECEMBER 31, 2017
W H Y From dancers and authors to actors and musicians, members of San Diego’s creative community reflect on the importance of the arts
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SUNDAY • DECEMBER 31, 2017
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Curtis Taylor
Trumpeter Curtis Taylor, 32, teaches jazz history and jazz ensemble courses at Cal State San Marcos. His next album, “#hastagged,” is due for imminent release. He is featured on singer Gregory Porter’s “Liquid Spirit,” which in 2014 won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. paying it forward, how to usic is the soundcarry yourself, etc. I cringe track of life. I have to think of what my life yet to meet a perwould look like, or what son that doesn’t like some path I would have gone type of music. down, had I not had such Music is literally conmentorship at this crucial nected to every aspect of time in my development. my life. Music is my living, Even if one doesn’t plan my passion and my platto take my path and beform. It directly connects come a professional musime to the creative force in cian, there are so many the universe. benefits to studying music. Music has taught me Studying music has been discipline and consistency. shown to improve critical It has given me access to thinking, memory, math things, places and people skills and problem-solving that I wouldn’t otherwise abilities, relieve stress, and have access to as an Afriso much more. can-American man from a Finally, I want to working-class, singleleave you with one word: parent household. exposure. Today I am an At the early age of 11, I award-wining recording lost my father. As one artist, educator and percould imagine, this was a former, and none of this tough time. Whether I was would be possible if I aware of it or not, music hadn’t been exposed to provided a much-needed music at a young age. outlet for me. Music also Exposure is literally everyprovided surrogate fathers thing. This is why music through lessons, workand the arts at large are so shops, and mentorship, vital to the community and because the instruction I need our continued supreceived was mostly from port. men. What type of world I would not only learn would this be without music-related things from music? Let’s not find out. these male figures, but Support music and the also life lessons: having arts! AS TOLD TO GEORGE VARGA good character, discipline,
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Veronica May
Singer-songwriter Veronica May launched her music career in 2002, has been a music therapist since 2006, and was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder in 2008. She writes about her condition twice a month on her blog, veronicamay.com/bipolar-biweekly. Her next concert is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Branch Library.
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usic matters. It isn’t just something to listen to, to dance to, and sing to. It is something that creates an emotion, sparks a memory, and causes a movement. Music ignites our creative mind. It is a bold streak of red in the fog. For many, it can change a moment from being alive to feeling alive. I have been a musician professionally for 15 years and
was a board-certified music therapist for 11 of those years. Fun fact: Music is the only thing that activates the entire brain when it is being experienced. The combination of rhythm and melody is powerful. It’s the reason we can memorize lyrics to hundreds of songs but can’t remember the periodic table after we take the test in high school. The power of music is clear to me. When John
Lennon wanted peace, he sang about it. Millions memorized what he said. And, after all these years, people are still memorizing what he — and many others — said through song. Word for word. We learn songs, and some of us take action because of songs. When I step up to the microphone, it feels like I’m stepping up to a podium. I feel as a musician it is my right and honor to create content that matters. To
write about what it’s like living with mental illness, write about what it’s like to fall and get up, and to write about the fact that our country is at war with itself. It is my job to light the world on fire, because the only way to really see change is to be change. And the only way I know how to make a change is by singing about it. What if we all sang along? Imagine the possibilities. AS TOLD TO GEORGE VARGA
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Maria Araujo
Maria Araujo has been vice president of education and community engagement with the San Diego Symphony since early October. Originally from Venezuela, Araujo most recently was a teacher at the Miami Music Project. Her responsibilities at the symphony include planning and implementation of educational programs as well as developing alliances between the symphony and community organizations.
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he arts matter because they provide gateways to the totality of the human experience. In their complexity and specificity, they are often disruptive and insightful; they shake us from the dull embrace of ordinary life, comfort and habit. They are metaphors that transcend limits and reveal glimpses of who and what we are. They connect us to aspects in and of ourselves, others and the world, often bringing us closer to our nature and ushering in the joy of revelation, shared meaning, individual perspectives or universal matters. They support our abilities to perceive, resonate and understand. They assist us in becoming present to the magnificence of life, from which otherwise we may remain absent. Arts are our birthright, as all humans are born with artistic qualities and potential. Tragically, the arts remain peripheral, and even irrelevant, in many people’s lives. Artmaking requires focused diligence and skills and the
coordinated functions of mind/ intellect, body/senses and emotional/heart centers. Yet, as a developmental endeavor, its significance is not fully understood by our systems of education where the arts ought to be central. Participating early in life in art creation allows the emergence of a full human being. Encounters with art expression may be inspiring, intriguing or dazzling; nurturing, delighting or confusing; yet, always transformative. They will rarely leave us unmoved or unchanged. Neurologically, we are just beginning to understand some of the impact of the arts. In the case of music education, I have seen how the right programs — based on rigorous yet engaging and serious play — fuel revitalization and scholastic achievement in school districts, while developing brilliant leaders and conscientious citizens, ultimately transforming societies and impacting the world. So, yes, definitely, yes! The arts matter! AS TOLD TO BETH WOOD
Ruben Valenzuela
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Bach Collegium San Diego’s music director, Ruben Valenzuela, is conductor, keyboardist and musicologist for the organization, which he founded in 2003. Dedicated to presenting Renaissance, Baroque and early classical music, the collegium is the ensemble-in-residence at All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Point Loma and attracts accomplished performers from all over the globe as its guests.
