ENTERTAINMENT NOTES: Young Artist winner sets Arkansas performances

Soprano Shaina Martinez, women’s voice category winner in the National Federation of Music Clubs biennial Young Artist Competition, is making five Arkansas recital appearances, starting this week, with pianist Mary Scott Smith. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
Soprano Shaina Martinez, women’s voice category winner in the National Federation of Music Clubs biennial Young Artist Competition, is making five Arkansas recital appearances, starting this week, with pianist Mary Scott Smith. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)


Elsewhere in entertainment, events and the arts:

MUSIC: Soprano on tour

Soprano Shaina Martinez, women's voice category winner in the National Federation of Music Clubs' biennial Young Artist Competition, will make five Arkansas recital appearances with pianist Mary Scott Smith.

The schedule (admission to all performances is free):

◼️ 7 p.m. Thursday, Fine Arts Center, University of Arkansas at Monticello, 346 University Drive off U.S. 425, Monticello. (870) 460-1060

◼️ 11 a.m. Friday, Trinity United Methodist Church, 1101 N. Mississippi St., Little Rock, under the auspices of the Little Rock Musical Coterie. (501) 666-2813

◼️ 2 p.m. Sept. 11, Central United Methodist Church, 2535 W. New Hope Road, Rogers, sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Goss in memory of Mary Shambarger

◼️ 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12, Mabee Fine Arts Center, Ouachita Baptist University, 410 Ouachita St., Arkadelphia. (870) 245-5129

◼️ 7 p.m. Sept. 13, Stilwell Humanities Music Hall, Texarkana College, 2500 N. Robinson Road, Texarkana. (870) 773-1118

The program: "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from "La Rondine" by Giacomo Puccini; four settings of Emily Dickinson's poem "Will there really be a morning?" by Richard Hundley, Lori Laitman, Ricky Ian Gordon and Andre Previn; a series of "French Composers' Ladies" — "Lydia" by Gabriel Faure, "Jane" by Claude Debussy, "Phidyle" by Henri Duparc, "Sylvie" by Erik Satie and "Malvina" by Francis Poulenc; and three songs by Gordon: "I Am Cherry Alive," "A Horse with Wings" and "Joy."

Martinez' first prize in the competition, held virtually in June 2021, includes $20,000 and two years of concert booking, including this five-performance tour.

Solo violinist

  photo  Violinist Jennifer Koh plays a program of works for solo violin Friday at the Momentary in Bentonville. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Juergen Frank)
 
 
Violinist Jennifer Koh gives a solo recital at 8 p.m. Friday on the RODE House stage at the Momentary, 507 S.E. E St., Bentonville.

What is being billed as "a night of unforgettable contemporary classical music" includes "Thirst and Quenching" by Kati Agocs, "Anima" by Tania Leon, "Hail, Horrors, Hail" by Missy Mazzoli, "Brick Red Mood" by Ellen Reid, "warm in my veins" by Nina Shekhar, "Ultraviolet, Efflorescent" by Lester St. Louis, "Hover and Recede" by Wang Lu, "There had been signs, surely" by Nina C. Young, "Mina Cecilia's Constitutional" by Patrick Castillo, "The Fragile Season" by Tonia Ko, "Descent" by Rafiq Bhatia, "For Violin Alone" by Vijay Iyer, "Together, But Alone (In Quarantine)" by Morgan Guerin, "Better Angels" by Ken Ueno, "Kindling" by Rajna Swaminathan, "Springs Eternal" by Anthony Cheung, "Shiner" by Cassie Wieland, "Windowsills" by Du Yun, "You Are Still Here" by Sarah Gibson, "Urman" by Adeliia Faizullina and "Cooper and Emma" by Angelica Negron.

Tickets are $30 general admission; $50 "premium"; $24 Momentary members; $15 students under 17 or with a valid student ID. Visit themomentary.org/calendar/jennifer-koh.

'Violin Virtuosos'

Violinist Kiril Laskarov, co-concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and pianist Carl Anthony perform works composed for and dedicated to famous violinists in a program titled "Violin Virtuosos," 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 4106 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock. It's the opening event of the church's 2022-23 Festival of the Senses season.

The program, adapted from one planned, but canceled, for Jan. 18, includes "Praeludium and Allegro" by Fritz Kreisler, attributed to Gaetano Pugnani; the first movement, "Allegro Moderato," from the "Violin Concerto" in D Major, op.35, by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; "Meditation" from "Thais" by Jules Massenet; and the "Scherzo" in c minor by Johannes Brahms (from the "F-A-E" Sonata, a collaborative work that also includes movements by Robert Schumann and Albert Hermann).

Admission is free. A meet- the-performers reception follows in the church's parish hall. The performance will be livestreamed and also viewable later at facebook.com/frcarey. Call (501) 753-3578 or email [email protected].

Laskarov and Anthony will repeat the program at 3 p.m. Sept. 11 in the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Kirk in the Pines, 275 Asturias Drive at Carmona Road, Hot Springs Village. Admission is free; donations will go to the Hot Springs/Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild Children's Concert Fund. Visit symphonyguild.org/events.

ETC.: Victorian toymaking

The thaumatrope, a Victorian-era toy made from a disk with a picture on each side and attached to two pieces of string, is the focus of "Creation Station — Thaumatropes," 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at Rogers Historical Museum, 313 S. Second St. at Cherry Street, Rogers. Museum educators will teach participants how to re-create this "wonder turner" and demonstrate what entertainment was like before video games, cellphones and electronics. Make your own thaumatrope to take home. Admission is free. Call (479) 621-1154 or visit rogershistoricalmuseum.org.


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