“Liszt as a Rockstar” Local Musicologist Nicholas Stevens to speak at ConverZations

The Canton Symphony Orchestra welcomes Nicholas Stevens, a professor of music at the University of Akron, to speak at the next ConverZations lecture entitled “Liszt as a Rockstar”. This free lecture will be held on Monday, November 11 at noon at the Zimmermann Symphony Center. In this one hour lecture, Stevens will discuss the unique life of Franz Liszt and how he changed the way music was performed and the way musicians were viewed by being the “Original Rockstar”.

A Senior Lecturer at the University of Akron School of Music, Instructor at Cleveland State University, and lecturer at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Nicholas Stevens is among Northeast Ohio’s busiest musicologists. He earned a Ph.D. in music history at Case Western Reserve University in 2017. Also active as a music journalist, he writes for Cleveland Classical and I Care if You Listen, the internet’s best contemporary-classical magazine. He has taught college courses across the span of music history, from ancient Greek song to hip hop, and is currently working on a book about opera in the twenty-first century. The music of the Romantic generation serves as a reference point in his understanding of the classical tradition, and future research projects will involve the lasting influences of composers such as Berlioz and Liszt on the music of our time.

ConverZations is a series of free public discussions, held at the Zimmermann Symphony Center (2331 17th Street NW) and scheduled the second Monday of every month through April 2020. For more information on upcoming ConverZations lectures and other Canton Symphony Orchestra events, visit www.cantonsymphony.org.

PRE-SALE TODAY: Akron Civic Theatre’s Wine, Cheese & Chocolate, Darling

Akron Civic Theatre’s Wine, Cheese & Chocolate, Darling on Saturday, February 8th, 2020! This unique and immersive tasting event will showcase 45 different wines, both domestic and international. Patrons will enjoy wines from dry to sweet, white to red, champagne to port — and new elegant boxed wines. Tastings will be paired with 18 different kinds of cheese and chocolates presented by local purveyors. This year’s theme is Wines Out Of This World. Tickets are $45. Sponsored by Wayside Furniture and The Akron Civic Theatre Women's Guild

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY

Palace of Illusion exhibition opening

Opening November 5, 530-8:00 pm Palace of Illusion curated by Lauren Davies and derived from the sharp eyes and perceptive photographic inquiries of Arnold Tunstall and Stephen Tomasko Deets: Foothill Galleries of the Photo-Succession 2450 Fairmount Blvd. Suite M291, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106 Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 5:30 PM – 8 PM

Numbers Band at Jilly's in AKRON Sat. Nov 2, 2019

Don't miss The Numbers Band this coming Saturday evening November 2, 2019 performing live at Jilly's Music Room in AKRON. The music starts at 8:00pm and goes until Midnight. There is NO COVER -- in other words --- IT'S FREE!

The Speedbumps at the G.A.R Hall - Night One

When: Friday, December 6, 2019 at 7 PM – 10 PM

Where: The GAR Hall

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-speedbumps-at-the-gar-hall-with-bethany-svoboda-dan-socha-tickets-75610275369?fbclid=IwAR2ZvSgBPgKX386TUO-tSoT8vxPQyaGH9vAp4Bb_Age5-ZpsY0vagVBlJ38


Night One.

The Speedbumps are an award-winning American band with a warm, authentic sound, built on a passion for hollow-bodied instruments, indie-folk and indie-rock influences, and singer-songwriter Erik Urycki’s breathy, commanding vocals and canny phrasing.

The band’s roots lie deep in the Rustbelt, where quiet strength and limited embellishment define the culture. The working class towns around Akron, the former rubber capital, from which artists like The Black Keys, The Pretenders, and Devo have emerged, have provided the band with an aesthetic that seeks to tease out beauty from the gritty details of everyday life.

Daryl Rowland, writing for the Huffington Post, said that singer Erik Urycki’s lyrics “often tackle complex human emotions with elegant economy.”

While the band cites influences from Paul Simon to Nick Drake to Radiohead, their material and vibe have more in common with festival favorites like The Decemberists, Wilco, or My Morning Jacket with their consistently smart, spare and rootsy approach.