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n today’s divisive climate, the arts are as important as ever for innumerable reasons. The arts have the potential to reach across barriers of language, class, culture, and act as a common denominator to bring communities together. The arts provide an arena for civil discourse where seemingly disparate ideologies can be brought together in collaboration. The arts spawn creativity and integrate diverse ways of problem-solving — important components of human endeavor. The arts provide us with a way to understand the world, and to viscerally interact with the complex-
ities of our own humanity. And let us not forget music’s historic role in human understanding. In medieval times, Western civilization viewed music as the science of sound, and taught it along with geometry, arithmetic and astronomy! Today, we live in a climate where too often the arts are relegated to an “extra” endeavor, only studied if there is sufficient time left after the “important” subjects have been addressed. Or, the arts are reserved only for those with resources. Last, and certainly not least, the arts provide us with beauty. We all need beauty for our own existence, whether
we admit it or not. The beauty we experience through the arts asks vital questions of ourselves, and elicits powerful emotions that soothe us, enrage us, make us laugh, make us cry, and can even cause a revolution. Art, at its best, demonstrates our incredible potential and capability. I personally need only look to the artistic contribution that is Bach’s B minor Mass for balance, proportion, symmetry and musical rhetoric, to name but a few key attributes. Yes, the arts matter! AS TOLD TO BETH WOOD
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U.S. SEEKS TO VASTLY EXPAND OFFSHORE DRILLING
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Interior Dept. plan calls for six sites off California coast
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended an Obama-era federal policy that provided legal shelter for marijuana sales in states that have allowed recreational pot, placing at risk thousands of marijuana businesses operating legally under state laws.
BY EVAN HALPER & JOSEPH TANFANI WASHINGTON
BY KEITH SCHNEIDER The Trump administration, inviting a political backlash from coastal state leaders, on Thursday proposed to open for exploration the largest expanse of the nation’s offshore oil and natural gas reserves ever offered to global energy companies, including waters off the coast of California. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the draft fiveyear leasing plan would commit 90 percent of the nation’s offshore reserves to leasing, including areas off all three regions of the California coast that have been off limits to oil and gas exploration since the Reagan administration. The draft plan, now subject to review and debate, would allow the first new federal lease sales off the California coast since 1984. It sparked immediate fury from Democratic leaders in the state. “The American people deserve smart, strong action to keep our communities healthy, clean and safe. Yet the Trump administration is racing forward with its increasingly brazen attempts to loot our environment and our planet,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “Americans from coast to coast will make their voices heard to oppose this blatant corporate giveaway.” The proposed plan for the outer-continental shelf calls for 47 lease sales to be scheduled in 25 of 26 areas off the nation’s coastlines between 2019 and 2024. Seven new leases are targeted in the Pacific region, including two each for Northern California, Central California and Southern California, as well as one for the area off the Washington and Oregon coast. Twelve leases are nominated for the Gulf of Mexico, and 19 are proposed for coastal Alaska. “This is a start on looking at American energy dominance and looking at SEE DRILLING • A6
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WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House’s top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Trump’s associates had helped a Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. Public pressure was building for Sessions, who had been a senior member of the Trump campaign, to step aside. But the White House
certainty, and was met with a stinging bipartisan backlash from lawmakers in states where marijuana is sold to any adult who wants to buy it States that have legalized girded Thursday for a fight. “In California, we decided it was best to regulate, not criminalize, cannabis. Unlike others, we embrace, not fear, change,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. “After all, this is 2018 not the 20th century. At the California Department of Justice we intend to vigorously enforce our state’s laws and protect our state’s interests.” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted
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Per hour snowfall in parts of New England
Canceled flights across U.S.
STORM POUNDS NORTHEAST A major winter storm unleashed snow, gusts and flooding across much of the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday. Some forecasters dubbed it a “bomb cyclone,” notable for a steep drop in atmospheric pressure. The storm snarled travel, closed schools and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people. In Manhattan, a woman tried to shield herself from strong winds and snow. Story, A2.
WOMAN FROM TENT SHELTER TO MOVE INTO HOME Owner offers house to aid city efforts
counsel, Donald McGahn, carried out the president’s orders and lobbied Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, according to two people with knowledge of the episode. McGahn was unsuccessful, and the president erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him. Trump said he had expected his top law enforcement official to safeguard him the way he believed Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general, had done for SEE TRUMP • A9
BY GARY WARTH
HOWARD LIPIN U-T
Lynette Gresham will be the first person to transition out of the city homeless tent to a real home.
As families began moving into the third and final tent the city of San Diego has opened for homeless people Thursday, one woman in the program became the first to leave for a permanent home. “Oh, wow,” Lynnette Gresham said as she stepped through the doorway of what would become her new home. “This is big. It’s beautiful.” The property owner has
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THIRD TENT OPENS A 8 • Shelter will house homeless for one year.
offered the vacant six-bedroom Spring Valley house to help in the city’s efforts to house the homeless, and Gresham looked through each room to find the one to call her own. Other homeless people soon will join her. At 51, Gresham said this would be the first house she had ever lived in, having been homeless since she was 12. “I feel like crying,” she said. “It’s finally going to SEE HOME • A8
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on Thursday: “Have no doubt — California will pursue all options to protect our reforms and rights.” With the California industry expected to generate up to $7 billion eventually, the Justice Department announcement was likely to chill potential investors in the state’s pot market, industry leaders predicted. Will Senn, co-founder of the Urbn Leaf stores in San Diego’s Bay Park and Stockton neighborhoods, had anticipated Sessions’ move. “I wish I could say I’m surprised,” Senn said. “But I’m not. Always one step forward, two steps SEE POT • A6
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OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE MAY BE MUELLER’S FOCUS BY MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States,” Sessions said in a statement, which added Jeff that the Obama-era Sessions policy that directed federal prosecutors not to target state marijuana businesses “undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission.” The Justice Department move plunges California’s fledgling recreational pot market into further un-
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MARKETS s 152.45 Dow 25,075.13 s 12.38 Nasdaq 7,077.92 s 10.93 S&P 500 2,723.99 s 0.01 10-yr. T-note 2.45% s $0.38 Oil $62.01 s $3.10 Gold $1,321.60 Flat Silver $17.19 Euro 0.8290 • Peso 19.2900
B R I E F LY MARIJUANA INVESTORS SKITTISH: Marijuana-
related stocks plummeted after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled a tougher approach Thursday to federal pot enforcement. Canopy Growth, a Canada-based company with the ticker symbol WEED, lost $3.58 a share, or 10 percent, to close at $32.32 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shares of garden-supply company Scotts Miracle-Gro also skidded Thursday, following a steady rise last year after it added fertilizer, lights and other products to serve marijuana growers. The company’s share price fell by as much as 7 percent before closing down 2.3 percent, or $2.49, to $106.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.
