Tag Archives: UA Little Rock Music

Arts & culture advocate, Dr. Joel Anderson to retire as UALR Chancellor

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jeasmile-444x668University of Arkansas at Little Rock Chancellor Joel E. Anderson announced today that he will retire following a 13-year tenure as chancellor and a 45-year career at the university. His retirement will be effective June 30, 2016.

Anderson became UALR chancellor in 2003, bringing with him more than 30 years of university and community service. He had previously served UALR as provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and as founding dean of the Graduate School.

Chancellor Anderson’s announcement comes on the heels of a 1.2 percent increase in enrollment at UALR, including a 19 percent increase in first-time college students and a 7.1 percent increase in first-time transfer students.

“It has been a tremendous pleasure to see UALR grow and mature into the excellent, comprehensive university that it has become,” said Chancellor Anderson. “The faculty and staff of UALR deserve more credit than they will ever receive for their tireless efforts to help students achieve the dream of a college education that will enable students to adjust to a changing future and support themselves and their families.”

University of Arkansas System President, Donald R. Bobbitt will form a search committee in the coming weeks with the goal to complete the search by July 1, 2016.

One of the achievements he was most passionate about was the founding in 2011 of the Institute on Race and Ethnicity, a center designed to move Arkansas forward on the broad front of racial and ethnic justice through education, research, dialogue, community events, and reconciliation initiatives.

As professor, dean, provost, and chancellor, Anderson always related success of the university to success of the students UALR served. As chancellor, he launched numerous initiatives to recruit and retain more students and to reach out to underserved student populations. His signature is on more than 26,836 diplomas and the university’s fall-to-fall retention rate is the highest it has ever been.

“Joel is a true gentleman who cares about the university more than himself”, said Dr. Dean Kumpuris, chair of the UALR Board Visitors.  “He has no ego and has sought our advice and support more than he probably had to,” “His primary goal has been to shepherd the university to a better place, which he has done. We are lucky to have had him as a leader for so many years.”

Anderson, who grew up on a farm east of Swifton in northeast Arkansas, received a BA degree in political science from Harding University, an MA degree in international relations from American University, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. He also completed the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

“The university has good momentum. I need time to catch up on a backlog of books and also to see my grandchildren more often,” Anderson said.  “All the while I will watch with pride as UALR grows and changes.”

Highlights of his service as chancellor include:

  • The Windgate Charitable Foundation awarded UALR a grant of $20.3 million for a new Visual Arts and Applied Design center.

  • Since 2003, UALR has purchased the University Plaza shopping center which is now home of KUAR-KLRE Public Radio as well as the current home of the applied design center.

  • As part of the Coleman Creek Greenway project, the Trail of Tears Park was completed in 2011 to recognize the historical significance of the location on the south end of campus where the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes stopped for water along Coleman Creek.

  • Establishment of a Dance major, the only one in the state, within the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.

  • Much of the campus’s infrastructure has undergone substantial renovations including the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. Likewise, there has been an added emphasis on the promotion and maintenance of public art on campus.

  • Chancellor Anderson served as a “Scholar in Residence” in 2010 at the Center on Community Philanthropy at the Clinton School for his work on issues of race and ethnicity.

  • Dr. Anderson launched the Institute on Race and Ethnicity in 2011 to move Arkansas forward on the broad front of racial and ethnic justice through education, research, dialogue, community events, and reconciliation initiatives.  One of their projects has been the annual Civil Rights Heritage Trail installation.

  • In 2015, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation honored Chancellor Anderson as one of 40 Community Leaders in the categories of community, education, nonprofits, and prosperity.

Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson at Local Live tonight

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llsom s gTonight at 7:30pm at is this week’s installment of Local Live concert series at South on Main.  The artists tonight are Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson!

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 Ben and Jane Hunt Meade.

Guido Ritchie and Steve Hudelson have been performing together as a duo for over twenty years, presenting some the finest jazz Arkansas has to offer. They first began playing together in the early 90’s where they were both music majors at UALR. Hundreds of gigs in restaurants, private parties, and concert stages later, Ritchie and Hudelson have honed their unique trumpet and guitar pairing into a beautiful and exiting sound. Recently, both musicians were added to the Arkansas Art Council’s Arts on Tour roster.

