Ridge Piano Trio at Artspree

Ridge Piano TrioUALR’s Artspree series kicks off the 2013 calendar year with the Ridge Piano Trio.  They will play at UALR’s Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall this afternoon at 3pm.

The group consists of pianist Chiharu Iinuma, violinist David Gillham and cellist Tom Landschoot. They play the works of Mozart, Piazzolla and Brahms.

Much in demand as a chamber musician, Chiharu Iinuma has regularly performed across three continents. A founding member of the Ridge Trio, the Chamber Ensemble Bloomington and the Gillham-Iinuma Duo, for many years she was the studio pianist for Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker, Franco Gulli, Neli Shkolnikova, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Miriam Fried, Yuval Yaron at Indiana University’s Jacobs School. In 1993, she was invited to participate in the inaugural Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in New York.From 2001 to 2004, Ms. Iinuma was the Director of Accompanying at the University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas.

Canadian violinist David Gillham has been described as a “violinist with a lean tone, a supple technique, and an amazing talent for sustaining a long line” (All Music Guide Magazine). Formerly on the faculties of Memorial University and the University of Central Arkansas, David was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia in July 2011 and is a member of the Arianna String Quartet, in residence at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He is on the faculty of the FEMUSC Festival in Brazil, the Madeline Island Music Festival, the Illinois Chamber Music Festival and the Britt Festival String Quartet Academy.

Praised for his expressive and poetic music making, cellist Tom Landschoot enjoys an international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue. He has toured North America, Europe and Asia and has appeared on National Radio and Television worldwide. His solo career started after taking a top prize at the International Cello Competition ‘Jeunesse Musicales’ in 1995 in Bucharest, Romania. He recently performed with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Frankfurt Chamber Orchestra, Prima la Musica (Belgium), Shieh Chien Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), Tempe Symphony and the Orchestra of the United States Army Band and has appeared at the Park City, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Utah, Red Rock, Waterloo, Killington and Texas Music Festivals.

Groundhog Day at the Little Rock Zoo

Little-Rock-zoo-logo-4-c-with-tagToday is Groundhog Day.  As long as you aren’t a weatherman forced to repeat the day over again continuously, it can be a day of fun and a chance to learn more about weather and animals.

The Little Rock Zoo has a new groundhog this year!  Maple will be making a prediction about the onset of spring or the lingering of winter.

Come out to the Zoo for the prediction and festivities at 10:30 this morning.

While you are out there be sure and visit your old favorites as well as the newer exhibits including the penguins and cheetahs.

Friday Faces of February: Native Knowledge

In the month of February the LR Culture Vulture will highlight four different faces found in sculpture and architecture in Central Arkansas.

Native American Face

To start things off is one of the faces from the new sculpture Native Knowledge which is located in Riverfront Park.  The installation was created by Denny Haskew.  Native Knowledge is a tribute to the Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw Native American Cultures of Arkansas.

It is sited near the Quapaw Line and La Petite Roche.  The location is important because the Quapaw Line was used as demarcation to separate the Quapaw Tribe from land available for white settlers.  It ran from La Petite Roche due south.  In addition, La Petite Roche was a stop along the “Trail of Tears” as Native American tribes were resettled from their original homes in the American Southeast to points west.

 

Ballet Arkansas Master Class Tomorrow

FBLOGOBallet Arkansas presents the fourth in a series of open master classes tomorrow.  Guest artist Darrell Grand Moultrie is will be teaching a class on Saturday, February 2, from 10:30 to noon at the UALR Dance Studios.

Mr. Moultrie is choreographing a new work for Ballet Arkansas’ spring concert, Spring into Motion, which premieres at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre April 5-7, 2013.

The class fees are: $25 to participate, $10 for UALR students (with ID) and $15 to observe.  Reservations are required. Space is limited. Reserve your spot now by emailing info@balletarkansas.org

DarrellHS-bioDarrell Grand Moultrie has quickly emerged as one of America’s most sought after choreographers and master teachers. Not one to be pigeonholed into any particular genre, Moultrie has carved out an impressive career that seamlessly weaves his distinctive and highly praised ballet and modern dance choreography, to on-stage Broadway performer (most recently seen in Billy Elliot), and to television work where he has choreographed national commercials for Mastercard, Mod’s hair products, Schick Quattro 4razor, and has worked on the Dave Chappelle Show.

His work is often marked by sharp contrasts and bold patterns with an eye for form, a strong theatrical sensibility, and a knack for showcasing the great athleticism of his dancers.

A proud recipient of the 2007 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award, Darrell’s work has been performed by Ailey 2, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, The Juilliard School, BalletMet Columbus, Milwaukee Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Rasta Thomas and his Bad Boys of Dance, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Tulsa Ballet, and Ballet X. In 2010 he participated in Sacramento Ballet’s Capital Choreography Competition where his work “Moved” won both the judges and the audience awards.

Sandwiching in History at Capital Hotel today

Capital Hotel frontThe Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s “Sandwiching in History” program pays a visit this month to a location which is accustomed to receiving visitors — The Capital Hotel.

Built in 1872-1873 by businessman William P. Denckla, the Denckla Block, as it was then called, housed various shops on the first floor with offices and gentlemen’s apartments on the upper floors. The building featured a distinctive cast-iron façade with a projecting cornice, arched window openings, and engaged columns with Corinthian capitals. In 1877 the Denckla Block was converted into an hotel and quickly became the center of political and social activity in Little Rock. Over the years the building has been expanded upward and southward.

By the late 1960s, it fell into disrepair.  But through two extensive renovations, the Capital Hotel has been restored to its original beauty and continues to provide luxury accommodations in the capital city.

The “Sandwiching In History” program is a series of tours that seeks to familiarize people who live and work in central Arkansas with the historic structures and sites around us. The tours take place on Fridays at noon, last less than an hour, and participants are encouraged to bring their lunches so that they can eat while listening to a brief lecture about the property and its history before proceeding on a short tour.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.