Tuesday Arts Miscellany – Feb. 16, 2021: Go!, KSO, KCT, MCO, et al.

As live-streaming becomes more and more sophisticated in its use of video technology,  organizations that depend on live performance in a theatrical venue are taking up the controls. On Saturday, February 20th at 7PM, GO! Contemporary Dance Works is presenting The Search for Persephone, a Mythological Ballet, in a livestream from the Bijou Theatre. This full length contemporary ballet is a product of Artistic Director Lisa Hall McKee, GO!’s team of seven choreographers and 55 pre-professional and professional dancers that are a part of this Knoxville-based dance organization.

This ballet’s scenario revolves around the myth of the springtime goddess, Persephone, and her abduction by Hades, king of the underworld. The choreography incorporates ballet and contemporary and aerial dance.

“Traveling from the goddess’ capture to her celebratory return, The Search for Persephone will be visually stunning with elaborate sets and costuming with the choreography incorporating ballet, contemporary and aerial dance. Throughout this two hour performance the audience will meet Gaea and Uranus at the world’s formation, fly with the nymphs in Artemis’s forest, dive into the aquatic world of Amphitrite, and seep down deep with the creatures and fates of the dark underworld.”

Live streamed on February 20th at 7 PM, The Search for Persephone will be available for viewing until March 8th. Subscribers will receive a streaming link upon ticket purchase prior to the performance. Ticket packages begin at $20 and are available at gocontemporarydanceworks.veeps.com

For more information, please visit gocontemporarydance.com or knoxbijou.org.

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The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Masterworks Concert Series returns this week, on Thursday, February 18, via a live-stream from the Tennessee Theatre. This February concert will feature works by Mozart and Aaron Copland, plus works by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Caroline Shaw, and 20th Century Afro-American composer William Grant Still. The Copland work will be his famous Appalachian Spring in its original version for 13 instrumentalists.

Shaw’s work on the program, Entr’acte, was originally written for string quartet, but has been arranged for string orchestra.

Shaw: Entre’acte
Still: Serenade
Mozart:  Divertimento No. 1, K. 136 in D major
Copland:  Appalachian Spring

Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 7:30 PM – LIVESTREAM TICKETS

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Knoxville Children’s Theatre is presenting a live production of the fantasy adventure novel, The Neverending Story, adapted by David S. Craig from the original novel by Michael Ende. The play is performed by 14 young actors, from ages 10 to 16 and is directed by KCT Artistic Director, Dennis E. Perkins.

The play will be performed January 22nd through February 7th, Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets will be limited for each performance so each group or family can be distanced from each other. Masks are required inside the theatre at all times. Ionopure air sanitizers are used throughout the theatre.

Tickets are available on their website at knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

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Pellissippi State and Knoxville Opera are offering The American Musical Experience in a free concert on Friday evening, February 19, at 7 PM on Pellissippi State’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Soprano Adia Evans and baritone Michael Rodgers will be the vocalists with accompaniment by pianist Brian Salesky, artistic director of Knoxville Opera. 

https://www.youtube.com/MarbleCityOpera

“A one-act opera, Royal Flush is a comic piece interspersed with touching and vulnerable moments for all five singers. Four sisters (either by blood or common experience) size each other up over one hand of Poker. The fifth – their “Mother” – manages the proceedings, calls the game, and calmly deals.

With each card, one of the four sisters reflects on the hand they are dealt – both in the game, and in their lives – and in the process, reveals their “tell.” The stubbornness and competitiveness of the four sisters push them all to advance terrible hands, while the dealer quietly assembles a Royal Flush. At the showdown, the Mother/dealer calls them all out, identifying their tells (which they didn’t know they were showing) and advising them to “be kind to each other, because you’re never alone.”

Tickets and Information: www.marblecityopera.com

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On Sunday afternoon at 5 PM, Music at St. John’s will present harpsichordist Malcolm Matthews and violinist Jun Iwasaki will present a collaborative recital of baroque music on St. John’s Cathedral’s new Robert Duffy harpsichord.

This is a free event via St. John’s YouTube channel. Check back for a YouTube link.

Malcolm Matthews is the Associate Organist & Choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) of Nashville, and Jin Iwasaki is the Concertmaster of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.