FRIDAY • JANUARY 5, 2018
SDG&E WANTS REHEARING ON BILLING FOR FIRE COSTS CPUC nixed utility’s plea to make customers pay $379M for 2007 blazes BY ROB NIKOLEWSKI Barely more than a month after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) rejected a request by San Diego Gas & Electric to have ratepayers pick up $379 million in costs related to three deadly wildfires in 2007, the utility is not giving up. Attorneys for SDG&E have filed an application with the CPUC, asking for a rehearing. “The CPUC’s decision to deny recovery of expenses related to the 2007 wildfires is un-
supported by the evidence, violates the CPUC’s own prudent manager standard and deprives the company of its due process,” SDG&E communications manager Allison Torres said in an email. In a unanimous decision on Nov. 30, the CPUC’s five commissioners agreed with a recommendation made last year by a pair of CPUC administrative law judges that SDG&E did not reasonably manage and operate its facilities leading up to the Witch, Guejito and Rice fires that killed
two people, injured 40 firefighters and forced tens of thousands to seek shelter at Qualcomm Stadium. The three fires combined to destroy more than 1,300 homes. The call for a rehearing does not come as a complete surprise. Moments after the CPUC rendered its decision, SDG&E officials said, “The CPUC got it wrong” and vowed to fight to overturn it. But critics who battled the utility in the proceeding blasted SEE SDG&E • C4
COUNTY REAPS $642M IN PROPERTY OWNERS’ EARLY TAX PAYMENTS BY ROGER SHOWLEY San Diego County property taxpayers, rushing to beat a Dec. 31 deadline, wrote checks for $642 million in early payments, more than double last year’s total, county Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister said Wednesday. The payments covered 255,407 properties, about 25 percent of all bills that didn’t have to be paid until this spring. “I don’t think that’s ever happened,” he said. The total paid was $312 million more than what was collected by this time last year and will earn the county investment pool about $1.5 million in extra interest income, based on a 1.35 percent rate for four months. SEE TAXES • C4
“I think it will be a beacon for the city of San Diego.” Martha Gilmer • San Diego Symphony CEO
WESTINGHOUSE IS ACQUIRED: Westing-
house Electric, the U.S. nuclear unit of embattled Japanese electronics giant Toshiba, has been acquired by Brookfield Business Partners LP in a deal valued at about out $4.6 billion. Westinghouse Electric Co. declared bankruptcy protection early last year, leaving a number of nuclear projects in limbo.
HYUNDAI, VW MAKE A DEAL: Hyundai and
Proposal calls for $45M, permanent stage and venue for Summer Pops concerts that would seat 10,000 BY JEANETTE STEELE
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he San Diego Symphony wants to build a $45 million permanent stage at the bayfront park where it has performed Summer Pops concerts since 2004. A new final environmental report describes a shell-like structure with aluminum bones and a plastic skin that would perch at the tip of Embarcadero Marina Park South, projecting music toward an audience of up to 10,000 seated on a grassy slope. “We really think of this as a gift to the city,” said San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer in an interview this week with The San Diego UnionTribune.
“Because of our weather, it is absolutely possible to gather there for celebrations all year long.” It might even, Gilmer added, become an iconic fixture on the downtown waterfront. “Every visitor in a (downtown) hotel room will look down and see this. Every person on a harbor cruise will look over,” said Gilmer, the symphony’s CEO since 2014. “I think it will be a beacon for the city of San Diego.” There would be considerable work ahead before the new stage could open for its first projected performances in 2019 or 2020. The Port of San Diego is slated to consider the final environmental re-
Number of stores Sears Holdings Corp. said it will be closing. The company said Thursday that includes 64 Kmart stores and 39 Sears stores that will be shuttered between early March and early April. None are in San Diego County. U-T NEWS SERVICES
Horton Plaza MARKET ST.
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1,000 FEET
Convention Center
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Petco Park
Proposed permanent concert stage
Source: Port of San Diego
U-T
DOW JONES MILESTONES COMING AT QUICKER PACE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Dow Jones industrial average burst through the 25,000 point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. The Dow passed five 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25 percent gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics. The Dow has made a rapid trip from 24,000 points on Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republicanbacked tax package. The milestones are coming at a faster pace.
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port at its Jan. 9 meeting. The California Coastal Commission — which has already raised questions about the details, including the privatization of a third of an acre of prime public parkland — must approve the plan. The city of Coronado is still concerned about the possibility of noise carrying across the water, as it reportedly does from Waterfront Park concerts in front of the County Administration Center. Coronado asked for more noise-monitoring stations on its side of the bay. The port declined. Gilmer said the new stage design would focus sound toward the audience. Also, the noise-monitoring equipment that would be used on-site SEE SYMPHONY • C4
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Billionaire Warren Buffett remains optimistic about the U.S. economy and the nation’s prospects for the future. Buffett wrote an essay for Time magazine that appeared online Thursday. In it, he explained why he often says that most American children will live better than their parents. Buffett says that even if the economy continues to grow at a modest pace of about 2 percent a year, the next generation of Americans will fare better because the population will grow at a slower rate. Buffett says American businesses will also continue to innovate. “This game of economic miracles is in its early innings. Americans will benefit from far more and better ‘stuff ’ in the future,” Buffett wrote.
Symphony thinks big by the bay SIXTH AVE.
BUFFETT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY:
TUCKER SADLER
San Diego Symphony’s proposed Bayside Performance Park would perch at the tip of Embarcadero Marina Park South.
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Volkswagen each say they’re partnering with a U.S. autonomous vehicle tech firm led by former executives from Google, Tesla and Uber. The companies on Thursday announced partnerships with Aurora Innovation, started last year by exGoogle autonomous car chief Chris Urmson and others. VW says its collaboration will help bring self-driving cars quickly to roads worldwide, while autonomous Hyunda is expected to be in the market by 2021. Aurora is based in Pittsburgh and Palo Alto. It was started last year by Urmson, former Tesla executive Sterling Anderson, and ex-Uber autonomous vehicle leader Drew Bagnell. Terms of each partnership were not released.
