Category Archives: Music

10 Years of 2nd Friday Art Night

Posted on by

In March 2005, the first 2nd Friday Art Night took place. Tonight celebrates 10 years.

In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of 2nd Friday Art Night, the Arkansas Times and venues are partnering to host the Art Can drive benefitting the Arkansas Food Bank.

Guests are encouraged to donate canned goods, canned/packaged meals, soup, peanut butter, cereal, 100% juice, pasta & pasta sauce, powdered milk, diapers and bath tissue at 2nd Friday Art Night venues on March 13 from 5 to 8 pm.

Among the highlights are:

Historic Arkansas Museum – The free opening reception of Recent Acquisitions from 5pm to 8pm will feature live music by The John Burnette Band.

Tulips have been donated for the anniversary celebration by the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and P. Allen Smith.

The Recent Acquisitions exhibition will feature objects acquired for the museum’s permanent collection from 2012 to late 2014. The exhibition includes both 2-D and 3-D historical artifacts as well as contemporary pieces relevant to Arkansas history and heritage.
The Year of Arkansas Beer, sponsored by Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation and presented by Arkansas Brewers Guild, continues with Ozark Beer Co.’s American Pale Ale.

 
Old State House Museum –  Tonight at 7, as well as Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 3, the Arkansas Chamber Singers’ third concert of the season, “Music of the Civil War Era.” Choral music composed during, performed during, or inspired by the American Civil War featuring music by Verdi, Brahms, Stephen Foster and many Civil War tunes arranged for choir.Admission is free, reserve your seat today by visiting the Arkansas Chamber Singers Web site.

 

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies A Different State of Mind: An Exhibition by the Arkansas Society of Printmakers (On view through June 27, 2015)

This exhibition presents a collection of prints in a variety of media by the members of the Arkansas Society of Printmakers (ASP). Print techniques featured include relief, screen printing, intaglio, photogravure, monoprint, and lithography. Artists whose work is presented include Daniel Adams, Dustyn Bork, Win Bruhl, Ernest Cialone, Warren Criswell, Paige Dirksen, Debi Fendley, Melissa Gill, Diane Harper, Neal Harrington, Tammy Harrington, Kristin Karr, Jennifer Perren, Jessi Perren, Regan Renfro, Dominique Simmons, Thomas Sullivan, David Warren, and Jane Watson.

Warren Criswell, whose work is featured in A Different State of Mind, will give a talk about linocut, his style of printmaking, at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 13, in Butler Center Galleries.

Featured artist: Angela Davis Johnson is best known for her vibrant narrative paintings that examine universal connections, identity, and historical occurrences through personal symbols.

Entertainment in the galleries will be provided by the Itinerant Locals, an accordion and tuba duo from Hot Springs.

2nd Friday Art Night began in March of 2005 to bring attention to downtown Little Rock as a growing arts and cultural destination with several galleries and museums within strolling distance of each other. In addition to highlighting existing art venues 2nd Friday Art Night has, over the past decade, contributed to the development of a vibrant nightlife rich with art, history, live music and shopping.

By encouraging galleries, museums and cultural institutions to keep their doors open late one evening each month, the event has contributed to the thriving business environment of downtown Little Rock, improved the quality of life of those who work, live and play downtown and welcomed travelers to experience Little Rock in a fun way.

Night Serenades by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra tonight

Posted on by

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, continues the 2014-2015 Intimate Neighborhood Concerts series with Night Serenades, featuring one of the most well-known pieces in the classical genre: Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The event is held March 12th at 7:00 PM at the St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Dr., Little Rock, AR.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and ASO Composer of the Year John Corigliano’s Aria for Oboe and Strings, featuring Lorraine Duso Kitts, share the remainder of the program.

The Intimate Neighborhood Concerts series is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Foundation.

Tickets are $25; active duty military and student tickets are $10 are can be purchased online at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the St. James United Methodist Church beginning 60 minutes prior to the concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100.

PROGRAM:

MOZART: Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade, K. 525)

CORIGLIANO: Aria for Oboe and Strings; Lorraine Duso-Kitts, oboe

TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 49th season in 2014-2015, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, Landers FIAT River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.

Local Live tonight with Chuck Dodson and Joe McMahan

Posted on by

At 7:30 tonight at South on Main, tweek’s installment of our Local Live concert series features Chuck Dodson and Joe McMahan! 

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, 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. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

Hailing from Hot Springs, Chuck Dodson (keys) has been a mainstay in central Arkansas for years. Joining him onstage is Nashville-based guitarist Joe McMahan. Mc Mahan is co-founder of the group Luella and the Sun. He is also a respected producer who’s helmed records by Webb Wilder, Patrick Sweany, Altered Statesman, Kevin Gordon, Mr. Hazelwood, and Jeff Finlin, among many others.

Little Rock Wind Symphony in concert tonight. 

Posted on by



Getzov

After inclement weather last month, the Little Rock Wind Symphony will be in concert tonight at 7:30pm at Second Presbyterian Church with Diabolical! 

Under the baton of Israel Getzov, conductor candidate, it will feature guest artist Blake Tyson on marimba. 