Erik Urycki: vocals, guitar
Sam Kristoff: cello
Danny Jenkins: drums/percussion
Kevin Martinez: bass
Bethany Svoboda: keys, vocals

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BETHANY SVOBODA AND DAN SOCHA
Dan Socha & Bethany Joy are singer/songwriters based out of Cleveland, Ohio. The pair started playing together in 2016 and have since released two solo records and are currently recording an EP with their band, Thieves of Joy. The duo is best characterized by their strong vocal harmonies, vibrant energy, and interesting song arrangements. Dan and Bethany both play guitar and write songs individually and collaboratively. They take inspiration from artists such as Nick Drake, Adrienne Lenker, Sam Cooke, and Jose Gonzalez. Since 2016, Bethany has also been a member of the Speedbumps, while Dan has been a long-time Speedbumps' roadie and super fan.

Doors @ 7PM
Show @ 8PM

SeenUNseen - Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion: The Sculpture Center will host a panel discussion including emerging, mid-career, and established regional African American artists on Saturday, November 2, 1-3pm

Reception, programs, and event are FREE and open to the public.

For more information, a preview of included work, and a complete list of exhibiting artists from the Davis Collection, please visit:
http://www.artistsarchives.org/event/seenunseen/

MORE ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION

Opening Reception: Friday, September 20th, 6:00-8:30pm
Program: Collecting African American Art with Kerry Davis, October 12, 1-3pm

This September, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in partnership with The Sculpture Center, is proud to present seenUNseen, an exhibition which combines work from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis collection of African American Art and a curated response of Northeast Ohio artists.

The story of the Davis Collection begins in Atlanta, where Kerry worked as a postman and his wife as a television producer. Over 30 years, on a modest budget, they amassed a collection of over 300 paintings, works on paper and sculpture which includes some of the nation’s most significant emerging and established African American artists.

This vibrant body of work now covers every inch of the Davis’ suburban residence, transforming the space into an “in home museum” that provides community access to the important, and often “unseen”, legacy of American artists of color. Their collection includes artists such as Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Richard Hunt, Romare Bearden, Sedrick Huckaby, Richard Mayhew, Sam Gilliam, and Mildred Thompson. SeenUNseen will be the first-time work from the Davis collection has been shown outside of Atlanta.

The exhibition will also showcase 32 Ohio artists in conversation with the Davis Collection. Working closely with Kerry Davis, curators Ann Albano (The Sculpture Center) and Mindy Tousley (Artists Archives of the Western Reserve) selected pieces that “demonstrate the deep commitment to the artistic process and great talent of the African American artists of Northeast Ohio.” Tousley explains, that though the exhibition began “as showing bodies of work by a small group of artists” it transformed into “a large survey show of 67 regional works by 32 artists… which by coincidence is the same number of artists coming to us from the Davis collection.”

“Most of these artists,” Albano, describes, “are focused on themes of relevance to the black American experience such as storytelling and fantastical events, ancestral connections, family and community. There is a wonderful freedom in the use of less conventional materials for art making including glass and a profusion of textiles to create exuberant dolls and gorgeous clothing…”

SeenUNseen also features work which frankly addresses inequality and discrimination. “There are darker, angry, and very powerful depictions of the injustices still too prevalent in the lives and history of African Americans,” Albano notes. “The work of these artists of Northeast Ohio will hold its own with grace and impact in the company of the collection of Kerry and C. Betty Davis.”

Exhibiting Ohio artists include Regina Abernathy, Anna Arnold, Lawrence Baker, Donald Black Jr., Davon Brantley, Malcolm Brown, Louis Bernard Burroughs Jr., Shyvonne Coleman, Kristi Copez, Dexter Davis, Barbara Eady, Davin Ebanks, Amber N. Ford, Dale Goode, James L. Holloway, Mark Howard, Thomas Hudson, Myrya Johnson, Joyce Morrow Jones, Amanda King, Michelangelo Lovelace Sr., Julius M. Lyles, Lauren Mckenzie Noel, Woodrow Nash, Yvonne Marie Palkowitsh, Jacques Payne Jackson, LaSaundra Robinson, Charmaine Spencer, Darius Steward, Bob Walls, Antwoine Washington and Tony Williams.

