Tag Archives: NPR

Creative Class 2016: Tatiana Roitman Mann

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cc16-roitmanPianist Tatiana Roitman Mann has appeared as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe.  Last night she appeared with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra at their River Rhapsodies Chamber Series.  On Friday, October 28, she will be one of the performers at Trinity Cathedral in “A Schubertiade” as part of their Chamber Music Series.

The BBC hailed her performance of  Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Oxford Pops Orchestra as “formidable…both accurate and with rarely seen joy.” Mann’s radio broadcasts include H.Villa-Lobos’ Mystic Sextet, on NPR’s Performance Today , and B.Bartok’s Contrasts  on New York’s classical music station, WQXR, G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on Little Rock’s KLRE.  Tatiana’s recording of the original, big band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was released on Naxos in the album Jazz Nocturne – American Concertos of the Jazz Age.

As a performer of contemporary works, she premiered Speak No Evil by E. McKinley at the American Composer’s Forum, and performed For Don by M. Babbitt, with the composer in attendance, in celebration of his 90th birthday at Tanglewood’s Contemporary Music Festival.  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.

Tatiana’s interpretations of solo, concerto and chamber repertoire are characterized by their warmth and emotional intensity. As a versatile artist whose engagements range from concerto, solo and chamber performances to I. Stravinsky’s Petrushka with the San Diego Symphony and the Mainly Mozart education series Joyful Noise, she strongly believes the only way that “art” music can remain pertinent in the 21st century is by conveying and elevating its emotional quintessence.

Tatiana’s recent concerto performances include L. van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #4 op.58, C. Saint-Saens Concerto #4 op.44 in San Diego, CA, G. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Bismarck-Mandan Symphony in ND, L. van Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in Sydney, Australia, as well as Rhapsody in Blue with the Arkansas Symphony. During the 2016-2017 concert season Mann will return to River Rhapsodies for performances of works by F. Schubert and M. Ravel. Additional engagements include a solo recital in the “Arts and Life” series at Harding University, M. de Falla’s Evenings in the Gardens of Spain with Venice Symphony, FL under the baton of Maestro Imre Pallo, and other performances as a soloist and collaborator with various chamber music groups throughout the US.

Tatiana holds graduate degrees from Manhattan School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music in London and a DMA from University of Minnesota.   

New Public Radio Network in Arkansas launched

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natural state newsThe Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) awarded a $278,300 grant to four Arkansas public radio stations to support the creation of a statewide multimedia journalism collaboration based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  Natural State News will be a statewide news service focusing on reaching rural areas of the state.

KUAR, UALR’S public radio station, will be the lead station for the project, joined by Fayetteville’s KUAF, Jonesboro’s KASU, and Texarkana’s KTXK. Ben Fry, general manager of KUAR and classical station KLRE, will coordinate the collaboration to create and broadcast thematically unified content relevant to the interests and needs of Arkansans.

Though the stations have often collaborated, the radio news service marks their first official joint venture. Together, the stations’ staff members at the stations will report stories centered on three themes:

  • Education
  • Health
  • Energy

NSN will report breaking news as well as produce related special interest stories. The resulting multimedia content will be published online and heard on local and national public radio programs such as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Here and Now.

“CPB is pleased to support this historic collaboration of Arkansas public media stations,” said Bruce Theriault, senior vice president of journalism and radio, CPB. “The Natural State News collaboration is an example of increased media integration and a pathway for stations to work together to maximize resources while expanding their high-quality journalism.”

The grant will help fund four new positions: a managing editor, two additional reporters, and a partner manager, who will raise additional funds for the project. Three of the new positions will be based in Little Rock, with one reporter to work out of Jonesboro.

Natural State News plans to break new ground with in-depth multimedia reporting to reach extensively into rural Arkansas to tell unfolding stories about wealth, poverty, race, and decision-making in education, healthcare, and the environment. Little-told stories from the region will give a distinctive vantage point for understanding larger national experiences.

NSN will partner with the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN), and the print publication El Latino to provide and promote its diverse, nuanced content. All stories will be available in both Spanish and English, and NSN is committed to supporting diversity in its staff, student interns, and stories.

For more information on the partner stations, go to their websites: KLRE/KUAR, KUAF, KASU and KTXK.

 

Tonight, South on Main welcomes Gina Chavez to the stage

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som ginaSouth on Main is pleased to welcome Austin-based Gina Chavez to the stage, with Arkansas’ own Handmade Moments opening. Doors open at 4:00 PM, show begins at 9:00 PM. Wristbands can be purchased for $10 after doors open.

Gina Chavez is a multi-ethnic Latin pop artist and Austin’s 2015 Musician of the Year. Her independent release, Up.Rooted, won praise from The Boston Globe, USA Today and shot to the top of the iTunes and Amazon Latin charts after a feature on NPR’s All Things Considered.

An eight-time Austin Music Award winner, Gina and her band have shared the stage with Grace Potter, Grammy winners La Santa Cecilia, Gaby Moreno, and Grupo Fantasma, winning audiences throughout the U.S. and abroad. She took home the Grand Prize in the 2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for “Siete-D,” a song about her experience volunteering in a gang-dominated suburb of San Salvador where she founded Niñas Arriba, a college fund for young Latinas.

Handmade moments is a folk/jazz duo from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Their music is reminiscent of 20’s dance hall hits and viper era jazz standards mixed with current themes… Plus some beatboxing. Although modern and fresh, Joel Ludford and Anna Horton’s songwriting contains a subtle and humble vibe. Every show leaves fans lusting over Anna’s prolific voice, while Joel’s guitar grooves continue to ring in their bobbing heads.

A Tin Roof Project Tales from the South: Ruth Coker Burks-the Cemetery Angel

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ruthcokerburksGenerally the first Tuesday of the month is a special Tales from the South called “Tin Roof Project” which involves an autobiography.  While all are special, this one is even more special.

