Tag Archives: Chris Dahlquist artist

Future tense?

January 11, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

So here I am in Mexico speaking only in the present tense while updating my show schedule for the coming year.

Yesterday I sent in a digital contract for a show in Denver, paid my 2011 sales tax in Illinois after speaking with a tax agent via skype, and paid a booth fee in Michigan by telephone (not to mention the meeting Kyle had, also via skype, with three people in KC about an upcoming project). Something is either so wrong or so right with this picture and I can’t quite decide which.

It is fantastic that my show schedule is coming together so nicely for this season. I do love it and have a lot to look forward to – Cherry Creek here I come! And it’s great that last year’s sales in Chicago warranted a sum transferred to the state of Illinois. But what happens to the present tense, and its reminder to be present, when the business is so easily at the fingertips?

This access is what allows for an extended trip, isn’t it? Or is it the bane of it?

 

Our house

Just look at all the callejons there are to discover!

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Back to regular programming

January 9, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment

Pick of the week – Jan 9

I started spanish classes today in Escuala Mexicana in Guanajuato and boy do I have a lot of studying to do. So with that I will return you to your regular blog programming and present you the piece of the week.

Mile Marker 29, 16x22

Have questions or want to check the availability of this piece? contact me

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All I need to know

January 8, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment


Reflecting on the best of 2011 has been a great way to begin the new year.

Of course there are many more things that could be included in my lists of bests; celebrating the union of our friends Gregory and Clark, after 20 years of togetherness my sister-in-law and her boyfriend throwing caution to the wind to get married in the San Juan Islands, and many pieces of great art made, viewed, and experienced. But with my mind running a million miles a minute, I know the most productive thing for me to do is set some limits for myself. I find that a narrowed focus helps me distill my thoughts, and get to the heart of the matter. (i.e. four words about my work)

 

There is always room for growth

So after a week of many, many words describing the best events or experiences of 2011, I have realized that there is a commonality, a core idea that I will stay mindful of and that will guide me into 2012:

Growth and experiential learning, and spending time with people that are striving for the same.


 

 

 

 

 

Can you distill your best experiences of the year into one sentence or phrase?


 

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Best of 2011 #7 – My husband is the bomb!

January 7, 2012 by Chris | 6 Comments

My ridiculously talented husband!

A marriage of two artists is an incredible thing! Not that there aren’t some challenges, but there is also an understanding that is hard to find outside the creative world, an encouragement, and the occasional well-intentioned nudge. We often take more pleasure in the accomplishments of the other than of our own. So one of my bests of 2011 was definitely watching Kyle stretch for a huge performance of a very challenging piece, playing on a relatively new instrument.

The Kauffman Center for the Performing ArtsKauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The artistic renaissance that is taking place in Kansas City included the 2011 opening of a new performing arts center, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Living approximately 2 miles away from this architectural masterpiece we watched the skyline of Kansas City change, and for 5 years we eagerly anticipated it’s opening. What we couldn’t anticipate was that within a month of its grand opening Kyle would play a solo accordion piece to a near capacity crowd in the acoustically magnificent Helzberg Hall. And along with that, we would spend a couple of days soaking in the grandeur of the building in both the front and back of house with our friends, some of Kansas City’s most talented musicians. (fun fact – They were building the hall longer than Kyle has been playing accordion!)  His performance was a part of:

The Homecoming of Virgil Thomson

Under the fearless artistic direction of tenor Nathan Granner, 54 area musicians paid tribute to Kansas City’s most lauded composer, presenting an overview of Thomson’s life work.  Homecoming: An Evening with Virgil T, was a 90-minute program dedicated to an array of Virgil Thomson’s instrumental and vocal works, all related in some significant way to the theme of Thomson as, in Aaron Copland’s words, the “father of American classical music.” The musical tribute was filmed with seven cameras with excerpts from the concert incorporated into a biography of Thomson to be broadcast nationally on PBS. (projected for spring 2013) Kyle was honored to play an accordion etude, Lamentations, commissioned in 1959 by the National Accordion Association. I couldn’t be prouder!

Kyle Dahlquist in Helzberg Hall

 

Did you stretch this year? If so how?

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