Calendar of Events

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Get ready to embrace the spirit of Christmas with Elf: The Musical, a heartwarming and hilarious adaptation of the beloved 2003 holiday film. This enchanting musical follows the journey of Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole who embarks on a journey to New York City to find his real father. Through catchy, uplifting songs and zany comedic antics, Elf: The Musical serves a healthy dose of holiday cheer, laughter, and life lessons about identity, family, and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a magical, festive spectacle guaranteed to light up the holiday season for all ages!

A talkback with the cast & crew of Elf: The Musical will be held following the performances on December 3rd and 10th.

Program:

Rigby’s Escape for Flute, Clarinet, & String Orchestra by Andre Madatian (b.1992)

Bradford Malbon, flute ~ Justin Landry, clarinet

  

“Humours of Mallow” by Landon Walker
“Prism” by Jennie Walker Brunner
“The Ashebrook” by Scott Walker, arranged by Scott Walker

 The Walker Family Band

 

Soñando en Español for harp and orchestra,  III. Baroque Flamenco, by Deborah Henson-Conant (b. 1953)
Tori Parrish, harp

 

“Call My Name” by Seth Walker

 

“Rewind” by Seth Walker, arranged by Scott Walker                                                                             Seth Walker, vocals and guitar ~ Landon Walker, bass

 

“All of These Things” by Seth Walker, arranged by Scott Walker

Intermission

 

Gaelic Symphony, II. Alla siciliana – Allegro vivace – Andante, by Amy Beach (1867–1944)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The Nutcracker Suite, Op.71a                                                                                                                   

II. Danses caractéristiques

a. Marche

b. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

c. Russian Dance (Trepak)

d. Arabian Dance

e. Chinese Dance

f. Dance of the Reed-Flutes

III. Waltz of the Flowers

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

 

Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
Guest Conductor, David Jamison

Featured Artists

Andre Madatian, composer

Andre Madatian is a guitarist, composer, and educator currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Andre holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Film Scoring with a minor in Contemporary Conducting from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Master of Music in Composition from Middle Tennessee State University. Aside from composing, Andre is also an active touring guitarist as well as an educator where he mentors students from all around the globe in several areas including composition, arranging, orchestration, and music theory. Andre recently accepted a full-time professorship position with Tennessee State University where he teaches arranging, music appreciation, and directs a commercial music ensemble.

Bradford Malbon, flute

Bradford Malbon is a flute maker and repair technician residing in Asheville since 2012. He works locally with the Abell Flute Company and has previously worked with Powell Flutes of Boston. As a musician, he has played flute and piccolo with many ensembles, including the Mercury Orchestra, Lowell House Opera Orchestra, and Boston Civic Symphony, as well as Irish flute and whistle in Asheville-area traditional Irish music sessions. He has a particular love for the symphony orchestra, and he has been pleased to play with the Blue Ridge Orchestra since 2012. Bradford earned a Master of Music degree in flute performance from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2007, after studying music and mathematics at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Justin Landry, clarinet

Justin Landry (clarinet) has been playing clarinet for over thirty years. He attended the University of Maine, in his home state, where he studied Music Performance and
Mathematics. Later, Justin received his Master of Music Performance degree from State University of New York at Purchase under the tutelage of Ayako Oshima. He has since performed with theatre companies, chamber groups, and WNC regional orchestras and musicians, including the Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra, Asheville Clarinet Choir, and the Blue Ridge Orchestra. He enjoys the outdoors, his family, and
his dog, Yogi.

Seth Walker

Seth Walker, the son of Scott Walker and brother to Jennie Brunner, is often cited as one of the most prolific contemporary American artists on the scene today. He’s a multi-dimensional talent who combines a gift for melody and lyric, He has a natural knack for getting around the guitar, and in the words of American Songwriter, a rich, Gospel-drenched Southern-inflected voice!  In addition to extensive recording and songwriting pursuits, Seth is consistently touring and performing at venues around the world. Along with headlining shows, he has opened for The Mavericks, The Wood Brothers and Paul Thorn.

For the Blue Ridge Orchestra performance, he will be joined by Landon Walker on Bass. Landon is a seasoned jazz bassist, and not only hired Seth for his first professional gig way back in the early 90’s, he also helped introduce Seth to the world of the blues by mailing him cassettes of radio shows that Landon produced and narrated on Jacksonville Florida’s NPR affiliate WJCT.

The Walker Family Band

For over two decades, The Walker Family Band has delighted audiences throughout the Southeast with a distinctive take on traditional styles, performing Irish dance music and American old-time music with a forward-reaching attitude. We especially enjoy sharing original tunes, which grow naturally from these roots and from our thorough training and experience in classical music and jazz. The result is varied music and not compartmentalized into a particular genre. All now living in the Asheville area, the band is playing for events in the area. Jennie Brunner is a long-standing member of the Blue Ridge Orchestra.

