Arts Q&A
Q&A with Distance Runner Fiona O’Keeffe
Davis native Fiona O’Keeffe crossed the finish line of her first marathon with a new U.S. Olympic trials record and a spot in the 2024 Paris Games.
Q&A with Jeremy Ganter, Executive Director of the Mondavi Center
What started over 20 years ago as a temp job at UC Davis has worked out pretty well for Jeremy Ganter. In November, he became the new executive director of the Mondavi Center—only the third person to hold the position since the school’s premier performing arts facility opened in 2002. Ganter, 49, speaks about his transition from performer to presenter, past highlights and future plans (hint: you may soon be able to dance to the music at the Mondavi).
A Metropolitan Life
As the subject of Martin Scorsese’s docuseries Pretend It’s a City, Fran Lebowitz opined on everything from guilty pleasures to public transportation. In advance of her appearance in Davis this February, we talk to the iconic cultural commentator about the future of cities, Joan Didion, and the Mondavi Center’s backstage cuisine.
New Home for the Holidays
Mere months after arriving in town from his native Iowa, Alex Heetland leads 130 vocalists as the new artistic director of the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus. As he and his choir prepare for the group’s signature holiday show, the 35-year-old ensemble leader talks about the SGMC’s growing profile, the continuing significance of gay men’s choruses in the 21st century, and what attendees can expect at this year’s production, from its wide-ranging songbook to its big move to the Crest Theatre.
Q&A with Estella Sanchez, Founder of Sol Collective
Born in Sacramento to Mexican immigrants, Estella Sanchez has always navigated the influences of both her Hispanic heritage and her California upbringing. In 2005, at age 30, she founded the local multicultural nonprofit Sol Collective to help others explore and express their own diverse identities by hosting gallery shows, leading art classes and participating in social justice and health initiatives at its headquarters and beyond. This fall, the group will host events throughout town to observe Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and Sanchez talks to us about those celebrations, growing a karmic bank account, and the power of perseverance.
A Bird’s-Eye View
As both the artistic director and executive director of the Sacramento Ballet, Anthony Krutzkamp works overtime to combine his lifelong love of dance with his ultimate vision to create a troupe known around the world. His first order of business in 2023? An ambitious new take on the most timeless ballet of all, Swan Lake.
The Mondavi at 20
Don Roth grew up in New York City on a steady diet of many of the world’s best cultural offerings. That influence rubs off in his role as the executive director of UC Davis’ Mondavi Center, which launches its 20th anniversary season on Oct. 6. Roth talks about highlights for the year ahead, his vision for a thriving regional arts community, and his top three Mondavi memories.
Staging a Comeback
The Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera closes out the season with The Barber of Seville, its first fully staged opera in almost a decade. But in other ways, that’s just the beginning. New executive director Giuliano Kornberg talks about doubling down on operas next season and the road ahead.
Q&A with Sci-Fi Author Kim Stanley Robinson
The Davis author is celebrated for epic sci-fi novels, but in his new memoir "The High Sierra: A Love Story," Kim Stanley Robinson takes a turn for the terrestrial, covering a half-century adventuring across our altitudinous backyard.
Q&A with Shonna McDaniels, Director of the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum
Inside South Sacramento’s Florin Square mall resides a hidden treasure: the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, named for the trailblazing abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights who was born into slavery. Since 1996, the institution has been an evolving fusion of art gallery, historical collection, education center and community nexus. We visited Shonna McDaniels, the 56-year-old artist and executive director of the “Sojo” Museum, at the cultural institution she founded over 25 years ago.
Big in Japan(ese)
Daisuke Tsuji has clowned around (literally) for Cirque du Soleil, appeared on stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, voiced the lead character in the blockbuster video game Ghost of Tsushima (a role that earned him a BAFTA nomination), and acted in Japanese on television shows like The Man in the High Castle and Brockmire. In his latest Japanese-speaking role, he co-stars with Sam Neill in the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series Invasion. The Sacramento-raised multihyphenate talks about landing his biggest part yet, filming around the world during the pandemic, and the lasting impact of his Rio Americano drama teacher’s words.
Q&A with CEO of Broadway Sacramento Richard Lewis
After going dark in the spring of 2020 due to Covid, Broadway Sacramento (which produces Broadway on Tour and Broadway at Music Circus) will finally raise the curtain on its first show in a year and a half, the 11-time Tony Award-winning Hamilton—and in a newly renovated theater to boot. Richard Lewis, CEO and president of the arts organization, addresses the pandemic elephant in the auditorium, reveals the best seat in the (new) house, and gives a pro tip for Hamilton first-timers that’s super, well, sonic.
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