Category Archives: Music

Go INTO THE WOODS this weekend at UALR

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UALR Opera Theater will journey Into the Woods on April 20 and 22 as it presents the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine award winning musical. (This is of special interest to the Culture Vulture who shares a common ancestor with the Brothers Grimm, on whose stories this musical is based.)

Encounter familiar characters such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (of the beanstalk), Cinderella and more as they strive to get their wishes. Follow the Baker and his wife as they search for magical ingredients to undo the spell the Witch has placed which prevents them from having a child. Watch as their dreams come true and reality sets it. Composer Sondheim and book writer James Lapine weave our favorite fables together in this cautionary grown-up fairy-tale about sacrifice, consequence and community.

Directed by 2009 UALR graduate Matthew K. Tatus and conducted by associate professor Bevan Keating, performances will take place at 7:30 pm on April 20 and 3pm on April 22 at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.  UALR student admission is free, children between the ages of 5-17 are $5, and general admission is $15. For tickets, call 501-569-8993 or order online at UALR Music Department Box Office.

The cast includes Christine Woods of Little Rock as Milky White/Snow White • David Lucian Angelo of Little Rock as Jack • Derrick Herman of Monticello as the baker • Ekaterina Kotcherguina of Little Rock as Cinderella • Erica Finnie of Searcy as Cinderella’s stepmother

J.J. Albrecht of Monticello as the steward • Jacqueline Forrester of Little Rock as the witch • Jessica Williams of Lantana, Texas, as Rapunzel • Katherine Ray of Jasper as Granny • Kevin Ezell of White Hall as Rapunzel’s prince • La’Leata May Westbrook of Little Rock as Lucinda.

Larry Burton of Little Rock will narrate and play the part of The Mysterious Man • LaSheena V. Gordon  of Little Rock as Florinda • Melissa Wilcox of Little Rock as Milky White’s Imposter/Sleeping Beauty • Memory Rose Apata of Little Rock as Jack’s mother • Michael Lowe of Little Rock as Cinderella’s prince • Rachel Manasco of Little Rock as Little Red Riding Hood • Regina Gallucci of Benton as Cinderella’s mother/the giant • Satia Spencer of DeWitt as the baker’s wife • Steven Armstrong of North Little Rock as Cinderella’s father

ASO announces River Rhapsodies for 2012-2013

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On the heels of the recent announcement of the 2012-2013 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks and Pops series, the ASO has unveiled next season’s River Rhapsodies Chamber Series.

It will kick off on October 2 when Augustin Hadelich will perform.  He will be featured on September 29 and 30 with the MasterWorks series as the Richard Sheppard Arnold Artist of Distinction.  Joining him on the program will be the Quapaw String Quartet, the Rockefeller String Quartet and violinist Geoffrey Robson.  The works to be performed include Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 54 No. 2; Webern’s Langsamer Satz; Yasye’s Violin Sonata in d minor, No. 3 “Ballade” and Tchaikovsky’s Sextet, Op. 70 “Souvenir de Florence.”

Appropriately the second concert of the series is entitled Duos.  On October 30, the concert will feature David Gerstein, cello; Andrew Irvin, violin; Tatiana Kotcherguina, viola; Ryan Mooney, viola; Geoffrey Robson, violin and Barron Weir, contrabass.  The program will feature Mozart’s Duo No. 1 in G for Violin and Viola; Rossini’s Duetto for Cello and Bass; Bridge’s Lament for Two Violas and Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7.

On November 13, the concert is entitled Masterworks and will feature the Quapaw String Quartet, Louis Menendez on piano and violinist Geoffrey Robson.  They will perform Ravel’sPiano Trio in a minor and Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 130 and Op. 133.

The Rockefeller String Quartet’s 10th anniversary will be highlighted in the fourth concert of the series.  They will perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 44 No. 1; Glass’s String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima) and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 1 in D Major.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Composer of the Year Jennifer Higdon will be featured on February 26, 2013.  The musicians performing that night will be David Gerstein, cello; Kelly Johnson, clarinet; Kiril Laskarov, violin; Susan Bell Leon, bassoon; Meredith Maddox-Hicks; violin; Diane McVinney, flute; David Renfro, horn; Tatiana Roitman, piano and Beth Wheeler, oboe. The musical selections include Barber’s Summer Music; Higdon’s Piano Trio and Autumn Music and Shostokovich’s Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67.

