Calendar of Events

Part of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's 2017-2018 Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series, which marks the KSO’s 82nd season and features new Music Director Aram Demirjian.

This springtime Masterworks brings music of Mazzioli, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. The first and third pieces of the program offer an emotional journey surrounding the peaceful repose of the Mozart Piano Concerto.

Guest conductor Edwin Outwater is currently the Music Director of Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony as well as Director of Summer Concerts at the San Francisco Symphony. He was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Eastern Sierra Symphony, a summer festival in Mammoth Lakes, California. An ardent champion of new music and cross-cultural collaboration, he is a visionary programmer with a gift for bringing context to the concert hall. Pianist Fei-Fei Dong has been playing piano since the age of five, holds two degrees from The Juilliard School, and is a winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition and a top finalist at the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Each concert includes a 30-minute pre-concert chat at 6:30 p.m. with conductor and guest artist, allowing an up-close Q&A session, insights and background to the music, composers and more. Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 PM at the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Tickets and information: 865-291-3310, www.knoxvillesymphony.com

Jubilee Community Arts presents Knoxville Square Dance with live old-time music by The Hellgramites and calling by Stan Sharp and Leo Collins.

Second Thursdays at the Laurel Theater! No experience or partner is necessary and the atmosphere is casual. No taps, please. Admission: $7 ($5 for students & JCA members).

Follow the Knoxville Square Dance on Facebook: www.facebook.com/knoxvillesquaredance. Jubilee Community Arts, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org.

April 12, 2018, The Casting Clowns come to Knoxville Civic Auditorium.

Having served as a full-time youth pastor for over 25 years, Casting Crowns' front man, Mark Hall, continues to draw inspiration from the well of real life. "Because we have the honor of walking with people in our churches, we get to see what people are going through – the issues that are impacting everyone now," shares Hall. "It's in these situations that ideas are born for what we all need to hear right here and right now." The local church has been the base for Casting Crowns' music since their label debut release in 2003. With more than 10 million records sold and the title of Billboard's top-selling act in Christian music since 2007, it's still where the music is created. Hall and his bandmates – Juan and Melodee DeVevo, Megan Garrett, Brian Scoggin, Josh Mix and Chris Huffman – continue to work in ministry in their respective churches. The local church is the heartbeat of the band and the songs are an outpouring of that. The Very Next Thing, Casting Crowns' latest offering, is a collection of intimate songs as well as upbeat, fresh sounding tracks with impactful lyrics centered around identifying and acting on what's right next to you.

Casting Crowns has produced some of the most compelling songs of his generation. Songs like "Voice of Truth," "East to West," "Lifesong," "Until the Whole World Hears," "Courageous" and "Thrive." On The Very Next Thing, the band continues to encourage and inspire believers with songs that help strengthen their relationship with God.

Don't miss your chance to experience Casting Crowns' The Very Next Thing Tour LIVE in Knoxville on April 12, 2018!

Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum, 500 Howard Baker Jr Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37915. Information: www.knoxvillecoliseum.com

The latest apps, customer reward cards, news, scientific studies – they’re free! Or are they? Pellissippi State librarian Stephanie Gillespie discusses how information is bought and sold, what it means for credibility, and what we can do to fight fake news.

All faculty lectures take place in the Goins Building Auditorium.

Free and inexpensive theatre and musical productions, art exhibits and faculty lectures. All events take place on the Hardin Valley Campus, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 10-6:30. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

April 12, 5:30-7:00 PM, Monica Black, Associate Professor and Associate Head of the UT Department of History will give a lecture on the Rise of Modern Drug Development as part of programming related to the McClung Museum’s special exhibition, Pick Your Poison: Intoxicating Pleasures and Medical Prescriptions.

The talk will explore the rise of modern drug development and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as what drugs do, how they work, and the modern cultural history of recreational drugs.

Dr. Black’s research focuses on the cultural and social history of Germany, including death and funerary rituals, and magical and “folk” healing in 20th-century Germany. She also has research interests in histories of sickness and health, medical anthropology, religion and medicine, social suffering, and social psychology.

The event is free and open to the public.
McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-Sa 9-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

KWG's monthly meeting has been moved from Thursday April 5th to Thursday April 12th. At the meeting, poets Marilyn Kallet & Liam Hysjulien will read new works of love, politics, and personal exploration.

Central United Methodist Church in 4th and Gill (201 East Third Avenue) 7:00 p.m. You do not have to be a Guild member to attend; we do appreciate a two dollar minimum donation at the door. Information: www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org

April 12, 5:30-7:00 PM, Monica Black, Associate Professor and Associate Head of the UT Department of History will give a lecture on the Rise of Modern Drug Development as part of programming related to the McClung Museum’s special exhibition, Pick Your Poison: Intoxicating Pleasures and Medical Prescriptions.

The talk will explore the rise of modern drug development and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as what drugs do, how they work, and the modern cultural history of recreational drugs.

