Oak Ridge Today

Buddy Westcott’s Open Mic at the Grove on Thursday

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BuddyOpenMic

There is an open mic for musicians, singers, poets, and comedians at the Grove Theater in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

It’s called Buddy Westcott’s Open Mic at the Grove. All ages are welcome.

The open mic is in the small theater from 7-11 p.m. Thursday, January 25. Sign-ups will be at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $3, and it will be passed on to High Places Community Church, which owns the Grove Theater. The theater is in Grove Center.

There will be a three-song limit or 15 minutes for each group or solo or act, organizers said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Senior Center offers free guitar lessons

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Guitar Intermediate Class

Free guitar lessons for senior citizens will begin with an orientation class on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Ridge Senior Center, which is at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. This is a picture of a previous intermediate guitar class. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

Free guitar lessons for senior citizens will begin with an orientation class on Friday, January 5, 2018, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Ridge Senior Center.

Regular classes will begin on Friday, January 19, 2018, and are open to area seniors age 50 and older. All levels of guitar players are welcome, a press release said.

Beginner’s lessons start at 9 a.m. with intermediate lessons to follow. Bass guitar lessons are also included. Wendall Cook, who has many years of experience playing and teaching, will conduct the lessons, the press release said. [Read more…]

Cantata ‘Joy’ & special singer presented by Grace Lutheran Church

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Colette Boudreaux

Colette Boudreaux

 

Christmas 2017 brings in a wealth of musical experiences old and new at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge.

“Joy,” the cantata by Joel Raney, will be presented by the Chancel Choir on December 17 at the traditional service at 11:15 a.m.

Then on December 24, two Christmas Eve services will feature special music by the bell choir and youth choir, plus the late service will feature Colette Boudreaux, an operatic soprano from the New York area. The family service begins at 7 p.m. on December 24, and the Candlelight service begins at 9 p.m.

Boudreaux, who grew up in Knoxville, will sing “Rejoice Greatly” from Handel’s Messiah. Boudreaux keeps a busy performing schedule, and she also teaches voice and dance, is a professional choreographer, and to pay forward what she has learned, directs productions for high schools that have no formal theater programs. She recently started a professional theatre company in Easton, Pennsylvania, along with her husband, John Andreadis. Everyone is invited to attend. [Read more…]

Community Band has free Christmas Concert & Sing-along on Sunday

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Christmas Concert 2015 at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge (Submitted photo)

Christmas Concert 2015 at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble will ring in the Christmas season with a Christmas Concert and Sing-along on Sunday afternoon, December 10.

It’s a free event, and it will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, which is at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The performance is open to the public, dress is casual, and there will be refreshments at the conclusion of the program, a press release said.

“This concert is a wonderful opportunity to bring family and friends to relax and enjoy hearing familiar holiday tunes and sing favorite Christmas carols,” the press release said.

Among the numbers on Sunday’s program are two of Leroy Anderson’s most well-known holiday tunes: “A Christmas Festival,” featuring a medley of carols, and the time-honored piece “Sleigh Ride,” in which you can not only hear the bells on the horse pulling the sleigh, but the crack of the whip, the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, and the horse’s distinctive neigh, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State Winter Concert is Saturday at O’Brien Theatre

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Roane State Winter Concert Dec 9 2017

It’s a longstanding tradition at Roane State and a great way to celebrate the holiday season.

The annual Winter Concert featuring all of the college’s music department ensembles will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 9, in the O’Brien Theatre on the Harriman campus, and everyone is invited, said a press release from Roane State Community College.

“All donations collected at the door will help support the Roane State music programs, including our 2018 summer choir tour to Italy,” music department professor Brenda Luggie said.

“This is one of our main on-campus concerts for the season,” she said.