REDFIN
This home at 6106 Camino de la Costa in La Jolla sold for $12 million in February and was the most expensive home to sell in San Diego County in 2017.
MOST EXPENSIVE HOMES TO SELL IN 2017 BY PHILLIP MOLNAR La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe continued to be the place for the most expensive home sales in San Diego County in 2017. The most expensive house to sell in the county was a beachfront property in La Jolla for $12 million. Built in 1993, 6106 Camino de la Costa
features panoramic ocean views and its own private sandpit on the water. Property records say it was purchased by Neil Smit, former CEO of Comcast. Real estate agent Russ Clark said the home is on a peninsula lot that maximized views of the ocean. “You had views of Point Loma and SEE EXPENSIVE • C4
What do “Batman Forever,” Cher’s song “Believe” and the death of Mary Tyler Moore have in common? They all occurred in the same years that the Dow passed major milestones. Here are a few more:
1,000 points: Nov. 14, 1972
Box office hits that year: “The Godfather,” “Dirty Harry.” Top song: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Roberta Flack Also on this day: Brit-
ain’s BBC marked the 50th anniversary of its first broadcasts from London.
5,000 points: Nov. 21, 1995
Box office hits: “Batman Forever,” “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.” Top song on Billboard: “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Coolio featuring L.V. Also on this day: Shares of Boston Beer Company, which makes Sam Adams, soared on their first day of trading. SEE DOW • C2
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SDG&E FROM C1 SDG&E’s request to revisit the decision. “Utility customers must remain vigilant,” said San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre, who represented a ratepayer advocate in the case. “California’s utility giants are pounding on the doors of the CPUC, demanding utility customers pay SDG&E $379 million for the 2007 San Diego fire SDG&E equipment caused. The CPUC should focus on improving fire safety at the utilities, not subsidies for careless behavior.” The state’s two other investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, filed their own application to the CPUC in support of a rehearing. For utilities, the case highlights questions about how to fairly distribute costs in rural and backcountry areas where more homes are being built in an environment where wildfire conditions seem to grow more deadly each year. “Accountability is a critical element in any regulatory environment, but so is fairness,” Edison said in an email to the Union-Tribune. “California’s utilities should be held responsible when
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
their serious misconduct causes damage in our communities. However, if California courts continue to hold utilities accountable for wildfire damage without any showing of misconduct, then utilities should not solely absorb the cost.” But critics of utilities say the companies see the SDG&E case as a financial threat. “They are very scared of the concept that their shareholders are actually expected to be held accountable for their poor business practices,” said April Maurath Sommer, executive director and lead counsel for the Protect Our Communities Foundation, an environmental group based in San Diego County. “This just has to do with fear of their bottom line, that they are not going to be able to take advantage of their ratepayers for everything.” In April, the CPUC fined PG&E $8.3 million for failing to maintain a power line that sparked the Butte fire that killed two and destroyed 549 homes in September 2015. Investigations are under way into whether PG&E equipment ignited some of the catastrophic Wine County fires in Northern California last fall. In its application for a rehearing in the 2007 wildfires, SDG&E attorneys argued
the weather and wind conditions surrounding the blazes were “extreme and unprecedented,” and the utility operated responsibly. “The Decision imposes an unreasonable and unattainable standard of perfection even when damages are caused by extreme factors beyond SDG&E’s control,” the filing said. But the commissioners agreed with the report from the administrative law judges that said SDG&E is not expected to be perfect and sided with fire investigators and witnesses who said the utility did not properly manage its facility and equipment in the moments leading up to the fires. In the Witch fire, for example, a Cal Fire investigator determined arcing SDG&E power lines dispersed hot particles on a grassy field, igniting a fire that was spread by windy conditions. The report said SDG&E should have acted “more proactively” to de-energize the line. SDG&E has argued it actively monitored the faults on the line and sending an engineer to determine its location would not have prevented the fire. Although the commission’s vote was 5-0, CPUC President Michael Picker and Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves expressed
FRIDAY • JANUARY 5, 2018
qualms, calling their votes “close calls.” Another of the utilities’ objection to the Nov. 30 ruling centers on a legal doctrine called “inverse condemnation”— a California constitutional claim that requires just compensation when property has been taken or damaged for the public use. Along with SDG&E attorneys, PG&E and Edison said the CPUC decision was wrong to say inverse condemnation was not relevant to the 2007 case. When making their ruling, some commissioners acknowledged that inverse condemnation should be clarified by the courts or the state Legislature. The decision on a potential rehearing rests with the five commissioners. CPUC observers say requesting a rehearing is not unusual, but getting commissioners to reverse a ruling would be tough sledding. Commissioners, however, have been known to modify some of their decisions. There is no set timetable for the CPUC to respond to the request, but SDG&E in its application said it hopes the commission “will act expeditiously” so SDG&E “may pursue legal remedies through other means.” A month before the CPUC’s decision, SDG&E’s
parent, Sempra Energy, announced it was taking a $208 million after-tax write-down in case the decision went against the utility. Sempra CEO Debra Reed said at the time, “We vehemently disagree” with the administrative law judges’ report and said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “looked at the same set of facts, and believed we were a reasonable utility operator.” Maurath Sommer said it is time to move on. “They just need to shut the door on this thing,” she said. “It’s been 11 years, come on.” Torres said under the commission’s own procedures, “SDG&E has the right to challenge the decision and hopes the CPUC will correct its errors.” SDG&E had $1.1 billion of liability insurance in place in 2007, which utility officials say was the maximum amount they could obtain. SDG&E ended up paying more than $2 billion in settlements and other costs in the aftermath of the fires, leaving it with about $379 million in outstanding costs. The utility estimated the average customer would have had to pay $1.67 more per month, spread out over a six-year period. rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
EDUARDO CONTRERAS U-T
San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer, with a model of the permanent Summer Pops structure proposed for the bayfront.
