Jesse Eisenberg at BIFF
Actor Jesse Eisenberg will appear at the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) on March 7 for a screening of his new film, “Resistance,” festival organizers announced this week. Eisenberg, who’s known for his Oscar-nominated role in “The Social Network” (as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg), will participate in an after-screening Q&A with the audience at the Boulder Theater. Also announced for BIFF this week: Closing-night film “The Social Dilemma,” a provocative new documentary from Colorado director Jeff Orlowski (“Chasing Coral”), will screen on March 8 – just after the festival’s awards ceremony. Visit biff1.com for details.
Musician’s death ruled homicide
The Larimer County Coroner’s office identified a body found in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests on Monday as 53-year-old Stanley Scott Sessions of Greeley, the Coloradoan reported Wednesday. The death of the musician, who sang and played trumpet in Denver’s The Movers & Shakiers band, was ruled a homicide. An investigation by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is ongoing, according to the Coloradoan. Read the full story at coloradoan.com.
22-year ballet vet retires
Colorado Ballet principal dancer Chandra Kuykendall will retire in April after a remarkable 22 seasons with the company, officials said. Kuykendall will dance principal roles in Colorado Ballet’s last two shows of the 2019-2020 season, “Tour de Force” (March 6-8) and “Ballet MasterWorks” (April 3-12), both at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. “To be able to share that passion on stage has made me feel like I haven’t worked a day in the last 23 years,” the Parker native said in a press statement. Even before her top gig with the company, Kuykendall was training at the Colorado Ballet Academy as early as 1988. coloradoballet.org
History Colorado’s LGBTQ project
History Colorado, the state’s official historical society, has partnered with the Gill Foundation to form the Colorado LGBTQ Collection Project. The project includes the creation of a new position, the Gill Foundation Associate Curator of LGBTQ History, which will be filled by Emmy-winning researcher and Coloradan native Aaron Marcus, History Colorado officials said. Over the next two years, Marcus will work on curating an exhibit to open in the new Ballantine Gallery at the History Colorado Center in 2022. The exhibit will then travel to History Colorado sites throughout the state, officials said. historycolorado.org
DSA band’s national nod
Denver School of the Arts (DSA) was among 108 finalists named to compete at the 25th annual “Essentially Ellington” High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, according to Jazz at Lincoln Center. The May 7-9 festival in New York City chose finalists from a pool of 106, each of whom submitted recordings of three tunes from the “Essentially Ellington” library. DSA musicians will take part in workshops, jam sessions and sectionals before competing for top honors at Frederick P. Rose Hall, organizers said. The top three bands will play a concert and awards ceremony with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis. Events will be webcast on jazz.org/live.
