Arts

Organizers of the Winter Games are preparing to serve up quite a bit of the hearty, deep-red Russian soup. Which is kind of ironic, says Russian food writer Anya von Bremzen, since borscht carries with it complicated political implications. And not all borschts are created equal, she warns.

Trappist monks are known for producing some of the world's finest beers. But until recently, all of them were brewed in Europe. Next week, Spencer Trappist Ale, made by the monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts, hits retail shelves.

Nonprofit arts organizations typically rely heavily on fundraising to survive.  Last November a small theatre company took a large step toward changing the ways in which they raise money in the 21st Century. No Rules Theatre Co. (NRTC), dual-headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, and Arlington, VA, announced that it had raised more than $100,000 for two things at one time – its own organization, plus a new community arts fund at The Winston-Salem Foundation. No Rules artistic director Joshua Morgan spoke with David Ford about the unique fundraiser and he began by asking him why raise money for non-profits other than his own.

Playwright Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize for August: Osage County, a story of secrets and family dysfunction. Now it's been released as a film, for which Letts wrote the screenplay. The story and its characters came from his own experiences, Letts says.

Saturday Night Live recently announced that they were hiring Sasheer Zamata, the first black woman to join the cast in six years. For our series This Week's Must Read, author Danielle Evans recommends a book that can give readers an idea of how Zamata might feel: Get Down, a short story collection by Asali Solomon.

When writer Lynn Darling found herself at a turning point in her life, she sought solitude and enlightenment in the woods of Vermont. Her new memoir, Out of the Woods, describes that midlife experience. Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan calls it "a compelling story of internal exploration, as well as outward-bound adventure."

The former New Jersey poet laureate, born LeRoi Jones, died Thursday at age 79. Much of his work — including well-regarded poetry and plays — reflected his commitment to Black Nationalist ideals. He co-founded the Black Arts movement, and wrote poems that were as controversial as they were influential.

Relevents Wind Quintet is the faculty ensemble in residence at High Point University. What began in 2008 as a group of professional Greensboro musicians who clicked as musical colleagues and friends quickly turned into one of the Triad's premiere chamber ensembles. Since then they've toured throughout Florida, Virginia, the Carolinas, and southern Germany. On Friday night, January 17^th you can hear this remarkable quintet live in concert right here in the Triad compliments of Music for a Great Space. The concert series brings only the finest musicians to the Piedmont, where they perform in great spaces. The Relevents performance is no exception. It'll be held in St. Pius Catholic Church in Greensboro, 2210 N. Elm Street.  It'll be a dynamic program too with virtuoso music for winds by American composer Samuel Barber, a living composer inspired by his work, and two other living composers forging new musical paths of their own. Oboist Thomas Pappas and flutist Laura Dangerfield Stevens spoke with David Ford about the program.