Susan Sorensen, Author at C-VILLE Weekly

Charlottesville High School String Ensemble is Ireland bound

“If you’re brought up in Charlottesville, this city is the center of the universe,” says Laura Mulligan Thomas. “It’s a great town; a wonderful place,” the long-time conductor of the Charlottesville High School Orchestra quickly adds. But when her young musicians perform further afield (in France, Italy, England and Switzerland, for example), she says it […]

Susan Sorensen | February 21, 2017

Knife & Fork Magazines

Hot damn! MarieBette’s hot chocolate so fine

There’s hot chocolate and then there’s the warm, silky-smooth blend of housemade ganache and milk they whip up at MarieBette Café & Bakery. Rich, just thick enough and not too sweet, this cuppa wonderful is made to be sipped slowly and savored. It’s a grown-up version of a childhood favorite, served in a place that treats […]

Susan Sorensen | September 21, 2016

Knife & Fork Magazines

Talking turkey with Foods of All Nations’ Bill Yenovkian

Bill Yenovkian laughs as he attempts to describe the perfect Thanksgiving turkey “without sounding pornographic.” You want a “full, nice-shaped bird,” the longtime Foods of All Nations butcher begins. And then he stops, embarrassed, and tries again: “You want a rounded, plump breast…” Why don’t we start with the number of people you’re serving and […]

Susan Sorensen | September 20, 2016

Magazines Village

In tune: Young musicians hit the right notes with YOCVA

Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival founders, Juilliard School graduates, members of Dave Matthews Band…scroll down the list of local musicians who have played in the Youth Orchestras of Central Virginia, and you won’t doubt the almost-40-year-old organization’s claim: “Music begins with us.” “We’re the only opportunity in the community for young people who play winds and […]

Susan Sorensen | August 16, 2016

Magazines Village

A whole new world: Area author tells a multicultural children’s tale

By the time Priya Mahadevan’s youngest daughter was 5 years old, Mahadevan had completed drafts for six children’s books. But it wasn’t until earlier this year that she published the first one: Princesses Only Wear Putta-Puttas, the semi-true story of a visit to India with her daughter for a wedding. “The trip was so profound […]

Susan Sorensen | August 16, 2016

Magazines Village

Course of nature: Gabriel Mapel is for the birds—and the bears

During a visit to Shenandoah National Park when he was 9 years old, Gabriel Mapel saw a mother black bear with her three cubs, and “from that moment on, my life would fully revolve around nature,” says the now-16-year-old. Not only did the bears get him “hooked,” Mapel says they also turned him into an […]

Susan Sorensen | May 19, 2016

Knife & Fork Magazines

Home sweet home: Bigger is better at Gearharts Fine Chocolates

Tim Gearhart outgrew his space in the Main Street Market five years ago, but it wasn’t until late last fall that he opened his new store in the Vinegar Hill Shopping Center next door to Staples. Gearhart’s business had grown enormously since it opened in 2001, back when he used two forks to hand-dip every […]

Susan Sorensen | April 7, 2016

Arts

All that jazz: Local musicians join forces for a good cause

When Greg Thomas sent an audition tape of the Albemarle High School Jazz Ensemble to Swing Central last fall, he didn’t give it a second thought. He figured his group had no chance of being one of the 12 bands accepted to the elite three-day competition and workshop that are part of the Savannah Music […]

Susan Sorensen | March 3, 2016

Magazines Village

Twist of fate: How a chance encounter blew up Zak Robbins’ world

When Zak Robbins was in sixth grade, he spotted a long line of people one afternoon on the Downtown Mall. Upon closer inspection, he realized everyone was waiting their turn for a balloon animal, so he joined the queue. When he finally made it to the front, he asked for “the biggest, most elaborate thing […]

Susan Sorensen | February 24, 2016

News

It takes a Village

It took two men with a vision to create an all-girls village On the Tuesday before winter break, a spirited debate has broken out in Jamie Knorr’s sixth-grade history class at Village School, the all-girls middle school he and Proal Heartwell founded two decades ago. A few of Knorr’s students have just delivered their soliloquy, […]

Susan Sorensen | January 20, 2016