MUSIC
‘A Work of Art’
The String Queens — Kendall Isadore, violin; Dawn Johnson, viola; and Elise Sharp, cello, whose repertoire spans from the Baroque era to the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100 Chart — headline the Scholarship Program finale of Art Porter Music Education Inc.’s 14th “A Work of Art,” 8 p.m. Saturday at the Center for Humanities and Arts Theatre at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College main campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock.
Tickets are $65-$75.
The show will also include special performances by the APME All-Stars and will introduce the 2024 recipient of the APME’s $3,000 renewable scholarship: Emily Wheeler, a graduating senior from Van Buren High School and first-chair bassoonist in the Van Buren High School band. She plans to major in music education at the University of Central Arkansas.
The concert concludes a week of events celebrating the birthday of the late Art Porter Jr. as well as his career and that of his father, jazzman Art Porter Sr. The nonprofit promotes music education while providing scholarships for college-bound students.
The lineup:
◼️ Monday: Kickoff, Little Rock City Hall, noon. Free.
◼️ Tuesday: Jazz on the Plaza featuring APME’s Minors in Music students, River Market Plaza, noon. Free.
◼️ Wednesday: Louisiana jazz-soul singer Quiana Lynell, 7 p.m., Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. $55-$65
◼️ Thursday: Houston-based saxophonist Kyle Turner, Mosaic Templars Center, 501 W. Ninth St., 7 p.m. $50
◼️ Friday: Porter Players Jam Session, Delta Hotel by Marriott, 201 S. Shackleford Road, 7 p.m. Free.
Call (501) 492-9120 or visit artporter.org.
Louisiana jazz-soul singer Quiana Lynell performs Wednesday at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock and saxophonist Kyle Turner performs Thursday at Little Rock’s Mosaic Templars Center, part of the Art Porter Music Education Inc.’s weeklong “A Work of Art” celebration. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Chamber concerts
Faulkner Chamber Music Festival faculty members are giving two recitals at the Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College main campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock:
◼️5 p.m. Tuesday: Katherine Williamson and Geoffrey Robson, violins; Ryan Mooney, viola; and David Gerstein, cello, will play the String Quartet No. 4 by Grazyna Bacewicz. Cellist Jeremy Crosmer joins them for the String Quintet in C major, D. 956, by Franz Schubert.
◼️7 p.m. Friday: Lauren Pokorzynski, Geoffrey Robson and Katherine Williamson, violins, and Jeremy Crosmer, cello, play music by Wynton Marsalis: excerpts from his String Quartet No. 1, “At the Octoroon Balls” (“Creole Contradanzas”; “Many Gone”; “Hellbound Highball”; and “Rampart St. Row House Rag”). Robson and Williamson, violins; Timothy MacDuff and Ryan Mooney, violas; and David Gerstein and Jeremy Crosmer, cellos, play the Sextet No. 2 in G major by Johannes Brahms.
Admission to both recitals is free. Visit faulknerchambermusicfestival.com.
THEATER
Directing workshop
Actress and arts educator Patrice D. Williams conducts a “beginner-friendly” directing workshop for ages 16 and older, 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 10, 17 and 24 at the Adam Robinson Jr. Black Box Theater, 627 S. Main St., Pine Bluff. There is a 20-participant limit. Fee is $25. Register at artx3.org/all-events/directing-workshop; for more information, call (870) 536-3375 or email jtlewis@artx3.org.
New Orleans bassist John Hébert performs Sept. 9 at The Joint in North Little Rock, part of the lineup for the ninth Acansa Arts Festival of the South. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ETC.
Acansa lineup
Acansa Arts Festival of the South marks its 10th birthday with its ninth annual festival (chalk up one skipped year to covid-19), Sept. 5-21, with music, dance and theater performances in various venues in Little Rock and North Little Rock. The festival’s name comes from the Quapaw word for “southern place.”
