ARTS Pick: Paul Koors Band

Paul’s passion: Doctor Paul Koors was just beginning to make his musical talents known when he died tragically of an undetected heart condition at age 38. The ear, nose, and throat surgeon, who’d connected with musician Greg Howard during his residency at UVA, had just recorded a second album of country-tinged rock songs before his […]

Trail nix: The Dominion pipeline should not be allowed to cross the Appalachian Trail

“Dominion’s pipeline would permanently affect the trail experience on these protected federal lands, carving up a largely forested mountain landscape with a cleared right-of-way the width of a multi-lane highway.” —Jonathan Jarvis, National Park Service director, 2009-2107 By Jonathan Jarvis Dominion Energy wants to run a massive pipeline across America’s treasured Appalachian National Scenic Trail […]

Shaking things up: Teen launches a student-run film festival

By Charles Burns When Mia Lazar, a 17-year-old student at Blacksburg High School, first heard the news of Heather Heyer’s senseless murder at the hands of a white supremacist in Charlottesville, she was both rattled and ready to stand up for positive social change. Outraged by the rampant bigotry on display on August 12, 2017, […]

ARTS Pick: Follies

Grand stage: A Stephen Sondheim and Richard Rodgers collaboration would appear to be a sure bet for any Broadway investor, yet 1965’s Do I Hear A Waltz? fell far short of critical acclaim. The redeeming factor is that it caused Sondheim to only accept projects where he could write both the music and lyrics, and […]

ARTS Pick: That 1 Guy

A kind of magic: After years of playing professionally in other people’s jazz bands, Mike Silverman, aka That 1 Guy, was frustrated by the instruments and touring schedules that stopped him from making all the rhythms and harmonies he dreamed about. That’s when he started making his own original instruments and formed his unique one-man […]

ARTS Pick: Lungs

Fatal thaws: The decision to bring a child into the modern world, with its escalating climate change and varying degrees of global unrest, is the foundation of Duncan Macmillan’s smart, funny drama Lungs. Set on a bare stage, the play unfolds through a heart-to-heart talk between partners who debate with ferocity and vulnerability the pros […]

ARTS Pick: WALE

Way to go-go: Grammy-winning, roof-shaking, innovating rapper WALE grew up in Northwest Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, in the heart of the go-go music scene. WALE says go-go “made me the man that I am today, and I will never let it go.” You can hear it in his platinum-selling records, like 2011’s Lotus Flower […]

ARTS Pick: David Schulman + Quiet Life Motel

Quiet time: Electric violinist and composer David Schulman has several soundtracks to his credit including NPR’s “The Big Listen,” and APM’s “Spectacular Failures.” He is a frequent collaborator with modern dance companies and museum programs, and his extensive musical training has led him to explore and preserve the traditions of charanga and mambo. The Charlottesville […]