Out, About & Around the County
The Valley of the Moon Garden Club will welcome Kate Frey, sustainable landscape gardener, as the speaker for their meeting on Feb. 2, 7 p.m., at Vintage House. Kate's extensive expertise in sustainable landscaping began with her work at Fetzer Vineyards where she worked for 18 years managing and designing the six-acre, profuse and colorful organic flower gardens, as well as seven acres of sustainable landscaping. She is Director of Sonoma State University's Sustainable Landscape Professional Certificate Program. She continues to consult, in partnership with her husband, Ben, on sustainable and organic farming methods globally. Visit her website, www.freygardens.com for more information and photos of her work.
Info: 935-5939. Vintage House, 264 First St. East, Sonoma.
The public is invited to the Opening Reception of the Arts Guild of Sonoma's February Member Show on Feb. 3, from 6-8 p.m. This is a free event and there will be food, local wine and superb art to enjoy with friends, family and fellow artists. Guild members showing in February are Patricia Akay, Roberta Alexander, Barbara Aliza, Pat Biggs, George Dawnay, Zaza Fetterly, Katherine Greene, Sandra Lane, Christine Gonzalves, Christine MacDonald, Bev Prevost, Katie Richardson, Joan Shepherd, Sharon Sittloh, Lyn Swan, Thena Trygstad and Sandy Young. The Arts Guild of Sonoma, located right off the Sonoma Plaza, is a contemporary art gallery with changing monthly exhibits showcasing the work of local artists. Exhibit pieces include acrylic, encaustic, oil and water color paintings, jewelry, mixed media work, ceramics, metal sculpture and more, including smaller objects d'art, prints and note cards.
Info: 996-3115, www.artsguildofsonoma.org. Arts Guild, 140 East Napa St., Sonoma.
The Ives Quartet comes to the Randolph Newman Auditorium on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus for a Feb. 3, 8 p.m. performance that will offer something for all chamber music fans. The ensemble has built a reputation for passionate, precise and provocative programming. Inspired by the American composer Charles Ives, the quartet has established an artistic commitment and temperament that has gained them critical acclaim for their practice of reveling in the unfamiliar. The ensemble has a wealth of experience in America and European music styles. Each has delved into international, solo, orchestral, chamber and recording careers. Tickets $20.
Info: 527-4372, www.santarosa.edu/chamberconcerts, Randolph Newman Auditorium, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.
REI Santa Rosa will present a lecture on Laguna de Santa Rosa: Sonoma County's Ecological Treasure 7-8:30 p.m., on Feb. 7, at REI Santa Rosa. The largest freshwater wetlands complex on the northern California coast, the Laguna de Santa Rosa covers more than 30,000 acres and drains nearly the entire Santa Rosa Plain. It is a mosaic of creeks, open water, perennial marshes, seasonal wetlands, riparian forests, oak woodland, and grassland, which provide habitat for abundant wildlife such as bald eagles, badgers, bobcats, and river otters. David Bannister, executive director of Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, will introduce you to the rich ecology of the Laguna and the variety of ways you can get out and discover its natural treasures. Find out best times to hike its trails and enjoy bird watching, and when and where you can paddle a kayak. Learn about guided outings, volunteer opportunities, and other ways you can get involved to help protect this valuable habitat. Register for this free presentation at www.rei.com/santarosa.
Info: 540-9025, sphelps@rei.com. REI, 2715 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa.
On Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m., The World Affairs Council of Sonoma County presents “Refugees - The Red Cross at Home and Abroad” featuring Tim Miller, American Red Cross Chief Executive Officer of Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake Counties Chapter. Miller will discuss the role of the Red Cross in crises, its role as guardian of the Geneva Convention, and the role our local chapter plays on the global stage. Miller is on the national Red Cross faculty, serving as its instructor in international humanitarian law. He has been Country Director for a farmer-focused, refugee-relief non-profit agency in Azerbaijan. Members and SLV free, Guests $5.
Info: Spring Lake Village Auditorium, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa.
On Feb. 11, “Paws For Love” will celebrate its 13th year by bringing together hundreds of kind hearts for an evening of art, wine, food, and auction fun at the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa. Hosted by the Paws for Love Foundation, the reception is from 6-10 p.m. and will showcase a gallery of captivating artwork by shelter and rescue animals. While waiting for a second chance and new homes, these amazing artists have used their paws, tails, and whiskers to create masterpieces. Paintings will be sold to raise funds for the Paws for Love Foundation, a nonprofit corporation which provides resources to shelters, rescue groups, and individuals dedicated to improving the health, welfare, and adoptability of unwanted and abused animals. Live and silent auctions, music by DJ Aaron Long and pianist Jerry Green, wines offered by Mutt Lynch, Pedroncelli, and Kenwood Wineries, and a gourmet 'gallery' of hors d'oeuvres will round out the evening. Tickets are $30 ($40 at the door).
Info: 799-6151, www.pawsforlove.info. Finley Community Center, 2060 W. College, Santa Rosa.
Sonoma Bach's Monteverdi Consort performs a concert of spiritual music on Feb. 11 at Holy Family Episcopal Church in Rohnert Park, and again on Feb. 12 at St. Andrew Presbyterian in Sonoma. Soulmization features pieces in which the solfège syllables (ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la) play a structural and often symbolic role. The concert will include the Missa La sol fa re mi (Josquin Desprez); an Ut re mi fa sol la compilation mass, with movements by Burton, Brumel, Morales, Palestrina, Roussel; and a pair of Josquin motets: Ut Phoebi, which uses a rising scale to symbolize the 'stairway to heaven', and Illibata Dei, in which Josquin conceals his own name and place of birth. The Monteverdi Consort is a one-on-a-part vocal ensemble, originally formed in 2009 to sing Monteverdi madrigals. Single tickets (general admission) range from $10-18, with discounts for seniors, students and groups.
Tickets: www.sonomabach.org, (877) 914-BACH.
Tanya Egan Gibson, Bay Area author, addresses the writer's craft in her upcoming seminar, “Building A Vibrant Fictional World.” The event, sponsored by Redwood Writers Club is Feb. 12, 3-5 p.m., at the Flamingo Hotel. $5 for members, $8 for nonmembers. “Envisioning the 'world' of your fiction early and thoroughly allows the setting to shape your characters and propel them into action,” says Gibson. She will explain how to “build the world of your fictional setting into something that is unique yet believable, exciting but grounded, and how to use your setting to strengthen both plot and characters.” Gibson's novel How To Buy a Love of Reading was published by Dutton in 2009. Her short fiction appearing in Carve magazine was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her young adult short fiction has been published in Cicada. The setting of her current novel-in-progress, Land, is an underwater amusement park.
Info: 478-1460, www.redwoodwriters.com. Flamingo Hotel, 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa.
The Sonoma Community Center has begun accepting submissions for the 2nd Annual Beer-vana: Nirvana for Beer Lovers officially sanctioned amateur beer brewing competition and tasting party, to be held at the Community Center on March 3. Amateur beer brewers from the North Bay Area are invited to enter their original brews for judging in one of 10 nationally recognized beer categories, and one “Best in Show” grand prize winner will receive the fabled Beer-vana Stein, a hand made ceramic stein trophy. As part of its mission to bring arts and cultural programs to the people of Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Community Center's Beer-vana beer brewing competition and tasting party will highlight the art of brewing beer and provide an opportunity for amateur brewers to get feedback from a panel of certified judges. The Community Center is accepting amateur home-brew submissions until 5 p.m. on Feb. 22.
Info: 938-4626 ext. 1, www.sonomacommunitycenter.org. Sonoma Community Center, 276 East Napa St., Sonoma.
