Calendar of Events

Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series
Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 23, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
At Tennessee Theatre

On February’s Moxley Carmichael Masterworks program, the Knoxville Symphony paints a vivid landscape of jagged oceanside cliffs with Dame Ethel Smyth’s picturesque On the Cliffs of Cornwall, and the brilliance of the sea with Debussy’s mystifying and brilliant La Mer. Supported by the League of American Orchestra’s Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program, Sarah Gibson’s latest work, to make this mountain taller, makes its Tennessee premiere. Geneva Lewis makes her KSO debut with Beethoven’s lyrical Violin Concerto.

Aram Demirjian, conductor
Geneva Lewis, violin

DAME ETHEL SMYTH: On the Cliffs of Cornwall
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto
SARAH GIBSON: to make this mountain taller (Tennessee premiere)
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: La Mer (The Sea)

Information/tickets: 865-291-3310 or https://knoxvillesymphony.com

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Underground Springhouse at The Mill and Mine,
February 22, 2024 at 7:15 PM (Doors 6:15 PM).

$36.51 - $119.94
Ages 18+

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: 865-343-6000 or https://themillandmine.com

Grab a cocktail or bite from the Tavern and enjoy live music at Maker Exchange during Tavern Notes, curated by Dogwood Arts

2/22 (6-8PM): Margherita Fava Trio

710 Clinch Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2tQXqwMwW_
www.makerexchangeknox.com

John Iiames, Air Resource Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will explain current research on the effects of wildfires and how these wildfires impact our lives. Presented by the UT Arboretum Society and the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, the program is on ZOOM, Thursday, February 22 at 7p.m.

We hear about the wildfires in the West, Canada and, in 2016, right here in East
Tennessee. The frequency and intensity of wildland fire on the landscape has exacerbated impacts affecting both drinking water and air quality, which, in turn, affects ecosystem and human health.

The program is free, but registration is required to receive your Zoom link and the recording. Register at www.utarboretumsociety.org. Please contact Michelle at mcampani@utk.edu for any questions or registration issue.

Over his 23-year career at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
John Iiames research has centered on the examination of the air-water-land interface as it affects both aquatic ecosystems and local and regional air quality. He currently leads a team research effort investigating the effects of wildfire on drinking water quality and the assessment of prescribed fire burn area in the Flint Hills National Grassland ecosystem. Along with his research duties, Dr. Iiames is also a trained Air Resource Advisor being deployed on western wildfires yearly to model smoke dispersion for the Incident Management Teams. John resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife Michaela and has two grown children. He is an avid camping tour cyclist (bike).

www.utarboretumsociety.org.

Black History Tour Series at Mabry-Hazen House presents The Value of a Man: Wiley Mabry and His Mark on Knoxville, Thursday, February 22, 2024, 6:00PM - 7:00PM.

"I was a slave at the beginning of the war. I became free about the Spring of 1863. I had been buying myself for a number of years and I paid the last amount I had agreed to pay for my liberty in the Spring of 1863 and then I became free." - Wiley Mabry

The story of Wiley Mabry offers a celebratory yet sobering tale of the lengths enslaved African-Americans took to obtain their freedom. Only fragments exist from Wiley's life, yet an 1872 Southern Claims Commission report reveals a fascinating and powerful detail about him: Wiley Mabry bought himself.

Since discovering this fascinating story, more details about Wiley and his experiences after his self-emancipation have emerged. From political activism to marriage, family, and beyond, join Patrick Hollis to hear Wiley's story, learn about Black life in Knoxville during the 1870s, and understand Hollis's research process into a part of American life that is not well documented.

Admission is FREE. Join us!

Mabry-Hazen House, 1711 Dandridge Avenue, Knoxville, TN, 37915. Information: 865-522-8661, www.mabryhazen.com

Join us for another showstopping Appalachian Equality Chorus sing-along screening benefiting Bryant's Bridge! Annie (1982) Sing-Along Benefit, Thursday, February 22, 7:00 PM at Central Cinema, 1205 N Central St.

February's selection is John Huston's enduring adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, featuring all-timer showtunes like "It's The Hard Knock Life" and "Tomorrow"!

SYNOPSIS: An orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett), Annie (Aileen Quinn) believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks (Albert Finney) decides to let an orphan live at his home to promote his image, Annie is selected. While Annie gets accustomed to living in Warbucks' mansion, she still longs to meet her parents. So Warbucks announces a search for them and a reward, which brings out many frauds.

Tickets at https://ticketing.useast.veezi.com/purchase/4172

Appalachian Equality Chorus, appalachianequalitychorus.org

Disney’s Aladdin JR. is based on the 1992 Academy-Award®-winning film and the 2014 hit Broadway show. The story you know and love has been given the royal treatment! Aladdin and his three friends, Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, are down on their luck until Aladdin discovers a magic lamp and the Genie who has the power to grant three wishes. Wanting to earn the respect of the princess, Jasmine, Aladdin embarks on an adventure that will test his will and his moral character. With expanded characters, new songs, and more thrills, this new adaptation of the beloved story will open up “a whole new world!”

Performed Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; and Sundays at 3 PM.