Featured will be the Celebration Singers, Concert Choir, Jazz Band, Stage Band, and Bluegrass Band. [Read more…]

Enjoy Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ in concert on Saturday

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Cast for Don Giovanni Concert—Top row from left to right: Tyler Padgett, Paul Bryson, Ryan Colbert, and Joshua Allen; Bottom row from left to right: April Hill, Harrison Cooke, Marya Barry, and Marcelo Urias (conductor). (Submitted photo)

Cast for Don Giovanni Concert—Top row from left to right: Tyler Padgett, Paul Bryson, Ryan Colbert, and Joshua Allen; Bottom row from left to right: April Hill, Harrison Cooke, Marya Barry, and Marcelo Urias (conductor). (Submitted photo)

 

On Saturday, the Oak Ridge Philharmonia will join with local operatic singers to present a free concert, consisting of the entire score from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” opera.

“This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy all the music from this famous opera, without scheduling a trip to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City,” a press release said.

The featured singers, under the direction of Ryan Colbert, are Tyler Padgett (Don Giovanni), Paul Bryson (Leporello), Ryan Colbert (Donna Anna), Joshua Allen (Don Ottavio), April Hill (Donna Elvira), Harrison Cooke (Commendatore/Masetto), and Marya Barry (Zerlina). The orchestra and singers will be conducted by Marcelo Urias.

In the late 1700s, there was high demand in Prague for comic operas dealing with philanderers, such as the fictional Don Juan, a Spanish legend.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) seized upon that opportunity, and joined forces with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838) to compose “Don Giovanni,” which premiered in Prague in 1787, the press release said. The plot is loosely based upon the Don Juan tale. [Read more…]

Roane County Lighting of the Tree on Monday, Nov. 20

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It’s a holiday event for all of Roane County—and the surrounding area.

The first of what’s expected to become an annual celebration—Roane County Lighting of the Tree—will be held Monday, November 20, on the front lawn of Roane State Community College’s main campus, 276 Patton Lane.

The college is a central location in Roane County. “It’s an institution, not just of higher learning, but of our community,” said Roane State Alumni Relations Director Tamsin Miller.

There will be a large variety of holiday music, games and activities for children, and refreshments. It’s Roane County’s take on the famous tree lighting ceremony in New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Miller said. [Read more…]

Area veterans invited to free Community Band concert for recognition on Sunday

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The Oak Ridge Community Band is pictured above in a concert directed by Dale Pendley at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Community Band is pictured above in a concert directed by Dale Pendley at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, and to celebrate this event, the Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble will present “Musical Salute to Veterans” concert on Sunday afternoon, November 12, in the sanctuary at Central Baptist Church.

Central Baptist Church is at 130 Providence Road, just across the street from Oak Ridge High School. The performance will begin at 3:30 p.m., and all area veterans plus family and friends are especially invited to attend this concert, which will include recognition of veterans and their service to our country, a press release said.

There will be no admission fee for this concert, but donations will be gratefully appreciated, the press release said.

It said band director Dale Pendley has planned a program of patriotic music and tunes, along with a reading of names of veterans attending the concert. Men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces can sign their name, rank, and branch of service at the ticket table, and these names will be read during the concert program. Program announcer will be Maggie Bayer, retired USAF reserve lieutenant colonel and a member of the Community Band’s percussion section. [Read more…]

Twelve musicians featured with full orchestra in free concert on Saturday, Nov. 18

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The Oak Ridge Philharmonia in the August 2017 Concert. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Philharmonia in the August 2017 Concert. (Submitted photo)

 

There will be 12 featured musicians performing with the full orchestra during a free concert of the Oak Ridge Philharmonia on Saturday, November 18.

