Posts by :
- Upcoming Projects
- Membership Input
- Extension of Board of Directors Term
thru December 2016 (See Details Below)
Russian Spectacular: Downey Symphony, April 8th, 2018
March 29th, 2018Come join the Downey Symphony Orchestra for a Russian Spectacular!
Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff!
Piano Sensation Kevin Fitz-Gerald
Art Exhibit “Metallic Reflections”
April 7, 2018
8:00pm
Downey Theatre
Pre-Concert Lecture – 7:15pm
Purchase Tickets
Message from the Music Director
“Join us as we conclude our 59th season with some spectacular Russian flair: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. You won’t want to miss the return of international piano sensation Kevin Fitz-Gerald as he dazzles you with his exquisite and vibrant playing. As we do every year for our spring concert, the program will open with a piece conducted by our Baton Auction Winner. This year’s lucky recipient is Josh Beall and he has chosen the impressive Slavonic Dance No. 1 in C major by Dvorak to kick-start this exciting evening.
We hope you will come out and support us as we wrap up another successful season, and I look forward to seeing you at the concert!”
~Sharon Lavery
Kevin Fitz-Gerald, pianist.
Canadian pianist, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his “hypnotically powerful and precise” pianism and “dynamic and distinguished” interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Mexico, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntori Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne). He has appeared with several Canadian and American orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Los Angeles Camerata, Utah Chamber Orchestra and more.
Downey Theatre Presents: Sara Evans Sunday, April 22
March 29th, 2018DOWNEY, Calif. (March 27, 2018) – Downey Theatre closes its 2017-2018 Season SARA EVANS on Sunday, April 22, at 7:00pm. The evening will feature special guests TEMECULA ROAD performing the opening set.
Academy of Country Music’s Top Female Vocalist
SARA EVANS has had five #1 singles, sold millions of records, won the Academy of Country Music’s Top Female Vocalist Award, and claimed a Country Music Association trophy for her signature song, “Born To Fly.” It’s tough to imagine many accomplishments she hasn’t already checked off her bucket list.
And yet, with the release of her eighth studio album Words, SARA EVANS demonstrates that she’s still willing to leap into the unknown, taking greater control of her career and calling the shots in a way that’s unusual in country music – particularly unusual for a woman in the genre.
Tickets are available at:
The Downey Theatre Box Office
By phone at 408-866-2700,
or online at DowneyTheatre.org.
The Downey Theatre
8435 Firestone Blvd.
Downey CA 90241.
Also Featuring
TEMECULA ROAD
Called by The Huffington Post one of the top new country artists to watch, and named after the town they grew up in, TEMECULA ROAD is comprised of sisters Emma and Maddie Salute, and longtime friend Dawson Anderson. They are known for their trademark harmonies and covers, which have earned praise from Carrie Underwood, Brett Eldredge, Dan + Shay, and RaeLynn.
These days, it’s their original songs that are putting them on the map. Their first two singles “What If I Kissed You” and “Hoping” already have over 1MM streams on Spotify, and the trio just released their new single “Everything Without You.” On the touring side, TEMECULA ROAD has opened for Martina McBride, Josh Turner, Joe Nichols, Easton Corbin, Lee Brice, Sara Evans, Kenny Rogers, and Eli Young Band.
Sara Evans’ album Words released on her own label: Born To Fly Records
Words is the first project on Evans’ own label: Born To Fly Records, appropriately named after that CMA-winning signature song, which celebrated risk and adventure. Much is familiar about Words.Evans’ voice is warm and strong, the songs are authentic and memorable, and the actual words themselves resonate with the realities of everyday life.
But the album was an eye-opening experience for Evans as a creative force. As the head of her own small, flexible company, she was able to take a streamlined approach to building it. Instead of subjecting the music to multiple departments, each with their own view of one part of her career, Evans approached it with an instinctual, gut-level focus on making a project that represents the current version of Sara Evans.
“The only thing I had on my mind with this album was just Grammy-level songs and the coolest music that I can find,” she says. “I didn’t really go about it in any other way. I wasn’t catering to any part of the business. There was never a thought in my head of, ‘Will this work on country radio?’ So what has happened with the music is that it is still very much Sara Evans music. It’s just a little bit deeper than I’ve gone in the past.” For a woman who always tackled the music her own way, the new album is 100% her own.
“Songs are a combination of words and melodies, and it’s the words that matter most to me,” she says. “When we go into these pitch meetings, people always ask, ‘What are you looking for? Are you OK with doing something that’s a little more pop?’ I always tell them, ‘Just play me great lyrics.’ That’s what I’m looking for.”