Spring in Little Rock will be celebrated with Appalachian Spring on April 16.  A host of musicians will play a program including Crumb’s Voice of the Whale; Debussy’s Sonate en trio for Flute, Viola and Harp; Higdon’s Amazing Grace and Copland’s Appalachian Spring.  The performers will be Carl Anthony, piano; Carolyn Brown, flute; Daniel Cline and David Gerstein, cello; Alisa Coffey, harp; Leanne Day-Simpson, Eric Hayward, Andrew Irvin and Kiril Laskarov, violin; Kelly Johnson, clarinet; Susan Bell Leon, bassoon; Ryan Mooney and Katherine Reynolds, viola and Barron Weir, contrabass.

The concerts will take place at 7pm at the Clinton Presidential Center.  Philip Mann is the music director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

 

ASO Closes Out 2011-2012 MasterWorks This Weekend

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director/Conductor Philip Mann presents its final 2011-2012 MasterWorks concert this weekend.  Entitled Desert & Sea it features performances of works by Wagner, Torke, and Debussy.

Gerassimez

The program will commence with the Overture to Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman.  Following that number will be the American premiere of Michael Torke’s Mojave Concerto for Marimba.  Torke is the inaugural ASO Composer of the Year.  The soloist on this selection is wunderkind marimbist Alexej Gerassimez.  The program concludes with Debussey’s La Mer.

The concerts take place at 8pm on Saturday, April 14 and 3pm on Sunday, April 15 at Robinson Center Music Hall.

About Michael Torke

Michael Torke has practically defined post-Minimalism, a music which utilizes the repetitive structures of a previous generation to incorporate musical techniques from both the classical tradition and the contemporary pop world.

Highlights of his career include: Color Music (1985–89), a series of orchestral pieces that each explore a single, specific color; Javelin, recorded both for Argo and for John William’s Summon the Heroes, the official 1996 Olympics album; Four Seasons, a 65-minute oratorio commissioned by the Walt Disney Company to celebrate the millennium and premiered by Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic; Strawberry Fields, whose “Great Performances” broadcast was nominated for an Emmy Award; and two evening-length story ballets, The Contract, and An Italian Straw Hat, for James Kudelka and the National Ballet of Canada.

About Alexej Gerassimez

Alexej Gerassimez was born in Essen, Germany in 1987 and received his first piano lessons at the age of five. Two years later he began to play percussion. After various early successes in competitions, among others 1st awards in the International Marimba Competition in Nuremberg, the European Music Competition for Youth, the Southwest-German Chamber Music Competition, four 1st awards including the highest number of possible points in Jugend Musiziert (a renowned national music competition for youths) and he won the Deutscher Musikrat-Competition (a national competition in all instrument categories for young adults) in 2010. In the same year he received the 1st award, the Audience Award and the Press Award in the TROMP Percussion Competition in the Netherlands, one of the most renowned international competitions for solo percussion. Today Alexej Gerassimez is presumed to be one of the leading percussion soloists of his generation.

His vivid performance activities have lead him to a wide range of European countries as well as to Japan, where he gave solo performances in Tokyo and Yokohama in the context of the German Year in 2006.

The multi-faceted young artist dedicates himself to composition, too. First publications with the Danish publisher Edition Svitzer have already been performed in the USA, Canada, Japan, and Europe.

April 12 Brown Bag with ASO Composer of the Year Michael Torke

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will be hosting an opportunity to hear ASO Composer of the Year Michael Torke on Thursday, April 12 at a Brown Bag Lunch.  Mr. Torke will discuss his career as he has become one of the most successful living composers, his upcoming projects and some highlights of his piece, Mojave Marimba Concerto, which will be performed at ASO’s upcoming Desert & Sea concert. The discussion will be followed by a question and answer session.

When:
Thursday, April 12, 2012
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch & Lecture
*Bring your own lunch. Drinks provided.

Where:
ASO Offices, St. John’s Catholic Campus: 2417 North Tyler Street, Little Rock, AR 72207
Byrne Hall

*Reserve your seats by emailing ehowell@arkansassymphony.org or calling 501-666-1761 ext 100.

Wildwood Azalea Walk

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Wildwood Park for the Arts invites people to celebrate Spring, take a stroll and sip on some bubbly today.