KCT is East Tennessee’s leading producer of plays for children and families.
Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com

By Lois Lowry
Adapted by Eric Coble
Clarence Brown Theatre
February 14 – March 3, 2024

From one of the most popular young adult novels of our time. Jonas’ world is perfect. It’s safe. Controlled. Without war or pain. Without color. Where every person is assigned a role in the community. At age 12, he’s chosen to be keeper of the community’s memories from The Giver, the only person with memories of real pain and joy. As Jonas begins to experience these memories, he is faced with a decision: conform to society’s expectations or control his own destiny.

Clarence Brown Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information/tickets: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com

Feb 14 - Special Dedication
Feb 16 - UT - Green Book, Orange Book Dinner & Discussion
Feb 17 - UUNIK Academy: BLack History 101 Mobile Museum with Prof. Griff of Public Enemy
Feb 21 - AARP Fraud Prevention Townhall
Feb 23 - Racial Justice: The Talk
Feb 24 - Freedom Schools - Jack & Jill: Living Museum
Feb 26 - Black AChievement Celebcration - Brian Clay & The Art Community at the Bijou

Beck Cultural Exchange Center, 1927 Dandridge Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37915. Hours: Tu-F 10-2. Information: 865-524-8461, www.beckcenter.net

Copper, wood and even salvaged plastic waste come together in a new art exhibition exploring the natural world at Pellissippi State Community College. The Ashton Ludden Exhibit is on display at the Bagwell Center for Media and Arts Gallery until March 1. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the gallery, located on the college’s Hardin Valley Campus, is free and open to the public.

“My work considers our relationship with wildlife as the natural world becomes estranged through human’s perpetual desire for rapid expansion,” said Ludden, the founder, co-owner, director and active artist of Relay Ridge Collaborative Artist Space in north Knoxville. “My work evokes a renewal of attentiveness toward our direct and indirect impacts on the wild and aims to rejuvenate a passion for conserving wild spaces.”

Ludden uses processes such as hand-engraving, printmaking, murals, ceramics and weaving in her works on display. The labor-intensive process forces her to slow down, meditate and focus as she creates, she said. Through her work, she works to find “ways to connect us to distant species and environmental concerns across the world, transforming our hopeful – yet seemingly futile – attempts in saving the natural world into something just as beautiful.” Outside of her studio practice, Ludden, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from the University of Tennessee, teaches printmaking at Knoxville’s Community School of the Arts, Governor’s School for the Arts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Relay Ridge, and is currently teaching screenprinting at the University of Tennessee. You can learn more about her at www.ashtonludden.com or find her on Instagram @ashton_ludden.

For a list of Pellissippi State’s upcoming exhibitions in the Bagwell Gallery this spring, visit www.pstcc.edu/arts.
Pellissippi State | 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37933

Knoxville Watercolor Society Exhibition
Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
Free and open to the public
When: Reception Friday, February 16, 2024, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Artists’ talks at 6:30 p.m.

Gallery hours: 9:30-4:30 Monday through Thursday and 9:00-1:00 Sunday
2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Knoxville Watercolor Society: Passionate About Art
For more than 60 years, the Knoxville Watercolor Society (KWS) has provided area watercolor artists, students and supporters with the only local art organization dedicated to the practice, advancement, and promotion of watercolor as a serious art form. KWS enjoys a long-standing reputation for the artistic excellence, expertise, passion, and mutual support of its members. Membership in KWS is open to all Knoxville area residents 18+, including experienced water-media artists, aspiring or developing water-media artists, art teachers, art students, patrons of the arts, representatives of arts organizations, and vendors. For more information, go to https://knoxvillewatercolorsociety.weebly.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/knoxville.watercolor.society/

Fat Ham was recently on Broadway, and will be directed by Mychael G. Chinn
Cast: Jaquai Wade Pearson as Tedra, Marshall Weir Mabry, IV as Juicy, Kenneth Herring as Rev/Pap, Neveah Daniel as
Opal, LoRen Seagrave as Tio, Matthew Draughter as Larry, and Brandiss Seward as Rabby.
Design Team: Sophie Smrcka (Scenic/Props), Scott Baron (Lighting), Amoirie Perteet (Sound/Props), and KC Colemon
(Costumes)

Preview: Thursday, February 8th at 7:30pm (Students come FREE with code FATHAM24)
Opening: Friday, February 9th at 7:30pm (Ticket includes food and beverages at the afterparty)
Run: February 8-25 at the Old City Performing Arts Center (111 State Street)
Tickets: https://www.simpletix.com/e/fat-ham-by-james-ijames-tickets-139740

Fat Ham Synopsis
In this delectably comic, Pulitzer Prize-winning reinvention of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, an uproarious family
barbecue instigates a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.

About Mychael G. Chinn (Director)
Mychael is so excited to be making his directing debut at River + Rail! He is a television development executive, most recently at MTV Studios, where he was the point executive on deals with A List talent such as Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance, John Leguizamo, and Regina Hall, to name a few. Previously, Mychael was an executive at Lifetime Television, where he helped shepherd over 50 movies to air, including the most successful made for television movie of 2020, The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel. He also has worked at prestigious arts organizations such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The New Museum and The Movement Theatre Company. Mychael currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

About Jaquai Wade Pearson (Tedra)
Jaquai Wade Pearson splits her time between Knoxville, LA, and Dallas, and returns to River & Rail Theatre Company after appearing as Camae in The Mountaintop in February 2023. She is the stepdaughter of Thomas “Tank” Edward Strickland, and a graduate of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.

River & Rail Theatre, 111 State Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-407-0727, www.riverandrailtheatre.com