Oak Ridge Today

Memorial Day Concert to honor veterans, military personnel

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Oak Ridge Community Band July 4 2014

Oak Ridge Community Band leader Dale Pendley directs the Community Band in a summer concert in 2015. (Photo courtesy Barbara Gritzner)

 

Special recognition will be given to area veterans and to the men and women currently serving in the United States Armed Forces at the Memorial Day Concert performed by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Monday evening, May 30. This concert will start at 7 p.m. Monday at A.K. Bissell Park.

The public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating. There is no admission fee for this concert, but donations are gratefully appreciated to help offset band expenses.

Also present in the park will be Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab, which will continue its tradition of providing refreshments during the community band summer concert season, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORHS Choral Department has Spring Concert on Thursday

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ORHS Choral Department Collage

The Oak Ridge High School Choral Department will present its annual Spring Concert on Thursday, May 19, 2016. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge High School Choral Department will present its annual Spring Concert on Thursday, May 19.

Students representing the five high school choirs will take the audience on a musical journey around the world, a press release said. Elizabethan motets, German art songs, Motown favorites, a selection or two from “Pitch Perfect,” and the ever-popular “Rainforest Sound Scape.”

“Join the ORHS Choral Department as we celebrate the school year and say farewell to our seniors,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Lo, featured artist, to play piano suite with Community Orchestra this weekend

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Bernadette Lo

Bernadette Lo

Featured artist Bernadette Lo will play the “CROMOS Piano Suite” by Osvaldo Lacerda at Oak Ridge Community Orchestra concerts this weekend.

The first concert is at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge.

The second concert is at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 22, in the Cokesbury United Methodist Church in West Knoxville.

Also included in these two programs are Schubert’s “Symphony No. 5” and the rousing “Finlandia” by Sibelius.

Lo is a Knoxville-area collaborative pianist, soloist, and teacher. [Read more…]

Knoxville Opera’s Salesky brings program to Oak Ridge on Tuesday

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Brian Salesky

Brian Salesky

Maestro Brian Salesky, executive director and conductor of Knoxville Opera, will present a dynamic program illustrating the history of opera and musical theater at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 17. The program starts at noon Tuesday in the sanctuary of Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 309 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Salesky will be joined by two opera singers in his exposition of Opera 101, soprano Sarah Fitch and baritone Kevin Doherty. Both have performed roles in Knoxville Opera’s productions at the Tennessee Theatre and are graduates of the University of Tennessee, a press release said.

Opera 101, which can be adapted for different age groups, is one of several in the Knoxville Opera Education Program. In information provided for the upcoming program, Salesky said Knoxville Opera annually presents 75-100 education events for the community, including the recent Rossini Festival, Knoxville Opera Goes to Church, African-American Voices Series, and in-school operas, reaching up to 100,000 people. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival features something for everyone

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Charlie-Daniels-Band-Secret-City-Festival-2016

The Charlie Daniels Band will headline the Friday night, June 10, concert at the 2016 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The 14th annual Secret City Festival on June 10 and 11 is fast approaching, and it promises great entertainment, music, a World War II battle re-enactment, family fun, arts and crafts, food, historical displays, and much more, a press release said.

The Secret City Festival kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 10, and 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, with full days of fun and exciting events happening on the pavilion stage and around the festival venue. The annual festival is at the Oak Ridge Civic Center and Alvin K. Bissell Park in central Oak Ridge.

The Charlie Daniels Band takes the stage Friday night, June 10, for an evening of great music and energy. A 2016 inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Charlie Daniels has parlayed his passion for music into a multi-platinum career and a platform to support the military, a cause that is close to his heart. With songs like “The South’s Gonna Do It Again,” “Long Haired Country Boy,” and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” The Charlie Daniels Band is a must-see concert. [Read more…]

‘Liberal Redneck,’ ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ to perform in comedy show at Grove

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Comedy at Grove May 28 2016

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Fresh off 14 million views (and counting) for his Facebook rant on public restroom use by transgender people, Trae Crowder will join headliner Drew Whitney Morgan onstage for Comedy at the Grove on Saturday May 28.

Crowder, who calls Knoxville home, went “viral” recently when he posted a short video supporting transgender public restroom use and in the process turned the stereotype of the bigoted southern redneck on its ear by becoming an improbable ally to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, a press release said. The self-proclaimed “Liberal Redneck,” who was a cast member for an Impractical Joker spin-off for CMT and is a writer/comedian for NBC Universal’s Talent Infusion Program, likens his material to being “southern-fried intellectual humor.”

Morgan is the New York City-via-East Tennessee headliner and the 2015 winner of the Stand-Up Showdown at the Pit. He is the son of a preacher man who has traveled the world to weave together intense stories with cutting edge observations on culture, religion, and identity, the press release said. His style has been described as “decidedly southern, extremely smart, and charmingly sarcastic,” the release said. [Read more…]

Arts and Antiques in the Square on Saturday

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The merchants of Jackson Square invite you to join them this Saturday, April 30, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. for Arts and Antiques in the Square.

