Stop. Look. Listen.

Like many concertgoers, I’ve heard a lot of music but I don’t always recognize what I hear. It’s not usually an issue. Concerts have programs, radio stations now have playlists you can look up online. But encores are not always announced, and this was the case at last Friday’s Lancaster Symphony Orchestra concert. The pianist Santiago Rodriguez, who had just finished playing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1, after several trips back and forth from the wings as the standing crowd applauded, was relieved of his bouquet of flowers (do soloists ever get anything else? A book? A tennis racket? A gift card?) and gently nudged toward the piano bench by conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser. Rodriguez proceeded to play a gentle and ravishing piece of music — but I didn’t recognize it. After the concert I rushed off to write my review, forgetting to ask anyone what the piece of music was. And a few days later, someone e-mailed a question — what was that beautiful piece of music? So I emailed the maestro who emailed me right back. Friday’s encore turned out to be the Brahms Intermezzo op. 118, No. 2 — the very same piece Bright Sheng arranged for his orchestral piece “Black Swan,” which opened the concert. Blush! Gunzenhauser also added that on Saturday, Rodriguez played a piece for his 5-year-old daughter’s birthday and on Sunday, one of the “Goyescas” by Enrique Granados.

My review of the concert can be found here.

I was going to write a little bit about the artist Constantine Kermes, who died Tuesday, May 19, but this photograph, taken in 2007 by Laura Knowles — the artist Constantine Kermes standing in a forest of color — says more than I can say. It seemed that his artistic journey would never end, that the well of inspiration would never dry up. The retrospective exhibit at the Lancaster Museum of Art, “I Hear America Singing II,” closes Sunday. If you haven’t had a chance to stop by, you should take the opportunity. It’s about 50 years worth of work showing a startling artistic progression — from figurative to abstract work, from somber colors to skies and fields bathed in magenta and marigold — but also some underlying unities. The strong vertical, elongated images from icons become Amish portraits. An early work of a funeral presages the abstract direction of his later works. And the bright colors so prominent in his work these past few years appear in quite a few of the illustrations and paintings of the county’s plain folk.

Snapshots from around downtown Lancaster: Kinetic garden sculptures (left) by Lee Coulter, LivingLight Gallery, 150 N. Prince St. Woodcut of Flannery O’Connor (right) by Barry Moser, Lancaster Museum of Art, 135 N. Lime St. Kris Harzinski tapes it up (below left) at the Infantree, 4th floor, 21 N. Prince St. See you at ArtWalk!

Thinking about Funky Friday! Yes, the WXPN show is coming to the Village, along with a host of other acts for the LAUNCH Music Conference. It starts tonight and continues through Saturday.

Elsewhere …

“A summit conference, a Scout Jamboree with elements of speed-dating:” Michael Tilson Thomas on the YouTube Symphony. 

But those critics!

Classical music in the club? Well, why not?

Two events of interest at Millersville University Tuesday, April 14: Gretchen Steidle Wallace will discuss her work with refugees from Darfur and the film “The Devil Came on Horseback” will be shown. 6 p.m., Bolger Conference Center.

Also, Laura Korach Howell will perform the one-woman show, “A Play of One’s Own,” based on the life of Virginia Woolf, at 7 p.m. in the Rafters Theatre, Dutcher Hall.

For visitors center fans … there’s a new one at Monticello, opening Wednesday, April 15. Details here. 

“Do we fear the ones we love? Does love drive out fear?” These are the heavy questions tackled in a week-long exhibit at MJ’s Coffeehouse in Annville opening Monday, April 13 and running through Friday, April 17. A crew from the Invisible Children Organization, which is working to raise awareness of and help for thousands of children who were abducted and forced to become soldiers, will screen its newest film, “The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Child Soldiers” at the Allan Theatre Monday at 6 p.m. A poetry reading will take place Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. at the coffeehouse.

Lancaster County Art Association Garden Show winners listed here; shown here is “Cutwork Study #11″ by Marcia Miller, first-prize winner. The Garden Show runs until April 30.

OK, the rain’s cleared up and I’m hopeful it will stay that way, because it’s First Friday and time to check out what the galleries have in store. As always, LancasterArts has its First Friday guide here. A few highlights: Live 1940s pin-up girls at Annex 24, 24 W. Walnut St. … Youth art, dance and music from HeadsUp.org at the Keppel Building, 329 N. Queen St. … jewelry featuring beads and hand-bound miniature books by Roberta Little, Chestnut Hill Cafe, 532 W. Chestnut St. (You can also see examples of her assemblages at the Red Raven Art Company, 138 N. Prince St.) … DreamsCollide, 7 S. Prince St., celebrates its first anniversary … F&M students at Gallery 141, 113 N. Water St. … “Out there” at the Infantree, 21 N. Prince St. … If you haven’t checked out Progressive Galleries yet (scenes from March opening at right) this would be a great time to do it … Recycled art at Queue Studio, 218 N. Duke St. … New works from My Aunt Debbie at Mommalicious/Smilin’ Gal, 310 N. Queen St. … D.R.E.A.M.S. at Neighborhood Services, 134 S. Prince St. … Abby Rudisill at Lancaster Galleries, 34 N. Water St. … Millersville Students at the Lancaster Museum of Art Annex, 215 N. Queen St. Connie de Alva Higgins at Cosas Gallery, 257 W. King St. … That’s just a beginning. (See yesterday’s post as well)

The Pennsylvania Academy of Music joins the First Friday lineup again for April, with its first community open house since its opening last June. The open house will take place 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and feature tours of the Philip Johnson-designed building, informal performances by student ensembles from the piano, voice, wind, string and guitar departments, and refreshments in the enclosed rooftop atrium. A concert by the Newstead Trio will follow at 8 p.m., featuring works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and a world premiere of Adrienne Albert’s “Musescapes.”  Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for students and free for children three and under.

The Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum will also offer free admission after 5 p.m. on Friday, and a reception for its new “Rainbow Yarn” exhibit of Navajo weavings as well.