A slate of jazz luminaries, including Grammy-nominated keyboardist and composer Jeff Lorber, former American Idol guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., saxophonist Everette Harp, keyboard player Alex Bugnon and former Art Porter Trio vocalist Martha Burks will headline the Art Porter Music Education Inc.'s A Work of Art.
The week of Little Rock performances, , Monday-Saturday, kicks off at noon Monday with a performance by members of the organization's "Minors in Music" program at Little Rock City Hall, West Markham and Arch streets. It's the primary fundraiser for the nonprofit, which promotes music education and provides scholarships.
The rest of the lineup:
• Noon Tuesday: "Jazz on the Plaza," River Plaza (near the Farmers Market) in the River Market District. Free.
• 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday: Martha Burks, Cajun's Wharf, 2400 Cantrell Road. Tickets: $40 VIP; $25 general admission.
• 8 p.m. Thursday: Porter Players Jam Session, The Afterthought, 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. Free
• 7 and 9 p.m. Friday: Alex Bugnon, Club Sway, 412 Louisiana St. $50 VIP, $35 general admission.
• 8 p.m. Saturday: "Jazz, Funk & Soul," featuring Lorber, Jackson and Harp, with opening act the Dizzy 7 Band and a "special performance" by jazz violinist and Porter scion Lexington Porter, Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road. $65 VIP, $45 general admission.
The Saturday concert will also include the introduction of Edward Barnes, a graduating senior from Mayflower High School, who will receive a $3,000 renewable scholarship and participate in the "Minors in Music" program.
Call (501) 492-9120 or visit the website, artporter.org.
Bluegrass sisters
Gold Heart -- sisters Tori Gold on mandolin, Jocey Gold on guitar and Shelby Gold on fiddle, plus their father, Trent, on bass, and banjo player Jared Lindsay -- will perform for the monthly Bluegrass Monday, 7 p.m. Monday at the Collins Theatre, 120 W. Emerson St., Paragould. Sponsoring public radio station KASU-FM, 91.9, will pass the hat to pay the group; suggested donation is $5. Call (870) 972-2367 or visit the Bluegrass Monday Facebook page.
Ballet auditions
Ballet Arkansas will hold auditions for its annual production of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker at 10 a.m. Aug. 9 in the Shuffles & Ballet II studios, 1521 Merrill Drive, Little Rock.
Roles are available for children, teens and adults. All students must be enrolled in a ballet class at any dance school to audition; there is a $20 audition fee. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the audition time.
The audition schedule: 10 a.m., children age 6; 11:30 a.m., children 7-9; 1 p.m., children 10-12; 2 p.m., teens 13 and older; 3:30 p.m., adults (for party guest roles). Intermediate and advanced female dancers should have pointe shoes.
Rehearsals start in September and continue weekends until the week of performances -- including student matinees, Dec. 11-14, at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center, with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
The company will also hold auditions for the Ballet Arkansas Youth Division, 10 a.m.-noon Aug. 16 in the Shuffles & Ballet II studios. To qualify, students must be at least 13 by Sept. 1. Auditions will consist of a 90-minute company class with Ballet Mistress Marla Edwards plus, for female dancers, a 30-minute pointe class. Take the $20 audition fee, a resume and biography, a head shot and registration form, available at the website, balletarkansas.org.
Youth Division dancers will take classes alongside the professional company. Tuition is $80 per month with a one-time $50 production fee (plus costume fees) to participate in the Youth Program performance and at the annual Turning Pointe Gala.
Call (501) 223-5150.
Fort Smith season
The Fort Smith Symphony will open its 2014-15 season at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 with a concert titled "Musical Kaleidoscope," with pianist Gleb Ivanov soloing in Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, at the ArcBest Corp. Performing Arts Center, 55 S. Seventh St., Fort Smith.
Music Director John Jeter's opening program will also include Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams, the Suite from Hary Janos with Lawrence Kaptain as cimbalom soloist, and Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
The rest of the lineup (except as noted, all concerts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Jeter conducting at the performing arts center):
• Oct. 25: "Pops on Broadway," with singers Teri Dale Hansen and Jeremiah James singing Broadway hits, plus works by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Borodin featuring the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Chorale
• Dec. 5: "Spontaneous Christmas," with violinist Doug Cameron
• Jan. 24: "French Impressions and Scottish Landscapes," with Matt Vangjel soloing in Franz Joseph Haydn's Trumpet Concerto, plus Ravel's La Tombeau de Couperin and the Symphony No. 3 in a minor, op.56, "Scottish," by Felix Mendelssohn
• April 18: "The Music of Ray Charles," with singer Dee Daniels, plus Leonard Bernstein's Candide Overture and George Gershwin's An American in Paris
• May 16: "Fate and the Phoenix," with Bojidara Kouzmanova as the violin soloist in Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), op.20, by Pablo de Sarasate and the "Meditation" from Thais by Jules Massenet, plus the 1919 version of the Suite from The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in c minor, op.67
The orchestra, with composer Robert Mueller, violinist Sophy Monroe and the Western Arkansas Ballet, will perform its annual "Earquake!" education concert at 9 and 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. April 20.
Season tickets are $125 and $170, $80 and $100 for students. Single-concert tickets are $35 and $40, $15 and $20 for students. Call (479) 452-7575 or visit the website, fortsmithsymphony.org.
Style on 07/27/2014