The exhibition is proudly presented by the Cleveland Foundation with help from the Ohio Arts Council, and will be displayed in three galleries on the David E. Davis Arts Campus in University Circle. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 20th, 6:00-8:30pm that will feature a tribute to Cleveland artist Malcolm Brown.

The Davis family and many Northeast Ohio artists will also be in attendance and brief talks will take place midway through the reception. The show will continue until November 16.

Live Interview with Kerry Davis (In collaboration with The Soul of Philanthropy, presented by the Cleveland Foundation): Thursday, October 10th, Time/Location TBA

Artbites Program: Collecting African American Art with Kerry Davis, October 12, 1-3pm, Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Please call 216.721.9020 to register!

Checking out theater in Akron!

Carved Fruit and Vegetable Sculptures by Vincenzo Scuruchi

Amazing work!!

OPENING NIGHT! Poe's Garden of Mystery at Summit Artspace

Summit Artspace on East Market is channeling Edgar Allan Poe to bring mystery and Gothic fascination to a juried art exhibit and writing competition, Poe’s Garden, that will showcase local creatives and their love for the unearthly.

Poe’s Garden opens with a free reception with the visual artists and writers on Friday, Oct. 18, 5-8 p.m., in the main gallery at Summit Artspace on East Market, 140 East Market St., Akron. Winners of both the visual arts and the literary competitions will be announced at 7 p.m. There will be readings of the winning poetry and short stories after the announcement.

POE'S GARDEN WINNERS TO BE PUBLISHED

The first-place artwork will be featured in the November issue of The Devil Strip, an Akron communications hub in print and online that connects neighborhoods and serves as a cultural guide to understanding the city and a springboard for contributing to civic life. The winner of the literary competition will be featured in The Devil Strip’s online edition.

The visual arts show, which runs until Nov. 9 in the main gallery, is free and open to the public. It will feature 45 pieces by 33 local artists.

Date And Time

Fri, October 18, 2019

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

Location

Summit Artspace

140 East Market Street 

Akron, OH 44308

Divergent Sounds: Roots Rock/Americana Meets the Symphony

The Canton Symphony Orchestra presents an evening of “Divergent Sounds” on Thursday, October 24^th in Foundation Hall at the Zimmermann Symphony Center, featuring Canton natives Yankee Bravo. Yankee Bravo combines Roots Rock influenced music with Americana style blues. This groundbreaking new series has been a huge hit with fans of not only the orchestra and guest bands, but people interested in live, local music in Northeast Ohio. This concert series is presented in collaboration with 91.3 The Summit and with the generous support of Mark & Beverly Belgya.

Founding members include Benjamin Payne (vocals, acoustic guitar & Guitjo) and Robert Austin (vocals & Mandolin) are often joined by longtime bandmate Brandon Covey (upright bass) as well as Tim Longfellow (piano, organ & accordion), Mark Shengle (pedal steel guitar) and Nick Brewer (drums). Their music is honest, entertaining, and reminiscent of The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers.  

All members of Yankee Bravo aid in the Band’s artistic direction; “Everybody in the band writes…Everyone contributes” writes Austin, the lead vocalist. No stranger to combining different musical genres, Yankee Bravo also incorporates folksy hymns and Roots rock influences in their performances.

For this performance, the band will be joined by Koko Watanabe (violin), Laura Keunnen-Poper (viola), Paul Miahky (cello), and Justin Kohan (trumpet). All four instrumentalists are members of the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

Our Divergent Sounds Series runs from September through May and is an annual concert series. This concert “Roots Rock/Americana” is on October 24^thand features Akron group Yankee Bravo. Our Next Divergent Sounds concert features The Diamond Kites on November 14^th, 2019 at 7:30 pm.

Tickets for the Canton Symphony Orchestra concert on October 24th, 2019 are $15 and are available online at www.cantonsymphony.org, by phone at 330-452-2094 or in person at the Canton Symphony Orchestra Box Office in the Zimmermann Symphony Center at 2331 17^th Street NW in Canton weekdays 9am-5pm.

