FEB. 14: Versatile jazz guitarist Frank Vignola
The first five months of this year are replete with arts activities. Following are some of the highlights, so that you may begin your planning.
Barter Theatre
www.bartertheatre.com, 276-628-3991
MAY 18: Barter Theatre brings Les Misérables to the main stage. An international smash hit transforms into an original Barter Theatre production. Epic, grand and uplifting, this marvelous musical packs an emotional wallop that has thrilled audiences the world over. Set in 19th-century France and following the story of Jean Valjean's lifelong struggle for redemption as he is unjustly pursued by Inspector Javert, Les Misérables is an emotionally moving tale of revolution, obsession, loyalty, friendship, and love.
Other shows include I'll Never Be Hungry Again beginning Feb. 7; Walking Across Egypt beginning Feb. 14: Little Women beginning March 5; Unnecessary Farce beginning March 8; Half A World Away beginning March 15; The Blonde, The Brunette & The Vengeful Redhead beginning May 10; and Southern Fried Funeral beginning May 30.
Colleges
Emory & Henry College
www.ehc.edu, atcoulth@ehc.edu
FEB. 27: The acclaimed comedy group, Face Off, takes you on a "non-stop comedy thrill ride" as it takes improvisation to "A Whole "Nother Level" at 7:30 p.m. in Wiley Auditorium on campus. This rockin' comedy show features improvised live music and poetry, physical comedy and audience interaction. Getting three suggestions from the audience at points throughout the show, Face Off demonstrates how all things, no matter how seemingly different, are actually connected. Face Off Unlimited is an improv comedy production company with three weekly shows in three different cities, including NYC's hit Japanese game show HATSU!
APRIL 9: Dr. Kenneth Laudermilch and Dr. Matthew Frederick perform at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. Laudermilch is professor of trumpet at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, as well as music director of the New Holland Band, the second oldest municipal band in the U.S. Dr. Frederick is chair of the E&H music department and professor of brass. These two musicians will present a mixture of baroque, romantic and contemporary pieces for one and two trumpets, with organ. The evening will be a special night of collaboration between the two trumpet players: the mentor, Dr. Laudermilch; and his former pupil, Dr. Frederick.
APRIL 16: Joby Bell, organist, performs at 7:30 p.m. The program includes works by J. S. Bach, Louis-Claude d'Aquin, César Franck, and Felix Mendelssohn. Also included will be excerpts from Charles-Marie Widor's last work for solo organ, the "Symphonie Romane." The program will conclude with Leo Sowerby's "Pageant," a tour de force containing some of the most celebrated and difficult passages ever composed for pedals. Bell has been invited to perform in all the important organ competitions and conventions, has concertized throughout the U.S. and has received praise for his performances in Paris, Chartres, London and throughout southern England, Scotland, Romania and Hungary. He teaches at Appalachian State.
East Tennessee State University
Mary B. Martin School of the Arts
423-439-8587, www.etsu.edu/cas/arts
FEB. 1: Violin virtuoso Brian Lewis performs at 7:30 p.m. with ETSU music faculty member Chih-Long Hu. "There are a lot of fine violinists on the concert stage today," reports the Topeka Capital-Journal, "but few can match Lewis for an honest virtuosity that supremely serves the music."
FEB. 14: Versatile jazz guitarist Frank Vignola is in concert at ETSU's Martha Street Culp Auditorium with guitarist Glenn Tosto at 7:30 p.m. Vignola, deemed by The New York Times as "one of the brightest ... stars of the guitar" and author of 18 guitar instruction books, is in the midst of a world tour - ranging from Switzerland and Sweden to California and Kentucky.
MARCH 26: The Fisk (University) Jubilee Singers brings its unique program of spirituals to the ETSU's Martha Street Culp Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The original Jubilee Singers introduced "slave songs" to the world in 1871 and were instrumental in preserving this unique American musical tradition known today as Negro spirituals. Since then, they have sung for kings and queens in Europe, been featured on PBS, gone on a sacred journey to Ghana and raised money for their beloved Fisk University in Nashville, as well as sharing Negro spirituals around the world.
King College
http://arts.king.edu.
www.buechnerinstitute.org.
MARCH 4: King's Buechner Institute hosts Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The music legends perform at 9:15 a.m. in King's Memorial Chapel. His renowned bluegrass band, Quicksilver, has won IBMA's Vocal Group of the Year for six years in a row, multiple Grammy and Dove award nominations; and Lawson was inducted into the Bill Monroe Hall of Fame. In 2006, Lawson received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, and in 2007, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. of Fine Arts by King College.
APRIL 15: King welcomes Thomas Lynch to the First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tenn., at 7 p.m. Lynch's work has been widely featured in such venues as the New York Times, the Times of London, Esquire, Harper's, Newsweek, and on BBC and PBS. His many accolades include an American Book Award, the Heartland Prize, and status as a National Book Award finalist for this 1997 collection of essays, "The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade." His most recent work is "Apparitions and Late Fictions."
