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| The Best of the Coachella Valley and Beyond |
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 A Look Back
Doesn’t every woman pick out home décor in a full-length fur coat at the construction site? You do if you’re the glamorous Helene Alexander (wife of Bob, of Alexander home fame). Mrs. Alexander pored over her wallpaper, carpet, and drapery samples at Thunderbird Heights for a photo shoot for Palm Springs Life in the mid-1960s to help promote one of her favorite charities.
Photo: Palm Springs Life Archives
Photo: Johnny Morris has played with icons of jazz history. taylor sherrill/sherrill and associates
Toast of the CoastsAt 13, Johnny Morris appeared on a radio show — so nervous his voice sounded like a little girl’s. Today the world knows him as a renowned jazz pianist who has played with Roy Eldridge, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Ryan, and others. “When I’m playing in restaurants, country clubs, nightclubs, I’m OK,” he says. “But when the curtain rises, yes, I’m nervous.” Morris performs at Coachella Valley country clubs and restaurants in the winter and in Connecticut in the summer. He and his wife, Jeannie, have been living in the desert part-time for 14 years. Now, he’s busy night and day. From January through May, he performs at The Vintage Club, Morningside Country Club, Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge, and The Inn on El Paseo. He also directed five April performances of Musical Chairs and occasionally plays at Sullivan’s Steakhouse with bass player Whitey Mitchell.— Katie Ruark
Reading with Friends
“Children learn from video games because they learn how to solve problems and be quick, but with reading they also learn to look behind them to understand where places are and who characters are,” says the Rev. Joseph Lund, president of the nonprofit support group.
Entire families share in the fun. The Family Place even teaches adults how to read to children, sometimes with puppets and voices to enhance the experience. Photo: Assissi Productions
photo: cynthia smalley/courtesy Mládí
Look Ma! No Conductor
Los Angeles-based Mládí (pronounced muh-LAH-dee) Chamber Orchestra made its Coachella Valley debut on April 30 at Palm Springs Art Museum’s Annenberg Theater — and they did it without a conductor.
Concentrating on exceptional new and rarely performed music, Mládí has gained popularity in Los Angeles in accordance with its goal: to attract a younger fan base than classical music traditionally draws. “We’re bringing a new face to classical music,” Foster says. “Young people do like this music if it is presented right.”
“Some people say [a conductor-free performance] is like watching a big orchestra in chamber-music style,” Foster says. “Other classical music purists say some of the pieces we do are impossible without a conductor. We say they’re not.” In addition to being college faculty members, international award winners, and recorded performers, Mládí’s professional musicians perform regularly with other notable symphonies and orchestras.
Look for more area performances from these two groups this fall.
— Lisa Marie Rovito
Burrowing owls stay close to their nests during mating season, making it easier to count them.
Who’s Counting?
Burrowing owls have been designated a federal Species of Management Concern and California Species of Special Concern. They require open habitats with suitable nesting burrows, usually with short grasses and sparse shrubs — areas being lost to development. This month, the nonprofit Institute for Bird Populations embarks on the second half of a two-year survey to locate and count burrowing owls. Its report will be submitted to government agencies and conservation organizations.
Intelligencer
A REASON TO BE STOKED
While Northrop Grumman and Newport News Shipbuilding are building the USS Gerald R. Ford, local artist Stan Stokes is working on a painting of the aircraft carrier for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Grand Rapids, Mich. Stokes already has paintings at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, as well as at Palm Springs Air Museum. Working on a large scale, Stokes was first commissioned to paint a 120-foot-long mural depicting the history of Air Force One. He also painted the USS Ronald Reagan (shown here) and USS George H.W. Bush for the presidential libraries.
YOUNG AT HEART
Few people can claim to have ushered in two turns of the century, but that’s exactly what Edith Billings has done. In March, the Palm Desert resident celebrated her 108th birthday with friends and family, including 81-year-old daughter Doris. Born in 1899, Billings witnessed the Wright brothers fly their plane and survived the influenza epidemic of 1918 and a robbery at gunpoint while she was working in a jewelry store. Her sharp mind and keen wit at 108 should inspire anyone hoping to age gracefully.
GRAND UNEXPECTATIONS
The Palm Springs Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Council got a surprise at its annual dinner when members expected to select a work by Helen Pashgian. They did that, but also witnessed the unveiling of David Hockney’s 1982 Grand Canyon South Rim With Rail photo collage. Curator Kathryn Hough and “co-conspirators” had visited a gallery to view another Hockney work for possible acquisition when their eyes landed on the Grand Canyon collage. It is exhibited in Distinct Impressionism: Photographs From the Permanent Collection.
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