Evans co-wrote three of the album’s 14 songs, instinctively picking material along the way that matches her world view. Thirteen additional females racked up writing credits on the project, including Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, Pistol Annies’ Ashley Monroe, The Isaacs’ Sonya Isaacs, Hillary Lindsey (“Blue Ain’t Your Color”), Caitlyn Smith (“Wasting All These Tears”), Heather Morgan (“Beat Of The Music”) and Liz Hengber (“For My Broken Heart”).
“A Little Bit Stronger,” Evans’ pensive, heartbreak anthem that spent two weeks at #1 represents a look at the journey thus far, one that’s kept her firmly in the forefront of country music for a solid 20 years. Born and raised in Boonville, Missouri, Sara grew up listening – like much of her audience – to a mix of country, pop, and rock on the radio. She began singing with the family band when she was five and made her first attempts at recording as a teenager, committing to a creative path with her move to Nashville in 1991.
SARA EVAN’s résumé now includes 14 Top 20 country hits, ranging from her reassuring first #1 – “No Place That Far,” featuring background vocals by Vince Gill – to the neo-traditional “Suds In The Bucket,” to the elegant, spiky pop feel of “Slow Me Down.”
Evans wants to represent the full panorama of her artistic vision. By handpicking the team around her and making self-expression the priority of her work, she’s found songs that continue to connect her to the emotional core of her audience and that adhere to that Born To Fly embrace of risk and adventure.
“I don’t use the word a lot, resilient, but I would say that’s the best way to define me as a person,” Evans says. “I feel so blessed, but at the same time, there’s blood, sweat, and tears in every single thing that I’ve gotten in this life. I have gone out and just really, really sold it, and I’m still doing that to this day.”
Doing it her way. As a mom. As a record company entrepreneur. And, mostly, as a distinct artist still excited about her unique journey.
Interfaith Multi-Cultural Songfest
February 25th, 2018Please join us at the FREE 26th Annual
Interfaith Multi-cultural
Songfest & Art Exhibit
March 17, 2018
Songfest: 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Art Exhibit: 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
12425 Orizaba Ave., Downey
Instructions for participation:
All media welcome – oil, watercolor, charcoal, etc., sculptures.
Family-friendly event, no nude, suggestive or explicit art allowed.
Security for art will be provided, provide your own easels if possible.
Contact Lois Buchanan at by March 5, 2018
OuterRimCon: Presented by the Aerospace Legacy Foundation
September 3rd, 2017On Saturday, October 7 & Sunday, October 8, 2017 Aerospace Legacy Foundation presents OuteRimCon. Come join us.
Visit the OuterRimCon Web Site
Columbia Memorial Space Center
12400 Columbia Way
Downey, CA 90242
Hours: Saturday, 10a – 5p
Sunday, 10a – 3p
About Us: Aerospace Legacy Foundation is a community based 501(c)(3) organization from Downey, California; since 1995, dedicated to preserving Southern California’s aerospace history. Our mission is to educate, lecture and preserve space.
Our purpose for creating this convention is to raise awareness, educate and inform. As well as raising money to help us with our many projects.
Please help us to create a convention that not only teaches and informs but also encourages young minds as it entertains.
Downey Poet Steve Gross to Feature at POETRY MATTERS
September 9th, 2016This edition of POETRY MATTERS – Thursday September 15th at STAY GALLERY – will welcome Downey poet Steve Gross. For many years Steve curated the Angel’s Gate poetry readings in San Pedro, and worked to change the historic military site of Ft. MacArthur into a community cultural venue. He and his wife and fellow poet Zaida Ramos are avid supporters of our local poetry and arts activities.
Steve’s poetry bristles with surrealistic images, spine-tingling stories and memorable people real and imagined. An enjoyable evening is guaranteed.
Join the Facebook Event:
Doors open at 7
Open mike starts at 7:30
Stay Gallery is located at 11140 Downey Avenue, just north of Firestone in the heart of downtown Downey
Curated by Lorine Parks.
Poetry Matters is free and open to the public.
Tamara Madison at Poetry Matters August 18th
August 12th, 2016On Thursday, August 18th, Poetry Matters welcomes Tamara Madison, author of the collection “Wild Domestic” (Pearl Editions; July, 2011) and the chapbook “The Belly Remembers” (Pearl Editions, 2004). Her work has appeared in numerous small press journals and anthologies. Two of her poems have also been featured on Garrison Keillor’s Writers Almanac. Tamara is a California native who grew up on a citrus farm in the Coachella Valley. She has two grown children and teaches French and English in a high school in Los Angeles.
