Author Archives: Scott

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About Scott

A cultural thinker with a life long interest in the arts and humanities: theatre, music, architecture, photography, history, urban planning, etc.

ASO Chamber Concert tonight features Composer of the Year

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ASO_2-colorAt tonight’s Arkansas Symphony Orchestra River Rhapsodies concert, ASO Composer of the Year Jennifer Higdon will be featured.

The program consists of Higdon’s Autumn Music and Piano Trio.  Also on the program are Barber’s Summer Music and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67.

The musicians for the concert include Diane McVinney, flute; Beth Wheeler, oboe; Kelly Johnson, clarinet; Susan Bell Leon, bassoon; David Renfro, horn; David Gerstein, cello; Kiril Laskarov, violin; Meredith Maddox-Hicks, violin and Tatiana Roitman, piano.

Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing Higdon’s work as a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.”  She is one of the most performed composers today.  During her time in Little Rock, she has spoken at the Clinton School and been featured in last weekend’s MasterWorks concert.

The concert is at 8pm at the Clinton Presidential Center.

Distinguished Laureate Lecture tomorrow at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

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The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, welcomes world-renowned physicist Dr. Oliver Keith Baker for a Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Distinguished Laureate Lecture tomorrow.

Dr. Baker, a McGehee native , will lecture on his ground-breaking research on particle physics, also referred to as Higgs Boson and the ‘God particle.’  He was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2006. Dr. Baker is a Professor of Physics at Yale University.  He is also Director of the Arthur W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory at Yale.

To bring students, educators should contact our Education Department at 501-683-3592.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center honors the story of the Mosaic Templars of America and all of Arkansas’s African American history.  The museum is dedicated to telling the story of the African American experience in Arkansas. The Center’s name is taken from the Mosaic Templars of America, a black fraternal organization founded in Little Rock in 1883 whose headquarters sat on the prominent West Ninth and Broadway location.

The mission of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is to collect, preserve, interpret and celebrate Arkansas’s African American history, culture, and community from 1870 to the present, and to inform and educate the public about African American’s achievements – especially in business, politics, and the arts.The center’s exhibits highlight fraternal organizations, African American entrepreneurs as well as integration.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor Byron R. Morse

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20130222-185157.jpgOn February 23, 1917, future Little Rock Mayor Byron R. Morse was born. A founder of the real estate firm of Rector-Phillips- Morse, he was long active in civic affairs of Little Rock.

Mayor Morse was first elected to the City Board of Directors in November 1960. In 1963, he was chosen as Little Rock Mayor. After serving two years as Mayor, he chose to not seek re-election to the City Board. In 1980, he was appointed to the City Board to fill out an unexpired term. He was later asked to fill another unexpired term but declined.

In 1983, he was elected national president of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. Mayor Morse also served as president of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Little Rock United Way, the Little Rock Red Cross, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Rock Boy’s Club. He was a member of the Fifty for the Future. On July 25, 2001, Mayor Morse died.

Arkansas Symphony: Truth and Triumph this weekend

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20121020-054530.jpgThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra returns with another MasterWorks concert.  Under the baton of Music Director Philip Mann, the program features Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony as well as ASO Composer of the Year Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra.

In a season highlight, hear the ASO fill the Robinson stage with its full orchestral forces in a program of breathtaking power and expressive range.

Shostakovich’s awe-inspiring Tenth Symphony provides an opportunity for the talents, energy, and artistry of your ASO musicians to be showcased to their fullest. Premiered shortly after Stalin’s death in the USSR, this work is a product of its time, but is also imbued with timeless themes seemingly even more evocative today. Shostakovich the man is found in the very notes of the score and the transcendent power of music is displayed as he prevails in a popular masterpiece that begins with tragedy, terror, and violence but leads to an explosive and unforgettably triumphant conclusion.

ASO Composer of the Year, Jennifer Higdon, is highlighted in her Concerto for Orchestra, and the penchant for writing absorbing and compelling melodies that has endeared her to audiences worldwide is on display. Her virtuosity and range as a composer is explored fully in a work of creative contrast, Technicolor orchestration, propulsive rhythms, and an infectious vitality. The Concerto helped to cement Higdon’s position as one of the greatest living composers and in adding to the concerto tradition, she goes beyond highlighting principal musicians, and showcases entire sections, including the percussion with fresh and innovative sounds.

The concert takes place Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm at Robinson Center Music Hall.

As always, kids can get in free on Sunday when accompanied by a paying adult as part of the Entergy Kids’ Ticket program.

ASO Composer of Year at Clinton School

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UACSThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting special guests who are in Little Rock in conjunction with ASO performances. The latest in these takes place on Friday, February 22 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.

jenniferhigdonJennifer Higdon is the 2012-2013 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Composer of the Year.  She is one of the most performed living American composers. Her list of commissioners and performing organizations is extensive and includes the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo String Quartet, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the President’s Own Marine Band, among others.

Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing her work as a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.”

This weekend, Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra will be on the ASO’s program.  In addition, she will be featured at the ASO River Rhapsodies Chamber Series on Tuesday, February 26.

LR Wind Symphony Concert Tonight

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LRWSThe Little Rock Wind Symphony presents a concert tonight.  Entitled “An Organ Extravaganza” it features guest artist Adam Savacool on pipe organ as well as the musicians of the LRWS.  Under the direction of music director Dr. Karen Fannin the program includes:

Sigfried Karg-Elert: Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals
David Maslanka: Traveler
Haydn Wood: Mannin Veen
Eugene Gigout: Grand Choeur Dialogue
W. Francis McBeth: Canticle for Eleven Winds and Perucssion
J. S. Bach: Fugue in G minor, BWV 578
Camille Saint-Saëns: Finale from Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 78, “Organ Symphony”

Mr. Savacool’s appearance is underwritten by The Steve Dunnagan Family and Bob and Susan Morrow.

The concert is at 7:30pm at Second Presbyterian Church.  Tickets are available at the door.

The Wind Symphony performs concerts each fall, winter, and spring in addition to its vastly popular Christmas Concert in December. All concerts are held at Second Presbyterian Church. Another annual seasonal highlight is the “Stars and Stripes Celebration” in honor of Flag Day, held  outdoors in June in MacArthur Park.

The Wind Symphony has performed in cities throughout Arkansas. Out of town concerts are usually sponsored by arts and education groups. The LRWS is a participant of the Arkansas Arts Council’s Arts On Tour program.

The Wind Symphony is supported financially by donations received from concert attendees and from individuals’ and corporations’ concert sponsorships. The musicians donate their time, effort, and talent as a gift to the city and to the audiences who hear them play.

LANTERNS! this weekend at Wildwood

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LANTERNS! Festival, Arkansas’ only deep-winter outdoor festival, will light up the night at Wildwood Park for a fifth year of family fun and illuminating entertainment! Travel paved paths illuminated with fire pits and thousands of luminaria to enjoy unique entertainment, authentic food and beverages for all ages at eight cultural vistas from around the globe!

LANTERNS! runs from 6pm to 10pm on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23.  On Sunday, February 24 it runs from 6pm to 9pm.

Tickets are available at the gate during festival days:
$10 for Adults
$5 for Children (6-12 years old)
FREE for Children 5 and UnderSHUTTLE service will be provided to and from Kroger Marketplace at Chenal Parkway.This year’s cultural vistas include:

Asia – Asian New Year festivals inspire LANTERNS! Hosted by Northington Investment Group, this vista’s serene Asian Woodland Garden & Pavilion are bedecked with paper lanterns and a traditional Chinese dragon. Sushi rolls, warming teas and sips of Sake beckon patrons to immerse themselves in demonstrations and traditions of Asian culture where families explore Eastern artistic traditions. Discover why it’s the Year of the Snake!

Bavaria – Visit the Park’s beer garden and polka to the sounds of The Itinerant Locals! This lively duo will have you dancing yourself into a pretzel under the full moon. Refresh your palate with German fare beneath the Maibaum and enjoy a lakeside feast for the eyes in the winter woodlands.

The Caribbean Warm up next to the fire pits along the shoreline, enjoy a show by the Park’s famed pirates (Armadillo Rodeo Improv Troupe), walk the plank, and seek your treasure in Pirates Cove.

Greece Travel back in time to the mythical land of ancient Greece where you’ll be greeted by living statues. Don your laurel wreath and help reconstruct ancient glory with vista hostess Christen Bufford and her team from Little Rock Central High School. Try a taste of lighter fare, maybe some Ouzo.

New Orleans Hot jazz continues all night indoors on Bourbon Street, where guests will delight in Cajun fare, signature beverages, and a fortune-telling Voodoo Queen! Thoma Thoma hosts our high-spirited Café du Monde while the kings & queens of this party feast on beignets!

Rio de Janeiro Café Bossa Nova, Vivian Norman and Patti Stanley are teaming up to take you on an adventure to colorful South America! Learn to Samba the night away while dining on exquisite authentic cuisine and sipping on caipirinhas.

Shakespeare’s England Hosted by Elizabeth and Tom Small with performances by the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, this vista transports you to Elizabethan England, complete with street urchins, fresh-roasted turkey legs, ale and kidfriendly Shakesbeer.

Venice The Park’s iconic Gazebo awaits sailors and ladies with a monumental selection of sweet treats! Commedia dell Arte performances will have you silly with glee! Launch wishing lanterns at the gazebo; your hopes and dreams will glow bright throughout this enchanting evening!