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PHSECTION 2 IXC i t y P h i l h a r m o n i c L i g h t s U p P a r k W i t h M u s i cIt was the perfect evening to lay down, look at the sky and let the music be your blanketwhen the New York Philharmonic perform ed in Prospect Park. Although the music lulledthe audience to relax on the grass, a firework perform ance closed the evening and had thecrowd on their feet cheering the brilliant explosions. (Phoenix/Koch Photo)Tonight th e firew orks w ere righ t o v e r o u r heads. Youc o u ld see th em lighting th em a n d th e P h ilh a rm o n ic wasrig h t in th e b ackro u n d . It was a ll very in tim a te .B Y L IZ KO CHSymphony music was erescendoing in the dark field of Prospect Park%u2019s Long Meadow on July 8 when fireworks began to erupt to the accompaniment of Ravel. And as the bows of the violinists of the New York Philharmonic soared across their instruments, cheers and clapping from the audience joined in to hail the fireworks show sponsored by the Borough President%u2019s office. The show, to many of the people in attendance that night, coining right on the heels of the liberty celebration, represented a true musical firework extravaganza. Granted, the fireworks only lasted a few minutes, but sparkled all the more spectacularly for their musical accompaniment.%u201cThis is the ideal sort of show,%u201d Brooklyn resident Jacqueline Hazelton explained as the last lights faded from the sky. %u201cBeautiful music, open fields, a peaceful meadow and fireworks that you can practically touch,%u201d she said. But it was not the very last. As some 3,000 people who attended die performance that night gathered their picnic baskets and their children, grabbed their blankets and began to straggle out of the park, one last farewell explosion lit up the sky. It was the final cap to the night%u2019s performance that left many murmuring in appreciation.The occasion was the New York Philharmonic%u2019s free parks concert series, a tradition that began 22 years ago, and true to their motto, the Philharmonic brought the musicians and everyone else brought their blankets to sack out under the dark orange sky, lulled by the sweet strains of Debussy.Before the performance, Congressman Chuck Schumer in casual attire and director of the borough%u2019s community boards, Eld Rogowsky, welcomed the Philharmonic to Brooklyn. %u201cWelcome to one of New York%u2019s greatest treasures,%u201d Rogowsky said as he introduced NYC Parks Commissioner Henry Stem. Stem brought out conductorand native New Yorker James Conlon who just completed his third season as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and introduced the Philharmonic to an audience that needed little convincing.%u201cWe hope you use the park often and enjoy it,%u201d Stem told the crowd. %u201cIt is an honor for us to have the Philharmonic here tonight.%u201dEnjoying the park that night meant humming along to Symphonic dances from WestSide Story, eating cold chicken and popping bottles of champagne. %u201cIt%u2019s a good time to come out for a picnic,%u201d said Claire Bern from Boston, who was down visiting friends in Brooklyn. %u201cIt helps your digestion listening to good music and you listen to music with all kinds of people, instead of just people who can pay a lot of money to go hear symphony music,%u201d she said waving her arm at the masses of lawn chairs dotting Long Meadow. %u201cIt%u2019s the sort of event that bringspeople together rather than separates them,%u201d she added, pointing out that the fireworks, although a smaller production were more %u201cfun%u201d than the Fourth of July fireworks, which she witnessed from Battery Park.%u201cTonight they were right over our head. You could see diem lighting the fireworks and the Philharmonic was right in the background. It was all very intimate and friendly,%u201d she concluded.As the last strains of music faded away and the final shower of colors melted into the darkness, Richard Bauer, a tourist from New Jersey, planned for future trips to New York to catch more of the free music in the parks.APPRECIATE MUSIC%u201cIt%u2019s the way music should be presented. It%u2019s the right environment to hear and really appreciate the musicians and the composers,%u201d he said folding up his blanket. %u201cIt%u2019s not just sitting in a stiff chair, in a stiff suit and clapping politely. It%u2019s having kids running around, looking up at the sky and letting the music wash over you,%u201d he explained.The evening was particularly striking, with the sky brilliantly tinted orange and clouds racing over the top of the bandshell. Some reposed with their eyes closed while others leaned on their elbows to watch the musicians in action. As the concert progressed more and more listeners drifted over to hear the music, and nearby soccer and volley ball players paused in their play and wandered over to join the crowd. Small children zigzagged through the maze of blankets and rocked and capered to the tunes. And at the end, rather than a standing ovation, but with the same sentiment in mind, all those who had stretched out under the evening sky, roused themselves from a prone position, and enthusiastically applauded the performers from sitting position. %u201c This is how you learn to understand music rather than lose its essence,%u201d Bauer said applauding with the rest.F ive F in a lists C o m p e te For M u s e u m E x p a n sio n D e s ig nBY LIZ KOCHFour months after sending out invitations for the International Master Plan Design Competition, officials at the Brooklyn Museum have announced five finalists to submit a m aster {dan to bring the museum into the 21st century. Whereas, 103 architecture firms were initially in the running, the field was quickly reduced to ten in May and a final derision is only months away.The museum announced on June 20 the five candidates now competing in the last stages of the competition: Atkin, Voith & Associates, Philadelphia, with Rothzoid Kaiserman Thompson & Bee; Arata Isozaki & Associates, Japan with James Stewart Polshek and Partners, New York; Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, PC, New York; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York; and Voorsanger & Mills Associates, New York. Each of the five finalists will be paid a stipend of $50,000 to submit a master design plan for the museum by September 15 and a jury of architects and museum representatives will make the final selection in October.Last month, a ten-member selection committee comprised of members of the museum%u2019s board and staff, representatives from the Mayor%u2019s Office, the Brooklyn Borough President%u2019s Office, the Department of Cultural Affairs and architect Reyner Banham selected ten semi-finalists from the field of 103 applicants, 3? of those had been from New York. The semi-finalists were then interviewed by the selection committee and their previous experience in the design of museums, historic restorations and work in New York was taken into consideration in the final choice.In preparation for the final designs, the---- LU---4---------- 4 4k. l.