Dr. Black’s research focuses on the cultural and social history of Germany, including death and funerary rituals, and magical and “folk” healing in 20th-century Germany. She also has research interests in histories of sickness and health, medical anthropology, religion and medicine, social suffering, and social psychology.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Hours: M-Sa 9-5, Su 1-5. Information: 865-974-2144, http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu

On Thursday, April 12, poet and critic Kevin Young will read as part of an event sponsored by the Department of English Creative Writing Program. Kevin Young is the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Poetry Editor of the New Yorker, and the author of eleven books of poetry and prose.

Young's newest nonfiction book, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was long-listed for the National Book Award. His most recent book of poetry, Blue Laws: Selected & Uncollected Poems 1995-2015, was long-listed for the National Book Award. Book of Hours was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and winner of the Lenore Marshall Prize for Poetry from the Academy of American Poets. His previous nonfiction book, The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness, won the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and the PEN Open Book Award; it was also a Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Young was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of the John C. Hodges Library. The event is free and open to the public; all are encouraged to attend.

The event is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program in association with the John C. Hodges Better English Fund.

Reception: Thursday, April 19, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Free and open to the public.

Exhibit viewing hours: Hours: Tu & Th 9-5, W & F 10-5, 2nd-4th Sa 10-1. Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Knoxville will be a stop for Judah & the Lion on April 11 and 12, 2018 during their Going to Mars Tour.
Join us this spring for a rollicking good time with"Take It All Back" band Judah & the Lion! They're sure to bring their chart-topping mix of folk, hip-hop and rock to the stage, along with their notoriously rowdy live show magic.

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

Free and open to the public - Reception Friday, April 13, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Artists’ talks at 6:30 pm.

Marcia Goldenstein approaches landscape painting through composites of different times and places, constructed in such a way as to produce new, believable and striking situations. The aerial view of the land is paired with a spectacular evening sky that dominates with its dramatic forms and hues. Giving substance and structure to color-infused air and atmosphere is in contrast to the dwarfed panorama below the horizon. Where they meet becomes the heart of the work. Goldenstein received her BFA and MFA degrees in Painting and Drawing from the University of Nebraska. She has been a visiting artist at the National Academy of Fine Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia; Sichuan University, Chengdu; Beihang University, Beijing; University of Texas, San Antonio; Arizona State University; University of Indianapolis; Tudor Hall, UK; College of the Ozarks; Knoxville Museum of Art; F.I.T, NY, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts; and many other schools and museums. She has an international exhibition record and is represented in numerous public and private collections in the US, Europe and China. She is currently Professor Emerita of Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee School of Art. marciagoldenstein.com

Todd Johnson finds art to be a res cogitans, “a thinking thing.” As an art teacher, he shares the images and ideas of highly regarded artists with his students. In his own studio, this daily experience informs his own art. Indeed, his interest in acrylic painting in miniature on paint chips is in reflecting upon the nature of art itself. He’s more broadly interested in the entirety of ideas surrounding the making, understanding and consuming of art. Johnson studied at Luther College and Eastern Michigan University. His work has been shown throughout the United States, including solo shows at The Clay Studio, in Philadelphia and Pewabic Pottery in Detroit; and traveling exhibitions originating from the San Diego Museum of Art and Baltimore Clayworks. He has received several grants including the Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholarship for travel in Japan, a Lincoln Center Education grant for Teaching Artist Training, and two National Endowment for the Arts awards for study at Anderson Ranch Arts Center and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. toddjohnsonart.com

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

OPENING FIRST FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 6:00 PM-9:00PM

My journey as an artist began with the comfort and connection associated with quilt making. I taught myself to quilt in 2012 upon the arrival of my first son. It was one of those huge transitions in life when you don’t really know what is about to happen next but you hold on and go for it. Much to my surprise, this “little hobby” I was embarking on would lead to huge personal growth, branching out and meeting some of the most inspirational people here in Knoxville.

Domestic life was a difficult adjustment for me, and through quilting I was able to find beauty and calm in the day to day hustle of child rearing. The historically woman-dominated craft of quilting was becoming a way of life for me, as it has for so many before me. For many years, women have been making these objects of utility to provide warmth and security to their loved ones, pouring their prayers and hardships into each one and weaving broken pieces back together. The quilt’s utility is so appealing and practical, yet what goes into making the surface design of each quilt is so much more than useful--and this method of beautifying the home environment has a deep and rich history into which I step with each quilt I design..

Modern quilt making has evolved into a movement of personal expression which has spurred me to keep exploring, asking questions and searching for more. My work is evolving, centering me and satisfying my need to be stimulated visually through color, composition and concept. I’ve been influenced greatly by cut paper collage, abstract expressionism, print making and a love for what I call organic geometry. There is a deep satisfaction in the calculated imperfections that come from creating by hand and being a work in progress, because these processes resonate with my experience. I discover under-appreciated beauty in life's imperfections. This show is about how much more there is to life than UTILITY.

This show is dedicated to the women who have taught me and encouraged me to explore. https://www.melissaneverett.com

The Central Collective, 923 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-236-1590, info@thecentralcollective.com, www.thecentralcollective.com