Calendar of Events

As the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra reminisces about the last 75 years, it also looks forward to the next 75. With the retirement of Concertmaster Mark Zelmanovich, the orchestra is now faced with the challenge of hiring a new violinist for this position. As the field of hopefuls narrows, the final three candidates will be invited to not only perform with the orchestra throughout the 2010-2011 season, but also to demonstrate their recital skills as a part of the new Concertmaster Series. Each candidate’s 60 minute recital will follow a similar pattern: a solo Bach work, a showpiece and an additional two or three works chosen by the candidate. Following each recital, the candidate will entertain questions from the audience. These FREE Concertmaster Recital performances will take place on September 20, January 24 and May 16 at the Pellissippi State Community College Clayton Center, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN. For information and tickets: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

In association with the Better English Fund, Writers in the Library, Ready for the World, the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Judaic Studies Program, and the Commission for Women. All events take place at 7 p.m. at Hodges Library Audtorium unless otherwise noted. All events are free and open to the public.

January 24 : Jesmyn Ward, Where the Line Bleeds - Fiction

For more information: Marilyn Kallet, Director, Creative Writing Program
mkallet@utk.edu, 865-974-6947

Pilobolus is an internationally renowned dance company based in Washington Depot, Connecticut. It currently possesses a repertory of over 100 works, whose origins are traced to a 1971 Dartmouth College dance class taught by Alison Chase. The group first began performing in October 1971 and has been touring worldwide since that date. Their performances have long been characterized by a strong element of physical interaction between the bodies of the performers and exaggerations or contortions of the human form (or other anthropomorphic forms), often verging on gymnastics. Recently, they appeared as performers in the 2007 television broadcast of the 79th Academy Awards. Their act was done in silhouette behind a white translucent screen, where they formed various figures from various films: Happy Feet, Little Miss Sunshine, Snakes on a Plane, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Departed. The act for Snakes on a Plane included host Ellen DeGeneres, who said afterwards, "They're naked!" Naked or not, Pilobolus combines gravity-defying partner work with poignant subject matter to create a masterful repertory.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. $5 students/$20 faculty/$25 General Admission. UT Cultural Attractions Committee: 865-974-5455, http://activities.utk.edu/category/cpc/cac/

Pilobolus is an internationally renowned dance company based in Washington Depot, Connecticut. It currently possesses a repertoire of over 100 works, whose origins are traced to a 1971 Dartmouth College dance class taught by Alison Chase. The group first began performing in October 1971 and has been touring worldwide since then. Their performances have long been characterized by a strong element of physical interaction between the bodies of the performers and exaggerations or contortions of the human form (or other anthropomorphic forms), often verging on gymnastics.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

Since 1993, the Core Ensemble has toured nationally in every region of the United States and internationally in England, Russia, the Ukraine, Australia and the British Virgin Islands. Pellissippi State Community College invites the community to a free performance “Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance,” presented by the Core Ensemble, in the Goins Building Auditorium at Pellissippi Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. Audience members will enjoy two shows in one as the group blends both theatre and symphony. “Of Ebony Embers” is a celebration of the music and poetry of the early 20th century’s Harlem Renaissance in New York City. The presentation examines the lives of three well-known African-American poets—Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay—as seen through the eyes of the painter and muralist Aaron Douglas. Written and directed by Akin Babatunde, “Of Ebony Embers” features music by African-American composers ranging from jazz greats Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus to concert music composers Jeffrey Mumford and George Walker. Actor Chris White portrays multiple characters while interacting with the onstage musical trio of cello, piano and percussion. The Boston Globe has hailed the Core Ensemble as “often formidable, always intelligent, ultimately compelling.” The group was the 2000 recipient of the Edward McDermott Award for Excellence in the Arts awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The event is sponsored by Pellissippi State’s English and Liberal Arts departments, and the Access and Diversity Office. For more information, contact Gayle Wood, director of Access and Diversity, at (865) 539-7160.