Founded in 1937, the Canton Symphony Orchestra is a fully professional ensemble and organization dedicated to performing concerts that enrich, educate and entertain residents of Stark County and beyond. The orchestra performs classical, holiday, and a variety of educational programs in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, 2323 17th Street NW, Canton, Ohio, as well as other venues in Stark County. For more information, please visit www.cantonsymphony.org or call (330)452-2094. Administrative offices are located at the Zimmermann Symphony Center 2331 17th Street NW, Canton OH 44708

MOONLIGHT SONATA: DEAFNESS IN THREE MOVEMENTS - Showing At Nightlight

90 mins | Rated TBC | Documentary
Directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky
MOONLIGHT SONATA: DEAFNESS IN THREE MOVEMENTS IS A COMING-OF-AGE STORY ABOUT A BOY GROWING UP, HIS GRANDFATHER GROWING OLD, AND LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, WHO CRAFTED HIS “MOONLIGHT SONATA” AS HE WAS GOING DEAF.

Director Irene Taylor Brodsky once again turns the camera on her deaf parents and, now, her 11-year-old deaf son Jonas, who has cochlear implants and is discovering a profound world of hearing—and music. As Jonas learns the first movement of Beethoven’s iconic sonata on the piano, his grandparents, deaf for nearly 80 years, watch with deepening awe what time and technology have bestowed their grandson. But when Jonas struggles with the sound of his mistakes, Beethoven’s own musical journey comes to life in an animated world of watercolor and haunting soundscapes. As the great composer loses the sense that brought him so much music and fame, Jonas’s grandfather Paul loses his grasp on his mind.

Their lives weave a sonata over three centuries, about all we can discover once we push beyond what has been lost.

TO SEE A FULL LIST OF ALL THE MOVIES SHOWING THIS WEEK AT NIGHTLIGHT
 CLICK HERE

Watch The Vindys record live at Westside Bowl Saturday

When popular Youngstown band The Vindys play Westside Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 19, they will commemorate the occasion by recording a live CD/DVD.



Tickets are $10 at Westside Bowl.

Cinematheque 10/16-20: Eighth Grade, Blue Velvet, Rip Torn in Payday & more!

The late Rip Torn tears up the screen as dissipated country singer in neglected 1973 music-movie classic PAYDAY

The late renegade thespian Rip Torn gives perhaps his greatest screen performance in PAYDAY, an authentically raw, rarely revived music-movie classic. Torn plays a low-wattage country-western star (and all-around brash bastard) who recklessly overindulges in drink, drugs, and dames while touring the rural South in a big Cadillac. Torn even does his own singing. The NY Times calls Daryl Duke's 1973 film "a brilliant, nasty little chrome-plated razor blade of a movie" and "a ‘road picture’ that  is not, for once, a sentimental odyssey, but rather a clear-eyed study of people whose lives are linked to the road, how they behave and what becomes of them." See it in 35mm on Saturday at 6:35 pm. Special admission is $12; members, CIA & CSU I.D. holders, and those age 25 & under $9. No passes, twofers, or radio winners will be honored or accepted. This screening is presented with generous support from Nick Amster. Here's the trailer.

Cleveland-shot film version of NATIVE SON receives Cleveland theatrical premiere

Set in contemporary Chicago but largely shot in Cleveland last year, NATIVE SON is the film directorial debut of celebrated visual artist Rashid Johnson. It is an adaptation of Richard Wright’s seminal 1940 novel about the black experience in America. Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) plays Bigger Thomas, a young African American man from the inner city who takes a job as live-in chauffeur for a wealthy white businessman. Bigger experiences a seductive new world of money and power and enters into a precarious relationship with his boss’s daughter (Margaret Qualley of Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood). Johnson’s movie resonates with his visual art, including sculptural works like Shea Wall (1970/2017), shown in the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) Cleveland's 2017 exhibition, A Poet*hical Wager. KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk) co-stars in the film, and the screenplay is by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. Native Sonreceives its Cleveland theatrical premiere this Wednesday, October 16, at 7:00 pm. Admission is free, but tickets are required and donations will be accepted (suggested donation $10-$7). The screening is courtesy of HBO (special thanks to Chad Martinez) and is co-presented by moCa Cleveland (special thanks to Megan Lykins Reich). moCa's Gund Curatorial Fellow, La Tanya Autry, will lead an audience discussion after the screening. If screening is sold out, we will form a rush line in case of unclaimed seats. Ticket holders must be seated by 6:50 pm to guarantee their seat. Here's the trailer.

