If you’ve missed downtown Vero’s monthly gallery strolls for a while, there are new artists and new galleries to tour Friday night.
At the south end of the arts district, at 1795 Old Dixie, Neli Santamarina’s new gallery, called Raw Space@Edgewood, features acclaimed Cuban-American artist Nereida Garcia Ferraz. Havana-born and a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, she has won fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
And on the north end, on 14th Avenue, Buzz TV’s studios have added Daniel Coonfield to last month’s Peruvian pastel painter and sculptor Patricia Edelman. Coonfield, a third-generation young artist from Oklahoma, does some hard-edged oil portraits and Western-influenced still lifes. He too studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, though his BFA is from Chicago’s American Academy of Art. Coonfield is on the faculty of the Very Beach Museum of Art.
Gallery 14 is showing the work of seriously talented sculptor Ray Book, a Baltimore native who came to Vero a few years ago and lives at the marina aboard his 47-foot ketch. Book does elegant minimalist works in curved wood, many with allusions to boat parts (and human parts).
Just northeast of the district, the Center for Spiritual Care, which began hosting top local artists in its main room this year, has the works of pastel artist Dawn E. Miller this month, with the opening reception during the hours of the stroll. Miller’s painterly landscapes and interiors have long made her a Vero favorite.
The Atlantic Classical Orchestra is in the throes of a delightful dilemma, auditioning prospective artistic directors by having them guest conduct. Next week, musicians and concert-goers will experience the third of four candidates and so far they’ve been remarkable.
Rei Hotoda, the only woman in the group of four, is taking a break from her first season as the associate conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. She arrives in Florida after a week of conducting three educational concerts in Salt Lake City.
Born in Tokyo, she started playing piano at 3 and it remains her instrument – she sometimes plays as she conducts. Raised in Chicago from the age of 7, she earned her degree in piano performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. She went on to earn a doctorate at the University of Southern California. Prior to taking the job in Utah, she guest conducted with major orchestras around the world, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and in Florida, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, which was once the home of ACO’s new CEO, Alan Hopper.
The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 32; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G with Jon Nakamatsu as soloist; and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9. Hotoda will be conducting in Palm Beach Gardens, Stuart and Vero, where the concert takes place Thursday at 7:30 at St. Edward’s School. She’ll be giving a free pre-concert lecture at 6:40 p.m.
February’s concert with conductor David Loebel was excellent; he’s associate conductor with the St. Louis Symphony. January’s concert was conducted by David Amado, conductor of the Delaware Symphony. In April, we’ll see David Handel, a two-time Fulbright scholar who is currently principal guest conductor with the Moscow City Symphony/Russian Philharmonic.
Familiar shows, familiar faces – even a familiar children’s book: You’re bound to recognize somebody or something in the range of theater offerings this week.
There’s a huge cast of locals in “The King and I” at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild. Directed by Clara McCarthy, the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic stars Sara Gordon as the widowed British schoolteacher and Derrick Paul as the imperious King of Siam. You’ll also get a chance to see Micah Nalzaro again, and he’s growing up fast – two years ago, he played Jerome in Riverside Theatre’s “South Pacific.”
Meanwhile, at Riverside, the theater across the bridge, Allen Cornell is banking on making a match with Vero and its Main Stage main show this season: “Hello, Dolly!” opening Tuesday and running through March 27.
To the south, Kravis Center in West Palm hosts the touring production of Broadway’s “Matilda: The Musical” this weekend, based on the book by Roald Dahl.
And a bit to our north in Melbourne, a Florida premiere of the Gershwin musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It” at the Henegar Center Friday. Vero’s Ben Earman has been hired to direct the musical, and it stars former Riverside director Hank Rion, now head of Henegar.
The show runs through March 20.