Jennie leads the way, with beautiful and heartfelt fiddle playing, and is a master of connecting with the audience. She is accompanied and supported, very capably by her dad, Scott Walker, on guitar and fiddle, and her uncle, Landon Walker on accordion and Bass. For the Blue Ridge Orchestra performances, we will be enhanced by a close friend and extended Walker Family Band member, Laura Boswell.

The orchestra will join both the Walker Family Band and Seth with string orchestra arrangements, written by Scott Walker, under the fine direction of our friend, Milt Crotts. They are thankful to him and everyone with the BRO for creating this opportunity. 

Tori Parrish, harp

Tori Parrish (they/them pronouns) is a classically trained harpist with a degree in fine art painting from Stanford University and over a decade of experience performing at weddings, concerts and events. Tori has performed worldwide with the American Youth Harp Ensemble as well as across the United States with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. Some notable venues include the Stanford Memorial Church, Bing Concert Hall, SLAC Accelerator Lab in California and St. Peter’s Cathedral in Vienna. You can learn more about Tori’s work at luxuryharpist.com. 

Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session 

Sundays

1 till who knows when?

Traditional Irish music is kept alive at Jack of the Wood with our unplugged Sunday session.

Jack of the Wood

95 Patton ave

Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 252.5445

http://www.jackofthewood.com/

The Blue Ridge Ringers Present Ring We Now of Christmas, 3-4pm, Come join the Blue Ridge Ringers as they perform their
holiday special, Ring We Now of Christmas at the First Congregational Church in Hendersonville, The Blue RIngers are an
advanced auditioned group of handbell musicians in Hendersonville NC. Free,

The Asheville Art Museum is thrilled to announce a captivating December Live Music Series, bringing a harmonious fusion of art and music to the galleries. This unique series showcases Western North Carolina-based musicians Jessie Meltz, Monique Pinelli, and Laura Boswell. Audience members are invited to immerse themselves in an unparalleled cultural experience as our galleries transform into an intimate setting for these exceptional live performances. “The December Live Music Series aims to create an ambiance where visual and auditory senses intertwine, providing a memorable and enriching experience for all attendees,” says Adult Programs and Community Outreach Manager Magdalena Van Thienen. Harpist Jessie Meltz will kick off the series and play a wide repertoire to provide audiences with an eclectic musical experience. Monique Pinelli will perform a diverse set of holiday and classical music on the violin. The series will conclude with an enchanting folk-classical performance on the guitar by Laura Boswell. The December Live Music Series is free for Museum Members or included in Museum admission. Tickets are available for purchase in advance but are not required. December Live Music Series Schedule: Monique Pinelli Monday, December 11 • 11am–2pm Wednesday, December 13 • 11am–2pm On violin, Monique Pinelli will play holiday and classical music in the exhibitions Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting and Intersections in American Art.

Candidates are beginning to file for state and local elections in 2024 and they need treasurers! These state-mandated roles are vital, interesting, and also mostly easy work you can do in your pajamas.

Does that sound like you? Come to this session to get a picture of what campaign finance volunteering looks like, some useful pointers, and start to get connected to campaigns in need. Veteran local treasurers will provide information and answer questions. Whether it’s your first time considering it or you’re a multi-campaign vet, consider attending!

Who should attend: Anyone interested in volunteering as a campaign treasurer.

Candidates are beginning to file for state and local elections in 2024 and they need treasurers! These state-mandated roles are vital, interesting, and also mostly easy work you can do in your pajamas.

Does that sound like you? Come to this session to get a picture of what campaign finance volunteering looks like, some useful pointers, and start to get connected to campaigns in need. Veteran local treasurers will provide information and answer questions. Whether it’s your first time considering it or you’re a multi-campaign vet, consider attending!

Who should attend: Anyone interested in volunteering as a campaign treasurer

Bouncing Souls Tickets | Asheville, NC | The Orange Peel (etix.com)

7 Seconds
Catbite
Blind Adam & The Federal League

Ages 18+

Music Movie Mondays:
A Hard Day’s Night
For Immediate Release: The feature film debut from The Beatles,
A Hard Day’s Night captures the humor, exuberance and musical
genius of The group at the height of the Beatlemania
phenomenon. A special December 11 screening as part of the
Music Movie Mondays series at Grail Movie House will be
hosted by Asheville author and music journalist Bill Kopp.
In 1964, pop music wasn’t taken especially seriously (Nor, it should
be emphasized, were pop musicians). Such things were considered
ephemeral. