Summer Airs

Classical music students and faculty alike have been tuning their instruments lately for the 41st annual Sarasota Music Festival, running through June 18 with performances at the Sarasota Opera House and Holley Hall, and offering free student concerts and lectures as well. (The Student Postludes following the Friday Festival Concerts are considered a highlight by the cognoscenti.)

It's a full schedule of ensemble and orchestral delights, featuring such festival favorites as violinists James Buswell and Joseph Silverstein, cellist Ronald Leonard, pianists Claude Frank and Susan Starr, and many more, all under the batons of artistic director Paul Wolfe and associate director Robert Levin.

The first week of Opera House concerts (June 3 and 4) presents Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 along with works by Bruch and Brahms and an evening devoted to Mozart (including his "Jupiter" Symphony), followed by performances of Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Milhaud and Dvorak, June 10 and 11; and Saint-Saëns, Schubert and Schulhoff, among other composers, June 17 and 18.

Artist Showcases at Holley on June 2, 9 and 16 include pieces by Strauss, Handel, Schoenberg, Ravel and Bartok. And five free Student Concerts with dates TBA allow the festival's finest student ensembles to demonstrate what they've learned in master classes.

For a full Sarasota Music Festival schedule, call 953-4252; for tickets call 953-3434.

On Exhibit

Fern Focus

Jamie Friedli looked into her Sarasota garden for the inspiration for this painting of Australian ferns and Hoya blooms, marrying the new and the old by combining digital images with her painted versions. Looking closely, it's sometimes difficult to discern where the print she has collaged onto the canvas ends and her painting begins. In other areas it's clear that her brush, loaded with paint, has formed the shape of the fern leaf or flower petal.

Friedli has created a superb balance of colors in her use of greens and pinks. The composition, too, is dramatic, as reading from left to right we are transported from the tranquility of elegantly dangling blooms through a dense area of buds and leaves across into the vortex of the fern's core. We seem on the verge of an Alice in Wonderland trip as we peer into the blackness of the center of the fern. The artist's decision to give us mere painted suggestions of leaves or blooms in some areas of the canvas and great botanically accurate detail in other areas holds the interest of our searching eyes.

Friedli has an obvious love of nature and a fascination with the growth cycle from pods to blooms. Looking at this work, we understand how plants and flowers do inspire artists to paint them, and we are inspired to see find out more about Hoyas and Australian ferns.

Jamie Friedli's work can be seen at Art Uptown Gallery on Main Street or at Main Street Studios, just above the gallery. -Mark Ormond

Art

Galleria Silecchia. Continuing through June 2: new works by Ulla Darni, including hand-painted glass chandeliers. Opening June 3 to run through June 30: ceramics by Yasuko Nakamura. Information: 365-7414.

Selby Gallery. Through June 3: the Suncoast Watercolor Society show in Gallery I, works by Ringling alum Judy Axe in Gallery II. Information: 359-7563.

Art Center Sarasota. On view through June 11: a Florida Photo Show in the Main Gallery, with Petticoat Painters in the Front Gallery. Opening June 21 to run through July 23 (reception at 5 p.m. June 23): an Open Juried Exhibition. Information: 365-2032.

Apple & Carpenter Galleries. Age of Elegance: American and European Paintings from 1850 to 1950 on view through June 30. Information: 951-2314.

Tampa Museum of Art. Bud Lee, PictureMaker, showcasing the photography of Lee from his time in the military to his work for Life magazine to his more recent Florida images, continues here through July 10. Information: (813) 274-8130.

Ringling Museum of Art. Duane Hanson: Portraits from the Heartland presents the late sculptor's life-sized works through July 31 in the West Galleries. Information: 359-5700.

Longboat Key Center for the Arts. A Spring Fling exhibition continues through Sept. 25; a Volunteer Exhibition through Oct. 30. Information: 383-2345.

Salvador Dali Museum. Dali Revealed: Land, Myth, Perception and God continues through October. Information: (727) 823-3767.

Palm Avenue Gallery. Cubistic abstractionist works by Louis Giusti are on view this month. Information: 953-5757.

Palm Avenue First Friday Walk. Gallery browsing, music and more, from 6 to 9 p.m. June 3 along Palm. Information: 373-9660.

St. Armands Craft Festival. Crafts, music, refreshments and more, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. June 11 on the Circle. Information: 388-1554.

Third Friday Gallery Walk. Through the artists' colony of Towles Court, from 6 to 10 p.m. June 17. Information: 362-0690.

