Mario Falsetto is the author of the recently-published, "Conversations with Gus Van Sant". He's teaching a new class at the Northwest Film Center focusing on Van Sant's features and influences. We also hear from film critic Shawn Levy, who's interviewed and written about Van Sant for decades.

Nothing but awesome here, as Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker, and Janet Weiss breeze in to talk about powering up for their reunion, and recording the new record, "No Cities to Love".

It’s 7:05 a.m. on a Friday morning, but the students getting ready for choir practice inside the Camas High School theater building are wide awake.

Maybe it’s because instead of practicing the same old choir tunes by long dead composers, they’re rehearsing a series of new compositions written for the choir by four composers from around the globe, including local indie rockers Sama Dams and Alan Singley. The 150-student strong choir will join with the two bands on April 18 for a concert called “Joined Voices” at the First Congregation Church in downtown Portland

“The rationale,” says choir director Ethan Chessin, “was in English class you study Hamlet, but you also learn to write essays. Why is it that in music class we just perform works that have already been composed – we just study the master works? Why don’t we give the students the tools to write their own music?”

Read our full story at: opb.org/radio/article/joined-voices

This is the show you've been waiting for! And we, at least, can't wait any longer:

1:15 - Sleater-Kinney joins us in the studio. All three members. Swoon.

19:35 - The NW Film Center kicks off the festival Essential Gus Van Sant (and His Influences). Film critic Shawn Levy and writer Mario Falsetto, author of "Conversations with Gus Van Sant," join us in the studio to talk about Portland's cinematic bard.

29:07 - A crazy indie-choir crossover strikes April 18 when local musicians Alan Singley and Sama Dams joins forces with the 150-voice Camas High School choir to perform new works by local bands and international composers. It's called "Joined Voices."

37:30 - "Oregon Art Beat" takes a look at the emerging artist Samantha Wall, whose striking portraits of women spark the imagination.

43:40 - Superstar choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie has worked with everyone from Beyonce to Harlem Dance Theatre, and now he's bringing his moves to OBT's spring show, Impact.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre's production of “Belleville” is a complex, Hitchockian-style psychological thriller by hotshot playwright Amy Herzog. But what caught our eyes was its pairing of actors. Isaac Lamb and Rebecca Lingafelter are both highly respected Portland players who have a growing history of performing opposite each other.

They were on-again, off-again lovers in the Apple Family cycle of plays at Third Rail. They were siblings in “Three Sisters” at Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble last year. And now, they’re doing two projects in tandem. They’re playing husband and wife in “Belleville" by night, and by day Lamb is directing Lingafelter in a one-woman show called “Grounded” that opens shortly after “Belleville” closes.

Read the full story at: http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/state-of-wonder/article/third-rail-rep-highlights-two-of-portlands-most-collaborative-actors

Photographers David Hilliard and Colleen Plumb talk about their respective shows at Elizabeth Leach Gallery and Blue Sky Gallery this month. (The image to the side is merely one section of a David Hilliard triptych. We STRONGLY recommend going to see the show to get the full effect.)

An update on the art forgery case that popped up in Portland last month.

Wonderous sounds this week! And feasts for the eyes, too.

1:30 - Damien Rice talks about finding his way back to music with "My Favorite Faded Fantasy," a much-anticipated record — and his first in eight years. He's at the Keller Auditorium on April 20th.

8:45 - We drop in on a rehearsal with two of Portland's best known actors, Isaac Lamb and Rebecca Lingafelter. They have a growing body of collaborations (they seem to always play either lovers or siblings), including Third Rail Repertory Theatre's new production, "Belleville," which they perform in the evenings while Lamb directs Lingafelter in rehearsals for the one-woman show "Grounded" by day.

18:10 - We update the case of Larry Ulvi, the Portland man who's accused of wire fraud. Prosecutors say they believe he forged works by Mark Tobey and other artists.

22:05 - As part of Portland Photo Month, we talk with two excellent artists with shows this month. Photographer Colleen Plumb explores the relationships between humans, animals, and the natural world at Blue Sky Gallery. Meanwhile, David Hilliard's emotionally charged portraits of people in natural settings at Elizabeth Leach Gallery walk the line between autobiography and fabrication.

36:30 - An opbmusic session with Lost Lander. They've got a date in Eugene April 11th.

43:27 - Think Out Loud introduced a new series this week: TOL in the Tub, because thinking and conversation just go better in a body of warm water. Serious. Well, not really. It was an April Fool's joke and a wonderful improvisational romp with sketch comic Shelley McLendon.

For more about these stories and links to their events, visit our site: http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/stateofwonder/segment/state-of-wonder-apr-4-2015/

New sounds from Rice - his first record in eight years. We talk with him about getting back int he studio and working with Rick Rubin. He'll be in Portland April 20th. Info's over here! http://www.portland5.com/keller-auditorium/events/damien-rice

Novelist Cari Luna reads an excerpt from her debut "The Revolution of Everyday." You can hear our full conversation with Luna here: https://soundcloud.com/opb-state-of-wonder/cari-luna-on-the-revolution-of-everyday.