Wildwood is blooming! The colors and aromas of spring are upon us, and to celebrate, Wildwood’s Board of Trustees is hosting the Park’s premiere Champagne Azalea Walk on Saturday, April 7, from 1-4 pm.

With champagne in hand stroll the park, enjoy hors d’oeuvres, listen to live jazz and smell the sweet aroma of Wildwood’s famed azalea blossoms.

The cost of the Azalea Walk is $30 per person.

Enhance the experience and include a garden luncheon specially prepared for you and your friends, as well as an up close seat to the live jazz trio. Garden Luncheon: $60 per person

Piano Duo at UALR tomorrow evening

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On Saturday, April 7, piano duo Tatiana Roitman and Kristina Marinova, will present “Arete”. The program will include Lutoslawski’s “Paganini Variatrions,” Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” and more.

Both pianists are members of the UALR Music Department faculty.

Tatiana Roitman has appeared as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe. The BBC hailed her performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as “formidable…both accurate and with rarely seen joy.”

As a performer of contemporary works, she’s premiered works at the American Composer’s Forum and performed For Don by Milton Babbitt, with the composer in attendance in celebration of his 90th birthday at Tanglewood’s Contemporary Music Festival. She’s performed regularly with the San Diego Symphony, and has been featured as a soloist in Stravinsky’s Petrushka, and on SDSO’s innovative Symphony Exposed Series.

As the recipient of the Peggy Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship at Tanglewood, she worked with James Levine, Dawn Upshaw, Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Rosen and Claude Frank. Roitman holds a PGDip. in Performance and a Licentiate in Pedagogy from the Royal Academy of Music in London, an M.Mus. in Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and a DMA from the University of Minnesota, USA. Her principal teachers include Prof. Tatiana Sarkissova, Dr. Marc Silverman, and Prof. Alexander Braginsky.

Kristina Marinova, a native of Bulgaria, holds a BM in piano performance from UCA and a Masters in
piano performance from the University of Michigan.

She is winner of international piano competitions as well as a participant in several major festivals. Currently she is the accompanist for the UALR Concert Choir, Community Chorus and Opera Theater.

Falling Off a Tin Roof on Tuesday

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At “Tales from the South” the first Tuesday of the month means “Tin Roof Project.”

This month features Monica Staggs, who grew up in North Little Rock.

As she describes her childhood, she was a tomboy practicing how to rouchambeau boys on the playground and playing Charlie’s Angels in the woods behind her house.    During her senior year at college, Monica got to work on a film that came to Little Rock called Shelter where she was the stand in for the lead actress as well as landing a small part. She rode passenger as a car ran off an embankment, crashing through trees before and stopping just before a lake.

Getting a taste for the thrill of the film business, three weeks later, Monica flew to L.A. for the first time and worked on her second film. She fell in love with Los Angeles and everything about it. As soon as she returned to Arkansas she announced she was moving to L.A. and two weeks later she did on the plane, not knowing a soul, with three large duffle bags, a fork, a knife and a bath towel.

After moving to L.A., within three weeks she was lucky enough to land her third film. She began training in other areas of stunt work such as stunt driving, martial arts, stunt fights, and boxing. She has spent the last 20 years working in L.A.

Monica has done stunt work on more than one hundred film and television productions, including Kill Bill 2, Crash, The Italian Job, Bewitched, Starship Troopers II, Charlie’s Angels, Transformers, and many, many more. She has won numerous awards and accolades for her stunt work,  and at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards she was brought to the stage by Quentin Tarantino to share the award for Best Fight in Kill Bill 2. She is a board member of the Stuntwomen’s Association.

Monica still lives in L.A. where she writes sketch comedy and loves to play Texas Hold-Em, enters tournaments regularly and hosts home games where she attempts to take money from her fellow stunt peers. Her other pastimes include watching “South Park,” “Reno 911” and any and all horror movies.

Before her talk, music will be provided by The Salty Dogs and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.  To reserve a ticket go to   www.talesfromthesouth.com.

Starving Artist Cafe’
DATE: Tuesday, April 03, 2012
TIME: Doors open 5pm
Dinner 5pm-6:30pm
Show starts at 7pm
LOCATION: 411 Main Street, North Little Rock

Admission is $5

Dinner is from the special Tales menu.
 Purchase your tickets HERE