Milligan College
423-461-8723, www.milligan.edu
MARCH 1 & 2: The Milligan Opera Workshop, in collaboration with the Milligan College Orchestra, presents the fairy-tale opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck. The performance, which will be sung in English, follows the adventures of the mischievous siblings and their encounter with the evil witch as they travel through the forest. The opera will be conducted by Dr. Kellie Brown. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary B. Martin Auditorium, Seeger Memorial Chapel. Tickets are $5 for adults, children and students admitted free. Tickets will be available at the door and from the Milligan Bookstore beginning Feb. 18.
MARCH 19: The Milligan Arts Council presents an evening of jazz by One Leg Up. Based in Asheville, N.C., One Leg Up performs a vibrant mixture of upbeat gypsy jazz, Latin, swing and original jazz compositions, and is a favorite of club, concert and festival stages throughout the southeastern United States. Over the years, One Leg Up has broadened its repertoire to include fresh arrangements of Django classics, vocal harmonies, original compositions and innovative adaptations of classic jazz numbers in the French "hot club" and American "big band" styles. The concert is free and will be performed in the Mary B. Martin Auditorium, Seeger Memorial Chapel at 7:30 p.m.
Virginia Intermont College
WillHankins@vic.edu or 276 466 7170.
March 7: The Richmond Ballet performs at 7:30 p.m. in Harrison Jones Memorial Hall.
April 11 – 14: Virginia Intermont College performs Sweet Charity by Neil Simon with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Sweet Charity premiered on Broadway in 1966 and was nominated for 12 Tony awards and won the Tony for Best Choreography. Featuring Bob Fosse dance moves and hits such as "Hey Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now," this musical was the star vehicle for iconic powerhouses Gwen Verdon (Broadway) and Shirley MacLaine (film).
Symphony of the Mountains
423-392-8423, symphonyoftheofthemountains.org
MARCH 16: Once In A Lifetime: Carl Tanner with Symphony of the Mountains at 7:30 p.m. in the Toy F. Reid Eastman Employee Center, Kingsport, Tenn. Symphony of the Mountains, Voices of the Mountains and the Civic Chorale welcome world famous tenor Carl Tanner to the Eastman stage. Tanner, who began his young life as a truck driver and bounty hunter in Virginia, has grown up to perform in the best opera houses throughout Europe and is coming to Kingsport for one night only. Tanner will perform operatic favorites such as "Nessun Dorma" from Turndot, "O Solo Mio," "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci, "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Land of the Smiles and the famous song "Core n'grato."
MAY 4: Beethoven's Ode To Joy comes to the stage at 7:30 p.m. at the Toy F. Reid Eastman Employee Center, Kingsport, Tenn. Symphony of the Mountains, Voices of the Mountains, the Civic Chorale and four wonderful soloists: Jennifer Barnett – soprano; Andrew Skoog – tenor; Kevin Doherty – baritone; and Jami Rhodes – mezzo-soprano; present the final and most famous of Beethoven's symphonies. Written after the composer was completely deaf, Symphony No. 9 (Choral) was his final complete symphony. Experience a memorable live performance of Ode to Joy as the orchestra combines with 140 voices to fill the concert hall with this masterpiece.
William King Museum
276-628-5005, williamkingmuseum.com
Jan. 11 through May 19: Fantastic Mechanics Sean Pace and Robert Sulkin opens. An Opening Reception will be held Feb. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sean Pace of Asheville, N.C., and Robert Sulkin of Roanoke, Va., are imaginative engineers in the studio. Pace creates mixed-media sculptures that often have a complex network of motors and gears. With human intervention they can be set into motion and facilitate surprising activities such as painting an abstract picture or shooting a rubber chicken. Sulkin concocts elaborate ready made sculptures then photographs them as still lifes in black and white, some with mathematic formulas and other notations superimposed on the final image. These document the musings of a fictional inventor trying to devise solutions for the world's complex problems. To different ends, the fantastical machines of Pace and Sulkin invoke absurdity and conjure magic.
JAN. 18 – AUG. 11: The Virginia Dulcimer: 200 Years of Bowing, Strumming, & Picking which is on loan from the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum is on display in the Price-Stongwell Galleries. An opening reception will be held Feb. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The dulcimer is one of the most popular symbols of mountain music. This exhibition explores the dulcimer's long journey from northern Europe, to the mountains of Appalachia, and eventually into the hands of folk musicians across the nation. The Old World dulcimer underwent a dramatic change in Virginia. In "The Virginia Dulcimer," the story unfolds with more than 50 examples of the instrument dating from the 1700s to the present-including an 1832 Floyd County dulcimer, the oldest known signed-and-dated example in the nation.
MARCH 8: For more than three decades, the biennial Quilt National exhibit at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio, has showcased the best and most exciting contemporary art quilts being created around the world. Many of them will be on display at William King Museum.
