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i y i ay et /\\notner curious, Scholarly Museum YearIf ever a museum has toiled the fringe in search of relevancy, it%u2019s the Brooklyn Museum. It has, for years, been host to travelling exhibits of a curious and curiously tangential nature. It stages its own exhibits, which are interesting, but are more noted for scholarship than general appeal. And it has avoided%u2014quite specifically, it seems%u2014staging the kind of supershow that flocks the faithful to its better known cousins in Manhattan.All the while,many of the museum%u2019s own treasures remain unseen by the public, and dark stories abound concerning the whereabouts of valued pieces. But if any of this bothers the museum%u2019s honches, their concern is far from evidence in the fall schedule of %u201c major%u201d exhibits, recently posted.KirVoff chores were handled by two exhibit., ore of %u25a0rts from the voodoo republic of Haiti, the other from the ancient African state of Nubia and the Sudan. Both have attracted crowds of a size that allows one to wander leisurely past the exhibits, lingering over individual pieces without inconveniencing anyone else.For a followup, the museum has dipped into its own collection of Mexican arts to display 30 pieces of decorative art, sculpture and paintings.In recent years, museum official explained their exhibit policies in part by pointing to their efforts to keep pace with the changing nature of the Brooklynpopulation. This year, an offer of an interview went unaccepted by the museum.Highlights of the season%u2019s schedule include:Haitian Art, closing November 5.Africa in Antiquity: The Arts of Ancient Nubia and the Sudan, now through Dec.31.Films on Haitian and Nubian art, shown continuously in the third floor lecture hall. Lectures on Nubia are scheduled November 5,11,12,18,19 and December 2,3,9 and 10 in the third floor lecture hall.Mexican arts, from the museum%u2019s own collection, through January 14. Scandanavian hand weavings, dating from 1650 to 1925, on exhibit until sometime this spring.\series, featuring Pable Manzoni December7.Works from 10 community artists, through the years in the %u201c First Ten%u201d exhibit, commemorating Community Gallery%u2019s 10th anniversary.Entries for the Brooklyn %u201879 showing of local art are due no later than November 15. The show itself runs January 28 through March 4.The museum, at 188 Eastern Parkway, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and on holidays, 1-5 p.m. For information, call 638-5000.PAINTED POTTERY: Vessel in the form of a basket with lid. from theKerma culture, 1750-to-1550 B.C., part of the Africa in Antiquity exhibitnow at the Brooklyn Museum.Brooklyn Performers Seek the LimelightBY MIRIAM KUZNETSIn a city where performance is one of the strongest art forms, it is not surprising to find a profusion of music and dance companies that reflect cultural tastes. What is surprising is the pace of the growth in Brooklyn where, in just a few years, a remarkable number of new dance troupes and music societies have made appearances.Many are still struggling, often for lack of funds. Most continue to see an image as a permanent, valued part of the borough%u2019s cultural landscape. Yet with the advent of the fall season, the pieces are starting to fall into place. Newcomers are confidently offering new and inventive programs. In dance, especially, the form is at a turning point. Never before have so many different kinds of programs vied for attention.Thanks in large measure to the older and more established societies, the musicaloffering span the boundaries of taste and style. Within the next few months, for minimal admission or none at all, music lovers can pick from concerts of jazz, country, folk, rock, chamber and classical in nearby churches, schools, clubs, coffee houses and concert halls.BROOKLYN CONSERVATORY OF MUSICThe Conservatory, a non-profit teaching organization, features its faculty in a benefit recital series. Proceeds replenish the Conservatory%u2019s renovation and maintenance fund.First in the fall series of recitals will be Laura Sharpe%u2019s renditions of works by Mozart, Bartok, Raid and Albeniz on November 16, at 8 p.m. in the Conservatory Recital Hall. Following programs include pianist Rose Moskowitz on November 21, soprano Marianne Polesinelli, with accompaniment by Manuel Fuentes, onDecember 7, and a Beethoven birthday party December 16.For information about performances at the Conservatory, 58 Seventh Avenue at Lincoln Place, call 622-3300.GRACE CHORAL SOCIETYGrace Church%u2019s music programs, sponsored by Grace Choral Society, blossomed last spring beyond the traditional presentation of church music, a trend which continues this season starting Sunday, 4 p.m., with a concert of flute, harp and organ music. Featured performers of works by Georg Phillip Telemann and Alan Hovhaness are flutist Andrew Bolotowsky, harpist Kathleen Brice and organist Bradley Hull.The 50-voice Choral Society will sing %u201c Requiem%u201d by the contemporary French composer and organist Maurice Durufle at a 7:30 p.m. concert December 3. Also on the program is %u201cTake Him, Earth, forOpera Society Expands SeasonBY C. FREDERIC JOHNThe Brooklyn Opera Society (BOS) commences its first full-length season this weekend with two performances of Mozart%u2019s \rise Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the New York Community College, Tillary and Adams Streets.Two additional presentations of the work will be given at the South Shore Adult Education Center, Fiatlands Avenue and Ralph