Short Stories Live: Contemporary Women, Townmusic: Duo May 11, 2008

Spend Mother's Day afternoon with local actors reading stories about modern American life by three acclaimed female writers. The prolific Joyce Carol Oates' 'Wolf's Head Lake' is an allegory of American life from her 2004 short story collection, 'I am No One You Know.' Deborah Eisenberg's 'The Flaw in the Design' deals with the confusion of modern life in the post-911 era. And Melissa Banks smart and funny collection, 'A Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing,' chronicles a young women's search for love. Kurt Beattie, Artistic Director of ACT Theatre, directs and hosts.

Joshua Roman, the 23-year-old principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, has joined Town Hall as artistic director of TownMusic, Town Hall's exploratory classical music series. Dubbed a "classical music rock star" by KUOW, Roman's interests extend into the baroque, classical, jazz and rock repertoires; in a head crowded with many musical voices, he finds his own as a performer and a programmer through confidence, passion and technique. Reflecting his view that "excellence is where you hear it," his debut season is a highly personal expression of his many influences; it's a season of music he loves.