ASO to open 2015 series joining opera troupe for Flute
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 2015 Intimate Neighborhood Concerts series, partnering with Opera in the Rock to perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, 7 p.m. Jan. 22-23 at the Albert Pike Memorial Temple, East Seventh and Scott streets, Little Rock.
The rest of the lineup (all performances at 7 p.m.; Philip Mann conducts):
March 12: “Night Serenades,” St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Lorraine Duso-Kitts, oboe. Mozart: Serenade No. 13 in G major, K.525, “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”; John Corigliano: Aria for Oboe and Strings; Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C major, op.48.
May 14: “Baroque by Candlelight,” Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., Little Rock. Gabriel Vega, piccolo. George Frideric Handel: “Entrance of the Queen of Sheba” from Solomon and Suite No. 2 in D major from The Water Music; J.S. Bach: Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068; Antonio Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto in C major, RV 443.
Series tickets are $68, $38 for new subscribers. Individual tickets are $25, $10 for students and active-duty military. Call (501) 666-1761, Extension 100 or visit the website, ArkansasSymphony.org.
Family bluegrass
Normandy, Tenn.-based family bluegrass band the Rigneys — father Mark, banjo and vocals; mother Melissa, upright bass; son Andrew, guitar and vocals; and son Grant, mandolin and fiddle — will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould, part of radio station KASU-FM, 91.9’s Bluegrass Monday concert series. The station will literally “pass the hat” to pay the musicians. Suggested donation is $5 per person. Call (870) 972-2367, email mscarbro@astate.edu or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
OBU Jazz Band
Ouachita Baptist University’s Jazz Band will give its fall concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Jones Performing Arts Center, OBU, Arkadelphia.
OBU senior Carli Sasser will sing “’S Wonderful” by George and Ira Gershwin and Michael Buble’s “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” with the band and conductor Craig Hamilton.
The program will also include arrangements of “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” by Count Basie; “Star Eyes” by Gene DePaul; “Caravan” by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills and Juan Tizol; “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’” by George Gershwin and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” by Cole Porter.
Admission is free; the concert will also be available via webcast at obu.edu/band. Call (870) 245-5137 or email amiltonc@obu.edu.
Thanksgiving concert
The Hendrix College Chamber Orchestra will perform music in observance of Thanksgiving by living American composers and works that inspired the development of an American sound at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway.
The program includes Spirituals by Stephen Gerber, who will talk about his work, its sources in black American spirituals and his exploration of a variety of postmodern techniques and styles; Karen Griebling will also conduct Fantasia on a Ground by John Harbison, Reel Time by Jennifer Higdon, Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel and the “Largo” third movement from Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”
Admission is free. Call (501) 450-1243 or email griebling@hendrix.edu.
Vocal scholarship
International operatic soprano Kristin Lewis, an Arkansas native and University of Central Arkansas graduate, is establishing a new scholarship for emerging Arkansas singers studying inside and outside the state.
The Kristin Lewis Foundation Vocal Scholarship, for Arkansans ages 18-23 pursuing a degree in vocal performance or a music education or bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in voice, will fund tuition expenses, master-class participation and opportunities for national or international exposure.
Application deadline is Feb. 4. An application and a list of rules and regulations are available online at kristin-lewis.com/klf/. The foundation will choose 15 singers for the second phase of the competition, a live audition and training program March 28-29 at UCA in Conway.
Lewis will perform in an Advent celebration concert with Second Presbyterian Church’s Adult Choir at 4 p.m. Dec. 7 at the church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The concert is sponsored by Praeclara, the church’s newly formed performing arts organization. Admission is free; donations to the scholarship fund can be made to any of the foundation’s board members at the event.
Email kristinlewisfoundation@gmail.com.
Pocket season
The Pocket Community Theatre, 170 Ravine St. (just off Park Avenue), Hot Springs, opens its 2015 season with Baggage, a romantic comedy by Sam Bobrick, Feb. 6-15. The rest of the 2015 lineup: April 10-19: Harvey by Mary Chase
June 5-14: The Odd Couple (Female Version) by Neil Simon
July 31-Aug. 9: All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
Oct. 2-11: Bingo! The Winning Musical by Michael Heitzman, Ilene Reid and David Holcenberg
Dec. 4-13: Greetings by Tom Didzick
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Season tickets are $50; individual show tickets are $10 for plays, $15 for musicals, $5 for K-12 students. Call (501) 623-8585 or (501) 525-3679 or visit the website, pockettheatre.com.