Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands
CLEVELAND -- Twenty-one bands will compete in the second annual Battle of the Bands next month at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Audition tapes will be accepted until 5 p.m. Jan. 23. Qualifiers will be notified by Jan. 26.
Preliminary rounds will be from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 3, 17 and 24. Finals will be from noon to 5 p.m. March 3. The winner will receive a prize package that includes an opening slot for a national recording artist at the museum.
Music fest auditions
CLEVELAND -- Representatives of Brevard Music Center in North Carolina will audition instrumental, piano and vocal students for Brevard's summer music festival from 4 to 8 p.m. Jan. 22 at Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Blvd. The program is open to advanced instrumentalists ages 14 to 35 and opera students who have completed at least one year of college. Artistic director is David Effron, former music director of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.
Brevard has three orchestras, two wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, an opera company and a piano program. Students perform with these groups and study privately with faculty and guest artists, who this year include mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, pianist Abbey Simon, conductors Keith Lockhart and Gunther Schuller, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and soprano Deborah Voigt.
Call Lynn Johnson at (828) 884-2975 to make audition appointments or inquire about requirements.
Anne Frank's stepsister
SALEM -- Eva Schloss, stepsister of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, will be a guest of Salem Community Theatre during its production of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Schloss will attend opening weekend performances, which begin Friday.
A farewell dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at Salem Golf Club. Schloss, a Holocaust survivor who now lives in London, England, will speak about her experiences and answer questions. Tickets are $20. Call (330) 332-9688 for reservations.
Pirates baseball event
PITTSBURGH -- The giant indoor baseball carnival called Piratesfest will be from 4 to 10 p.m. Jan. 25, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 26 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 27 at Carnegie Science Center. Past and present Pittsburgh Pirates players and coaches will be on hand. Visitors may play games, attend youth baseball clinics and meet the Pirate Parrot.
Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for children and senior citizens. Prices include museum admission but not Omnimax films. Call (800) BUY-BUCS to buy advance tickets, or buy them at the door.
'Hedwig' earns honors
The folks at filmfestivals.com, which monitors movie f & ecirc;tes around the world, report that the single most-awarded entry at festivals in 2001 was John Cameron Mitchell's gender-bending rock musical, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Other top picks with audiences, critics and juries at cinema celebrations last year include Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Am & eacute;lie," Lone Scherfig's "Italian for Beginners," Ray Lawrence's Aussie drama "Lantana," Nanni Moretti's "The Son's Room," Michael Cuesta's "L.I.E.," Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher," and Sandi Simcha Dubowski's documentary "Trembling Before G-d."