Tonight at Wildwood – Maria Natale & Kyong-Eun Na in concert

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Tonight at 7:30pm, Wildwood Park  plays host to a recital by guest artist Maria Natale.

Hailed by The New York Times for her “plummy, penetrating voice”, soprano Maria Natale is quickly becoming noticed as a rising talent in the NYC area. At the Manhattan School of Music, she sang the role of Lady Macbeth in Ernest Bloch’s only opera Macbeth and was praised for her “high voltage vocal thrills” (OPERA NEWS). This year, she was selected by OPERA NEWS to sing in Lincoln Center in a Masterclass with legendary tenor Placido Domingo.

Ms. Natale will be joined on piano by Dr. Kyung-Eun Na. Dr. Na is a performer, educator, opera coach, and radio program director. She has served as a vocal coach and collaborative piano faculty at UALR and as adjunct faculty at Seoul Arts High School and Sungshin Women’s University in Korea.  Tickets are available here.  WAMA students and their families attend free.

Student Showcase tonight at South on Main highlighting UALR visual and performing arts students

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UALR Coopt artistsStudents in the visual and performing arts at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will present their work at South on Main from 5 to 9 p.m. tonight (May 7)

The event is free and open to the public. Seating at the bar is open, but reservations must be made for table service. Reservations can be made at 501.244.9660 or at opentable.com.

For the third consecutive semester, visual artists will display their work for the viewing public at the event known as Co-opt.

“Twenty students will have the chance to hone, and share, their craft with a public audience at an established location and promote the arts at UALR,” said Taimur Cleary, UALR Artist in Residence and instructor of the course that inspires the event.

UALR’s Department of Art and Department of Theatre Arts and Dance are teaming up with Oxford American magazine and South on Main to host the semi annual event in order to promote these emerging artists.

Cleary and his students will speak briefly at 7 p.m. during the show. Following their talk, students from the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance will share a selection of four plays all written, directed, and performed by the students.

This will be the first time performing artists from both music and theatre will be included in the show.

In addition to the live presentations, artwork will remain on display in Oxford American’s Annex Gallery from Thursday, May 7 through Saturday, May 9.

According to Cleary, the title Co-opt carries a number of meanings, namely to cause someone to become a part of your movement. It also refers to cooperative learning strategies that the class uses.

In Cleary’s class, Learning Co-Op, students representing almost every department on campus create works of art through printmaking, painting, ceramics, and sculpture.

Cleary is a painter and teaches full-time at UALR. His artistic direction is informed and fueled by evolving interests in art history, perception, meteorology, memory, abstraction, and photography.

Tonight – UALR Songwriter Showcase featuring Tara Johnson and others

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The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will feature alumna Tara Johnson and current student performers in its biannual Songwriters Showcase at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, in Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building.

The program is free and open to the public. Parking will be available in Lot 8 behind the Fine Arts Building.

The first half of the program, sponsored by the Music Department and Office of Campus Life, will feature works by UALR students and songwriters from the community.

Students performers include Heather Smith, Sara Hastings, Robert Lee, Daysha Carr, Susan Robbins, Paula Smith, Stephanie Smittle, and Samuel Byrd.

Johnson, a UALR visiting artist, will perform six of her original Christian songs during the second part of the program including “Walking In Wonderland” and “December’s Songbird.”

Johnson, a native of Alexander, is an author, singer, and songwriter signed with Incubator Creative Group. She has been a featured guest on Voice of Truth radio and Enduring Word radio.

In 2014, Tara wrote the Vacation Bible School music for Bogard Press and was a contributing judge in the 2015 Live It Loud Songwriting Contest in Nashville.

Learn more about Johnson’s music at www.reverbnation.com/tarajohnson.

 

Tonight at Jazz in the Park – John Burnette Band

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SONY DSCJazz in the Park finishes the first half of its third year tonight with the John Burnette Band.