The show features never before exhibited drawings and photographic images of the Villa Ottolenghi project, from conception to construction.

PUBLIC LECTURE by Guido Pietropoli - "The Dancing Columns of the Villa Ottolenghi"
February 16 @ 5:30 PM
Rm. 109, McCarty Auditorium, Art + Architecture Building
A reception, open to the public, will commence immediately following the lecture, at 7PM, in the Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture.

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-F 10-5, Sun 1-4. For information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

Artworks of monumental physical scale are overwhelming. The diminutive viewer is confronted and consumed by the gigantic. Presented with the miniature, the viewers, no longer assigned to the passive role, can instead devour the work, taking it into their souls. The miniature invites the viewer into a personal and intimate relationship. With attention drawn to the significance of the seemingly insignificant, the momentousness of the miniscule is magnified, thus instilling monumental value.

This exhibition investigates the power of small-scale artists’ books to challenge their readers with grand, powerful, urgent, and poignant content. In addition to the work of current UT Assistant Professor of Printmaking, Althea Murphy-Price, as well as three UT school of art alums, MIMB includes books from 141 artists from the United States, Korea, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, India, Pakistan, the UK, Canada, Mauritius, and Argentina. The miniature books range from complicated structures, poems, and humorous texts, to intricate drawings. Many of the books use unconventional materials and innovative bookmaking techniques; including relief printing, intaglio, lithography, silkscreen printing, and the newest digital processes.

To see images of individual books, visit the MIMB flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimborg/

Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-F 10-5, Sun 1-4. For information: 865-974-3200, www.ewing-gallery.utk.edu

The Farragut Folklife Museum will feature the “Out of the Attic” exhibit this winter and spring. This special exhibit will showcase interesting artifacts from the Museum collection that have not been displayed in many years or have never been on display.

Farragut Folklife Museum, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10AM-4:30 PM. For information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org

Hans Christian Anderson's greatest story features all the hallmarks of the best fairy tales: magic mirrors, evil trolls, crystal palaces, spine-tingling adventure, and a battle twixt good & evil.

Located at 800 Tyson Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com, info@childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

One artist likens her work to a Rubik’s Cube. The other is a former punk rock–bluegrass musician who now composes mixed media and traditional acrylic paintings. Both are full-time faculty members at Pellissippi State Community College and will share gallery space in the current New Faculty Show art exhibit.

The exhibit welcomes Jennifer Brickey and Herbert J. Rieth III as new faculty who have been teaching art at the college since fall 2010. Brickey and Rieth both teach classes ranging from drawing and painting to design. Brickey received her B.F.A. in studio art (painting) from the University of Tennessee and her M.F.A. in the same discipline from Maryland Institute College of Art. Rieth comes to Pellissippi State after teaching at universities in Alabama, Mississippi and Ohio. The art on display promises to be engaging. Brickey’s pieces represent five years’ worth of paintings and drawings, many of them autobiographical. Brickey says she is drawn to the connections between her life and work.

The New Faculty Show takes place in the gallery of the Bagwell Center for Media and Arts on the Pellissippi Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. An artist reception is scheduled for Jan. 20, 5-7 p.m., and will be preceded by an artist talk at noon. The reception, discussion and exhibit are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Jeff Lockett, Art professor, at jlockett@pstcc.edu or (865) 694-6433.

The O’Brien Art Gallery on the Roane County Campus is currently featuring the paintings of Nashville based artist Ev Niewoehner. For gallery Hours, contact Bryan Wilkerson at 865.882.4649. www.roanestate.edu/art/gallery

An exhibit featuring the photographs and painting of Terri Swaggerty and oil paintings of Emily Spence Stables will be on display at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Free and open to the public. Opening reception Friday, January 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists' talks at 6:30 p.m.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Art Gallery hours: Monday-Thursday 9AM-5PM; Friday 9AM-4:30PM; Sunday 9AM-1PM. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org