SYMPHONY FROM C1 and in Coronado should allow the symphony to correct decibel levels in real time. “We will continue to be vocal if we get complaints from residents,” said Coronado City Manager Blair King in a statement to the U-T. “As one of our residents said: ‘If I wanted to live in downtown San Diego, I would live in downtown San Diego.’ ” The new stage would host an increased number of shows, going from this year’s 37 paid events to 110 by 2031. The biggest increase is in non-symphony events, according to the environmental report. With seats for up to 10,000, the venue will nearly double prior capacity. The symphony is projecting that
only six shows a year will hit the 10,000 cap. San Diego Symphony will use the increased revenue from the additional and larger shows to pay for any portion of the project cost that it must finance. At present, the venerable nonprofit organization is already spending nearly all the money it makes. In 2016, the group had revenues of almost $27 million and expenses of $25 million. Gilmer said they’d love to raise all $45 million needed through donations, but they are prepared to get a loan for up to $22.5 million.
What kind of new shows?
What kind of entertainment would the additional, bigger performances bring to the bayfront? It wouldn’t be rock music acts, as a stipulation of the symphony’s agreement with the port.
“There could be a performance with multiple headliners that would be looking at a 10,000-capacity” venue, Gilmer said. “If you have an artist that can attract 8,000 or 10,000 people, we can’t afford that artist in a 2,800-seat venue. They aren’t coming here now,” she said. “This is an opportunity for San Diego to see some artists that they wouldn’t otherwise see,” Gilmer said. She added that acts such as Tony Bennett and Diana Ross were only possible in the last few years after the Summer Pops, now called Bayside Summer Nights, shifted seating to increase capacity to 4,500. Average attendance for the symphony’s standard bayfront shows is about 2,600 people. The project would mean a significant makeover of the park, built in the late 1970s. Presently, it is basically a
flat, grassy lawn with an 8foot-wide walking path. “We always have to balance any sort of environmental impact with new amenities that will bring people down so they can enjoy the waterfront,” said Rafael Castellanos, incoming chairman of the port board, representing San Diego.
Grading and synthetic turf
About 6,000 cubic yards of soil would be graded to create a slope for main audience seating, which would be removable chairs. That 2.3-acre slope of lawn is expected to be made of synthetic turf — the first allowed use of “fake grass” by the Port of San Diego. It is considered an environmentally friendly choice, officials said. The project would bring the loss of 61 trees on the site, but also new public bath-
EXPENSIVE FROM C1 Mission Beach,” he said, “so at night you could see lights reflecting on the water.” The top five home sales in 2017 equaled $54.5 million. That’s down from $79.9 million total for the top five the previous year. One of the most expensive homes to sell last year, 16568 La Gracia in Rancho Santa Fe, sold twice. Real estate agent Megan Luce said her clients bought the property in April but realized they weren’t there as much as their other properties, so they decided to sell. “I couldn’t believe they were selling so soon,” she said. “But, the property is breathtaking, and I was excited to go into it again.” Luce did not want to give the buyers’ names, and it is unclear from property records who they were. The home was purchased by Florida-based limited liability company, Covenant RJC, in April for $10.6 million. It was then sold to the Green-
MEGAN LUCE
This home in Rancho Santa Fe sold twice in 2017 for more than $10 million. field Trust out of Washington state for $10.85 million in December. Another home in Rancho Santa Fe made the top five most expensive sales. In June, 6883 Alydar Corte sold for $11 million. The 12,500square-foot property was on the market for 258 days, the
longest of any of the sales. Another La Jolla home also made the list, 8470 El Paseo Grande, which sold for $10.1 million. It featured a private courtyard, guest house and ocean views throughout. Rounding out the list was 106 13th St. in Del Mar that
sold for $10 million. The 2,300-square-foot, remodeled cottage on the bluffs of Del Mar has three bathrooms and two bedrooms and was built in 1948. The most expensive homes to sell in 2017 were much less than the top sales in 2016. The top seller in 2016,
rooms, renovated basketball courts and a public viewing deck on the back side of the stage that some have dubbed the “Sunset Steps.” Four new public bathrooms would remain open at all times, and 64 new stalls would be available for performance patrons. Most of the site would be open to the public when events are not being held. The exception would be the stage and back-of-house facilities, box office and food pavilions, which would be partially surrounded by an 8-foot fence. The symphony will pay an as-yet undetermined fee to replace that third of an acre lost to public access. The money could help pay for a planned expansion of Pepper Park in National City, port officials said. jen.steele@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @jensteeley an oceanfront home in Del Mar, went for $18 million. Clark, the agent that sold 2017’s most expensive home, said the luxury market wasn’t slowing down but had a lack of inventory last year. Like some other agents, he believes affluent buyers will have more money to spend on real estate in the new year after tax changes recently approved in Congress — despite caps on property tax deductions. “Their overall net income is going to go up dramatically under the new tax plan,” Clark said. On the other end of the housing market, the cheapest home to sell in 2017 was a 924-square-foot house in Jacumba for $27,000. Built in 1945, it was in severe disrepair, and the buyer was warned they would be responsible for the removal of unusable property. One room on the property included old laundry, broken computers and abandoned Christmas decorations. phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @phillipmolnar