John Burnette is a Singer, Songwriter, and Guitarist from Little Rock who combines his background in Folk, Jazz, Rock, and Blues to create a familiar yet searching blend of music that draws on his past musical experiences.

He spent the first years of his life growing up in Mountain View: the “Folk Music Capitol of the World,” in a community dedicated to supporting and continuing the tradition of live music and storytelling, which paved the way for him to learn how to play the guitar. He moved to Little Rock at age 11 with his mother and began performing at the age of 14 in open blues jams early on, then graduated to playing with various rock bands from Arkansas Tennessee. Upon graduating high school, he received a scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and holds a degree in Music with an emphasis in Jazz Guitar Studies and Entrepreneurship.

During college, he formed a Jazz group with Bassist Michael Lavender and Drummer Adam Tompkins and has been performing regularly with them since 2008. After graduation, John took on vocal duties in the band to a surprisingly warm audience reception and began writing and arranging tunes for the group. Soon after, they formed The John Burnette Band and began performing their original material. “It was a really interesting and unnerving experience going from being solely a guitar player to tackling the new territory of singing and writing tunes, but the response was really encouraging and it became a really enjoyable creative outlet that has opened up a lot more aesthetic possibilities for us,” says John. They are in the process of writing and recording their debut EP and stay busy in the meantime playing with various acts throughout the state.

Michael Lavender has a background playing Metal, Jazz, Funk, Blues, and Rock and is as proficient on a stand-up bass as he is an electric. Mike holds a degree in Bass Performance from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Adam Tompkins has been playing drums in Blues, Rock, Folk and Jazz bands as well as percussion ensembles since his teenage years and has a minor in Music focusing on percussion. “I couldn’t have been blessed with a better group of guys to play with. They have such varied backgrounds and are extremely competent in their own rights, but having them together creates an atmosphere that is really conducive to trying new things and being able to go in just about any direction we want. They’re so easy to communicate with and it’s a real blessing,” says John.

The concert will be from 6pm to 8pm in the History Pavilion in Riverfront Park.  The closest entry point to the History Pavilion is Ottenheimer Drive off of President Clinton Avenue.

In case of rain, the River Market West Pavilion will be the alternate location for the event.

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The event is completely free, but no coolers are allowed. Beer, wine, soft drinks and water will be available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit Art Porter Music Education, Inc.’s scholarship fund.  Lawn chairs and blankets are welcome, and there is some seating in the natural stone amphitheater at the History Pavilion.

This event is sponsored by Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and the River Market.

For more information about Art Porter Music Education, visit www.artporter.org.

Four Percussionists; 60 Instruments – Tonight at UALR

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percussionThe University of Arkansas at Little Rock Percussion Ensemble will host a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, in the University Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts that will include a daring performance of over 60 instruments.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Presented by the UALR Department of Music and under the direction of Conductor and Founder Charles Law, the show will include a performance of Bahrah for percussion quartet by Brandon Hendrix, Sands of Africa by Eric Harper, and Chopin’s Prelude No. 20 transcribed by Kevin Lepper.

A rendition of Bella by Carlos Santana arranged for mallets by Oliver Molina and Trinidad Blue Basin traditional arranged by Lisa Rogers will follow.

The finale will feature a performance of John Cage’s Third Construction for Percussion. This challenging work by Cage features over 60 instruments performed by four musicians creating a landscape of rhythm and sounds including shakers and twenty cans.

Celebrating more than 20 years, the UALR Percussion Ensemble is a high-energy group performing throughout the Midwest and South in concerts and clinics for students of all ages.

The ensemble has performed at the University of Missouri, University of Georgia, University of New Orleans, Mobile Alabama Concerts in the Park, Chicago Public Schools, Silver Dollar City, and Little Rock World Fest.

They explore a wide range of repertoire representing the most current and recognized composers of the time in percussion. The group has used music to reach out to inner-city and at-risk youth with the International House of Blues Foundation in New Orleans and the House of Blues Club.