HotSeat: Kalela Williams

Last fall, Kalela Williams hit the ground running as the new director of the Virginia Center for the Book—she only had six months to organize the Virginia Festival of the Book, a process that usually takes well over a year. Williams came to the festival from Philadelphia, where she previously worked for Mighty Writers and […]

Drink deep

Brewing beer is about control: controlling ingredients, controlling processes, controlling product.  But it’s also about deciding when to let go. Take Three Notch’d Brewing Company. It started small, with brewmaster Dave Warwick, supported by a team of four administrators, making a few hundred barrels of craft beer per year at their Preston Avenue home. At […]

Together in Song

Share in the joy of music with the Oratorio Society of Virginia at Together in Song, a day-long choral workshop and concert. Begin by flexing your vocal chops in a three-hour workshop with conductor and music director Michael Slon. Participants rehearse works by American composers, including Aaron Copland’s “At the River” and Keith McCutchen’s arrangement […]

Dervish

Renowned sextet Dervish has been playing its traditional Irish tunes to international audiences—including in Latvia and Lithuania, and for visitors to the Great Wall of China—for over 30 years. Frontwoman Cathy Jordan leads the band in lively renditions of songs and jigs that marry technical mastery of multiple instruments, including jovial whistle, animated accordion, and […]

Rotunda Planetarium

Do look up at the Rotunda Planetarium’s public viewing nights. The inside of the Rotunda’s dome is transformed into a starry, constellation-filled reflection of the night sky—just like Jefferson envisioned. The Youth Orchestras of Central Virginia provide a celestial musical accompaniment, and Thomas Jefferson interpreter Bill Barker works the room. Friday 3/10 & Saturday 3/11. […]

Astronomy on Tap

Find out what’s written in the stars at Astronomy on Tap, an out-of-this-world evening of astronomical fun. Grab a pint and listen to professional astronomers from UVA and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory discuss facts and mysteries about the universe, before playing a couple rounds of trivia and other mini-games. After, step outside to observe […]

Rachel Pennington

Rachel Pennington Owner: The Pie Chest, thepiechestcville.com A spirit of togetherness “I cook because I have to. I have no other choice. Deep within me resides the desire to please others through a soul-level-comforting pleasing of the palate.  “Therein is the secret to a good life. Eating, drinking, and being merry. Through this we commune […]

Ann Beattie has More to Say

Known best for her short stories and novels, author Ann Beattie recently published More to Say: Essays & Appreciations, a collection of short nonfiction. The winner of numerous awards, Beattie brings her keen insight and sense of language to these curated pieces, all of which were originally published between 1982 and 2022 in a variety […]

Right at home

It’s not false advertising, there really are chinchillas at Chinchilla Café. Three of them: Pip, Napoleon, and Starr Baby. You can even pet them and feed them treats. “At first, we just tried to get people over to play with the chinchillas,” says café co-organizer Lane Rasberry. “But nobody came, so we started hosting shows […]

Wait Until Dark

A blind housewife plays a deadly game of cat and mouse in Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark. Susy Hendrix is at home in her Greenwich Village apartment when a sinister gang of con men come looking for a mysterious doll, which her husband, Sam, unknowingly brought back from a trip. With the help of a […]