Correction: St. Joseph Center is a former orphanage in North Little Rock being converted into a center for agriculture, art and education. The city in which St. Joseph's is located was misidentified in an item below.
Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway actress-singer Audra McDonald and a three-piece band will perform Broadway musical hits in two Arkansas venues this week:
7:30 p.m. Friday, Arkansas Best Performing Arts Center, Fort Smith Convention Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith. Tickets are $55 for first-tier seating and $52 for second-tier seating. Call (479) 788-7300 or visit uafs.universitytickets.com.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway, part of the UCA Public Appearances’ Broadway Series. Tickets are $30-$40, $27-$37 for senior citizens, $10 for children. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/tickets.
Bluegrass Monday
Fredericktown, Mo., bluegrass band the Punches Family - parents Bruce and Bobette Punches and their four children, age 12-16 - will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould, part of Jonesboro public radio station KASU-FM, 91.9’s monthly Bluegrass Monday series. The station will pass the hat to pay the musicians; suggested donation is $5. Call (870) 972-2367, email mscarbro@astate.edu or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
UCA Octubafest
Tubas and euphoniums will fill the halls of the University of Central Arkansas’ Snow Fine Arts Center for the annual Octubafest, described in a news release as “a scary celebration of all things tuba,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday in the Snow Recital Hall at UCA.
Tuesday’s concert will feature several tuba-euphonium studio student soloists and quartets. Thursday is the traditional “Octubaween” performance, with soloists, quartets and skits in costume with free candy. Admission is free to both performances. Call (501) 450-5759 or email ccarichner@uca.edu.
ARmusica concert
Pianist Julie Cheek and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra principal players Drew Irvin, violin, and David Gerstein, cello, will give an ARmusica concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1101 N. Mississippi St., Little Rock, to benefit the St. Joseph Center of Arkansas in Hot Springs.
Gerstein and Cheek will play the Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, op.69, by Ludwig van Beethoven; Irvin and Cheek will the play the Violin Sonata in D major, K.306, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the “Devil’s Trill” Sonata by Giuseppe Tartini. Admission is free; donations will be accepted. Call (501) 993-4560, email stjosephcenter@gmail.com or visit the website, sjcark.org.
Couple’s art
“The Picture Never Changes,” featuring the collaborative works of husband and wife artists painter Dustyn Bork and printmaker Carly Dahl, the first of a quarterly series of art exhibitions that the Thea Foundation calls “The Art Department,” will be on display Monday-Nov. 22 at the Thea Gallery, 401 Main St., North Little Rock.
The foundation will hold a reception for young professionals. 6:30-9 p.m. Nov. 7; admission, $10 at the door, covers heavy hors d’oeuvres, “quality libations,” one-on one conversation with the artists and a performance from the Funk a Nites.
Admission is free. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. weekdays. Call (501) 379-9512 or visit the website, TheasArtDepartment.com.
Composition contest
Dec. 6 is the deadline to enter the Conway Composers Guild’s first W. Francis McBeth Memorial Composition Contest, named for the late William Francis McBeth, the state’s composer laureate, who died in 2012.
The competition is open to student composers under 30 who are Arkansas natives or who reside or study in Arkansas. The judging panel will consist of professional composers from around the United States. Entrants must be sponsored by a current music teacher familiar with the entrant’s work who must sign the entry form; send those, scores, recordings and a $10 entry fee (make checks out to CCG) to McBeth Competition, c/o CCG, 2200 Maplewood Drive, Conway, Ark. 72032
The winner, who will be announced at the guild’s annual concert Feb. 2, will receive Finale music notation software from the MakeMusic Corp., in conjunction with a commission for a work for string quartet from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra for its 2014-15 season. For details, including rules, regulations and limitations, email musicianmail-ccg@yahoo.com or visit the guild’s Facebook page.
New gallery
The Art Group is opening a new location, called the Art Store, Friday in Suite 910 (formerly Kitchen Co.), Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday. The Art Group also operates a working studio at 10840 Maumelle Blvd., North Little Rock. Call (501) 690-2193 or visit theartgroupmaumelle.com.
Cemetery workshop
Author Abby Burnett will lead the the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s children’s cemetery iconography workshop, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday at Mount Holly Cemetery, 12th Street and Broadway, Little Rock. The workshop, open to students in grades 5-12, will teach the meaning behind the symbols on gravestones and will feature an icon scavenger hunt. Registration is limited to 30 participants. Admission is free; bring a sack lunch. Call (501) 324-9880 or email holly@arkansasheritage.org.
Caterpillar tale
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia will put on its touring production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main St., Memphis, part of the theater’s Family Series. Tickets are $15-$20. Call (901) 525-3000 or visit orpheum-memphis.com.
Style, Pages 50 on 10/27/2013