Benefits

UCP Bachelor Ball and Auction. Theme for this year's bash is "Return to Camelot," so grab the chance to find your knight in shining armor. The ball, which includes buffet supper, open bar and unique entertainment from the bachelors up for bid, starts at 7 p.m. June 4 at Michael's on East; for ticket info call 957-3599. And visit ucpbachelors.org for more details about the date packages available.

School Daze. The second annual "Back to School" event to benefit Every Child, Inc. promises cafeteria-style food, open bar, dancing and a fashion show by Willow 506, June 17 at Payne Park Auditorium. "Hall passes" are $75; for more info call 955-5506.

Miscellaneous

Bloomsday. The summer celebration of James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses, is set for June 16, that famous Dublin day in the novel. Details as far as speakers and events were still being worked out at press time; for more info go to www.jamesjoycesocietyofsarasota.org.

Music

Sarasota Music Festival. A full schedule of classes, concerts and lectures continues through June 18; for tickets call 953-3434.

Jazz at Two. Check out who's playing at this Jazz Club of Sarasota event, at 2 p.m. June 3 at the Bayfront Community Center. Information: 366-1552.

Friday Fest on the Bay. Kicking off this season's outdoor concerts on the Van Wezel bayfront is a performer TBA, but the date is June 17. For more info call 953-3368.

Sports

Suncoast Offshore Grand Prix. The 21st annual power boat racing event takes place June 24 through July 3, with a golf tournament June 25, a fishing tourney June 28, and the World's Largest Offshore Party June 30 kicking things off this month. It's all to benefit the Florida Center for Child and Family Development; for a complete schedule call 371-8820, ext. 1800, or log on to www.suncoastoffshore.org.

Sarasota Reds. The Florida State League team continues to play minor league baseball at Ed Smith Stadium, with home games this month against the Fort Myers Miracle, Dunedin Blue Jays, Clearwater Threshers and Tampa Yankees. For ticket and schedule info call 365-4460.

Talks

Sarasota News and Books. The downtown bookstore welcomes David McCullough, whose new book is titled 1776, on June 29 in association with WEDU PBS TV, at a time and place TBA. Information: 365-6332.

Theater

Runaway Beauty Queen. A musical fantasy journey through one Southern woman's life, onstage through June 4 at Florida Studio Theatre. Information: 366-9000

One Mo' Time. This musical revue taking a look at the blues runs through June 4 in a Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe production at the Gompertz Theatre. Information: 363-9300.

Larry Alexander and Friends. A cabaret show at Venice Little Theatre's Stage II, through June 5. Information: 488-1115.

Menopause The Musical. A comedic look at the change of life, running through June 12 at the Asolo. Information: 351-8000.

Proof. David Auburn's drama about a young woman facing a tough transition after the death of her troubled mathematician father, onstage through July 3 at American Stage in St. Petersburg. Information: (727) 823-PLAY.

Footloose. The stage version of the movie that starred Kevin Bacon as a young man who shakes up a small Southern town with-gasp-dancing! Running through July 24 at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. Information: 366-5454.

Ruthless. A musical spoof of (among other movies) The Bad Seed, with talented and homicidal child actress Tina Denmark and her mother determined to forward Tina's career, no matter who gets in the way. Onstage June 7-26 at Florida Studio Theatre. Information: 366-9000.

Metamorphoses. A last chance to see the Manatee Players' award-winning production of this adaptation of the transformation myths of Ovid, onstage at the Riverfront Theatre June 9, 10 and 11. Information: 748-5875.

Summer Shorts. Venice Little Theatre replaces its former "Theatre in a Blender" summer series with this three-weekend offering. First "Summer Thongs," 10-minute plays presented June 9, 10 and 11; next, "Summer Briefs" (20-minute plays), June 16, 17 and 18; lastly, "Summer Boxers" (and now we're up to 30-minute shows), June 23, 24 and 25. For ticket info call 488-1115.

Loveland Follies. Venice Little Theatre's annual summer production presented with players from the Loveland Center, onstage June 10-12. Information: 488-1115.

Players Theatre New Play Reading Series. The Play's the Thing once more at this series at the Players of Sarasota, which presents at least six new works presented in script-in-hand, rehearsed readings June 27 to July 9. Information: 365-2494.

Breaking Legs. Tom Dulack's mob-meets-theater comedy, onstage June 29 to July 17 at the Lemon Bay Playhouse in Englewood. Information: 475-6756.

The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee Williams' still touching "memory" play about four people-a mother, son, daughter and gentleman caller-brought together one life-changing evening. Onstage June 30 to July 17 in a Banyan Theater Company production at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center. Information: 358-5330.