Oak Ridge Today

Singer, songwriter Peter Mayer to play in Oak Ridge on Friday

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Peter Mayer

Peter Mayer

Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Peter Mayer will play in Oak Ridge on Friday.

The concert by Mayer will start at 8 p.m. Friday, May 22, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The concert was postponed in February due to winter weather. Tickets purchased at that time can be used for the new May 22 date. If unable to attend this rescheduled performance, please return tickets to ORUUC for a full refund, a press release said.

“Whimsical, humorous, and profound, (Mayer’s) music breaks the boundaries of ‘folk,’ and transcends to a realm beyond the everyday love song, to a place of wonder at the very fact of life itself,” the press release said. [Read more…]

ORCO Concert on Saturday: A Faun, a River, a Rhapsody, and a Tragic Overture

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Violins ORCO March 2015 Concert

Violins form the front line in the March 2015 Oak Ridge Community Orchestra concert. (Photo by Nancy Cosgrove)

 

A free concert by the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra on Saturday, May 16, will feature Will Burkhart conducting the poetic “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy, the strikingly descriptive “Moldau” by Bedřich Smetana, the lyrical “Romanian Rhapsody No. 2” by Georges Enescu, and the turbulent “Tragic Overture” by Johannes Brahms.

“This is a great program to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon,” a press release said.

When “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) premiered in 1894, it was recognized as an historic change, launching the modern music style. [Read more…]

Enjoy Ridge City Ramblers, strawberries at Farmers Market

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Ridge City Ramblers

The Ridge City Ramblers will play at the Oak Ridge Farmers Market in Jackson Square on Saturday. The Ridge City Ramblers are, from left, Gary Coleman, Mary Tuskan, Scott Linn, Abbie Hoerner, Tom Beehan, and Steve Reddick. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market is hosting The Ridge City Ramblers in concert this Saturday (May 16). The concert is free, and it’s scheduled from 9-11 a.m. in the middle of the market.

Plus, it’s strawberry time in Tennessee! Locally grown, just-picked berries are plentiful this week in the market, which is open Saturdays from 8 a.m.-noon and Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. in Jackson Square.

On May 23, the Oak Ridge Farmers Market will host its first ever Kids Day, a free event featuring live farm animals, crafts, games, and music for children.

Sound Company presents Songs of Seuss on Friday, Saturday

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Sound Company Songs of Seuss

The Sound Company Children’s Choir of Oak Ridge presents Songs of Seuss in historic Grove Theater this weekend. Performances are scheduled for Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 9, at 3 p.m.

“The rhetorical dexterity of Theodor Seuss Geisel, which inspired the stylings of ‘Seussical the Musical’ on Broadway, is inspiring our young performers today to stretch their imaginations and creativity,” said Sound Company director Katy Wolfe.

“Sound Company vocalists, from elementary to high school ages, will be singing selections from ‘Seussical,’ exploring new ways to express visually and aurally a sense of wonder at the world around them,” Wolfe said in a press release. “Just like the original works of Dr. Seuss, these songs can entertain young and old alike!”

During the performance, you may recognize a certain cat in a red striped hat, the press release said. [Read more…]

Clinch River Spring Antique Fair on Saturday in Clinton

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Clinch River Antique Festival

Clinch River Antique Fair (Submitted photo) 

 

The 11th Annual Clinch River Spring Antique Fair will be held on Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Historic Downtown Clinton.

The Spring Antique Fair will kick off with a party on Friday evening, May 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Hoskins/Lane Park on Market Street with live musical entertainment.

Back by popular demand are The Real McCoys. This trio is comprised of brothers Blake and Aaron McCoy, who play banjo and guitar, and bass player Nick Patterson.

These young men grew up in Lake City playing in church, and they have been a favorite at The Museum of Appalachia’s Fall Homecoming for the past five years, a press release said. They released their first album in 2010 and are currently working on their second one, hoping to include several songs they have written. Their true passion for bluegrass music drives them to make bluegrass appeal to everyone. Their spin on the classic “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” has made them a local favorite.

[Read more…]

Soiree Winds plays in free coffee concert on Sunday

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Soiree Winds

Soiree Winds is a wind quintet featuring local professional musicians: Shelby Shankland on flute, Marina Jaffe on oboe, Erin Bray on clarinet, Zach Milwood on bassoon, and Henry C. Hooker on horn. (Submitted photo)

 

Soiree Winds, a local wind quintet, will play in a free concert at Oak Ridge First Presbyterian Church on Sunday.

The concert is presented by the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association. It’s the final coffee concert of the season, and it starts at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Refreshments will be served.

