Calendar of Events

Knoxville Restaurant Week benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank (February 27 - March 4) During Knoxville Restaurant Week, local restaurants ranging from Aubrey’s and La Costa to the Melting Pot and Ruth’s Chris Steak House will offer three-course dinners at fixed prices of $25 or $35. For each meal purchased, $5 will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee to help feed the hungry.

Visit www.knoxvillerestaurantweek.com
for a complete list of participating restaurants and more dining details. Restaurants are expected to fill quickly, so make your reservations today!

Can we build it? Yes we Can Can! We’ve all heard of melody, rhythm and harmony, but this concert uses those building blocks to create popular music. Picardy Penguin will show how music is built from the ground up with classics such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony, Offenbach’s Can Can, a well-known march by Johann Strauss, and a sailor’s dance. Families are encouraged to arrive early to this concert to participate in Picardy’s Playground, a musical discovery zone in the lobby of the Tennessee Theatre. The playground features a variety of children’s activities that include a kid-sized orchestra and an instrument petting zoo. The playground opens at 12:45 PM and is free for all ticket holders.

Performed at the Historic Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information and tickets: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Swiss composer-pianist Nik Bartsch’s music occupies a niche all its own, equidistant from contemporary composition, funk/soul grooves and scattered world musics. What to call it? “Zen funk” is one of Bartsch’s terms for his pieces, “ritual groove music” is another. Their music consistently follows the same aesthetic vision under various instrumental guises: creating the maximum effect by minimal means.

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

The Farragut Folklife Museum will host an event in honor of Black History Month at the Farragut Town Hall. A special presentation will be given at 3 p.m. This year’s event will recognize two African-American institutions in the Concord community – Concord A.M.E. Zion Church and Concord Original Church of God. Concord A.M.E. Zion Church, founded in 1872, and Concord Original Church of God, founded in 1918, are the oldest African-American operating institutions in the Concord community. Their missions both include the promotion of African-American heritage while preserving the cultural and social principles and development of the community. Attendees will hear music by Deborah Henry, and, at 3 p.m., local attorney George Underwood will speak in the board room. This free event is open to the community and will also include tours of the Museum, special Black History Month exhibits and light refreshments.

Farragut Folklife Museum, 11408 Municipal Center Dr, Farragut, TN 37934. For information: 865-966-7057, www.townoffarragut.org

The Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir performs at Pellissippi State Community College on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Clayton Performing Arts Center on the Pellissippi Campus. The campus is at 10915 Hardin Valley Road.

The performance is one of several events taking place as part of the college’s Black History Month celebration.

The choir performs a number of anthems and Negro spirituals: “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “Glorious Everlasting,” “Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit,” “I’ve Been ’Buked,” “Rockin’ Jerusalem, “He Is King of Kings.” The group also presents some contemporary crossovers, among them, “Make Me a Believer.”

The performance is free and open to the public. Free parking also is available in any lot designated “Open.”

For more information, contact Gayle Wood, (865) 539-7160 or gwood@pstcc.edu.

Knoxville Opera, 612 E. Depot Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917. 865-524-0795, www.knoxvilleopera.com

The zen-funk quintet Ronin was founded in 2001 by Nik Baertsch, a composer and pianist from Zurich. Their music consistently follows the same aesthetic vision under various instrumental guises: creating the maximum effect by minimal means. Despite the multiplicity of the band’s influences, Ronin’s music always possesses a strong individuality. They incorporate elements of disparate musical worlds, be they funk, new classical music or sounds from Japanese ritual music.

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

By A. R. Gurney. A brilliantly conceived and richly humorous theatrical tour de force (and Off-Broadway success) in which six (or more) performers portray a wide array of diverse characters as they delineate the dying lifestyle of wealthy WASPdom, and the now neglected room which was once a vital center of family life.

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $10 plus fees for Thursday & Sunday; $15 plus fees for Friday & Saturday. For information: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com. For tickets: 865-523-7521, www.KnoxTIX.com

by William Shakespeare. Scheming Sir John Falstaff tries to swindle and seduce not one, but two married women. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford exact their revenge and feminine wisdom triumphs! Performances will take place on the mainstage in the CBT.

1714 Andy Holt Avenue on the UT Campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.org

Members of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Association are gearing up for their second performance of the season.

The Jr. Philharmonia, Philharmonia, Sinfonia and Youth Chamber Orchestra will perform a FREE concert on Monday, February 21 at 7:00 PM at the Tennessee Theatre.

The Youth Orchestra will perform a FREE concert on Sunday, February 27 at 7:00 PM at the Tennessee Theatre. This performance will feature the winners of the 2010 Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition: Cameron Lugo performing Allegro molto appassionato from Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64, and Jerry Feng, performing Allegro con brio from Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. Also on the program, the Youth Orchestra will perform “Russian Sailor’s Dance” from Gliere’s The Red Poppy and Sibelius’ Karelia Suite.

The Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Association is currently celebrating its 37th season. The orchestras rehearse on Monday evenings at West Valley Middle School. The Youth Orchestra Association will perform four concerts throughout the 2010-2011 season. All four performances will take place at the Tennessee Theatre and are FREE and open to the public. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony League and Knox County Schools sponsor the Association.
865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Part farce, part comedy of manners, this classic is given a new twist in a re-set from the foibles and hypocrisy of the Victorian era to the foibles and hypocrisy of the mid 20th century. Replete with witty dialog, fictitious identities, and unwelcome social obligations, it has proved Wilde most enduringly popular play. Suitable for teens and older.

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway in Historic Jackson Square, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. For information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

In the Painting Studio. Opening Reception: Friday, February 18, 6:00-8:00 pm

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 576 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. For information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

by RB Morris. The Playmakers are proud to present RB MORRIS, a recording artist, a published poet, and the author and actor of the one-man play, "The Man Who Lives Here is Looney" about the life of Knoxville author James Agee. Strongly inspired by the Beat poets and a range of musical influences and genres, RB has defined the underside of Knoxville culture in the course of thirty year career. RSCC Playmakers, Roane State Theatre, Harriman. ($7/10 Student/General Admission)

February 17-19, 24-26 at 7 pm
February 20 & 27 at 2 pm (matinee)

http://www.roanestate.edu/theatre; (865) 354-3000