Category Archives: Arts & Humanities Month

Creative Class of 2015: Frank Thurmond

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thurmond_frankFrank Thurmond is a writer-musician-actor-filmmaker-teacher. He is, in short, a multi-hyphenate!

Thurmond was born in Paragould and grew up in Crossett and Little Rock, where he attended Hall High School.  He studied English and music as a Donaghey Scholar at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and pursued graduate degrees at Southern Methodist University and Oxford University. Thurmond is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has been a visiting writer in residence at Lyon College in Batesville.

 
Most recently, he released Ring of Five: A Novella and Four Stories.  Thurmond’s first book was a memoir entitled Before I Sleep: A Memoir of Travel and Reconciliation, which recounts his adult experience of meeting his previously unknown birth father.  He is a member of the bands ODYSSEY and JET420 and can often be found playing at local stages.
The film The Dealer’s Tale, which he wrote and produced (and is directed by Justin Nickels) will screen as an Official Selection at the Indie Memphis film festival on Friday, November 6th.  When it screened at the El Dorado Film Festival, Thurmond was awarded the Best Screenplay Award at the El Dorado Film Festival.
           
He has been featured at both the Arkansas Literary Festival and the Little Rock Film Festival.  Previously, Thurmond’s writing has appeared in various publications, including the International Herald Tribune; The Best of Tales from the South, Volume 6; Toad Suck Review; and in William Safire’s language book, No Uncertain Terms.

Tonight’s Local Live at South on Main showcases Sounds So Good

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llsom ssgTonight at 7:30 PM, the weekly Oxford American Local Live concert series features Sounds So Good!

Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent and is always free and open to the public. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservations and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660.

 

Pianist Curtis JJ Adams began playing in the metro Little Rock area in 1966 with his Latin / Eastern style jazz group, the Jamaica Jive Trio, whose style was heavily influenced by the Rochester, New York jazz scene of that era. Adams started the jazz group Sounds So Good in 2013, and with its east coast flavor, yet decidedly down-home feel, SSG is quickly becoming a local favorite.

The group is rounded out by saxophonist Timothy Woods, a 2011 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello who was awarded the Outstanding Soloist award at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival in Elmhurst, IL in both Big Band and combo divisions, and vocalist Tamisha “Sonnie” Cheatham, who has performed in opera and musical theatre productions and the jazz ensemble at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library focus of Clinton School program tonight

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uacs dpilimglib2cIn 1995, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee. Parton’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her country’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month.

Since launching 20 years ago, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the premier early childhood book-gifting program in the world, by mailing over 66 million books in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Currently the program mails over 830,000 specially selected, age appropriate books monthly to registered children from birth to age five. Parton’s vision was to create a lifelong love of reading, prepare children for Kindergarten, and inspire them to dream more, learn more, care more, and be more.

Tonight at 6pm at the Clinton School, Jeff Conyers, the executive director of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, will discuss the program.

Creative Class of 2015: Mark Thiedeman

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mark thiedemanAfter attending Catholic High and Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High School, Mark Thiedeman studied filmmaking at NYU.  Though he started his film work in New York, he returned to Little Rock a few years ago to continue making films in a more expressive and less expensive environment.

It is a proverbial chicken & egg question as to whether Thiedeman helped usher in the expansion of the Arkansas film industry, or whether he benefitted from it — probably a little of both.

Thiedeman is a true auteur, serving as director, writer, editor and often producer of his works. His feature films are The Scoundrel and Last Summer.  His shorts are “A Christian Boy,” “Cain & Abel” and “Sacred Hearts, Holy Souls.” The latter, which won the Best in Arkansas award at the 2014 Little Rock Film Festival, is being turned into a feature film.

Stephen Farber in The Hollywood Reporter has called him “a director worth watching.” In Filmmaker magazine, Howard Feinstein said of Thiedeman, “a star is born – and I mean a director.”

250 year old Gagliano violin celebrated at tonight’s ASO River Rhapsodies

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drew asoThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will showcase Concertmaster Andrew Irvin’s 250 year old Gagliano violin on October 27 as part of the ASO’s 2015-2016 River Rhapsodies Chamber Music series at 7 PM. The program features Mr. Irvin and his exceptional violin in various ensemble settings in the beautiful Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, performing music spanning the quarter-century life of the instrument.

The program includes:

  • Mozart – Sonata for Violin and Piano
  • Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 122

A cash bar is open at 6 PM and at intermission, and patrons are invited to carry their drinks into the hall. The media sponsor for the River Rhapsodies Chamber Series is KUAR/KLRE.