The program includes: 

  • Leonard Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town”
  • James Barnes: Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Paganini
  • Hector Berlioz: “March to the Scaffold” from Symphonie Fantastique
  • Blake Tyson: Anubis for Marimba and Wind Ensemble World Premiere
  • Howard Hanson: Symphony No. 2 (“Romantic”), Third Movement
  • Julius Fučík: Thunder and Blazes

Sponsored by Robert and Jo Ann McQuade

Light Up the Night This Weekend with LANTERNS! at Wildwood

Posted on by

Don’t miss THE MOON! at this year’s LANTERNS! Festival March 6 – 8. You can check out our giant moon balloon, delight in a moon-pie, and sip on a Blue Moon beer. Visit six locations spread throughout the park!

Located in Wildwood’s award-winning Asian Woodland Garden, the Asian Vista is a perennial highlight of LANTERNS! Don’t miss the wide variety of foods, including sushi, dumplings, egg rolls and fried rice. Sake and beer will be available as well as hot jasmine tea. Two bands, The Lemon Drops and The News Kids will perform in the garden’s Tea House while a Chinese harpist and a calligrapher will be on hand to showcase their art!

Wildwood is alive with the sound of music! Austria comes to Arkansas in the lobbies of Wildwood’s Cabe Theatre. Piping hot Viennese beef soup with crepe slivers will be served with apple strudel and delectable pastries. Be on the lookout for bands of gypsy vagabonds. The theatre’s south lobby has been transformed into a Alpine winter wonderland – complete with gourmet chocolate shoppe, mountain goats and polka band!

There is a literal pot of gold at the end of Wildwood’s Ireland rainbow, and a bit o’ gold for everyone who makes it through the leprechaun’s maze. Traditional Irish dancers entertain while festival goers dine on two Irish staples: beer and potatoes. For those looking to stay warm, there’s a steaming cup of Irish coffee waiting for you, and there’s Fizzy Leprechaun punch for the kids! Be careful where you step! Daffodils are a’bloom and William Wordsworth, one of Ireland’s greatest poets, will be on hand to tell you all about them!

Are you ready to live la vida LANTERNS!? All the tastes of Mexico can be found in Wildwood’s gazebo. Beer and tequila shots will be on hand, while a mariachi and DJ get the party started. The festival’s famed floating lanterns are launched from the gazebo, piñatas will be broken nightly!

It is England in 1600 in Wildwood’s Studios, and Shakespeare’s greatest works are being performed on the hour! Smoked turkey legs and brats are for sale and you’ll find a few lovely ladies hawking cherry tarts to passers by. Make your way down High Street and be on the lookout for carnival performers of all kinds. If you’re visiting with someone special, get them a fresh orange – these rare fruits are the ultimate symbol love!

Visit America in the 1950s as the Greatest Generation is home and ready to rock! Stop by your local soda shop to enjoy a Coke Float and snack on some classic American treats. Grab your poodle skirt and get on the dance floor where Elvis, Chuck Berry, and the Supremes are waiting for you. When you’re ready for a break, sit bit and enjoy a show by amazing performance artists!

Buy your tickets at http://bit.ly/1v4DDa4.

Tonight’s Local Live at South on Main: The Amy Garland Band

Posted on by

Tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm: the Local Live music series features the Amy Garland Band. 

Call (501) 244-9660 to ensure your seat at a table for this popular event. The Oxford American’s Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

The Amy Garland Band, a six-member group formed in 2000, released its most recent album, Hang a Light, in June 2013. Earlier albums include Plays Well with Others (2000) and Angora (2004). Hailing from Little Rock, the band’s style blends folk, R&B, bluegrass, pop, and country for a deliciously unique sound. Members include: Amy Garland, vocals and guitar; Nick Devlin, guitar; Mike Nelson, bass; Bart Angel, drums; Jeff Coleman, keyboard; and Brad Williams, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica.

Amy Garland, who started playing guitar at the age of nine and began songwriting at ten, was a regular on the stages of the Louisiana Hayride and the Northern Louisiana Hayride as a young girl. After traveling and playing broadly during her high school and college years with prominent artists and at infamous venues—such as the Whispering Pines club in Ringgold, Louisiana, and honky tonks along the infamous Hwy 80 Bossier Strip—Garland moved to Arkansas in 1995.

During her years in the Natural State, Garland has become a regular host of KUAR’s “Arkansas Flyer,” and she began hosting the weekly Americana-flavored “Backroads” radio show on Little Rock’s KABF, greatly expanding her musical footprint. While touring the South, Garland has proudly collaborated with some of the best musicians in the region.

Artist of Distinction Vadim Gluzman headlines ASO River Rhapsodies Chamber Concert tonight 

Posted on by

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the fifth concert of the 2014-2015 Landers FIAT River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series: Artist of Distinction: Vadim Gluzman, on March 3rd at 7:00 PM.

ASO musicians are joined by the Richard Sheppard Arnold Artist of Distinction for chamber music by Dohnanyi, Stephanie Berg, Auerbach, and Bruch in the beautiful Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.

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

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

ARTISTS

Richard Sheppard Arnold Artist of Distinction: Vadim Gluzman, violin

Algimantis Staskevicius, Tatiana Kotcherguina, Kiril Laskarov, violin

Ryan Mooney, Katrina Weeks, viola

Felice Farrell, David Gerstein, cello

DDG Trio: Leanna Booze, Beth Wheeler, Lorraine Duso-Kitts, oboe

PROGRAM:

DOHNANYI: Serenade in C, Op. 10

BERG: The Featherlight Ballet

AUERBACH: Lonely Suite “Ballet for a Lonely Violinist”

BRUCH: String Quartet in A minor