Newspaper Page Text
CITY PA GES
Nugrs space
Late musician’s parents to
open band practice facilities
in his honor
Local songwriter Nu^i Phill.ps’ suicide in
November 1996 was a difficult blow for
Athens’ musical community to take. Now,
however, his family has decided to honor
Phillips’ memory with a visionary action that
wiM enefit area musicians.
The Phillips family of Atlanta recently
announced the formation of the Andre Nufi
Phillips Memorial Foundation. Nu^i’s par
ents, Linda and Pierre Phillips, are in the
process of. purchasing a warehouse on
Oconee and Williams streets; they plan to
donate the building, which will be called
Null’s Space, to the foundation. It will be
used as practice spaces for local bands, with
proceeds from the rent financing mental
health counseling for local musicians.
NuO’s friends and family believe he suf
fered from depression. “I thought the world
of the guy,” says local producer David Bai be,
who recorded Phillips’ band Koncak over a
period of two and a half years. “I thought he
was truly somebody special personally and
musically. He’d just get so dashed about the
cynical nature of the world.... He felt the ups
and downs of things much more than the
average guy on the street.”
The building, which is in the shadow of
the landmark R.E.M. church steeple, has
been unoccupied for years. Linda Phillips
told Flagpole the foundation will rely on
community support to renovate the space,
which will be air-conditioned and sound
proofed. with a stage for showcase nights.
Tentative plans also include an on-site musi
cian’s counseling service and a meditation
garden. Linda Phillips says architects are
currently drawing up plans. An open house
with some of the drawings is tentatively
scheduled for October.
“I can guarantee the community of
Athens it’s going to be a great improvement,"
Linda Phillips says.
Phillips notes that like many musicians
around town, her son had problems finding a
decent area to rehearse. But it is the other
problems Nugi grappled with that she hopes
the foundation will help remedy. “We’re
thinking about taking a group into the
schools to present who we are," she says,
“and possibly get to kids who are having
problems, but won’t go to conventional
sources to get help."
To contribute time or money to the pro
ject, call the foundation toll-free at (888) 480-
3822, or write 1071 Oxford Road, Atlanta, CA
30306. Copies of Only When the Right Side
Glows, Koncak’s CD, are available at local
record stores. Proceeds from the CD go to
the foundation. (Richard Fausset)
ATHENS’ OWN
OPERA
A music-crazy town gets a
local company
When Athens Symphony musician
Michael Brewer thinks back to the days he
was working toward nis B.A. at the UGA
music department, he recalls that the school
didn’t have the facilities to put on a real
opera. There would be opera workshops,
but very often, he says, “it was just five guys
standing around a piano. It was rather disap
pointing.”
When the Symphony moved into the
Classic Center a couple o? years ago, Brewer
started getting ideas. He talked about an
Athens opera company to fellow Symphony
member (and opera lover) Doug Eller. Eller
told Brewer he was nuts.
But Brewer kept talking. Eller kept listen
ing. An opera. Brewer knew, wns not a cheap
show to put on from scratch. There’s
scenery. Costumes. Players. Singers. Brewer
started thinking about what it would take to
get it off the ground.
He knew it would take cooperation.
Making it a community effort. Opera is that
crossroads where all the arts meet. Why not
have a contest, and let local visual artists
design the set and the costumes? Why not
show the designs of the runners-up at the
new Lyndon House? There are so many
other talents in this town — why not get
them involved?
Now, two years later. Opera Athens is
announcing its first season, a season modest
in the number of works that will be staged —
there will be two — but ambitious in many
other regards. “Rather than renting a pro
duction, we’re talking about fully utilizing
the talents of the community,” Eller says, to
create operas that will be a reflection of the
talents of the city.
Equally ambitious is the choice for the
second performance. It is the world premiere
of a contemporary work to be performed in
Yiddish entitled “The Dybbuk," composed by
Sol Epstein, a Savannah native. Eller and
Brewer brag that they “stole” the premiere
from Russia’s Kirov Opera and the New York
City Opera, both of which showed interest in
staging the work.
But composer Epstein, after visiting
Athens, fell for the city and its level of sup
port for the arts. He decided that this was
the place to launch his work.
Eller describes “The Dybbuk” as “perfect
opera stuff — there’s unrequited love, pos
sessions, death — the whole nine yards. It’s
basically boy meets girl, then it degenerates
from there.”
WATCH
ONTV-ATHENS
CHANNEL 17
(INTERMEDIA
CABLE SYSTEM)
Helix
{Jr for the most fabulous funky homewares.
lamps
tapestries
blinds
shower curtains
bed spreads
pillows
candles
clocks
The earlybird
gets the fish!
Early Bird
Sushi Special
$9.95
Early Bird
Dinner Specials
' $8.95
Tempura, Soup, Salad and Your Choice
of One of the Following Rice Bowls:
Katsu Don (pork) Teriyaki Pork Don
Oyako Don (Chicken) Teriyaki Chicken Don
Shrimp Don Tuna Sobro Don
* No To Go Orders Please
Choose Five Pieces of Nigiri,
1 Maki (6-8 Pieces), Soup, Salad
* Limited Menu * No To Go Orders Please
NIGIRI LIST
Tuna Mackeral Salmon
Flounder Octopus Egg Omelet
Red Snapper Surf Clam Squid .
Boiled Shrimp Crab Stick Horse Clam
MAKI LIST
California Roll Shiitake Roll Shrimp Roll
Tempura Roll Tuna Roll Karnpyo Roll
Cucumber Roll Pickle Roil.
Salmon Roll Baeei Roll
Drink Specials
Early Bird $2.00 Wei! Drinks
All Night - Martinis
One for $3.95 Two for $6.95
u
§§p
II
D FLAGPOLE AUGUST 26, 1998