There is so much going on around town in the next several month that this is by no means a comprehensive list...instead, it’s a sampler.
Mark Your Art Calendars
At the ever-fabulous Hunter Museum, look for the “Hunter Invitational III” show of regional artists through Oct. 19, the “Twenty Original American Etchings” exhibit through the end of summer, and you have until Mar. 8, 2015 to explore “Open 24 Hours”, the exhibit showcasing public art...Look for coverage of the Hunter’s 2015 season very shortly...
Our friends at AVA always have so much going on we’ll just hit a few of their upcoming shows and projects...on Sept. 6, everyone’s favorite, The Gallery Hop (check with avarts.org for details)...”Needle & Thread” coming to AVA in September, celebrating the art of quiltmaking...In November, the “Member Solo Exhibit: Shadow May” featuring the ceramic art of this talented local...and of course, Apr. 10-12, 4Bridges Arts Festival returns to the Tennessee Pavilion, featuring more than 150 artists...
At River Gallery, a full, exciting season has been announced...Visit them at river-gallery.org for a full schedule, but look for these exhibits coming up soon...In September, “True to Nature” will feature the works of Christina Goodman, an acrylic painter known for her Italian Renaissance style, D. Langford Kuhn, displaying her hand-painted porcelain pots, and oil painter Eleanor Miller…In October, “Connections” will display artists such as Nancy Jacobsohn and Lisa Klakulak, who depict their connections with figures that encompass their surroundings…In November, look for a wide array of works from three very different artists. Patrick Dougherty will showcase his ceramic works while David Kidd and Jenifer Utterback both will display abstract paintings; Kidd with his botanical paintings and Utterback paintings with surface texture…
Signal MACC Sept. 13-Oct. 18 features the work of Signal Mountain watercolor artist Carolyn H. Wright...The work of the MAGI, the Mountain Arts Guild, is up during the months of November and December. The Mountain Arts Guild is based at the Bachman Community Center in Walden on Signal Mountain. The co-operative features locally popular artists who work together and display their work for pleasure and sale…
Currently showing at Grafitti (soon to be known as the Northshore Gallery of Contemporary Art) is “Abstract Expressions: The Paintings of James McKissic and Larry Young”, running until Sept. 3 and also featuring paintings from many other artists, plus 3-D assemblage art by Ken Herrin, woodturnings by Eddie Graham, and sculptures by Maria Willison…
Visit the Chattanooga Workspace Sept. 10-13 for this year’s AQS Quilt Week...
At In-Town Gallery, look for the “All Member Show” in November...
The Cress Gallery at UTC kicks off the Diane Marek Visiting Artist Series Sept. 16 with Keetra Dean Dixon and J.K. Keller as they display their graphic design works in the exhibition “We Keep Having This Conversation.”…
Every Tuesday from Sept. 9 through Oct. 14 Durinda Cheek will be teaching a class on oil painting at the Townsend Atelier. Beginning Oil Painting is perfect for those new to the art of working in oil...
Coming Aug. 28 through Oct. 23at Reflections Gallery is “Literary Art”. This exhibit will feature local art with altered books, sculpture, painting, photography and more used to illustrate the world of the bibliophile…
Mark Your Musical Calendars
In this year’s Patten Performance series at UTC: Ramsey Lewis on Sept. 9. The legendary jazz composer and three-time Grammy winner has recorded more than 80 albums and has seven gold records...Rioult Dance on Oct. 14, Patten Performances. This New York-based choreographed dance troupe will wow the audience with their perfect timing and flawless moves...Dave Mason on Nov. 5. Best known for his guitar shredding in the band Traffic, Mason has jammed with members of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson...Mummenschanz on Feb. 17. The Swiss mask theater troupe found fame with their wild masks and unpredictable props...Rory Block on Feb 24. This female guitar slayer has been playing since the ’60s and has mastered the country blues rock n’ roll...“The Great Gatsby” on Mar. 10. The Great American novel is coming to Chattanooga, complete with decadence, idealism and fabulous parties.
Patten Unplugged: Count This Penny on Sept. 20. This up-and coming-band recently appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion” and their music recalls legends such as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris... Cello Fury on Mar. 7. Brings together progressive rock and classical music for an unheard-of concert series.
Coming at River City Sessions: Jeremy Moore will bring Americana to RCS on Sept. 9, having just released his first EP...Jess Goggans and the Magnetics will be performing their “funky folk” to RCS on Sept. 28...Dana Shavin will be speaking about her new book on Oct. 26, a memoir about her battle with anorexia.
New season at the CSO: The season opens on Sept. 11 with Beethoven’s 9th, one of the world’s most well-known pieces of music...Celebrating the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth, look for “Shakespare in Love” on Oct. 9. Tchaikovsky Mendelssohn—and some “West Side Story” with guest artist Shakespeare Chattanooga...Schubert’s 4th, known as the “Tragic” Symphony,this masterpiece of music includes Beethoven’s infamous Leonore Overture Nov. 3 on Nov. 6...the CSO goes happy feet with Brahms’ Hungarian-based dance tunes and Mendelssohn’s Italy-inspired symphony on Jan. 29(the bill also inlcudes Helene Rasquier’s “Samsara”...Tchaikovsky’s 6th comes alive on Mar. 12...Schumann’s 2nd on Apr. 9 is a powerful piece of music was written while Schumann was battling a terrible sickness...