The lineup (except as noted, all shows at 7:30 p.m.):
◼️ Sept. 5 — The Big Dam Horns, The Rail Yard, 1212 E. Sixth St., Little Rock. Beverages and the area’s finest food truck fare will be available for sale. $15
◼️ Sept. 6 — Australian folk-roots ensemble The Heart Collectors (cello, guitar, mandolin, banjo and bodhran), The Studio Theatre, 320 W. Seventh St., Little Rock. $25
◼️ Sept. 7 — Family Arts Day in partnership with the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Argenta Plaza, 510 Main St., North Little Rock, featuring Buckets N Boards at noon. Free.
◼️ Sept. 7 — “Cello Stories: A Life Under Broadway,” in partnership with Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Amerine/Calhoun Glass Box, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. Cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf, who has performed in 21 Broadway shows, plays arrangements for cello and piano and tells stories about her life as a musician. $35
◼️ Sept. 9 — New Orleans bassist John Hébert, leader of Byzantine Monkey, in partnership with Jazz at the Joint, The Joint, 301 Main St., North Little Rock. $30
◼️ Sept. 11-21 — “The Sunshine Boys” by Neil Simon, in partnership with Argenta Contemporary Theatre, ACT II, 315 Main St., North Little Rock. Curtain times and ticket prices vary.
◼️ Sept. 12 — tripliciti (acoustic guitar composers and players Andy McKee, Calum Graham and Trevor Gordon Hall), in partnership with Potluck & Poison Ivy, The Joint. $30
◼️ Sept. 13 — “The Other Mozart,” Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. Sylvia Milo’s one-woman play tells the true, forgotten story of Nannerl, Wolfgang Amadeus’ sister. $35
◼️ Sept. 14 — Bluegrass-hip-hop band Gangstagrass headlines Argenta’s Dogtown Throwdown, 7 p.m., 406 Main St., North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District. Free.
◼️ Sept. 19 — “Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams,” written and performed by Jacob Storms, The Joint. $30
◼️ Sept. 20 — 3rd Friday Art Walk, 5-8 p.m., Argenta Arts District, Main Street, North Little Rock, including a new exhibit by Arkansas artist Sergio Valdivia in the Acansa Gallery, 413A Main St. Free
◼️ Sept. 20 — “Ryan & Ryan: Kickin’ the Clouds Away,” Ron Robinson Theater. Father-son duo (Barron and Donald Ryan) performs jazz, ragtime, classical and gospel song arrangements on two grand pianos. $35
◼️ Sept. 21 — Hispanic Heritage Festival, afternoon, Argenta Plaza, 510 Main St., North Little Rock, celebrating the Hispanic community, artists, music and food. Presented by Seis Puentes. Free
◼️ Sept. 21 — Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s “DBDT: Encore!,” Center for Humanities and Arts Theater, UA-Pulaski Tech main campus, 3300 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. $35.
Admission to all ticketed events is free to students 18 and younger. Festival Gold Passes, $250, include all ticketed events, with “special perks.” Call (501) 663-2287 or visit ACANSA.org.
Australian folk-roots ensemble The Heart Collectors performs Sept. 6 at the Studio Theatre, 320 W. Seventh St., Little Rock, part of the lineup for the ninth Acansa Arts Festival of the South. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
AUDITIONS
Zombies wanted
Auditions for the ARTx3 production of “George A. Romero’s Night of The Living Dead Live” (by Christopher Bond, Dale Boyer and Trevor Martin, created by Christopher Harrison and Phil Pattison, based on the classic horror film) are noon-4 p.m. Aug. 10 in the Adam B. Robinson Jr. Black Box Theater in Pine Bluff. Auditions will consist of readings from the script, a short movement exercise (wear comfortable clothing and shoes in which you can move around) and a few bars of singing a cappella.
“The best way to prepare for the audition is to make sure you are familiar with the original ‘Night of the Living Dead,'” according to the audition website, artx3.org/all-events/night-of-the-living-dead-auditions (also the place to register). “The original film is public domain and it is available on YouTube.” The website also notes: “Important: This is a physically demanding show. Most roles (including zombies) will require varying amounts of crawling and falling. There is hand-to-hand combat in this show as well as gunshots and gore.”
Minimum age to audition is 16; no experience is required. Production dates are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18-19 and Oct. 25-26. For more information, call (870) 536-3375 or email lcollins@artx3.org.
