Arts

Lost in the music, the cellist’s fingers flew across the strings. Sonorous passages filled the opera house with strains both lively and languid. The audience was rapt with attention as Édouard Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor was presented with flair and finesse. Most impressive to me as I listened with a musician’s ear was that so much maturity, passion and skill flowed from the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and a soloist still in high school. Cellist Matthew Liversedge attends West Jessamine.

Antonia Bennett is no stranger to the world of music, particularly the elevated circles of performers of her father’s generation. Bennett grew up performing with legends such as Dad Tony, and for legends such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Rosemary Clooney, Les Paul and Ella Fitzgerald. Bennett said she grew up singing the American songbook, the compilation of the best songs of the 20th century, many of which become jazz standards during time. Her sound, she said, is “very reminiscent of American classics.

Wednesday’s Lunch with the Arts program features a hands-on, body-on, mind-on workshop by Yolantha Harrison-Pace. Harrison-Pace will share an example of African call and response that leads into African drumming rhythms. She also will give the audience an opportunity to use djembe drums, the skin-covered hand drum shaped like a large goblet that is played with bare hands. As Harrison-Pace shares her heritage, she also will give the audience time to explore African-style movements for an African Welcome Dance.

The very week that Barack Obama issued his State of the Union Speech, promising investments in education and the creation of new jobs, I received a rather disturbing message from Americans for the Arts (www.americansforthearts.org), an arts advocacy group dedicated to nurturing art in America. The message explained in no uncertain terms that “165 conservative members of Congress representing the Republican Study Committee called for termination of the National Endowment for the Arts and key arts education programs at the U.S. Department of Education,” as a means of cutting “unnecessary” government spending.

Results Sunday of the Constitution 5K Run for the Arts in Danville (3.1 miles; runners listed with age, time): 1. Daniel Morgan, 26, 17:07 2. Dan Graber, 26, 17:10 3. Brian Carlson, 13, 18:19 4. f-Donna Anderson, 44, 19:10 5. Karl Hempel, 17, 19:42 6. Emily Frith, 17, 19:48 7. Shane Cummins, 41, 20:01 8. Bill Rayens, 53, 20:02 9. Rick Hempel, 50, 20:05 10. Danny Goodwin, 32, 20:16 11. Austin Morris,...

Once a week for the past five weeks, students at Central Elementary School have had a chance to try their hands at several different forms of art during the school's Arts at Central program. A group of local artists are teaming with Central to bring various art forms - which the school could not provide on its own - into the school for the students to enjoy including woodworking, origami, crochet, charcoal and chalk drawing, dance, drama, singing and crafting. Principal Lisa Smith said the idea behind the program was to bring things to the students that they might otherwise never see. “I wanted our children to have an opportunity to be exposed to different types of art that we don't always have time to do in the school system,” Smith said.

Appalachia figures prominently in Kentucky culture, history, and politics and serves as the centerpiece of George Ella Lyon's Lunch with the Arts presentation this Wednesday at the Boyle County Public Library. George Ella's connection to Appalachia runs strong and deep; as she explains, “I grew up in the mountains of Harlan County, Kentucky. All four of my grandparents were in Harlan, so I heard a lot of stories from them that reflected Appalachian culture.” The connection to writing and creative expression runs just as deep for Lyon.

The New Century Chamber Orchestra had been in existence for quite some time when Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg came on as music director. Now in her fifth season, Salerno-Sonnenberg likes the dynamics of the conductorless ensemble. “It makes the quality of the music-making very intense and much more vibrant,” Salerno-Sonnenberg said in a telephone interview. “Everybody is much more responsible than (in) a symphonic orchestra. “On a much larger scale, this is a challenge for the musicians.

The ability to give an otherwise rigid material its own perceived flow and movement will be among the topics visual artist Russ Barragan will share as this month's featured Lunch with the Arts presenter at the Boyle County Public Library. Barragan also will discuss the creative process from a sculptor's perspective. A simple glance at Barragan's work (www.russbarragan.com) reveals details created in the midst of rich materials such as stone, clay and bronze. Not the easiest type of art to create, for certain, but Barragan seems called to it.   “After finding my niche in sculpture, I began several times to work on developing more skill in drawing or painting, but it never has held my interest like sculpture has,” Barragan says.  Even when he's viewing art, he says, he's been pulled towards sculptures more than paintings and drawings.

The theme for this collaborative exhibit by the members of the Gathering Artists is “Natural Cycles/Earthly Connections.” The natural cycles of our world include such things as the revolutions of the sun and the moon, weather phenomenon, seasonal cycles, and plant and animal life spans. The Earthly connections are those we all have with the Earth upon which we live, and with other people and creatures on the Earth. These connections also can refer to those the artists made with each other as they collaborated and created their painting, collage or fiber piece.