General admission tickets are $23; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org, at the Clinton Presidential Center box office beginning 60 minutes prior to the concert, or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100

“Great instruments require skilled musician hands to come alive — yet in these hands, they become personified beings that dwell in a realm unshackled from the bonds of time — and in so doing, connect musicians across centuries through the uniquely profound relationship that musicians have with their instruments.  Mr. Irvin’s violin is a direct connection to musical history.  Its previous masters’ preferences are infused in is tone, their gaffes inscribed upon its body, and its surface is a story of centuries of perspiration and effort in service to art. Musicians are merely the caretakers, or curators, of these instruments for a short human lifespan, and this program is a celebration of not only an instrument’s anniversary, but of all the musicians since 1765 who have made it possible.” – Philip Mann, music director

About the violin

The violin was made by Nicolo Gagliano in approximately 1765 (Gagliano marked his violins by decade only, so the exact date is unknown) in Naples, Italy. Headed by Alessandro Gagliano, the Neapolitan school of violin makers is considered to be among the pinnacles of high quality musical artisanship. Alessandro’s son, Nicolo, is possibly the greatest of the Gagliano luthiers. His legacy began with his four sons employed in his workshop and lasted well into the 20th Century, ending when the firm of Vincenzo Gagliano and Sons closed in 1925.

Before 1820 violins had shorter necks set up for gut strings, which have lower tension than modern steel strings. Composers like Beethoven demanded higher pitches and more sound, which drove changes to violin constructions. Violins were refitted with a longer neck for an increased range and the body was reinforced to handle the increased tension of more resonant steel strings.

Michael Purcell of Philadelphia maintains the violin, and Mr. Irvin returns to his shop twice a year for maintenance.

Little Rock Look Back: Little Rock takes first steps to becoming a city

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CLR oct271825Little Rock started functioning as the capital of Arkansas in June 1821. But by 1825 the settlement know as Little Rock was little more than a loosely defined group of structures. One hundred and ninety years ago today, on October 27, 1825,Territorial Governor George Izard signed legislation which started establishing a framework for Little Rock to function as a city.

It established that Little Rock citizens could elect a board of trustees to decide matters. Those trustees would choose one of their own to be a presiding officer. Though Little Rock would not be officially incorporated until 1831, this was the first step towards incorporation. The first trustees, elected for 1826, were Robert Crittenden, Joseph Henderson, Nicholas Peay, Bernard Smith and Isaac Watkins. Smith was chosen to be the presiding officer.

Crittenden had been largely responsible for the relocation of the capitol to Little Rock, where he owned a lot of land. He was a major political force in Arkansas politics during the territorial days. Watkins was a nephew of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had established the first tavern in Little Rock in 1821 and later he first mill in 1826. He was murdered in 1827 and the perpetrator was never captured.

Peay bought the tavern from Watkins in 1826 and continued in the tavern and hotel business the rest of his life. He later served on the Little Rock City Council and was acting mayor. His son Gordon Neill Peay served as Mayor of Little Rock. The Peay family also cofounded Worthen Bank and Christ Episcopal Church. Members of several branches of Mr. Peay’s descendants including the Worthen and Hurst families remain active in Little Rock affairs.

Creative Class of 2015: Stephanie Thibeault

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stephaniethibeaultStephanie Thibeault is a dancer, teacher and choreographer.  She is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at UALR, where she established the B.F.A. degree in Dance Performance.

Starting her career with Kinetics Dance Theatre and SURGE Dance Company of Baltimore, Thibeault worked as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Baltimore/Washington area before serving as a dance faculty member at several institutions, including University of Maryland, Dickinson College, and Wichita State University. Along the way, she has had the opportunity to perform with wonderful artists, including Mikhail Baryshnikov and Parsons Dance Company.

Having performed and presented work in New York City, Baltimore, Washington (DC), Lisbon (Portugal), and numerous other cities, large and small, Thibeault’s teaching and choreography have taken her around the globe, from the U.S. East Coast to Canada and Europe, and from the American Midwest to Hawaii and Taiwan. Stephanie Thibeault holds her M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland.

Thibeault’s choreographic work has been recognized with awards, and she has been selected for guest artist residencies and commissions by various professional companies and universities. Having received an Individual Artist Fellowship for Choreography from the Arkansas Arts Council in 2010, she continues to experiment with different processes and forms as she creates new work. A commission from Ballet Arkansas in 2012 produced American Dream, which took Thibeault back to her classical ballet roots while moving her forward into expressive simplicity.

She is currently working on the 2015 Fall Dance Festival on the UALR campus in November, which coincides with the B.F.A. student’s Fall Dance Harvest dance concert.