If you have never heard of Bix Beiderbecke, the unlikely jazz legend from a Midwestern, German-American family, listen to his tunes on YouTube or Spotify and you’ll want to know more. Dig deeper and you’ll learn that cornet soloist and pianist Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1903 and died in […]
Is there any comedy trope that’s been kicked around more often than the bickering husband and wife at home? Domestic discord has been a go-to gag for centuries and the cornerstone of TV sitcoms for a reason. We all know the excruciating grief of slogging through a never-ending argument with our significant other, but whether […]
Open-minded listeners looking for a new sound experience should head to The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative on Sunday night for the Telemetry series. Developed by programming committee members Peter Bussigel, a composer and intermedia artist and professor in UVA’s music department, and Travis Thatcher, technical director of composition and computer technologies in that same department, […]
A solo set by Robert Dick, Stephen Nachmanovitch or Robert Jospé is dazzling in its own right, but combine these talents into a trio and you’ll witness something musically supernatural. Presented by WTJU and the Charlottesville Jazz Society, the evening features Dick on the flute and bass flute, Nachmanovitch singing and playing the violin, viola, […]
Since it exploded into theaters in 1977, Star Wars has left a crater-like impact on pop culture. And since 2011, May 4 has been the unofficial day that superfans dust off their lightsabers, pull on their stormtrooper helmets and celebrate the popular franchise. At May the Fourth Be With You: A Celebration of the Music […]
Taking on the topic of sexual oppression at the turn of the 19th century, Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening drives straight through the soul of puberty. Gorilla Theater Productions’ contemporary approach to the coming-of-age story confronts themes of reproduction, rape and suicide so incisively it’s subtitled A Children’s Tragedy. Through May 14. $10-15, times vary. Gorilla […]
Local artist Suzanne Stryk has always been fascinated by nests. “When I was 8, I loved to page through a Little Golden book, The Wonder Book of Birds. And then in fourth grade, my grandmother gave me Wonders in Your Own Backyard for Christmas,” writes Stryk in her artist’s statement. “I never outgrew the ideas […]
First Fridays: May 5 Lily Erb spends a lot of time outside, taking stock of the natural world for images, information and patterns to use in her steel sculptures, some of which are on view this month in “Epitaxy” at the Welcome Gallery at New City Arts. Sometimes she’ll focus on abstracting a certain natural form—for […]
The human voice is an extraordinary thing. Even the softest, quietest sound is no small feat to produce. Here’s how it works: The lungs pump air through the trachea (windpipe) and into the larynx, where the vocal cords are located. The air makes the vocal folds—multilayered folds of tissue—vibrate, and they alternately trap and release […]
Everything about Colossal is a pleasant surprise. From its cute premise carrying actual dramatic weight, to every moment it made the choice to be better instead of safer, to the revelation of Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo demonstrating that his brand of humor and metaphor needs no further translation, it is difficult to recall a film […]