%u00bb * m/wtV tnH I V 4 U M A . W t v u * W M J V i m i w .%u00bb%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0 %u25a0%u00bb%u00ab%u00bb%u2019 %u00bb %u00bb%u00bb %u00ab%u00bb%%u2022%u2022%u2022gain a first hand understanding of the space problems in the current building. %u201cThey had a three-day orientation to familiarizethemselves inside and out. They toured the roof and explored the basement and talked with the different departments,%u201d says Richard Pierce of the museum. %u201cThe big problem here is storage and display space and they%u2019ve heard over and over again about these problems,%u201d he explains. According to Pierce, there are now two million works at the museum that are not on view for lack of space.OLD MEETS NEW: As part of Bedford Stuyvesant%u2019s Restoration Corporation%u2019s Arts in the Plaza entertainment series, there will be a concert from the %u201cClassical Meets Latin and Jazz Music Festival%u201d with salsa performers %u201cCharlie Palmieri/Jimmy Saba ter & El Combo Gigante,%u201d the %u201cMoment%u2019s Notice Jazztet,%u201d and soprano/ baritone duo %u201cCatalina de Sevilla & George Tipton%u201d with pianist, Lorraine Florindez. The concert is free, and will be held July 18 in Restoration Plaza Rink, 1368 Fulton St., at 5pm. For more information call 636-6908.FORT GREENE JAZZ AND ART: %u201cA Brownstone in Fort Greene,%u201d a Stepstone Enterprise production, will hold a mixedmedia jazz and art event on July 19 and 20. On the 19th live entertainment by jazzmusician, %u201cMari Toussaint and Heritage,%u201d and guitarist Kwame Nkrumah will be featured starting at 5pm, with additional shows at 7 and 9pm. While this is going on 'n the garden of 68 South Elliott Place, there will be an art exhibit of four contemporary artists on three floors of space. Artists are Errol Bruce, figurines in wire andT T a / t lr d A n i f i m a n o i n n o l q i4on canvas and wearable ceramic mask; Na Sha, textile artist, interior and garment; and Roy Greenidge, functional art in copperWhen the original Beaux-Arts plan for the Museum was conceived in 1893 by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, it called for what would have been the world%u2019s largest museum. However, due to expense and a turn away from neo-classical architecture, construction of that plan ended in 1927 with the structure only one-sixth completed. Since that time, the museum%u2019s three-story grand staircase at the Eastern Parkway enand hand crafted furniture. The $7 price includes a buffet. On July 20 the exhibit will be open from 3-8pm with recorded jazz music, and admission is free. For reservations and information call 875-4076.CHILDREN%u2019S STORYTELLER: The Brooklyn Historical Society presents professional storyteller, Marcia Lane, in a program which includes folktales from around the world, music and mime. Lane will tell classic, unknown and tales of her own for children ages 4-8. The event is free, and each child should be accompanied by a lap to sit on. Groups are welcome to the reading, July 24, 2:30pm, but they must have advance registration. The Historical Society is at 128 Pierrepont St., and their number is 624-0890.DOO-WOP AND POP: Celebrate Brooklyn presents their %u201cPop, Doo-Wop and Rock Concerts%u201d weekend of entertainment. On July 25, Neil Pointer will be performing jazz hits with his group and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. On the 26th, the Harptones and Reparata & the Del-Rons will peform doo-wop, and on July 27th, the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra will perform its original compositions of innovative rock, blues and jazz. All performances are free and start at 8pm at the Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and 9th St.trance has been dismantled and a number of additions added to the building with no far-sighted building plan. The museum has since been plagued by a lack of space and a sense that the once grand structure lay incomplete.On March 4, the members of the board of trustees of the Brooklyn Museum announced their approval of a building program for the competition and outlined goals for a m aster plan. Unlike many other American Museums in the process of expansion or renovation, officials at the Brooklyn Museum decided that an international design competition was the most sensible approach to a project that posed a number of problems, namely that the standing building is an incomplete original plan and that the museum has a dire need of new space.According to Joan Darragh, the museum%u2019s assistant director of planning, a ressurection of the orginal McKim, Mead & White was not considered because the plan design did not allow for incremental changes. The trustees, she said, were seeking a plan that would allow a phasing strategy for construction over the next 20 years depending on the forthcoming finances.An international jury of architects, scholars and Museum representatives will select the winner. The jury will include: Jury Chairman Klaus Herdeg, Chairman of Architecture, Columbia University; Phyllis Lambert, Chairperson of the Canadian Centre for Architecture; James Stirling, RIBA from James Stirling Michael Wilford and Associates and Museum Officials.There is another strategy too. Museum officials hope the new design will bring back a notion of vrandeur that surrounded themuseum when it was finrt planned at the end of the century.A rt TakesJuly 17,1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 11