TAXES County to collect more than $6 billion FROM C1 The county expects to collect just over $6 billion for the first time in property taxes during 2017-18. “I think San Diegans came through in a big way and stepped up and took advantage, and that will likely result in big benefits to those who paid,” he said. He was referring to the recently passed federal taxcut measure that capped at $10,000 how much can be deducted in state and local taxes on federal income taxes starting this year. By paying taxes early, property owners will be able to deduct an extra tax amount from their 2017 federal and state returns and reduce their income tax accordingly. The IRS had issued a last-minute ruling last week that such taxes could only be paid early if they had been billed. In California, property taxes are typically due in two equal payments by Dec. 10 and the following April 10. So those taxpayers who had acted in time will be able to deduct three property tax bills on this year’s return — the payment due last April 10 and the two billed in 2017. When they get around to filling out their 2018 tax forms in 2019, they’ll have just one payment to account for, the one due next Dec. 10. If the same rush-to-pay took place in other states, the result will be a win-winlose — a win for local agencies in the form of unexpected interest earnings; a win for property owners who won’t have to pay more in federal income taxes; and a loss for the federal Treasury, which won’t receive all the extra taxes expected by capping the state and local tax deductions. McAllister said the total received will likely grow a bit as bills sent in by mail trickle in this week from absentee property owners who live in other states and nations. But he acknowledged there may be a few people whose checks were not postmarked by midnight Sunday and technically cannot be counted to have been paid by the deadline. “They probably won’t get the tax benefit,” he said. If they claim on their tax returns that they paid in 2017, it will be up to the IRS to audit the return and demand proof. “My hunch is there will be a lot of confusion and a lot of vigilance on the part of the IRS — who’s been naughty and who’s been nice — to keep people honest,” he said. McAllister had expected 40,000 checks and $140 million in early payments. “Instead we got 72,000 and $312 million,” he said. “It’s pretty incredible.” About 60 percent of bills were paid by electronic check, about 4 percentage points higher than normal, he said. Other taxpayers sent in payments normally handled by their mortgage servicers and lenders through impound accounts. McAllister said he spoke with several such companies who will automatically refund overpayments now that their customers have prepaid what’s due. However, he advised those taxpayers to check with their lenders. Taxpayers lined up at the tax collector’s offices up until 5 p.m., closing time, Friday, and nobody was banging on the door to be let in, McAllister said. If they arrived after business hours, they could deposit their payments in mailboxes at the front door of the offices in San Marcos, Kearny Mesa, downtown, Chula Vista and El Cajon. McAllister’s staff picked up deposits on Tuesday morning. If taxpayers forgot to indicate what the check was for, he said staff will attempt to contact the payers. He said they can contact his office at (877) 829-4732 and confirm the check was received. Other information is available at his office website, sdttc.com. “The burden of proof is on the taxpayer,” he said. “We make it very clear as to what’s expected and how to get accurate credit for the bill being paid.” The good news, he said, is taxpayers who missed the federal deadline still have until April 10 to pay the second bill without incurring a county penalty. But they will miss out on the federal tax benefit. roger.showley@sduniontribune.com
NIGHT: THE CAPITOL STEPS 4 DAY: NEW CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 20
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE
11–17 JANUARY
PERFECT TIMING
San Diego Symphony’s monthlong percussion-driven festival celebrates rhythm and sound PAGES 6–9
Start your new year with “the most perfect comedy in the English language.” The Daily Telegraph
By Oscar Wilde Directed by Maria Aitken
Starts in two weeks! January 27 – March 4 Tickets Start at $30
(619) 23-GLOBE (234-5623)
TheOldGlobe.org
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE | THURSDAY • JANUARY 11, 2018
2
DEPA RTMENTS RADAR.......................................4 COVER STORY ............................6 BEER ........................................11 DINING ....................................12 THEATER..................................17 VISUAL ART.............................20 MOVIES ...................................23
L I ST I N GS MUSIC .....................................10 THEATER .................................18 ART/CLASSICAL MUSIC ............21 EVENTS ...................................22 MOVIES ...................................24 MOVIE TIMES...........................26
I N FO R M AT I O N
A LITTLE BIT OF CUBA
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Michael Rocha, (619) 293-1724 michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com
Havana 1920, a new restaurant/bar in the Gaslamp Quarter, aims to re-create the look and taste of Cuba in 1920. PAGE 12
ADVERTISING John Fields, Sales Manager (619) 293-2547 john.fields@sduniontribune.com MAILING ADDRESS: Night&Day, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191 FAX & EMAIL: (619) 260-5082; night&day@sduniontribune.com GETTING LISTED We are in the process of upgrading our online calendar. Until then, please email event information to night&day@sduniontribune.com at least three weeks before publication. Limited space prevents printing all submissions, but we attempt to publish a representative sample. NIGHT & DAY is published each Thursday.
LOFTY IDEAS
Artist Jason Hackenwerth, in residency at the New Children’s Museum, is creating a huge sculpture titled “Crystal Cortex” with latex balloons — approximately 25,000 of them. PAGE 20
ON THE COVER Photo by Howard Lipin • U-T
TA L K TO US
James Hebert Twitter: @JimHebert Facebook: UTTheater
Pam Kragen Twitter: @pamkragen Facebook: San Diego Theater Critics Circle
SOMBER TALE The Spanish animated feature “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children” conjures a bleak vision of a post- or perhaps mid-apocalyptic landscape of predation, addiction and demonic possession. PAGE 23
Michele Parente Twitter: @sdeditgirl Facebook: U-T Entertainment
“A winning production! 5 actors play 42 roles!” — THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Ingenious! Somewere between Monty Python and Groucho Marx” — MILWUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Adapted by Mark Brown | From the novel by Jules Verne
Peter Rowe Twitter: @peterroweut Facebook: Brewery Rowe
George Varga Twitter: @GeorgeVarga Facebook: sdutpopmusic
SAN DIEGO PREMIERE
NOW PLAYING! THROUGH FEBRUARY 4
North Coast Repertory Theatre (858) 481-1055 NORTHCOASTREP.ORG
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE | THURSDAY • JANUARY 11, 2018