Soiree Winds is a wind quintet featuring local professional musicians: Shelby Shankland on flute, Marina Jaffe on oboe, Erin Bray on clarinet, Zach Milwood on bassoon, and Henry C. Hooker on horn. Special guest pianist Robert Bonham will also perform.

The group will play music by Debussy, Piazzola, Poulenc, and Saint Saens, among others.

“Come and support local musicians, friends, and classical music in Oak Ridge,” organizers said.

Teen Battle of the Bands in Oak Ridge on Friday

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Teen Battle of the Bands

File photo/2014

 

The annual Battle of the Teen Bands is this evening (Friday, April 24).

It’s been organized by Y-12 Federal Credit Union and the Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board.

The Battle of the Bands is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. today at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Pavilion. The rain venue will be the Paradox Teen Center in Oak Ridge.

Prizes are studio time (a $1,000 value), $300, and $150.

Arts Council asks for your support in United Arts Fund Drive

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Arts Council of Oak Ridge Logo

The Arts Council of Oak Ridge is asking for your support in this year’s United Arts Fund Drive.

The annual drive kicked off March 15 and ends April 30.

Here is the letter the Arts Council sent to arts supporters in March:

Dear Arts Supporter,

Oak Ridge has always had a strong arts community—even as a secret city—and the arts continue to be essential to the health and vitality of Oak Ridge and Anderson County today. They enhance community development, spur urban renewal, attract new businesses, draw tourism dollars, create an attractive environment for skilled, educated workers, and help make the Oak Ridge area a great place to live, work, worship, and play. The arts organizations in Oak Ridge are vital because they support and supplement school activities, attract tourists and visitors, and offer volunteer and participation opportunities. [Read more…]

Nick Page to lead music workshop, free community sing at ORUUC on May 2

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Nick Page

Nick Page

Submitted

Anyone who enjoys singing is invited to be part of a vocal community with acclaimed song leader, composer, and author Nick Page at a workshop on Saturday, May 2 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The workshop entitled “So Much More than Music” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 2, with a break for lunch from 12-1 p.m.

ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. The cost to attend is $5 for non-ORUUC participants.

On Sunday, May 3, singers of every level are invited to come to a free community sing led by Page that will be held in the church sanctuary starting at 3 p.m. [Read more…]

Photos: Farmers Market, UT Arboretum Society Plant Sale

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Farmers Market Opening

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened on Saturday, April 18. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened for the season on Saturday, April 18. Its the market’s 39th season.

The market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays in Historic Jackson Square. It will also be open on Wednesdays beginning May 6.

Here’s what’s new at the market this year: [Read more…]

Task force to consider changes to Secret City Festival

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Secret City Festival Kix Brooks June 2014

Country music artist Kix Brooks, who was part of the country duo Brooks and Dunn, performs during the 2014 Secret City Festival. (Photo by Rob Welton)

 

A new task force is scheduled to discuss potential changes to the Secret City Festival on Thursday, including shifting the annual festival to small events from mid-October to November 11 (Veterans Day), creating a nonprofit organization to run the festival (and possibly other special events), and voting on changing the date of the festival and whether it should be a one- or two-day event.

The new task force will also discuss unique opportunities for a festival theme and could develop a list of potential entertainment venues to be used throughout the city for the festival, consider other potential festival dates, and develop a list of potential partners.

The meeting of the Special Events Advisory Task Force starts at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in the Oak Ridge Recreation Center’s Craft Room at 1402 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Orchestra plays at Dogwood Arts Festival on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra Performing at the 2014 Dogwoods Arts Festival. (Photo courtesy of John Fairstein)

 

Daniel Webb

Daniel Webb

As part of the Dogwood Arts Festival, the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra will be performing famous and memorable music in Knoxville’s Market Square from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.

The free concert will feature the lively “Figaro Aria” sung by Daniel Webb, the emphatic fourth movement from the “New World Symphony” by Dvořák, the raucous “Polovtsian Dances” by Borodin, and the hand-clapping “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss (Sr.).  This is a great way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon while browsing the shops at the Dogwoods Arts Festival.

The “Barber of Seville” is a familiar opera by Gioachino Antonio Rossini, premiering in 1816. The most famous aria from that opera is probably “Largo al Factotum,” in which the central figure, Figaro, vigorously touts his prowess as a barber and local facilitator of “everything.” The articulation and style in this aria are so impressive that Warner Brothers, Walter Lantz, and Hanna Barbera studios couldn’t resist featuring it in cartoon parodies. [Read more…]