MUSIC
Classic Music over Country Bluffs
If you didn’t head over to Winona for the FatFest this weekend, then maybe this week is the time to do so. Don’t worry, I’m not sending you over there for raucous music. It’s the inaugural season of the Minnesota Beethoven Festival. For the next week, the beautiful bluff country of southeastern Minnesota will host world-class classical musicians playing everything from Beethoven to John Adams, and chamber music to full symphonic concerts featuring the Minnesota Orchestra. In fact, this very evening the Minnesota Orchestra will be offering a free outdoor pops concert: Beethoven: Overture to Egmont, Op. 84; Strauss: Artist’s Life (Künstler Leben), Waltzes, Op. 316; Heitzeg : Blue Liberty; Rodgers: Selections from Oklahoma!; Ward: America the Beautiful (sing-along); Moncayo: Huapango; Tchaikovsky: 1812, Ouverture solennelle (Solemn Overture), Op. 49.
7:30 p.m., Lake Park Bandshell, Winona, map here; free.
Swinging Down to Rio
Of course, if can’t quite make the drive to Winona today, there’s still a good in-town option. Zé Renato, of Boca Livre fame, will be at the Dakota this evening. Go enjoy the Brazilian Samba sound of this 30-year music veteran. You won’t be disappointed, and he’ll put a light bounce in your step.
7 pm & 10 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant; 1010 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $15 & $10.
FILM
The War Profiteers
Why are we in Iraq? At what cost to us? What kind of damage is done to the average American when corporations decide to wage war? It’s time we were all able to answer these questions. Somewhere between all this information and misinformation exists a truth or two. Help find it. This evening documentary filmmaker, Robert Greenwald’s Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers will be screening at the Liberty Center. Explore the connection between the war in Iraq and the private corporations who profit from the fighting. Whatever your opinion, it doesn’t hurt to have more information. Hell, if nothing else, you should know that the other side is saying.
8 p.m., Liberty Center, 799 Raymond Ave., St. Paul; 651-646-8980; Optional Donation: $5.
THEATER & PERFORMANCE by Christy DeSmith
The Driveway Tour
Master puppeteer Michael Sommers and his itinerant troupe are spending the summer gigging at local libraries and parks, as well as residential driveways, with two offerings: The Adventures of Katie Tomatie and Little Grandpa’s Big Adventure. They’re traveling light, with entire hand-painted sets and most of their characters — handmade puppets, that is — packed into single suitcases, but they don’t skimp on the best qualities of theater: spirited performances, delightful screwball characters, and live accordion music. Sommers’s sly, dark humor may fly under the radar with kids, but certainly sweetens the pot for older audience members. Best of all, this low-tech gypsy brand of theater becomes all the more magical when viewed under open summer skies.
6:30 p.m., Across from Como Park, 976 Como Ave., St Paul; 612-823-5162; free.
FOOD
We All Scream for Ice Cream
How much is ice-cream worth to you? We don’t have many months out of the year to enjoy it, so perhaps $60 isn’t too steep. You decide. If you find it’s worth it, head over to the Kitchen Window to cool off as Terry prepares some old favorites, and what are sure to become some new favorites. Learn the ins and outs of ice cream makers designed especially for home use. The meltdown will begin with a smooth and refreshing Lemon Grass Ice Cream, and move on to Vanilla Bean and Ginger Ice Cream. But that’s not all. The ice cream will be accompanied by Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce and Brandy Snaps. And for the calorie conscious, Terry will demonstrate raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry sorbets. Yum!
6 p.m. – 9 p.m., Kitchen Window, Calhoun Square, 3001 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-824-4417; $60.
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