This Week in Milwaukee: December 8-14, 2022

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Avant garde cello music, Human Rights Day events, Unsilent Night, Butterfly Queens art exhibit, 40th Sleighriders benefit, Derek Pritzl and the Gamble’s residency returns, and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, Dec. 8

Sbowe–Rachel Icenogle @ Thrasher Opera House (506 Mill St.), Green Lake), 7:30 p.m.

Sbowe is the solo project of Rachel Icenogle, a versatile cellist and composer based in Calabria, Italy, with a mind for new and interesting sounds. Sbowe thrives in the scratchy, creaky, whirly sounds the cello can make, layering diverse musical textures in a lush groundwork for wild fables about insects and impressionistic stories about human batteries.

Friday, Dec. 9

“Butterfly Queens: Rosemary Ollison and Della Wells” @ Portrait Society Gallery, 5 p.m. and @MARN 7 p.m.

Rosemary Ollison’s Butterfly Queens presents a room-sized installation of new fabric hanging sculptures as well as a suite of drawings that have never before been exhibited. Thematically, the textiles deal with Ollison's thoughts about personal imprisonment and her long fight toward liberation of body and mind. Della Wells’ Butterfly Queens presents a new group of collages as well as new drawings from her “Little Colored Girl” series. Jenée-Daria Strand, curatorial assistant at the Brooklyn Museum, recently wrote that Wells’ work “… centralizes women of the African diaspora, who are consistently rendered invisible and relegated to the margins of society…”

A meet-and-greet with the artists will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Portrait Society (snacks and drinks included). At 6:45, the group will walk two blocks to MARN Art + Culture Hub, 191 N. Broadway, for an artist discussion moderated by Ariana Vaeth. Imagine MKE is graciously celebrating the exhibition with one free seasonal drink per attendee.

More info here: portraitsocietygallery.com/rosemary-ollison-and-della-wells.

Mark Hembree in Conversation with John Sieger @ Books & Company (1039 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc), 6:30 p.m.

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Musician and author Mark Hembree’s journey is a unique one. He grew up in Appleton and in 1979 auditioned and found himself playing upright bass with Bill Monroe, the father of Bluegrass music. For five years Hembree was a member of the legendary Blue Grass Boys. His recent book On the Bus with Bill Monroe  shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/milwaukees-mark-hembree-was-on-the-bus-with-bill-monroe recounts tales gleaned over those years--from figuring out the best time for breakfast (early) or for beating the boss at poker (never). Hembree gives readers an up-close look at the occasionally exalting, often unglamorous life of a touring musician in the sometimes baffling, always colorful company of Bill Monroe.

Songwriter, singer and guitarist John Sieger (R&B Cadets; Semi-Twang), who knows a thing or two about music history, will moderate the evening’s tales.

Saturday, Dec. 10

2022 International Human Rights Day Celebration @ The Palm Garden at Turner Hall, 10:30 a.m.

The celebration theme this year is “Voting Rights / Human Rights: How Election Results Affect Our Lives.” The celebration will include the presentation of the 2022 Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission Equality Awards and speakers Matt Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, whose latest book is 12 Ways to Save Democracy in Wisconsin; Scott Thompson staff attorney at Law Forward, a nonpartisan, nonprofit impact litigation firm committed to protecting and advancing democracy and to restoring Wisconsin’s pragmatic progressive tradition.

Thompson’s most recent accomplishment includes Carey v. WEC, in which the court affirmed voters with disabilities’ right to ballot-return assistance; and Patricia Ruiz-Cantu, Community Outreach Manager for the City of Milwaukee. She serves as an Election Commissioner for the City of Milwaukee. Registration is required at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eA70h2QWS8uWIDUtQmeNLA or watch via live stream at: facebook.com/ERCMKE.

Holiday Marketplace @ Saint Kate, 11 a.m.

Take in the sights and sounds of the holidays while browsing over 100 local artists and vendors’ creations. You’ll also be able to talk with local artist Renee Bebeau, who curated the event to learn more. Also, Sunday.

Milwaukee Unites for Human Rights @ ZAO MKE Church, (2319 E Kenwood Blvd.), 4 p.m.

