THE BAY AREA OBSERVER | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | P5

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Ragtime orchestra combines music, silent film at UHCL

HOUSTON, TX - Named for iconic Texas-born ragtime composer Scott Joplin’s 1901 composition, “The Peacherine Rag,” the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra will transport the audience back to the era of si-lent movies and syncopated rhythms at the Bayou Theater on March 8 at 5 p.m. “This year marks Peacherine’s 10th anni-versary and we’re doing a special focus on silent film star Buster Keaton,” said Andrew Greene, the Orchestra’s director and founder. “We will show two of his short films—‘The Haunted House,’ from 1921, and ‘Cops,’ from 1922, set to our historic orchestral scores. And we are marking our anniversary and the centennial of Buster Keaton’s com-edy shorts as a solo actor by going back to some of our favorite venues, which includes University of Houston-Clear Lake.” ‘Cops,’ said Greene, is known as the quint-essential chase film by silent film enthusiasts. “We are a direct recreation of an ensemble that would have existed a century ago,” he said. “We now have 15,000 pieces of music in our library from the 1880s to the 1920s. Our concert experience is a total immersion into the 1920s, with me acting as the emcee.” Peacherine will play music composed by Texas natives including Joplin, as well as Euday Bowman, composer of the classic “Twelfth Street Rag,” known as a classic honky-tonk piano song, along with some other surprises.

“We’ll be screening the movies and perform-ing the live score at the same time,” Greene continued. “We’ll also have the sound ef-fects of the film coming from our drummer, who will be looking up at the screen from the pit and reacting when Buster does some-thing funny. We encourage booing and hiss-ing at villains, cheering on the good guys, and laughing when it’s funny.” Greene said he began playing ragtime mu-sic almost as an accident, when he was 11 years old. “My piano teacher was noticing I was getting bored and frustrated with Bach and Chopin and all the classical composers, so she said that if I could just get through this Chopin etude, she would let me play the ‘Maple Leaf Rag,’ by Scott Joplin,” he said. “It was so much fun, it latched on to me and I never let go. One of my missions while performing is to show the audience how much fun it is and what a crucial role it’s had in music we know today.” These days, Greene said, Peacherine is working on modern tunes as ragtime covers. “We’ve done the Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive’ and A-ha’s ‘Take On Me,’ and they’re really fun,” he said. “We’re showing our audience what it sounded like 100 years ago, and then show them that whatever we’re listening to today has its roots in ragtime.” For tickets or more information about events at the Bayou Theater, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayou-theater

Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Steve Dorff to perform hits at UHC

HOUSTON, TX - Steve Dorff is one of the most popular guys you’ve never met. You already know him, you just don’t realize it. Dorff, a 2018 inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, will be putting a face to the music you have been humming along with for decades at the Bayou Theater at Univer-sity of Houston-Clear Lake on March 22 at 2 p.m. “Everyone knows my songs,” said Dorff. “This concert is the story behind my new book, entitled ‘I Wrote That One Too…A Life in Songwriting from Willie to Whitney.’ I am Oz behind the curtain, and I’ve been writing the soundtrack of people’s lives for years.” Even though he’s not the face of such hits as “Through the Years,” made famous by Kenny Rogers, or “I Cross My Heart,” performed by George Strait—among many more, Dorff said this concert tour is his chance to let the audience put it all together. “People are really surprised to know all that I have written,” he said. “My career is all about diversity. I have composed TV show themes, film scores, and hit records in pop, country and other genres. I think this is what got me into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.”Dorff’s dossier also includes three Grammy nominations, six Emmy nominations, nine number one film songs, 15 Top 10 hits, and 11 Billboard Number One awards. Over 250 artists from all genres have covered his com-positions. He added that he will perform a number of “little gems” that weren’t necessarily big hits, but people still remember. “I’ll play a song from a TV show and people will react,” he said. “Most people know me for the big hits from the films and the pop and country charts, but the big surprise here is that I’m the guy with the crazy hair and glasses and I’m saying I wrote these things.”Dorff said that one of the most fun stories he tells in his book and at his concerts is about “I Cross My Heart,” from the movie, “Pure Country.” The song was released in 2004 by George Strait. “People don’t realize that

each of these songs has its own journey,” he said. “I wrote ‘I Cross My Heart’ over eight years before George Strait recorded it for that movie. Bette Midler recorded it previ-ously. But when I wrote it, I had Boyz II Men in mind. I played that song for every-one I knew and they all passed on it.” Even Strait had at first said the song had too many chords and it didn’t sound like a song he’d sing, but he recorded it. “Now it’s a standard,” he said. “What makes a hit is that marriage between the right song and the right voice. That’s what made it a big hit.” He said that when people hear a hit song that they love on the radio, they assume it’s a brand-new song just because it’s the first time they’ve ever heard it. “People don’t know it takes years between the time a song is born till it’s on the radio,” he said. “Sev-eral artists passed on ‘Through the Years’ be-fore Kenny Rogers recorded it. And ‘I Just Fall in Love Again,’ which was one of Anne Murray’s biggest hits in 1979, was passed on by Karen Carpenter and Dusty Springfield. They didn’t want to put it out as a single, so Anne did, and it became a monster hit.” But, said Dorff, there’s a reason why he’s not the front man for his music. “When you hear me sing one or two of my songs, you’ll know why I’m a composer, not a singer,” he said. “I was never about performing. I was always about arranging, producing, and working behind the scenes. I loved the anonymity. But with the book, I have been coaxed into coming out and becoming the face of my songs.” Dorff said he hoped the concert and the book were both a trip down memory lane for the audience. “I do some new songs that I hope are hits waiting to happen,” he said. “For the most part, I play songs that people have heard and will remember where they were in their lives, and they know what cer-tain songs mean to them. This evening will be a combination of all that.” For tickets or more information about the Bayou Theater, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayou-theater.