Ruth Coker Burks was a young mother in her 20s when the AIDS epidemic hit Arkansas in the early 1980s. She took it upon herself to care for AIDS patients who were abandoned by their families, and even by medical professionals, who feared the disease. Coker Burks, now 55, has no medical training, but she estimates that she has cared for nearly 1,000 people over the past three decades. She became involved after visiting a friend at a Little Rock hospital where one of the state’s early AIDS patients was dying. “The nurses were drawing straws to see who would go in and check on him,” says Coker Burks. “And so I snuck into his room. And he wanted his mama. And so I marched myself out to the nurses’ station and I said, ‘Can we call his mother?’ And they go, ‘Honey, his mama’s not coming. He’s been here six weeks. Nobody’s coming.’

“And so I went back in and he looked up at me and he said, ‘Oh, Mama, I knew you’d come.’ I stayed with him for 13 hours while he took his last breath. I called his mother and I told her that he had died and she said, ‘I’m not burying him.’ So I had him cremated and I brought him home… I’ve buried over 40 people in my family’s cemetery, because their families didn’t want them.”

Ruth Coker Burks has been featured in regional and national publications and shows, including The Arkansas Times, StoryCorp, the BBC, and NPR’s Morning Edition. Originally from Hot Springs, Ruth now lives in Northwest Arkansas with her family.

Tonight’s program will take place at Best Impressions restaurant at the Arkansas Arts Center.  Music will be provided by The Salty Dogs and bluesman Mark Simpson.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $15.  Dinner can be purchased separately.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.  Any tickets still available at the door can be purchased for $20.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.  This program will air on April 16.

Local Live free music series features Claire Holley tonight at South on Main at 7:30 pm

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[*Photo credit: James Patterson]

[Photo credit: James Patterson]

This week’s installment of the free Local Live concert series features Claire Holley at 7:30 pm at South on Main.

Presented by the Oxford American magazine, Local Live showcases the best of local and regional music talent. Call ahead to South on Main to make your reservation and ensure a table: (501) 244-9660. Local Live is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cosmic Cowboy Music.

A native Mississippian now living in Los Angeles, Claire Holley began performing and writing songs in college, but released her first recordings while living in North Carolina. She began getting regular airplay on WUNC’s “Back Porch Music,” and her self-titled debut from Yep Roc Records was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition. A move to the west coast followed and, soon after, she began collaborating with directors on their film and play projects.

Holley has released seven records, and her powdercoat ep, a collaboration with Kristin Mooney, won the 2014 “Best in Popular Music” from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters—Huffington Post called it “one of the year’s loveliest recordings.” A tasteful vocalist and guitar player, Claire is an engaging performer and has sung at Merlefest, Mountain Stage, and a host of listening rooms around the country. Holley’s forthcoming solo album, Time in the Middle, will be released March 2015.

“…she owes much to the Southern tradition of storytelling, and just as much to the Southern tradition of charm…” —Image Journal

“The slight catch in Holley’s voice can break your heart…” —Time Out New York

He’s made it “back to Little Rock” – Hendrix College alum Hayes Carll

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181891_C9_008Hendrix alum Hayes Carll makes a much welcome return to the River Market tonight. The initiated know what’s in store but for those who don’t, this is tell it like it is music for people who might not normally be into that sort of thing. Honest, at times humorous and certainly engaging, a Hayes Carll show is a show that you won’t want to miss!

His paean to Arkansas’ capitol city, “Little Rock,” has perhaps my favorite line about the city: “a piece of this earth for my peace of mind.”

An outstanding performer, he is also a phenomenal songwriter. He pens most of his own songs, but also writes for others.  NPR picked “Chances Are” one of its top picks for 2014.  They termed this song  (he wrote which was recorded by Lee Ann Womack) an instant classic.

Show time is 9:00 p.m. The opening back is Band of Heathens. Tickets are $20.

 

The Music of Texas will be focus of 2014 Oxford American Music Issue

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oa texasRecently, Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey, Oxford American editor Roger D. Hodge, and the Texas Music Office will announce that the state of Texas will be the focus of the OA‘s 16th annual music issue. The announcement is at 4 PM at Austin’s iconic Continental Club.

“The Oxford American is thrilled to showcase the music of Texas, home of many of the world’s most influential artists and recordings,” says Rick Clark, the OA‘s music editor. “In addition to delving into the state’s noteworthy historic recordings and figures, we will put emphasis on Texas’s current vibrant, creative artistic culture.”

The issue will be published and available on newsstands nationwide in December 2014. It will be packaged with a compilation CD dedicated to the music of Texas. The magazine will include a special editorial section comprised of essays and features about the artists and songs on the CD.

“The Texas Music Office in the Governor’s Office is working closely with the Oxford American to help produce the Music of Texas issue,” says Casey Monahan, Director of the Texas Music Office. “We’re looking forward to this exciting and high visibility edition.”

The Oxford American‘s annual Southern Music Issue has won two National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it was first introduced in 1996. It is considered by many readers and listeners to be among the best music packages in the country. In 2012, Dwight Garner of the New York Times wrote, “The Oxford American may be the liveliest literary magazine in America….The CDs are so smart and eclectic they probably belong in the Smithsonian.”

Over the years, NPR has featured many of the OA‘s music issues on its broadcasts. Over the past twenty years, the Southern music issue has showcased an incredible range of talents spanning many genres and decades, including R.E.M., Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Isaac Hayes, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, and more. Music-writing legends-such as Greil Marcus, William Gay, Stanley Crouch, Peter Guralnick, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Rosanne Cash-have contributed memorable writing to the issues. Past OA music issues have featured the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and, last year, Tennessee.