A newly formed group, Milwaukee Anti-War Committee, is inviting organizations and individuals for what they hope will become an annual commemoration of International Human Rights Day. The program will feature speakers from co-sponsoring organizations talking about the issues which they work on and how it relates to the fight for human rights. Keynote speaker Sarah Wunderlich, from the Oneida Nation, will address the broad struggle for indigenous rights with particular emphasis on the fight to save the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

“Festive Soiree” Robin Pluer & Friends @ Bar Centro, 8 p.m.

Join Robin Pluer, along with Peter Roller, Juli Wood and Guy Fiorentini for a little French, a little jazz, a little holiday music. More info here: centrocaferiverwest.com/event/festive-soiree-robin-pluer-friends.

Sunday, Dec. 11

Fundraiser for Sojourner Family Peace Center @ Linnemans, 2 P.M.

This concert corrals the talents of Judy Kinnear, Carter Hunnicutt, Francesca and Tom and the Carolinas for a good cause. Sojourner Family Peace Center is the largest nonprofit provider of domestic violence prevention and intervention services in Wisconsin, serving over 11,800 clients each year. Since 1975, Sojourner has provided an array of support aimed at helping families affected by domestic violence achieve safety, justice and well-being.

In 2020, Sojourner made over 61,000 contacts with more than 10,000 individuals. Nearly 80% of survivors report an annual household income of less than $15,000, and the vast majority of our clients reside in Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods on the north and south sides of the city.

Monday, Dec. 12

The Sleighriders @ Shank Hall, 6:30 p.m.

Forty of the best, most experienced, professional musicians of Milwaukee’s music scene collaborate for the annual Sleighriders show and charity auction. Steve Grimm, Xeno, Eddie Butts, Warren Wiegratz and more join forces in one gigantic rockin' band. The special holiday event is a true Milwaukee tradition. This show marks the 40th time the band has donated their time and talents for charity, this year sponsoring Variety—the Children’s Charity of Wisconsin helping disabled children.

SUNN O))) w/ The Crosses @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.

The earth quaking duo SUNN O))) returns to the live aspect in its core, original raw form. Founders/guitarists Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson perform immersed in profound valve (tube) amplification, spectral harmonics, distortion, and volume. Pure and primeval riffs of temporality, massively heavy structures of sound pressure. Witness a live experience of physical sound, fog, and glacial maximalism like no other. Openers The Crosses trace a lineage to Die Kreuzen, the groundbreaking Milwaukee band who knew a thing or two about the sounds the headliners traffic in.

Tuesday, Dec. 13

Derek Pritzl and the Gamble @ Promises Bar, (538 W. National Ave.), 7:30 p.m.

It seems like yesterday, but it was six years ago that Derek Pritzl and the Gamble would set up every Wednesday night at the long-gone District 14 Brewery and Pub in Bay View shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/derek-pritzl-gamble-s-wednesday-night-tradition for what became a four year run. Those evenings served as Pritzl and the band’s laboratory, crafting, whittling and sanding songs into life. Like Halley’s Comet, they have returned to set up shop, the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Promises.

Wednesday, Dec. 14

Present Music’s presents Phil Kline’s “Unsilent Night” @ Saint Kate–The Art Hotel, 6 p.m.

Milwaukee new music ensemble Present Music is inviting the public to bring cell phones, portable speakers and boomboxes to simultaneously stream tracks from the composition “Unsilent Night” in a free post-modern holiday “caroling” event through city streets. Participants are encouraged to download the free “Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night” app from their phone’s app store before arriving for the performance. The evening’s ringleader, WMSE’s Dr. Sushi will lead the group on a route making stops at festive Downtown locations to enjoy the collective wash of sound and holiday lights.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. at St. Kate’s Arc Theatre with free hot cider and a brief debut performance by the UWM New Music Ensemble. Scott Corley will conduct contemporary works “Stay on It” (Julius Eastman), “Spiegel im Spiegel” (Arvo Pärt), and “Holiday for Reich” (Christophe Chassol). The public is encouraged to register in advance at presentmusic.org/events. More information on “Unsilent Night” is at unsilentnight.com.