Award-winning quintet to share sounds of Ireland

at Bayou Theater

HOUSTON, TX - It’s not easy to pro-nounce “Goitse” but the award-winning quintet from Ireland, recently named Live Ireland’s Traditional Group of the Year, is certainly easy to listen to. They’ll be shar-ing their distinctive sounds, combined with the traditional tunes of Ireland, at University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Bayou Theater on Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. The audience will experience five musi-cians playing instruments they might not be familiar with, such as the bodhran, the bouzouki and the oud, as well as the more familiar fiddle, guitar and banjo. Goitse (pronounced “Go-witch-ee”) pia-nist Tadgh Ó Meachair explained the name, which means “come here” in Gaelic, was chosen for the group almost as a joke. “I’m one of two Gaelic speakers in the group,” Ó Meachair said. “One day, early on in col-lege, the lads heard (the group’s vocalist and fiddler) Aine McGeeney call after me, say-ing ‘Goitse!’ They’d never heard the word before and found it hilarious, and it just sort of stuck. We like it because it points to our Irish roots and spreads awareness of the Irish language.” The five-member group met at the Irish

World Academy at the University of Lim-erick, where they were all students. “One day in the first year, Aine was asked to put a small group together for a charity event, and we really liked the vibe playing togeth-er. So we decided to make a band,” he said. “But for me, ever since I got over the half-astronaut, half-secret agent stage, I thought I would be a teacher. When it came time to choose my college, I decided that teaching could wait and I wanted to spend more time pursuing music, so in my late teens, I de-cided this would be my profession.” Goitse has released four critically-ac-claimed recordings and maintains a year-round recording schedule that includes performances throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the U.S. “I hope the audience comes away having had a great time,” said Ó Meachair. “We’re looking forward to a fun night ourselves, and we’ll do our best to share some songs, stories, jokes and energetic music with ev-eryone, along with a little taste of Ireland.”For more information or to purchase tickets to an event at the Bayou Theater, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayoutheater.

ARTOBERFESTInvites Artists To Participate In 23rd Annual Artoberfest

Set For October 17-18, 2020 In Historic DowntownGalveston Island, Texas

GALVESTON - ARToberFEST Galveston - the Island’s premier juried fine arts Festi-val – is inviting artists from throughout the United States as well as from the Houston/Galveston Gulf Coast region, to participate as exhibitors in the upcoming 23rd Annual ARToberFEST event – set for Saturday, October 17 from 10am-6pm; and Sunday, October 18, from 11am-5pm – on Postoffice Street, between 21st and 23rd Streets. This popular Festival will again transform the city’s historic downtown Cultural Arts Dis-trict into an open-air gallery bursting with color, charm and culture. Deadline to submit an application is midnight, Friday, May 1, 2020. With past attendance between 6,000-9,000, fine arts exhibitors can look forward to at-tendees who are eager to view - and purchase - fine art and crafts. A relaxed ambiance on the Festival grounds – combined with the Island’s reputation for gracious hospitality, should only enhance your participation in and enjoyment of this popular Festival. All artwork must be original art created by the artist applying. Mediums accepted include Ceramics, Digital, Drawing, Fiber/Textiles, Functional Art (includes furni-ture/wearable art), Glass, Jewelry, Leather,

Metal, Mixed Media, Painting (Acrylic, Oil, Watercolor), Photography (digital and tradi-tional film), Printmaking (intaglio, relief and planographic), Wood, Sculpture (made from any medium), and other. Application deadline is midnight, Friday, May 1, 2020. Jury occurs the week of May 4, 2020. Acceptance notification – May 11, 2020. Accepted artists fee deadline – June 30, 2020. Only one application per artist ac-cepted. For application, information, booth fees, available booth sizes, sales tax information and Texas Sales Tax Permit requirements, as well as all the special amenities offered to enhance your participation, please visit http://bit.ly/ARToberFEST2020. For addi-tional information, contact Festival Director, Sarah Piel at 409.770.5066, 800.821.1894, or via email at spiel@thegrand.com. ARToberFEST is presented by The Grand 1894 Opera House – celebrating its 125th Anniversary this year. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Grand 1894 Opera House is located at 2020 Postoffice Street in Galveston’s historic downtown Cultural Arts District, and recognized as “The Official Opera House of the State of Texas.” All major credit cards accepted.

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