CHS music legend retires The woman who built Charlottesville High School’s orchestra into an award-winning juggernaut is retiring after 40 years. “Laura Mulligan Thomas has influenced generations of students in Charlottesville with a music education that is second to none,” said Charlottesville Superintendent Royal A. Gurley, Jr. in a release announcing her retirement. “She leaves […]
Shining example: Friends of UVA Children’s Hospital, local businesses, and nonprofits are supporting children and teens during Mental Health Awareness Month with The Shine Guide, a curated collection of events in nature, art, music, yoga, and more. This week, youngsters can tour McCormick Observatory, take a yoga class for relaxation and stress reduction, pick up […]
Join together: Adam Granduciel is known for doing things on his own. Typically a loner in the studio, the frontman for American rock band War on Drugs assembles most of the group’s records by overdubbing pre-recorded tracks. It worked well for years, but in 2018 Granduciel was ready for something new—community. The band’s fifth studio […]
Silence your phone: So, you think you can dance? Even if you can’t, all you need is a phone to participate in Fralin After Five’s Social Dance, “a site-specific immersive performance.” The dance, a combined interaction between public space and social media, features 11 performers and 11 audience members who must move together by communicating […]
By Matt Dhillon There might be notes of butterscotch and baked goods, a bite of sour green apple, even a touch of goat cheese, or something earthier with floral aromas and a chocolaty finish. There is the terroir to consider, the climate, the living yeast, sugar content, temperature, phenolic compounds, tannins, malic acid, lactic acid, […]
By Maryann Xue and Brielle Entzminger In the wake of 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Marcus-David Peters Act. Named in honor of a 24-year-old Black high school biology teacher killed by a Richmond police officer during a severe mental health crisis in 2018, the 2020 law required localities to […]
By Eshaan Sarup Ten years ago, a raging debate over the future of online courses led to the resignation—and reinstatement—of former University of Virginia president Teresa Sullivan. Now, after two years of pandemic-prompted virtual classes at UVA and schools across the country, online learning seems to be here to stay. However, the question of how […]
A farce for the force: Italian playwright Dario Fo’s political satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist pokes fun at the Italian police force by imagining a fictionalized aftermath of 1969’s real-life Piazza Fontana bombing. Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist wrongly accused of the bombing, plummets to his death from a fourth-floor window while in a police […]
Preservation haul: New Orleans jazz ensemble Tuba Skinny fulfilled a lifelong dream this year with the release of Magnolia Stroll, its first album of original music. The group formed in 2009 as a loose collection of street musicians that combines cornet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, tenor banjo, guitar, frottoir, and vocals. Influenced by a wide range […]
Sad, mad love: A grumbling Cupid, lovesick Venus, and dishy Adonis star in Venus & Adonis, a modern operatic take on the classical Greek myth, produced by the Early Access Music Project, a rotating group of musicians that brings early music to the community through accessible programming. Originally composed by John Blow in the 1680s, […]