Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts this weekend:
MUSIC: Quartet concert
The Ying Quartet — Robin Scott and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola; and David Ying, cello — perform for the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, 7:30 p.m. today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., Little Rock. The program: the String Quartet, op.11, by Samuel Barber; "Southern Harmony" by Jennifer Higdon; "Agitato" by Billy Childs; and the String Quartet No. 13 in G major, op.106, by Antonin Dvorak. A meet-the-musicians reception with wine and snacks follows. Admission is $25, free for students. Visit chambermusicLR.com/tickets.
Met auditions
Twenty-eight singers from throughout the United States and abroad will be onstage at noon Saturday for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Arkansas District, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. Admission is free.
The three-judge panel: Jane Klaviter, prompter and assistant conductor with the Metropolitan Opera; Kathleen Kelly, director of musical studies at the Vienna State Opera; and Carroll Freeman, operatic tenor, director and music educator whose credits include Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point outside Eureka Springs and the Arkansas Opera Theatre.
As many as two or three district winners will go on to the Midwest Regional competition Feb. 18 in Tulsa, competing against the winners from the Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City districts; regional winners compete in the national semifinals April 17, with the Grand Finals Concert on April 23, on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City's Lincoln Center. That concert will be streamed live; tickets are available at metopera.org.
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions started in 1954 to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. Singers who got their start via the auditions include Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green and Nadine Sierra. In 2022 it was renamed as the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, in recognition of a gift from the Laffont family.
THEATER: Singing 'Cinderella'
Positive Images in Christ, in association with Central High School in Helena-West Helena, is staging Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," 7 p.m. today and Friday at the school, 103 School Road, West Helena. Tickets are $7, $5 for students. Call (501) 420-3704 or visit advanceministries.regfox.com/cinderella.
“Glasswing Butterfly” and “Goliath Beetle” by Marcus Vasquez are part of “Specimens,” on display starting Friday at the Argenta Library in North Little Rock. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ART: Library exhibition
"Specimens," watercolor paintings of a variety of insects on tea bags by North Little Rock native Marcus Vasquez, goes on display with a Third-Friday Art Walk reception, 5-8 p.m. Friday at the Argenta Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. The exhibit remains up through Feb. 10. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. Call (501) 687-1061 or visit NLRLibrary.org.
The Bradbury Art Museum, in Arkansas State University's Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro, opens two exhibitions with a reception, 5-6:30 p.m. today:
◼️ "Moon Shine," photographs by Rachel Boillot, ASU assistant professor of art, of "inspired by musical heritage in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau and explores the memories of female musicians in the Appalachian region," according to a news release.
“I Can See You,” ceramic by Jonesboro High student Hayden Hobbs, and “Falling Ascension,” mixed-media piece by Harrisburg High student Kaylee Correa, are part of "Inspired 8," on display at Arkansas State University's Bradbury Art Museum. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
◼️ "Inspired 8," 50 works by students from 10 area high schools, for an annual competitive exhibition in which students created works in response to what they saw during a visit to the museum — in particular, "People/Places/Things," an exhibition exploring the concept of realism. Juror Stephanie H. Shih, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based artist whose work was included within "People/Places/Things," chose the works in the exhibition.
Both exhibitions remain up through Feb. 8. Hours are noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is free. Call (870) 972-3765 or email visitBAM@AState.edu.