Artisans and dealers of vintage and antique items will be on hand to showcase their wares for purchase, a press release said.

There will be live music from Liza Jane and Fiddlin Curly Cottrell, and they will share their knowledge of “good ole mountain music” beginning at 12 p.m., the release said. [Read more…]

Tanasi Winds featured at ORCMA coffee concert on Sunday

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ORCMA Tanasi Winds

Tanasi Winds features Dave Greenwood on clarinet, Dana Fox on oboe, RaNaye Dreier on flute, Bill Schwenterly on French horn, and Ardyce Lee on bassoon. (Submitted photo)

 

Tanasi Winds will be featured at an Oak Ridge Civic Music Association coffee concert on Sunday.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24, at the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, which is at 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The concert is free, and refreshments will be served following the performance, a press release said. [Read more…]

Animal Shelter cat, rat to appear on ‘Unlikely Animal Friends,’ a National Geographic show

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Batman and Pumpkin

Batman, a Dumbo rat, left, and Pumpkin, a FIV-positive cat, two mascots at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter, will be featured on National Geographic (Nat Geo) WILD’s “Unlikely Animal Friends” airing 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

A cat and a rat, both mascots at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter, will be featured on National Geographic (Nat Geo) WILD’s “Unlikely Animal Friends” airing 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21.

In September 2015, the Nat Geo WILD team spent a full day at the shelter filming, a press release said. Their focus was to show the unlikely friendship between Pumpkin, a FIV-positive cat, and Batman, a Dumbo rat. Aside from showing the friendship between the two animals, the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter hopes to educate the public on FIV-positive cats and promote adopting from local animal shelters.

The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter is located on the east end of town at 395 Belgrade Road, and it currently holds a no-kill status, the press release said.

For more information about the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter, visit http://animalshelter.oakridgetn.gov/ or call (865) 425-3423.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Comedy at the Grove with Blayr Nias is Saturday

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Comedy at the Grove April 23, 2016

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Comedy at the Grove is back with the amazingly funny Blayr Nias. She has worked with the best well-known comedians, making her mark in the comedy world. Also featured will be Asheville’s own Tom Scheve and Art Sturtevant, with Knoxville’s comedic son, Sam King, rounding out the funny as the host. Birdwell Catering will be available for your beverage needs. You must be 18 to enter and 21 to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.

Headliner: Blayr Nias

Blayr Nias is not your average female comic. She lives by the credo “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll have to be a horrible warning.” When she hits the stage, it’s with manic energy, high-octane humor, and her trademark mega-watt smile giving her the nickname “GummyBlayr.” Winning audiences over across the country with a dynamic stage presence, she shares tales of her misadventures as “the bad girl next door.”

This Massachusetts native graduated from the George Washington University with a degree in theater and creative writing. In 2012, she was featured in the Pink Collar Comedy Tour at the Piccolo Spoletto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and performed in the Laugh Your Asheville Off Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, headlined by Jim Gaffigan. She was a featured artist in the Charlotte Video Project, a collection of short films about the culture of the city. In September 2013, Blayr was named a finalist in Comedy Central’s Up Next Comedy Competition. [Read more…]

ORHS concert to feature JazzKats, Concert Band, Symphonic Band

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2015-16 All East Students

Oak Ridge High School 2015-16 All East Students are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

A Thursday night concert at Oak Ridge High School will feature award-winning ORHS groups performing in the community for the first time since Christmas.

Among the recent honors: The Oak Ridge High School Band placed 21 students through auditions into the ETSBOA All East Honors Bands. ETSBOA is the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association.

A couple of the ORHS students were actually chosen on two different instruments, a press release said. Two in the group, Ryan Armstrong and Thomas Colburn, earned seats in All State as well.

“These outstanding students, along with the entire Symphonic and Concert Bands, also earned a superior rating (all 1s in performance and sight reading) at the State Concert Festival under the direction of Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko,” the press release said.

Now, the ORHS Band students and directors have invited the community to enjoy a diverse program of music on Thursday, April 21. A sample of some of the evening’s performances include Director Mike Spirko with the JazzKats opening on “Come Out Swingin’,” followed by the Concert Band performing “West Side Story.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge native, longtime Hollywood photographer George Holz to speak at UT

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George Holz

George Holz

 

Photographer George Holz—who was born in Oak Ridge, attended the University of Tennessee, and is known for his fashion and celebrity photographs—will return to UT to speak about his work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14.

His talk will be in the auditorium of the UT College of Nursing at 1200 Volunteer Boulevard in Knoxville. It’s sponsored by the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, and it is free and open to the public.

Holz will be talking about his new book, “Holz Hollywood: 30 Years of Portraits.”

Holz was born and raised in Oak Ridge and attended UT for two years in the mid-1970s, working as a photographer for the Daily Beacon and the Volunteer Yearbook.

After attending UT, Holz graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and assisted for noted fashion photographer, Helmut Newton, who became his mentor. [Read more…]