Calendar of Events

Circle Modern Dance presents Layer by Layer, an evening of exploration and commentary through movement, is set for Thursday, April 27th at 7pm, Friday, April 28th at 7pm, and Saturday, April 29th at 3 and 7 pm, at Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917.

Made possible by a grant from the East Tennessee Foundation, Layer by Layer honors Circle Modern Dance’s (CMD) past 26 years while looking forward to many more years of dancing. Throughout the evening, CMD core dancers and guest performers will explore vulnerability, love, and loss. Dances include works from core dancers Amelia Breed, Kat Milligan, Callie Minnich, Darby O’Connor and Sarah Whitaker, as well as the debut of a performance piece set by Kim Matibag, a co-founder of CMD.

Layer by Layer is an accumulation of months of exploration into overarching ideas that influence our daily lives and how we as humans react to them. According to Callie Minnich, one of the directors of the show, “Layer by Layer provides an opportunity for artists and audience members to find connections in shared experiences. We at CMD look forward to the chance to share our art with the community and we thoroughly enjoy giving dancers in our area the chance to join us on stage!”

Tickets are $10 in advance for students/senior/military, and $13 general public (http://circlemoderndance.tix.com/). Tickets at the door are $13 for students/senior/military, and $15 general public. For more information on the event, please visit the CMD website at http://circlemoderndance.com/, or email circlemoderndance@gmail.com

The Knoxville Choral Society presents the Knoxville Chamber Chorale Spring Concert at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension located at 800 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919. The Knoxville Chamber Chorale is a 31-member choral ensemble auditioned from the membership of the Knoxville Choral Society and conducted by Dr. John R. Orr. The Chamber Chorale is Knoxville’s premier chamber choir.

The program features choral arrangements of classics as well as newer music arranged for a cappella choir. The concert includes classics like Jauchzet dem Herren and Richte Mich, Gott, Psalm 43 from Mendelssohn. Also included are many other selections such as Hear My Prayer, O Lord from Henry Purcell, Amazing Grace from Eriks Esenvalds, and Lord, If I Got My Ticket Can I Ride? arranged by Sheldon Curry. The concert provides a full evening of beautiful choral music and is not to be missed.

This event is free and open to the public. Knoxville Choral Society: 865-312-2440, www.knoxvillechoralsociety.org

Get a taste of Spain at this year-end concert, featuring the Concert Chorale and Variations Ensemble — plus highlights from Variations’ performing tour of Spain. Free and open to the public!

In the Clayton Performing Arts Center. Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

The sultry neo-psychedelic sound of the Black Angels came together in spring 2004, taking their name from a Velvet Underground classic, “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” Hailing from Austin, Texas, the band is comprised of Alex Maas, Christian Bland, Kyle Hunt, Stephanie Bailey and Jake Garcia.

The band’s self-titled debut EP was released in late 2005, finding an international audience through Myspace and music forums, and quickly becoming an underground sensation. The band released their first LP, 2006’s Passover on Light In The Attic, to great acclaim and began to tour the world.

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: http://themillandmine.com/

“The Little Tennessee River Valley: Treasure over Time” will be the next presentation in the Southern Appalachian Studies series.

Mark Davidson, adjunct professor at Pellissippi State specializing in History of the Appalachian Mountain Region, will present an overview of the Little Tennessee (Little “T”) River Valley from the 1700’s until the present. Davidson says, “Many of the events that have played out in this beautiful and, at various times, coveted valley have played a significant role in shaping our state, our region, our nation, and our world. For example, the energy produced at Fontana Dam supplied the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.” A good portion of the program will examine1979 when the conflict over completing Tellico Dam climaxed and “the protests of environmentalists, farmers, and Cherokees were muted, and the gates dropped on Tellico Dam in November of this decade-ending year.” A life-long resident of Blount County and graduate of Alcoa High School, Davidson is retired from teaching in Blount County.

Davidson has many connections to the Little Tennessee Valley which span the last century. His grandfather came to Blount County in 1917 to work for Babcock Lumber Company which was responsible for logging the Citico Basin, Citico Creek being a tributary of the Little “T”. And Davidson’s father, who worked at ALCOA for 40 years, was part of the initial effort to harness an entire watershed for hydroelectric energy, the Little Tennessee Watershed. In addition to family connections, Davidson has spent time in the Little “T” River Valley hiking, talking and working with residents. He has read extensively on the region and is indebted to Carson and Alberta Brewer for producing “Valley So Wild,” which so poignantly tells the history of the Little Tennessee Valley prior to 1975. He is also indebted to the recently deceased Blount County icon Dean Stone, whose extensive writing on the Little “T” provided much information.

