You know what’s worse than people who make too big a deal out of Valentine’s Day? People who make a big deal about how they’re not going make a big deal about Valentine’s Day because it’s a corporate-invented holiday blahblahblah. Really? It’s soooo horrible to give a little attention to someone you love, regardless of the reason? I concede that, for those not in a relationship, Valentine’s Day can seem like a giant scheme to make you feel lonely and inadequate, all vulnerable confusion, like one of those pink, hairless moles. But it doesn’t have to, just like weddings don’t have to involve the Chicken Dance; you can make it what you want.Maybe, then, Valentine’s Day can simply celebrate things in this world worth loving. Pizza. Colin Firth. Bendy straws. And art, of course.
Culture Shock Instant Romance, Just Add Roses
Trio Con Brio Copenhagen
Classical music, with its violins and surging movements, is a natural fit with Valentine’s Day weekend. Santa Fe Pro Musica presents its Baroque Ensemble with soprano Janeene Williams performing pieces celebrating love and marriage by Purcell, Vivaldi, Couperin and Bach. Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe hosts the concerts on Thursday, Feb. 12, and Friday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m. Tickets and information are available through santafepromusica.com. Closer to home, Chamber Music Albuquerque presents the T rio Con Brio Copenhagen, a young trio of pianists performing works by Beethoven, Bloch and Dvořák on Sunday, Feb. 15, at Albuquerque Academy’s Simms Center. The concert begins at 3 p.m., and there will be a free pre-concert talk at 2 p.m. Go to cma-abq.org for tickets and more.
Culture Shock Modern Love
Or, for an entirely different demographic, there’s Breakin’ Hearts: an all-ages hip-hop, B-box, canvas art and slam poetry battle at the Sunshine Theater. Fashion is also somehow involved. From 6 p.m. to midnight you get DJs, entertainment, and the possibility of trophies and cash prizes, all for a measly $10 ($15 for procrastinators at the door). Get your tickets ahead of time from ticketmaster.com or at LA Underground.
