Arts

Glad tidings: The annual Gift Forest pop-up finds a new home

When Sarah Carr started the annual Gift Forest pop-up holiday shop in 2010, it took place at The Bridge PAI. “I called the shop Great Gifts through 2012 and changed the name to Gift Forest in 2013,” says Carr. “I had a much stronger vision for things in 2013. That’s when I started to feel […]

Sarah Lawson | December 2, 2015

Arts

Inside the sound: Duo Grand Banks takes its improv to the masses

You can’t cover a Grand Banks song. Don’t even think about it. It’s not a question of chops or instrumental know-how. It’s about the unique relationship between the two musicians in the band, the growth of their friendship over the years and their approach to making sound together. “If somebody asks me what Grand Banks […]

Sarah Lawson | December 1, 2015

Arts

Tune up: A new generation of concert bookers finds its niche

“A valence bond is when atoms are held together by the electrons they share. It seemed really fitting for how music events can bring community members together through the things they share,” says Katie Wood, describing her new endeavor, Valence Shows. Under this moniker, Wood is one of the newest live music bookers in town. Wood’s […]

Sarah Lawson | November 24, 2015

Arts News

PCA executive director exits after less than a year

On Tuesday, November 10, Piedmont Council for the Arts announced that executive director Gram Slaton will leave his current position effective November 15. The PCA Board of Directors hired Slaton in January. In May, Slaton was quoted in C-VILLE Weekly, saying that he hoped to avoid “constantly losing all institutional knowledge” through staff turnover at PCA. He also proposed a […]

Sarah Lawson | November 13, 2015

Arts

Miraculous music: Early-music group Mira hosts a choral sing-in at The Haven

The term early music mostly refers to Medieval and Renaissance compositions, and it’s easy to imagine it as haunting choral melodies echoing off the vaulted ceilings of a stone cathedral in the 15th century. Other-worldly? Yes. Imposing? Pretty much. But this week, one of Charlottesville’s early-music ensembles, Mira, is taking a different approach to the […]

Sarah Lawson | November 3, 2015

Arts

Screen scene: Afrikana Independent Film Festival comes to town

There’s a film festival coming to town, but it’s not the one you’re thinking of. Beginning on October 30, the Richmond- based Afrikana Independent Film Festival will launch a series of screenings at Second Street Gallery. “Afrikana started with the mission of showcasing cinematic works of art from people of color from around the world, […]

Sarah Lawson | October 27, 2015

Arts

Fresh airwaves: Local radio station provides a new home for hip-hop

It’s time to update your car radio presets, Charlottesville. The long-anticipated launch of a new hip-hop radio station happened on October 5 at midnight when WVAI 101.3 Jamz took to the airwaves. The launch came as the result of more than a year of work by Damani Harrison, Elijah Campos, Jaquan Middleton, Cle Logan and […]

Sarah Lawson | October 20, 2015

Arts

All-nighter: UVA’s TechnoSonics festival returns for 16th year

“The connection between music and many people’s sense of their spiritual nature is one of the essential engines driving our mad (yet perfectly reasonable) devotion to music,” says Ted Coffey, associate professor in composition and computer technologies at UVA’s McIntire Department of Music. Each year, CCT faculty members lead the process of selecting a theme […]

Sarah Lawson | October 13, 2015