Blount County Public Library, 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, TN. Information: 865-982-0981, www.blountlibrary.org

Ensemble concert

Orchestra Room 110, Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, and the Alumni Memorial Building is located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

The University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble, directed by Andrew Bliss, is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students. The ensemble makes regular appearances at major national festivals such as the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (2015), McCormick Marimba Festival (2016), and Big Ears (2016 and 2017). They also give frequent concerts on campus and around Knoxville.

Throughout the year, the University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble performs significant percussive styles from around the globe, including music from Brazil, India, West Africa, Cuba, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. This performance will feature Brazilian Samba drumming, Afro-Cuban folkloric songs and drumming, and a Trinidadian steelband.

Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Unless otherwise noted, concerts are FREE and open to the public. The Natalie Haslam Music Center is located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, and the Alumni Memorial Building is located at 1408 Middle Drive on the UT campus. *For individual or small group performances, please check the web site or call the day of the event for updates or cancellations: 865-974-5678, www.music.utk.edu/events

Maryville College Theatre presents “Lysistrata” adapted by Ellen McLaughlin on April 27, 2017 at 8:00 pm at Clayton Center for the Arts in the Haslam Family Flexible Theatre.

This fresh, fast-paced comedy, inspired by the Aristophanes play, follows Lysistrata, an Athenian housewife, who calls for the women of Greece to help end the Peloponnesian War. She proposes a radical plan: all Greek women must refuse to engage in love making until the men see reason, lay down their arms and come home to lay down with their wives in peace. The women agree to make the sacrifice and all hell breaks loose as men wander the country in an agony of unsatisfied lust. Will Lysistrata and her crew accomplish what the politicians could not?

Warning: Explicit Content
Maryville College Faculty, Staff and Students admitted free although a ticket is required.
Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information/tickets: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Thursday, April 27,Grammy-nominated and platinum-selling band Newsboys' Love Riot Tour features a never-seen-before, all-new theatrical experience, God's Not Dead LIVE! Rivals. Written and produced by John and Sarah Bolin (The Thorn) and featuring original songs from Juan Otero (Born Again, Kings & Queens), Rivals brings together an ensemble cast of singers, actors and dancers to answer the question, "Can God really make a difference?" and to take the audience on a journey to an infamous music venue where stars are born, rivals are met and no one leaves the way they came in.

For tickets and information please see Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker Jr Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: www.knoxvillecoliseum.com

Come celebrate National Poetry Month on Thursday, April 27th at Twisted Mikes in West Knoxville! This free event will feature an open mic from 6PM to 8PM for poets and lovers of the form to read or perform poems by their favorite authors as part of Poetry Karaoke Night.

Sponsored by the Sundress Academy for the Arts, the Knoxville Poetry Slam, and The Only Tenn-I-See Reading Series, this event was created as a celebration of the poetry of East Tennessee writers and readers. Stay after for the “real” karaoke to follow.

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is an artists’ residency on a 45-acre farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, that hosts workshops, retreats, and residencies for writers of all genres, visual artists, and more. All are guided by experienced, professional instructors from a variety of creative disciplines who are dedicated to cultivating the arts in East Tennessee.
The Knoxville Poetry Slam is a collective group dedicated to the love of words and a passion for poetry. Each month they gather to write, share, perform and even compete with their best work.

The Only Tenn-I-See Reading Series brings emerging and established writers together to read their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Their readings are free and open to the public. Find out more at our Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/278235762616037/

The Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) presents Artists on Location, A Plein Air Painting Event. Artists in all media have an opportunity to showcase their talents by painting outdoors over several days at sites in and around scenic Knoxville. The public is invited to watch artist as they work throughout the week. Artists will show and sell the resulting work at the KMA during Artists on Location, A Plein Air Painting Exhibition, Awards Reception and Art Sale on April 29, 6:00-8:30 PM.

April 26 - 29: Artists paint on location for 4 days in and around Knoxville TN
April 28, 6-8 PM: Artists and guest are invited to Sponsors cocktail Reception
April 29, 6-8:30 PM: KMA Artists on Location, a Plein Air Painting Exhibition, Awards Reception and Art Sale (FREE to attend)

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Opening reception April 21 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

COMMA (COMe Make Art) is a plein air art group that has met weekly in the summer at University of Tennessee Gardens since 2004. Founders were art teachers Gay Nell Gray and Cheri Jorgenson. They are joined in this exhibit by members and retired art teachers Judy Jorden, Shelley Mangold and Owen Weston; current art teachers Caitlyn Seidler and Jackie Wright; and teaching artist Nancy Campbell. COMMA members' artwork is either created in or inspired by images from the gardens. Each artist works in a preferred medium, whether color pencil, pastel, watercolor, acrylics, photography, clay or mixed media. Some work is created on site in the gardens, and some is created in the studio using sketches or images from the gardens. The artists are inspired by the beauty and diversity of the UT Gardens and the friendship and camaraderie they share.

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Gallery hours: M-Th 10-5, Su 10-1. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org