Number one: violist Shuangshuang Liu.

SHOWCASING THE WINNER: Violist Shuangshuang Liu, who won the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition, will be the featured soloist this weekend with the American Symphony Orchestra. The two concerts are Friday and Saturday (March 2-3) at 8 PM in Bard’s Sosnoff Theatre (Richard B. Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson); Liu will be featured on William Walton’s Viola Concerto. Under the baton of Leon Botstein, the ASO will also perform another work by Walton, as well as Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. Tickets are $35, $30 and $20. For reservations and information, call (845) 758-7900.

IRAQ IN IMAGES: The Nisk-Art Gallery at Niskayuna High School (1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna) will be showing the photography exhibit The Art in War beginning Monday (March 5), and continuing through March 22. This series was taken by Benjamin Busch, who was a Marine commanding officer in Iraq in 2003, capturing images of the “invasion, liberation and occupation of Iraq.” The images are surprisingly candid, which Busch pulled off by, well, using deception: Busch often told village leaders that he needed photographs of something else—sewer pipes, for instance—while ‘accidentally’ recording images of the people and architecture that caught his eye.” Busch, who currently has an acting gig on HBO’s The Wire, will be present for a lecture/reception at the gallery on March 8 at 6:30 PM in Niskayuna High School’s Little Theater. Gallery hours are 8 AM through 3 PM daily; for more info about the exhibit and special event, visit www.nisk.k12.ny.us/department/art.

LENTEN LECTURES: It’s lent, people, but you don’t really need to be Roman Catholic to reflect on a couple of things. The Chapel + Cultural Center (2125 Burdett Ave., Troy) is again presenting their annual Lenten Lectures series; lectures are Wednesdays at 7 PM. This Wednesday (March 7), Skidmore College chaplain Stephen Butler Murray will speak on “Christ in a World of Gods: Living Faithfully in a Community of Religions.” On March 14, LeMoyne College’s Donald Maldari will discuss “Consumption and Poverty.” On March 21, Dennis R. Ryan will lecture on “Dreams About the Dead: Glimpses of Grief.” The final speaker, on March 28, will be Fordham University assistant professor Judith M. Kubicki. Each week there is a meatless potluck supper at 6:15 PM, and, before that, a Mass at 5:30 PM. (You really do need to be Roman Catholic for the latter.) For more information, call 274-7793 or visit www.chapelandculturalcenter.org.

DON’T FORGET THE BEANO: This Sunday (March 4), the Lake George Arts Project will host their 16th annual fund-raising festival Bands ’n Beans. For a mere $20 admission fee, you will have the opportunity to sample up to 50 different kinds of chili and enjoy the music of Acoustic Circus, Alan Payette Band, the Stony Creek Band, Soul Session and many more. Held at the Roaring Brook Ranch in Lake George from 2 to 7 PM, there will also be a raffle and silent auction for assorted goodies. You also have the opportunity to support one of the north country’s worth arts organizations. For more info, call 668-2616 or visit www.lakegeorgearts.org.

—Shawn Stone

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