Item World: Local news and views

What's up, Docter? Her son may be an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but this time the standing ovations were for Rita Docter. The Bloomington choral director and music educator took her final bow Sunday after 25 years with the Angelica Cantanti youth choirs, in a farewell concert at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Bloomington. Besides the announcement of a scholarship fund in her name and a commissioned work by local composer Jay Broeker, she received a bouquet and hug from son Pete Docter, who became the inevitable target for questions at the post-show reception. Someone asked what the Pixar animator was doing as a follow-up to "Up," which won him an Oscar last year (after nominations for "Toy Story," "Monsters, Inc." and "Wall-E"). "The next 'Monsters' film and something else for 2013," he replied. According to the trade press, he's returning to Monsterapolis to help write a school-days prequel called "Monsters University," scheduled for June 2013.

TIM CAMPBELL

From Westminster to the North Country How did Elton John -- fresh from the royal wedding -- wind up Friday at Duluth's new 7,600-seat Amsoil Arena? Well, he has been playing a number of modest-sized markets, including Bismarck, N.D., and La Crosse, Wis. Plus, Duluth is a gateway to Canada, where the Rock Hall of Famer will perform in Winnipeg, Calgary, Regina and other cities. "If people have a hard time getting into Canada for fishing trips, then imagine getting a bus full of rock roadies across the border," Dan Russell, executive director of the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, told I.W. Maybe Sir Elton can get a pass from his pal Queen Elizabeth, who is Queen of Canada, too.

JON BREAM

Bring warm clothes Poetry star Peter Campion will join the University of Minnesota's MFA faculty in the fall. He is not intimidated by our current cold spring or our future sure-to-be-cold winter. His wife, Amy, who will also be teaching at the U, is equally intrepid. "Ya, we spent spring break in Vermont, where Amy's family lives, and we stocked up on some real cold-weather gear," Campion told I.W. in a Facebook message. "Michelin-man-like parkas, etc."

LAURIE HERTZEL

Slidin' away The trombonist for Davina and the Vagabonds quit the day before their two-night CD release party last weekend at the Dakota Jazz Club. So what did the Twin Cities band do? They turned to Tom Ashworth, who teaches trombone at the University of Minnesota and plays with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. With the help of sheet music and cues from trumpeter Dan Eikmeier, Ashworth gave a smokin' performance last Friday. The Vagabonds have never sounded better. But, Ashworth had a previous SPCO commitment on Saturday so he dispatched one of his U of M students for the Dakota gig. And now it looks like the kid, Keith Hilson, is a replacement Vagabond.

Stars align for Har Mar Sweeter than the melody of "The Only Living Boy in New York" at Tuesday's Paul Simon concert at First Avenue was the scene of Sean "Har Mar Superstar" Tillmann taking photos of his mom standing beneath Simon's newly unveiled star outside the club. Tillmann flew back to town to attend the show, and it turned out that Simon's star was painted on the wall right next to Har Mar's. Thankfully, Simon didn't follow Tillmann's lead and strip down to his skivvies onstage.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Up for the Downbeat No one was more shocked when the St. Olaf Jazz I big band won Downbeat magazine's "Top Undergraduate Large Ensemble" award than the group itself -- the students didn't even know that their professor and leader, Dave Hagedorn, had entered them in the competition. "We live-stream and record every concert," Hagedorn said. "So I just sent Downbeat three audio selections from our fall concert. The judges had no idea which bands they were hearing -- it was a blind audition." Novel programming played a big part, Hagedorn believes. You can hear for yourself, at two free shows this weekend (8:30 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Sunday) at the campus in Northfield, Minn., featuring Swedish-born bassist and composer Bruno Raberg.

TOM SUROWICZ

Mpls. feels the 'Noise' Minneapolis shows up a couple times in addict-extraordinaire Steven Tyler's self-indulgent new autobiography "Does the Noise Inside My Head Bother You?" He mentions that his band Aerosmith used to use Minneapolis as a hub when touring the Midwest and return to a hotel here after every gig. An MIT doctor flew to Minneapolis to film Tyler's strained throat before, during and after a concert, and then during laser surgery -- footage that ended up on "National Geographic's The Human Body." And there's a mention of the time Aerosmith came to Minneapolis in 1998 to shoot the video of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." But Tyler was in such pain after tearing a knee ligament a couple of days earlier that all he remembers is being "somewhere in the Midwest."