7:30 Thursday, July 22

The Tenth Muse, in An Evening of Original Music and Performance

A new opera by Chicago-based composer Elbio Barilari, The Tenth Muse celebrates the life and poetry of the extraordinary Mexican writer, poet, musician, scientist, thinker and feminist, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 40-minute work is performed for one night only in the 5th Latino Theatre Festival (June 19–July 25), in the Owen Theatre at the Goodman.

I perform on springboard with a neo-baroque ensemble performing on period instruments.

This program is part of an evening of original music composed by local artists in association with the Latino Music Festival (Chicago), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Collaboraction and Aguavá New Music Studio. Tickets are $18/$9 (Students w/ID)

My friend Keith Anwar died on Monday, July 5, 2010.

I’ve known Keith since 1982 as a brave steelworker, historian, socialist, technician with the Chicago Transit Authority, and playwright. His play, Kabulitis won the Dionysos Cup in the Polarity Ensemble’s New Plays competition this past May. It was read at the Josephenium, while I was performing From a Fading Light at the St. Paul’s Cultural Center. I missed the reading but ran into Keith and his wife Connie then. He was looking fine. We had a brief chat before we hurried off to our respective performances, not knowing that would be the last time we’d see each other. A few years earlier, I had the honor of reading the part of one of the play’s main character at the Oak Park Public Library.

Kabulitis is based on the lives of Keith’s parents who lived in Afghanistan. Keith wrote the afterword to his father’s book, Memories of Afghanistan, published by in 2004.

Dear Friends,

You’re invited to participate in a special project of radio aporee and the World Listening Project for the first World Listening Day, on Sunday, July 18, 2010.

Radio aporee is an open project about the creation and exploration of public space. Its creator, Udo Noll asks you for help in creating an “audio snapshot of the world” as heard and recorded on World Listening Day. Aporee maps uses the Google maps interface to allow anyone to easily find their location on the map, then upload their audio via the web or mobile phone.

We’re inviting you to send an audio recording from your actual location, or other places of your interest on this day to the maps: http://aporee.org/maps/.

With your contributions collected on World Listening Day, Udo will then create a dedicated project page on the aporee map. As Udo says, “…besides having a nice documentation, I’m really intrigued by the idea of listening to the sounds of a particular day, around the world….” I’m very curious about what will happen, too.

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