The finale of Barnett & Company Masterworks Series will showcase Rachmaninoff’s 2nd at the Tivoli on Apr. 30. Luken Holdings Pops Series: A Salute to Arthur Fiedler and John Williams. Bob Bernhardt conducts the CSO on Oct. 25...Home for the Holidays, classic Christmas piecesn on Dec. 20 and 21...Big Band Fever means grab your partner and find the dance floor on Feb. 13 and 14...Hooray for Hollywood on Feb. 28 salutes Hollywood with songs from from some of the greatest movies ever filmed...Broadway’s Golden Age and Beyond on Mar. 28 digs into the songbook and perform Broadway favorites from composers such as Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Lloyd Weber and many more.
Chamber Series: Around the World on Oct. 19. Be at the Sheraton Read House Silver Ballroom for classic compositions from composers all around the world...Gems from the CSO Principals on Nov. 23. CSO principal musicians will select their favorite chamber pieces to perform on this special night...Basically Baroque revisits early European chamber music on Jan. 11...All Things English on Feb. 15 includes St. Paul’s Suite, Elegy, and the Water Music Suite.
Volkswagen Series: Classical’s Top Hits on Nov. 9. The public wanted it and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera is providing it. The CSO will once again perform a greatest hits concert at the Volkswagen Conference Center...All Aboard: Coast to Coast on Feb. 1. Hop aboard the musical train for a symphonic meditation of life across America...Opera Faves and Raves on Mar. 15. Artisti Affamati will join the CSO to reimagine some of opera’s most iconic pieces...All Mozart on Apr. 12. The Volkswagen Conference Center is the place to be as the CSO presents Mozart’s greatest compositions.
Special Events: Yo-Yo Ma Gala Event on Oct. 2. Living legend Yo-Yo Ma joins the Chattanooga at the Tivoli. This once-in-a-lifetime event will showcase the great cellist and the CSO performing Dvorak’s cello concerto...“The Pirates of Penzance” on Nov. 15. The swashbuckling G&S operetta is soundtracked by the CSO.
Othello to Sharknado…Really
No one will bored in Chattanooga’s theatres this season.
In Shakespeare’s time, men played both male and female roles. While these rules, thankfully, no longer apply, Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga’s Garry Lee Posey is giving a twist to the Shakespearean tradition by directing an all-female cast production of “Othello”, running September 4-14…In other ETC season news: Running Oct. 16-25 is the world premiere of Aleksey Scherbak’s “Colonel Pilate”, which invites the audience to hear a war story that’s never been heard before…Featuring original works premiering for the first time, ETC’s “Brave New Works Festival” showcases a new play each weekend in November… If you’re in the mood for a Broadway musical, don’t miss the production of Terrance McNally’s “Ragtime”, running Jan. 15-25, 2015. This Tony Award-winning musical tells a story of three groups of people living in the United States in the early 20th century…
Meanwhile, across town at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, the 91stseason looks to be a doozy…Opening in Oct. is “Of Mice and Men”, and we are VERY much looking forward to the adventurous choices of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” and Christopher Durang’s riff on Chekhov, “Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike”…the Youth Theatre also has some fun stuff coming up in “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Miss Nelson is Missing”… What happens when you combine a story about Adam & Eve, Lilith, The Serpent of the Garden of Eden, and the “Nameless Second Eve,” with nine singers, a live, musical ensemble, and multimedia technology? Check out Tim Hinck’s opera/musical, “Eve Apart”, which runs September 4-7 at the CTC to find out… You go, CTC! Sounds like season tickets time…
Shakespeare Chattanooga reports that they are honored to be guesting with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera for the CSO’s Oct. 9 evening, “Shakespeare in Love”. SC will present scenes from “Romeo & Juliet” and their recent production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”…
We often spend the holidays celebrating old traditions with family and friends, and one holiday classic is Ballet Tennessee’s performance of “The Nutcracker”, running December 19-21 at UTC’s Fine Arts Center. With beautiful dancing, colorful costumes, a journey to the land of sweets, and a memorable story, this timeless production is perfect for the whole family to enjoy… BT will present their Spring Repertory Performance on May 15, 2015 at UTC’s Fine Arts Center. These short performances gives audience a chance to see a variety of the talent BT dancers have…
Of course, we’re privileged to have two companies presenting “The Nutcracker” each year, and Chattanooga Ballet’s version will play Dec. 9-14. CB’s Spring Concert will be May 8-9 at the Fine Arts Center…
Comedy shows, murder mysteries, and plays sometimes include cocktails or dinner, but dance performances usually don’t. Ann Law’s “Come On In My Kitchen,” which runs from Nov. 20-22 at Barking Legs Theater, is one dance performance that does…It’s back after overwhelming audience appreciation last year…Speaking of Ann and the soon-to-reopen BLT, Ann’s dance performance “Caroling into the Unconscious,” will be a holiday special for sure. The show only runs Dec. 12-13 at Barking Legs Theater, so mark your calendars now for what’s described as “an evening of unexplainable sensations”…We’re reserving seats right now…
Dancers Bernadette and Travis Upton’s dance company WEAVE is one to watch. Combining multiple styles of hip-hop with contemporary funk, upcoming performances include their “Christmas Show” at Barking Legs Theater (Dec. 18-21) and the “Fred Astaire Showcase” at UTC’s Fine Arts Center (Jan. 30, 2015)…
Last but truly not least, if you haven’t gotten the word yet, Carmike Cinemas are often presenting special events at either the Majestic 12 downtown or the East Ridge 18. Ballet, opera, live and taped versions of Broadway plays and symphonic concerts are just some of the offerings…But lest we get too high-hat, on Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. at East Rdge, you can see “Sharknado 2: The Second One” on the big screen…C’mon, you know you want to…check out “Events” on carmike.com…See you at the theatre!