6 Percussionist Fiona Digney rehearses in Conrad Prebys Music Center for performances for “It’s About Time.”
TIMING IS EVERYTHING Symphony launches the monthlong, borders-leaping music festival ‘It’s About Time’
HOWARD LIPIN U-T
BY GEORGE VARGA
7 THURSDAY • JANUARY 11, 2018 | THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
A
n ear-bending, eye-popping, borders-leaping music marathon, “It’s About Time” will include a series of groundbreaking firsts for San Diego and Tijuana. To be held today through Feb. 11, the percussion-driven music and cultural festival will feature 27 events at a dozen locations. The styles will range from classical and jazz to Latin and cutting-edge, plus many points in between. Billed as “A Festival of Rhythm, Sound and Place,” “It’s About Time” is being presented by the San Diego Symphony. It is being curated by UC San Diego music professor and La Jolla Symphony & Chorus Music Director Steven Schick. An acclaimed polymath, he is uniquely qualified for such a far-reaching enterprise. The symphony’s most ambitious undertaking ever, the festival is a collaboration with a dozen other area arts organizations, including Fresh Sound, San Diego Opera, La Jolla Music Society, Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT). For casual listeners and devotees alike, the array of performances promise to be dizzyingly appealing. One concert, Roland Auzet’s “Bare Hands” on Jan. 31, will feature — as its main musical instrument — a fully functioning automobile. Another, Toru Takemitsu’s “From me flows what you call Time” on Jan. 26, will utilize 12 sets of metal wind chimes, each 6 inches to 3 feet in length. They will all be suspended above the Copley Symphony Hall audience and attached to long, colorful ribbons. Percussionists on stage will pull the ribbons to make the chimes sound throughout the venue. More striking still is the free outdoor Jan. 27 performance of John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit – A Cross-Border Presentation.” To be held at International Friendship Park, it will feature two piccolo players and 58 percussionists. They’ll simultaneously perform on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border for an audience that, likewise, will straddle the two countries. Further underscoring this geographic proximity, the New York-based Mingus Dynasty band will perform jazz legend Charles Mingus’ landmark “Tijuana Moods” at Tijuana’s Cultural Center (CECUT) Jan. 21 and at La Jolla’s TSRI Auditorium Jan. 22. (A preview of the concerts and a Mingus-related symposium will run Jan. 18 in Night&Day.)
Steven Schick curated the monthlong festival “It’s About Time,” an ambitious project conceived a year ago.
HOWARD LIPIN U-T PHOTOS
Inflamed chest bruises
For good measure, the Jan. 16 performance of Vinko Globokar’s “?Corporel” will feature a shirtless Schick drumming — very carefully — on his chest, stomach, legs and head. “It’s not really too painful,” Schick said with a laugh. “Although, when I first started learning this piece 20 years ago, I’d get bruises in the center of my chest and it would get kind of puffy and start to change the sound. So I’d have to find a spot I hadn’t inflamed.” More than a year in the making, “It’s About Time” is the dual brainchild of Schick and San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer. “When I took this job with the symphony in 2014, many people said: ‘You have to work with Steve!’ ” Gilmer recalled. “He was very helpful in framing the climate here for me — not the weather climate! And, obviously, his connection to UCSD is important.” Gilmer was able to witness Schick’s exceptional eclecticism SEE ‘TIME’ • PAGE 9
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE | THURSDAY • JANUARY 11, 2018
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‘IT’S ABOUT TIME’ SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 7:30 tonight: “Percussion Lovefest 1,” with the Richard Sellers Trio, Mike Holguin & Charlie Chavez, Mark Lamson and Sol e Mar, and San Diego Symphony percussionists Greg Cohen, Erin Dowrey, Andy Watkins & Ryan DiLisi. Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. $20 (general), $10 (students). (619) 987-6214 or freshsoundmusic.com 8 p.m., Jan 13 and 2 p.m., Jan. 14: “Fascinating Rhythm,” with conductor Rafael Payare, percussionist Steven Schick & the San Diego Symphony, Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., downtown. $25-$72. (619) 235-0804 or sandiegosymphony.org 7:30 p.m., Jan 16: “Percussion: A Listener’s Guide,” with Steven Schick, red fish blue fish, kallisti and percussionists Gregory Cohen, Ryan DiLisi, Andrew Watkins & Erin Douglas Dowrey. Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., downtown $35 (general), (619) 2350804, sandiegosymphony.org 7:30 p.m., Jan 18: “Percussion Lovefest 2,” with Leah Bowden, Tim McMahon, Milad Jahadi & Euphoria Bass Band. Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. $20 (general), $10 (students). (619) 987-6214 or freshsoundmusic.com 11 a.m., Jan 20: Stuart Collection Audio Tour, hosted by Steven Schick and Mary Beebe, explores “what sculpture sounds like.” Begins at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $15.50 (students admitted free). (858) 534-2117 or stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/ 2 p.m., Jan 20: UC San Diego Helen Edison Lecture Series presents a panel discussion on Charles Mingus and “Tijuana Moods,” moderated by Ashley Kahn, with Charles McPherson, Anthony Davis and Steven Schick. Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., downtown. Free. (858) 822-2026 or helendison.ucsd.edu 8 p.m., Jan 20: Paul Taylor Dance Company, with Men’s Quartet, Steven Schick & red fish blue fish. Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown $17.25-$47.25, (858) 459-3728 or ljms.org 8 p.m., Jan 20: and 2 p.m., Jan 21: “Places in Time,” features works by Rossini, Martucci and Respighi, with
KINGMOND YOUNG
PAUL B. GOODE
Paul Taylor Dance Company, with Men’s Quartet, Steven Schick & red fish blue fish, will perform Jan. 20 at Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown.
