Orchestra gives free concert this weekend
The Wood River Community Orchestra will perform its fall concert "Favorites" at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 4 p.m.
This will be the opening concert for the orchestra with its new conductor, Brad Hershey, who has played bass or cello in the orchestra since 2008.
Hershey studied music at the University of Puget Sound and received his B.M. in instrumental performance from the University of Idaho in 2002. He played double bass for the Boise Philharmonic for six seasons after playing for three seasons with the Washington-Idaho Symphony.
He relocated from Boise to the Wood River Valley with his wife, Alyssa, in 2006 and is currently upper school music director at the Community School in Sun Valley.
He has played double bass with the Sun Valley Jazz Trio and the Joe Fos Trio, and has played in productions by Company of Fools, St. Thomas Playhouse, nexStage Theatre, Sun Valley Co., Sun Valley Opera and Caritas Chorale. He has performed with Dave Brubeck, Ernestine Anderson, Art Farmer and Paul Tillotson.
The Wood River Community Orchestra is in its fifth season and is composed of 28 core members ranging in age from 10 to 84.
Take in a play reading
The nexStage Theatre will present a reading of Martin McDonagh's award-winning play, "A Skill in Connemara" on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m.
The cast features actors Scott Creighton, Claudia McCain, Steve D'Smith and Will Hemmings. McDonagh is one of the most produced playwrights in the world and "Skull' is the third in the trilogy of plays that he wrote in one summer and which all take place in a small town in Ireland.
If it matches the previous works in the trilogy, the performance of "Skull" will be dark and extremely funny—a very entertaining evening at the theatre.
The reading is part of the theatre's 2011 play reading program, featuring the works of top playwrights. The running time will be about 90 minutes.
Complimentary wine and cookies will be served. The theater is at 120 S. Main St. in Ketchum.
Fall game dinner and auction upcoming
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation will kick off the season Saturday, Nov. 12, with its Fall Game Dinner and Auction in the Limelight Room at the Sun Valley Inn.
This event is a much-loved locals celebration to raise funds for the Wood River Valley's youth ski and snowboard teams. The evening will feature a dinner, auction and dancing.
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has provided opportunities in winter sports for more than 40 years. Through its programs, young athletes learn skills such as discipline, time management, motivation and the value of hard work. This coming season, more than 450 young athletes will be involved in the alpine, cross-country, freestyle and snowboard programs.
Tickets are $100 per person. For details, reservations, auction or to donate, visit svsef.maestroweb.com or email Katie Matteson at katiem@svsef.org.
Learn about groundwater measurement
The state of Idaho recently created a Groundwater Measurement District for parts of Blaine County and surrounding areas.
This development calls for implementation of groundwater measurement for some uses while excluding others and is an important and complex issue.
To address these questions, an open forum will be moderated by Jenny Davidson of CSI and hosted by a panel of experts from Idaho Water Engineering on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
There will be two sessions: 10 a.m. until noon and again from 7-9 p.m. in the Minnie Moore Room of the Community Campus at 1050 Fox Acres Rd. in Hailey.