A&E Briefing

SAM settlement

The Seattle Art Museum will not turn to the city for help in the settlement of a drawn-out dispute over cost overruns with its contractor.

"We do not anticipate having to ask for more public funding," spokeswoman Jacci Thompson-Dodd said yesterday. The settlement will be paid with private money, she said.

Yesterday the Museum Development Authority (MDA), the body created to oversee the construction of the downtown museum, approved a contingent settlement agreement.

A museum source said earlier this week that under the agreement, the museum's general contractor, the Howard S. Wright Construction Co., and some of its subcontractors would receive $4.5 million from the museum and its designer, architect Robert Venturi. That's far less than the contractor's original $12.8 million cost-overrun claim.

Final settlement of the dispute is contingent upon approval by the Seattle Art Museum board and acceptance of the settlement by Wright's subcontractors. A $13 million lawsuit Wright filed against the MDA last August is expected to be dismissed. - Ferdinand M. de Leon

Market gallery walk

The first "First Thursday Market Gallery Walk" happens today from 5 to 9 p.m., in art galleries around the Pike Place Market. Included will be a sneak preview of the Woodland Park Zoo commission by Georgia Gerber: bronzes of lowland gorillas, at Gallery Mack N.W., 2001 Western Ave. Artworks to be sold at the Zoo Auction July 9 also will be on view.

Expanded SAM hours

Beginning Sunday, the Seattle Art Museum will expand its hours. SAM will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays - the most popular day for family visits. The museum, normally closed on Mondays, also will open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for five Monday holidays: July 5, Labor Day (Sept. 5), Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 17), President's Day (Feb. 21), and Memorial Day (May 30).

Crafts in Wenatchee

In celebration of the Year of the American Craft, the North Central Washington Museum in Wenatchee invites folk artists and craftspersons to participate in a juried show, "Of Hearts and Hands," slated to open Dec. 10. To obtain a prospectus, call 509-554-5989 during business hours, or write to the museum at 127 S. Mission St., Wenatchee, WA 98801. The deadline for entries is Sept. 25.

- Deloris Tarzan Ament

Eastside music festival

The brand-new Lake Washington Music Festival, directed by violist Eric Shumsky, will open at 7:30 p.m. July 10, with a concert at St. John Vianney Church at the St. Thomas Center (14502 Juanita Dr. N.E. in Bothell).

The guest artists are guitarist Steven Novacek and soprano Mary Schroeder, in a program of light works for voice, viola and guitar; subsequent programs are scheduled for the following two Saturdays, July 17 and 24 (232-6192).

The festival also will feature two pianists with The Boston Players, Jonathan Shames and Stephanie Leon, and will offer master classes in two weeks of intensive study. The festival presenter is Classical Music Supporters. NW singers in New York

Two Seattle singers, soprano Elizabeth Hynes and tenor Melvyn Poll, will be performing at Lincoln Center in New York City this month.

Poll makes his debut with the Mostly Mozart Festival in Mendelssohn's Second Symphony ("Lobgesang"), with Gerard Schwarz conducting in Avery Fisher Hall.

Across the plaza at the New York City Opera, Hynes will sing the title role in Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" (the 1904 version) during July and August. Both Hynes and Poll will be heard with the Seattle Symphony during the 1993-94 season.

`Don Carlos' seminars

An offer you can't refuse: Learn about Don Carlos, not Don Corleone, in two in-depth educational programs offered by Seattle Opera (which opens its coming season with Verdi's "Don Carlos" next month). On July 10, general director Speight Jenkins hosts the Trafton Seminar on "Don Carlos," with the conductor (Thomas Fulton), director (Dejan Miladinovic), and several leading singers.

And on July 31, a "Don Carlos" symposium will take place at the Sheraton Hotel, with Jenkins joining award-winning playwright Terence McNally, critic Dale Harris and several others in a day-long event. Other previews and discussions of the opera also will be available; for a complete list and more information about the production, call 389-7600.

Tenor Parly dies

The Danish-born tenor Ticho Parly, who sang the role of Loge in Seattle Opera's original "Ring" production in the 1970s, died recently in Seattle at the age of 64.

Famed worldwide for his heroic or heldentenor voice, Parly sang with the legendary Birgit Nilsson in a Metropolitan Opera production of "Tristan und Isolde," and sang other leading roles in most of the major opera houses of Europe. He was noted for his comic roles as well as the more serious operatic literature.

Married to the soprano Patricia Schlosstein, Parly also taught voice privately in Seattle for several years prior to his death. Memorials may be sent to the University of Washington Friends of Opera (543-1200 for information).

- Melinda Bargreen