By John A. Barry And Bill Carmel
E-mail John A. Barry And Bill Carmel
About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has bro...
(More)About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has brought trAction Painting events to local schools and summer camps. He also creates visual puns. His works are included in several private collections. John has authored/coauthored a dozen books, including Technobabble and Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems. John can be contacted at
[email protected] or 925-918-7882.
Bill Carmel has 35 years' experience as a professional artist. His fine art paintings, sculptures, and designs are included in private, corporate, and public art collections in the United States, Europe, and Australia. After teaching at Humboldt State University and Southern Illinois University, he returned to the Bay Area, where he remains active in the arts by serving as a co-curator for the Lamorinda Arts Council's Orinda Gallery and by exhibiting throughout the Bay Area. Bill reviews exhibits at SFMOMA, the De Young and Palace of Fine Arts museums, and other Bay Area exhibition venues. Bill can be contacted at
[email protected]
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To paraphrase Rogers and Hammerstein, the local hills and valleys are alive with the sound of music: Danville Band, San Ramon Symphonic Band, Contra Costa Wind Symphony, Diablo Symphony, Livermore-Amador Symphony, Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra. . . . Then there are rock bands, school bands, individual musicians, and small ensembles. In the latter category is Mistral, a woodwind quintet whose members are Lisa Maher, flute; Eva Langfeldt, oboe; Christy Diggins, clarinet; Michael Garvey, bassoon; and Jeff Dickey, horn.
Formed in 2000, the quintet plays an eclectic repertoire but specializes in upbeat, jazz-influenced works. "The interplay of the instruments in the woodwind quintet is well suited to jazz-influenced repertoire," says founding member Langfeldt.
That the group is a woodwind quintet gave birth to the name. Per Webster's, a mistral is "a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter."
Mistral's members come from a variety of musical backgrounds and belong to various local community musical organizations?all are members of the Contra Costa Wind Symphony, in Walnut Creek. They also have a variety of day jobs: Maher is an elementary school teacher, Langfeldt has her own editing business, Diggins works for a construction company, Garvey is in information technology, and Dickey is a high school band director.
On August 24, they will be playing a free concert at Peace Lutheran Church, 3201 Camino Tassajara, in Danville. The five musicians will play "Mississippi Five," "Five Easy Dances" (as well as other pieces) at 5:00 P.M. Complementing the concert will be an exhibit of music-themed art. The group balked, however, at a suggestion that limericks be somehow incorporated into the program.
(Disclosure: my wife is a member of Mistral.)