conductor Jader Bignamini & the San Diego Symphony. Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., downtown. $25-$72. (619) 2350804 or sandiegosymphony.org 5 p.m., Jan 21: Mingus Dynasty: “Tijuana Moods,” with trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, saxophonists Wayne Escoffery and Brandon Wright, trombonist and vocalist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, pianist Theo Hill, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Adam Cruz. Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT), Paseo de los Heroes No. 9350, Zona Urbana Rio, Tijuana. Free. cecut.gob.mx 7:30 p.m., Jan 22: Mingus Dynasty: “Tijuana Moods.” Athenaeum Jazz at TSRI Auditorium, 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. $30 (members) $35 (nonmembers). (858) 454-5872 or ljathenaeum.org
Steven Schick, the San Diego Symphony and percussionists Aiyun Huang, Gregory Cohen, Ryan DiLisi, Andrew Watkins & Erin Douglas Dowrey. Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., downtown. $25-$72. (619) 235-0804 or sandiegosymphony.org Jan 26-28: The San Diego Opera presents Ástor Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires,” directed by John de los Santos, with conductor Bruce Stasyna and singers Audrey Babcock & Paul LaRosa. Lyceum Theater, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown. All performances are sold out, except at 10 p.m. on Jan. 27, for which tickets are $41-$166. (619) 533-7000 or sdopera.org
7:30 p.m., Jan 25: “Percussion Lovefest 3,” with Leah Bowden, Tim McMahon, Milad Jahadi & Euphoria Bass Band. Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. $20 (general), $10 (students). (619) 987-6214 or freshsoundmusic.com
12:30 p.m., Jan 27: John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit – A Cross-Border Presentation,” with Steven Schick and an ensemble of approximately 60 Mexican and American musicians performing on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. International Friendship Park, 1500 Monument Road, San Diego. Free. (619) 2350804 or sandiegosymphony.org
8 p.m., Jan 26 and 2 p.m., Jan. 28: “Stories in Time,” with conductor
8 p.m., Jan 27: “The Roots of Rhythm,” with percussionists Clayton
The San Diego Opera presents Ástor Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires,” Jan. 26-28 at the Lyceum Theater, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown.
Cameron, John Santos, Slap Jazz Danny, Monette Marino, Carlos Chavez, Taku Hirano and Matt DiBiase, plus pianist Irving Flores, pianist/saxophonist Kamau Kenyatta and bassist Mackenzie Leighton. Copley Symphony Hall at Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St., downtown. $30-$60. (619) 235-0804 or sandiegosymphony.org 10 p.m., Jan 27: Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (“The Rite of Spring”), with conductor Steven Schick and members of the San Diego Symphony. The Music Box, 1337 India St., downtown. $27 (must be 18 or older to attend). (619) 7951337 or musicboxsd.frontgate.com 7:30 p.m., Jan 31: “Bare Hands” solo sound performance by French composer, percussionist and theater director Roland Auzet. Mandeville Auditorium, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $15-$25. (858) 534-8497 or artpower.ucsd.edu 7 p.m., Feb. 1: UC San Diego Helen Edison Lecture Series presents Mexican-American author, poet and essayist Luis Urrea. Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., downtown. Free. (858)
822-2026 or helendison.ucsd.edu 7:30 p.m., Feb 2: Michael Pisaro’s “asleep, forest, melody, path,” with percussionist Gregory Stuart and violinist Erik Carlson. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $15.50 (students admitted free). (858) 534-3448 or musicweb.ucsd.edu 7:30 p.m., Feb 3: Reed Family Concert: Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire Du Soldat,” with conductor Steven Schick, Lux Boreal Dances, flutist Wilfrido Terrazas and text by Luis Urrea. Mandeville Auditorium, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla,. $15 (general public); students (free). (858) 534-3448 or http:// musicweb.ucsd.edu 7:30 p.m., Feb 10 and 2 p.m., Feb. 11: “Cross Winds,” featuring Roland Auzet’s “M.Alone: A theatre and percussion concerto for Fiona Digney,” with conductor Steven Schick, percussionist Fiona Digney, soprano Tasha Koontz and the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus. Mandeville Auditorium, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. $35 (adults), $30 (seniors), $15 (students). (858) 459-3728 or ljms.org
9 THURSDAY • JANUARY 11, 2018 | THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE HOWARD LIPIN U-T PHOTOS
From left, Steven Schick rehearses with percussionists Greg Cohen and Andy Watkins at Conrad Prebys Music Center.
‘TIME’ FROM PAGE 7
and tireless work ethic up close at the Ojai Music Festival in 2015, when he served as the music director and maintained a nonstop pace. “I talked to Steve and said: ‘I want to do a festival based around you and rhythm.’ We started planning it well over a year ago, and Steve came up with a fully blown concept. We’d talk more and then he’d come up with another fully blown concept. It just emerged from his vast experience and connections. “Steve is a really connective person! He knows people around the world and around San Diego. He’s a gatherer; that’s his strength in this festival. He’s passionate about raising the level of the arts. And elevating arts and culture here is what this festival is about. Programming to a wide range of people who live here — and showcasing the vastness of cultures
From left, Hillary Jean Young, Kirsten Ashley Wiest and Susan Narucki will sing with percussionists lead by Steven Schick. that are represented in San Diego — has been the premise for Steve and me from the beginning.”
Broad-based percussionist An unusually skilled conductor and conceptualist, Schick is also a
masterful musician on seemingly any percussion instrument. When called for, he also adeptly plays such unconventional instruments as a conch shell and a frying pan. As he demonstrated at Ojai in 2015 — and reinforces each year
when leading the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus and the UCSD percussion ensemble red fish blue fish — Schick’s catholic tastes and unusually broad stylistic range make him uniquely qualified to guide a festival as multifaceted as “It’s About Time.” “My goal with Martha is to make a festival which responds to this place and this time,” he said. “And, naturally, since I’m involved, there’s a fair amount of percussion. But it’s about more than that. It’s about where we live, the cultural and human landscapes, the sound of those textures, of language, of heritage. And it is our goal to reflect all that, in this monthlong festival, in the context of a symphony orchestra.” Happily, there is nothing stuffy about “It’s About Time.” The three consecutive Thursday “Percussion Lovefest” concerts — which Shick is co-curating with top San Diego drummer Duncan Moore — will all include
open jam sessions in which audience members are free to grab sticks or mallets and join in. The Jan. 27, late-night multimedia performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (“The Rite of Spring”) will be held at the Music Box, a venue more accustomed to hosting rock, reggae and hip-hop acts. Showcasing unexpected collaborations, illuminating cultural connections and exploring surprising twists and juxtapositions are the norm for this festival. That’s all according to plan. “We’re working on next year’s festival now,” Gilmer said. “There are elements this year that should become common to each future festival we do, no matter what the theme is, and that’s important.”
For more on “It’s About Time,” go to sandiegouniontribune.com/ entertainment/music/ george.varga@sduniontribune.com