Tamara Madison Facebook Event Link
Doors open at 7
Open mike starts at 7:30
Stay Gallery is located at 11140 Downey Avenue, just north of Firestone in the heart of downtown Downey
ZZyZx Writerz to feature at POETRY MATTERS – April 21st
April 8th, 2016This edition of POETRY MATTERS – Thursday April 21st at STAY GALLERY- welcomes back ZZyZx Writerz.
7:00 pm: Doors Open
7:30 pm: Open Mike
STAY Gallery
11140 Downey Avenue
Downey, CA 90241
The ZZYZX Writerz descended from the rib of a CSULA writing group, where most of the current members met in 2011. Their writing is as diverse as the neighborhoods they hail from! Since their formation they have written two group anthologies: “A Three Hour Tour” in 2013 and “Exit 23” in 2015.
The ZZyZx Writerz group hosts monthly read arounds and open mics within the Alhambra/El Sereno neighborhoods. They are also the organizers of Poetrypalooza, a month-long celebration of poetry in life that hosts events in dozens of creative neighborhoods across Southern California.
Poetry Matters also features an open mike. We welcome first-time readers and everyone else with a poem to share.
Curated by Lorine Parks.
Jean Holloway Returns to POETRY MATTERS March 17th
March 9th, 2016This edition of POETRY MATTERS – Thursday March 17th at STAY GALLERY- welcomes back Jean Barrett Holloway, who will read from her new book, Over the Falls.
Three years ago Holloway captivated Downey audiences with her first collection, Weightlifting Rules. This time she does it again with the voices of women, literary and historical, imaginary or real.
Poetry Matters also features an open mike. We welcome first-time readers and everyone else with a poem to share. Doors open at 7 p.m. The open mike begins at 7:30. Poetry Matters is free and open to the public.
Curated by Lorine Parks.
General Membership Meeting February 2016
February 2nd, 2016Our February 27th meeting is your chance to re-connect with the Downey Arts movement… we’re celebrating 5 years! Artists, performers, theatre, film, poets, musicians, producers, passionate audience members — your ideas and involvement can help us expand arts and culture in Downey, and help you share your artistic voice with the community.
Downey Arts Coalition
General Membership Meeting
February 27, 2016
12 PM to 2 PM
The Epic Lounge
8239 2nd St,
Downey, CA 90241
This Fall and Winter were both busy and inspiring! The Downey Arts Coalition collaborated with the Glenfest film festival that included a screening of the film Landfill Harmonic. DAC played an important role in the City of Downey Rooftop Concerts, the Dia de los Muertos Festival, the art exhibits tied to the October and January Symphony Concerts, and numerous other events. More exciting activities are planned for this year. Please join us as we continue to plan and dream.
Agenda Items
——————–
Agenda Item: Extension of Board of Directors Term
thru December 2016 to Coincide with the DAC Fiscal Year
Recently the DAC board realized that our current bylaws require that the election of the board is tied to the fiscal year. Recently, DAC changed its fiscal year to match the calendar year to simplify tax filings. With the change in fiscal year, this would require that a new board election take place the last December, even though the current board was just elected in May and was to serve a one-year term.
The Board recommends that the current board be extended through December 2016, to align its terms to the new fiscal year. This recommendation requires a general membership decision, and the board asks the membership to discuss and vote on this at the February meeting.
If approved, the board would remain as is through December 2016. Should the membership disapprove this recommendation, the board will immediately form a nominating committee to recommend new candidates, and call an election as soon as possible.
Poetry Matters features Kathleen Goldman January 21st
January 10th, 2016
This edition of POETRY MATTERS – Thursday January 21st at STAY GALLERY- will feature Kathleen Goldman and her new book “Down River”
Goldman grew up in Wisconsin near the banks of the Mississippi River. She now lives in Manhattan Beach, California, with her husband and children. A journalist by training, she discovered a new career teaching pre-school after her children were born. She has taught creative writing to elementary school children and adults. Her poems have appeared in the anthology 13 Los Angeles Poets, and in periodicals including Northeast, Pearl, Spillway and Myriad.
“The joy of reading Kathy Goldman’s poems is this: she can see the ordinary world so carefully, so clearly, so tenderly, that it becomes extraordinary – even transcendent.” — Anthony Lee, PhD, author of This Poem Means
Poetry Matters also features an open mike. We welcome first-time readers and everyone else with a poem to share. Doors open at 7 p.m. The open mike begins at 7:30. Poetry Matters is free and open to the public.
Curated by Lorine Parks.