Danny Brian will be the soloist for the unforgettable “Piano Concerto No. 1” by Franz Liszt, a press release said. Concertmaster Margaret Moore has selected Beethoven’s “Fifth Violin Sonata” for her performance. The lively first movement of “Concerto for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon” by Antonio Vivaldi will be presented by Barbara Sparks, Cyndi Jeffers, and Cora Nappo. Kimberly Simpkins, Belle James, and Kathryn York will tangle with the “Tango, Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas” by  Ástor Piazzolla,” the press release said. To add a Mexican flavor, Greg Foertter, Ward Bigler, and Dale Gedcke will play the “Chiapanecas Trumpet Trio,” as arranged by Raphael Méndez. In addition to conducting the piano concerto, and accompanying the violin and trumpet soloists on piano, Marcelo Urias will direct the orchestra in a colorful symphonic poem, “Les Préludes,” by Franz Liszt.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a child prodigy, who leveraged his musical skills into great wealth by playing piano concerts throughout Europe during most of his life.  He was also a well-developed composer, the press release said. Although most of the themes were created before the age of 19, it was a long 26 years of revisions before he finally completed the “Piano Concerto No. 1” to his satisfaction. The result was an impressive composition, with which pianists can enchant their audiences, just as Liszt did, the press release said. It incorporates some dramatic themes, which will cycle through your memory for weeks thereafter, the release said. Danny Brian, a familiar performer with the ORPH, brings a vibrant enjoyment to this piano concerto, the press release said.

Liszt also composed “Les Préludes (Love Storm and Victory)” and thereby established a new category, the symphonic poem, when it premiered in 1854, the release said. That label aptly describes the nature of the composition.

“The music captures the essence of the three scenarios, with intense feelings,” the press release said. “After the orchestra finishes this piece, you may find yourself humming some of the melodies for the next week.” [Read more…]

Roane State experience helped musician Devan Jones find his path

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Devan Jones (Submitted photo)

Devan Jones (Submitted photo)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Ask Roane State alumnus Devan Jones about working full-time in the music business, and he’ll pull no punches. “It’s a hustle and hard work 24/7,” he says. “It’s a tough business.”

“Sometimes it feels like it’s moving in slow motion, but things are getting better all the time,” says Jones, who credits educators in Roane State’s music department for helping inspire his career.

Jones grew up in Kingston, attended Roane State and the University of Tennessee, and performed at several Knoxville venues. He now lives in Austin, Texas, where he says there are “many different opportunities to play music that inspires me.”

While in Knoxville, he put together a band, “Devan Jones and the Uptown Stomp.” That moniker reflects his love of blues, as well as jazz and swing music of the 1940s and 50s. [Read more…]

Wendel Werner ‘Concert of Peace’ at 6 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian

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Wendel Werner

Wendel Werner

Local pianist and composer Wendel Werner and friends will present a “concert of peace” on Sunday, October 15, at 6 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in the wake of the racially charged violence August 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The free concert will feature local singers and instrumentalists who will perform songs having themes of hope, inclusivity, and love, a press release said.

The release said the following words of Leonard Bernstein, famous American composer and conductor, continue to inspire musicians to offer gifts of melody, rhythm, and harmony to their communities: [Read more…]

Country singer Lee Ann Womack to headline Tennessee Fall Homecoming this weekend

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Lee Ann Womack

Lee Ann Womack

 

Award-winning country music singer Lee Ann Womack will headline this weekend’s Tennessee Fall Homecoming festival at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris.

The Tennessee Fall Homecoming is one of the region’s largest and most authentic music and folk festivals. It will be held Friday, October 6, through Sunday, October 8, at the Museum of Appalachia.

For its 38th annual event, the Museum is featuring an all-new Family Day and an evening concert series with award-winning artists, a press release said.

Genre-bending ensemble The SteelDrivers will play the first evening show on Friday, October 6, the press release said. Womack will perform on the evening of Saturday, October 7, along with Jerry Douglas’s bluegrass supergroup, The Earls of Leicester, the release said.

Homecoming will continue to feature dozens of musicians performing during the daytime, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Flashback, Terry Baucom’s Dukes of Drive, Leroy Troy, Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier, Jeff Brown & Still Lonesome, and many more, the press release said. [Read more…]