For a complete listing of all the films you can catch this week CLICK HERE

Shifting Narratives at Group 10 Gallery

Opening this Friday!

The Steel Wheels - release of the 7th album, Over the Trees

October 17th- The Steel Wheels- “Few groups have come as far in such a short period of time as The Steel Wheels…” – NPR’s Mountain Stage




Virginia-based acoustic roots music collective The Steel Wheels have announced the July 12th release of their 7th full-length album, Over The Trees. Recorded in Maine with producer Sam Kassirer, Over The Trees draws attention to the impeccable harmonies of the four original members: Trent Wagler (guitar/banjo), Eric Brubaker (fiddle), Brian Dickel (bass), and Jay Lapp (guitars/mandolin). Kevin Garcia, who plays multiple percussion instruments, keyboard, and mallet-based instruments, formally joined the band after the 2017 release of Wild as We Came Here, which Kassirer also produced. In addition to familiar-to-fans harmonies, The Steel Wheels ventured a little farther out of their known comfort zone for Over The Trees. “This is a bit of an experimental record at times, with new sounds and influences,” Wagler says. “We know where we come from. We are a string band from Virginia, but we are evolving with this album, and we are embracing the future.”
Over The Trees opens with the percussion-heavy groove of “Rains Come,” a rehashing of the classic tale of Noah and his ark in relation to today’s contingency of climate change deniers. “If there are real dangers ahead in our planet’s hope for survival, why isn’t it all any of us are talking about?” asks Wagler, the song’s primary writer. “It’s overwhelming, that’s why. I don’t like admitting that I get stuck right there, but this song offers some of those questions.” A little deeper into the record, the swampy chant of “Something New” ushers in a recurring theme on Over The Trees; mantra and meditation. “Get To Work” is another tune that falls under the theme. Wagler muses, “I know that ‘Get To Work’ is self-talk for when I’m feeling down, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, or when I’m feeling like, ‘Ugh, what do we do this for?’” Certainly though, not all the songs on Over The Trees fall so neatly under that umbrella. “Time To Rest,” co-written by Wagler and southern songstress Sarah Siskind, reflects on the weight of letting down friends or loved ones in a lilting feel that Wagler calls “an implied Levon Helm swing.” The album closes with “This Year,” a wistful a cappella ode to keeping an optimistic spirit, even down to showing gratitude for the cat who is waiting for you when you finally get home.

On the whole, Over The Trees is a collection of songs about surviving tragedy. “At times our human response is muted and resigned, at other times triumphant and steadfast,” notes The Steel Wheels’ fiddle master Eric Brubaker, who’s outlook on the album changed significantly when he lost his 10 year old daughter to a sudden illness earlier this year. “Over the Trees is an ode to the community that rises up to support those in need, and is dedicated to the memory of Norah Brubaker.”
We are so excited and honored to welcome back our boys, The Steel Wheels for the release of the 7th album, Over the Trees. For anyone who is a part of the Steel Wheels family, you know the magic they bring to the stage!
General Admission
Doors open at 7:30/Music at 8
Pre-Sale $28/Day of show $32
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite

Make a Visit to the Akron Art Museum the Best Part of Your Day “I wasn’t seduced as such by video games or computers but I felt I had to deal with them as they were not going to go away. I had been however, since childhood, seduced by science fiction, from the British TV series ‘Doctor Who’, ‘The Tomorrow People’, ‘Adam Adamant Lives’, to the writing of George Orwell, H. G. Wells and J. G. Ballard."—Suzanne Treister, Open World artist Every week, the Akron Art Museum shares a menu of art experiences you can choose from. This week, find out about The Distance of the Moon at Coffee with a Curator, and join us this Saturday, October 19 for the Launch Party of Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art. Select from art adventures curated by the museum, or design your own museum experience. It’s a way to include art in your everyday life. It’s a way to live a more creative life. It’s #AAMEveryday.  Find out more.