Avenue, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee November 19 at 2 p.m.Other offerings this season include Puccini%u2019s %u201cLa Boheme%u201d in December and Rossini%u2019s %u201cThe Barber of Seville%u201d in May. A double bill consisting of Purcell%u2019s %u201c Dido and Aeneas%u201d and Monteverdi's court spectacle %u201c II Ballo delle Ingrate%u201d will be heard in March. All works, with the exception of the Monteverdi, are sung in their original languages.Besides the two locations cited above,_ _ ________________________ %u2022 . - ,| / c i i u u u a i i c c a a t c a i s u g i v e n a t m eGershwin Theatre, Brooklyn College at Bedford Avenue and Avenue H.The Brooklyn Opera Society was conceived barely a year ago, and its first performance took place on a show-bound day last March at the Pratt Institute Memorial Hall.The company is the collective brainchild of two Park Slope residents, Rinaldo Tazzini and Allan Endy, who met through the double bonds of a mutual friend and a common day-care center for their children. Both had had extensive musical training and experience, Tazzini as a singer and Endy as a conductor and musicologist, and were seeking a professional outlet for their talents. They decided to put together an informal presentation of %u201c La Boheme%u201d for the joy of making music, and began gathering the necessary singers and instrumentalists. The caliber of the musicians who auditioned guaranteed the artistic merit of the enterprise. The resultant product, the company%u2019s snowy debut in March, was followed three months later by two performances of %u201c Figaro.%u201dThe success of these early ventures convinced Tazzini and Endy of the viability of professional opera in Brooklyn. The presence of an eager, musically-sophisticated public in the oorougn had been demonstrated,Tazzini makes no bones about his ultimate desires. He envisions BOS as a full-scale regional company serving Brooklyn, as distinct from less ambitious middle opera companies. As he puts it, he would like BOS to become for Brooklynwhat the New York City Opera is to Manhattan.While setting their aims very high, the directors have not lost sight of practical considerations. Hie first two operas were produced with the clear knowledge that the musical and physical resources demanded could be met. In addition, they knew these were works instrumentalists liked to play.The season%u2019s choices have also been carefully made. %u201c Figaro,%u201d %u201cLa Boheme,%u201d and %u201cThe Barber of Seville%u201d are three of the most popular operas in the standard repertory. The two short Baroque works add an element of daring and (for most listeners) surprise, and prove that BOS is something different. As a pair they are also well balanced%u2014one falls in the mold of relatively static court spectacle, while the other is a gripping setting of one of the most tragic love stories of ail times.Endy and Tazzini have also avoided the %u201c pitfall%u201d of ignoring the importance of the orcnestrai contribution to opera. As anyone who has had the misfortune of sitting through an occasional operatic performance with a %u201c professional%u201d pickup orchestra can testify, opera does not lie in the voice alone. Endy%u2019s experience as an orchestral conductor guarantees a keen awareness of the instrumentalists%u2019 role.Cherishing,%u201d the choral piece written b_, English composer Herbert Howells in memory of President John F. Kennedy.Other programs in the series include a potpourri of works for violin, clarinet, violoncello, piano and contralto February 11 at 4 p.m.; a concert by the chamber orchestra and Grace Church%u2019s boys and mens choir March 4 at 4 p.m.; the Society singing varied works 4 p.m. March 25; and an 8:30 p.m. May 21 concert by the Choral Society.Grace Church is at 254 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights. For information about events', call 638-7360.INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE ENSEMBLEAfter years of engagements at schools, museums and arts centers, recent engagements at Lincoln Center have set the stage for a national tour, which the company is in the midst of planning. Until then, it is adding to its repertoire and remains available for performances at reasonable rates.%u2018%u2018 The Ensemble has pulled together folk dancers in a wide range of styles, including specialists in the dances of Russia, Poland, Israel, Rumania, Spain and Italy. Recently, the Ensemble has added tap dancing and jazz compositions and will incorporate classical ballet into its program as soon as proper facilities (good lighting, high ceilings) can be located.For information on the Ensemble, contact Lori Shapiro at 854-5027. A BAKER%u2019S HALF DOZEN Kent Baker%u2019s modem troupe is a dance company waiting to happen. Its dancers, working more out of love than for money, are in search of Brooklyn locations adequate in space and setting for staging performances. In the meanwhile, it is at work on a 15 minute program for the Brooklyn Museum Community Gallery in January, and three Friday evening performances next February at the Long Island University Triangle Theatre.A Baker%u2019s Half Dozen is housed at Old P.S. 9. For information, call 783-2011 (days) or 499-5620 (nights).BAKUEMUS1C CONCERTS LTD Bargemusic Concerts Limited performs :hamber music, but not in a conventional music hall. No, it favors the unusual Musicbarge at the Fulton Ferry landing near the National Maritime Historical Society. There it holds forth every Sunday,Continued on page 26smmssMmnxr mrmmmm.n , ...'Vf%u20197 ib a r2 ,1978. THE PHOENIX, Page 23