For several years, the Great American Brass Band Festival has had a trusty sidekick: the Lil' Red Wagon Contest. This year, the contest has expanded to include not only red wagons, but also bicycles, tricycles and wheelchairs. It has a new name to match: Wagons and Wheels. The change was made in order to expand the range of children able to participate in both the contest and the parade. Community Arts Center Executive Director Mary Beth Touchstone explains, “Our mission here at the arts center is to create arts opportunities for every member of the community.

By John Maruskin Clark Public Library A big thankee to everyone who came to the Huge Derby Weekend Book Sale. We had record sales and some customers made record purchases. There's no doubt a few people collected their own small libraries. At a dollar a bag for books, that was easy and satisfying. I especially want to thank the library staff members who made the sale possible. First and foremost, circulation manager, Lynn Wills, did a sensational job organizing everything according to subject.

Visitors to the Community Arts Center can take a trip to Indonesia and Asia without ever leaving their seats, thanks to Kuo-Huang Han, a recently-retired professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Kentucky. Indonesian music and culture has held a fascination for Han ever since his days as a student at Northwestern University, where he took a course on 20th century music. “I learned that Claude Debussy was influenced by Indonesian gamelan music, but I didn't know what that was,” Han explained.

Two well-known local artists have donated works for the live auction that will be held during The Arts Commission of Danville/Boyle County's bi-annual fundraiser, the Art-full Raffle. The event is set for Saturday at Pioneer Playhouse. “Study for Spiral,” by Sheldon Tapley, Stodghill Professor of Art at Centre College, is an oil still life on a wood panel. Described as a contemporary realist, he is best known for his still life paintings. Tapley has been featured on Kentucky Educational Television's series “Looking at Painting” and has received the Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council.  Tapley's works are found in museum, academic, corporate and private collections throughout the United States.

Where can you see a watering can turn into an elephant, a paper punch turn into an alien, and a dangly pair of dream catcher earrings turn into two young girls walking down a long lane accompanied by a butterfly? In the George Rogers Clark Student Art Show now on display at the Clark County Public Library. The show will be up in the center of the library through Friday. Looking at the show this year, I thought it needs to be on the Clark County tourism calendar of events. It is an event Clark County should be proud of. The work is excellent: accomplished, colorful, and strikingly imaginative.

This May, more than flowers are blooming - young artists from Danville and Boyle County are in fine form at the Community Arts Center's May exhibits, the High School Artist Project and the Youth Arts Fair. High School Artist Project The High School Artist Project is a unique collaboration between Ephraim McDowell Health and local high schools - Danville, Boyle County, and Day Treatment. Ephraim McDowell provides the canvas, brushes, and paint and the students create the artwork , which will be on display at the Community Arts center for the month of May before moving to the walls of Ephraim McDowell hospital where patients can enjoy them for an entire year.

The multipurpose room at Jessamine Career and Technology Center became a countywide art gallery Tuesday night as hundreds filed through to look at artwork of all kinds from students of all ages. The “Art Walk” was sponsored by the Jessamine County Education Foundation and was the first event of its kind. The foundation contributes money to the arts programs at all the Jessamine County schools represented Tuesday. Many children immediately took their parents to their own artwork, with some young students being held up high to get a good look.

Three Boyle County groups have been awarded Arts Access Assistance Grants from the Kentucky Arts Council to bring arts to a population that doesn't always get to see artistic events: seniors. “Arts Access Assistance grants will provide diverse populations of Kentuckians with programs of value benefiting their quality of life,” said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. “The grant recipients were chosen by a panel of professionals who responded to their ideas, their established history of working with artists and seniors, and their capacity to carry projects through to fruition.” The grant theme for this first round of funding is “Creative Aging and Lifelong Learning in the Arts.” The Boyle County Public Library and the Norton Center for the Arts are collaborating, and Pioneer Playhouse will have a summer program for seniors.

Ephraim McDowell Health's Community Service Department is working with students at Danville and Boyle County high schools, and Boyle County Day Treatment, for the fifth annual High School Artists Project.  The students' work will be displayed at an artists' reception 6-9 p.m. May 9 in the Grand Hall of the Community Arts Center. Refreshments will be served and the public will have an opportunity to meet the high school students contributing to the art display.   During a reception, there will be a silent auction of the showcased work as a fundraiser to help with the costs of the project.

LEXINGTON - The Lexington Philharmonic will hold four Peanut Butter and Jelly concerts in Lexington and Danville April 27. PB&J concerts invite families with children to participate in an instrument petting zoo, musical activities, and enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while a woodwind quintet performs during a reading of Kathleen Krull's book, “M is for Music.” The Lexington concerts will be at 10 and 11 a.m. at the Child Development Center...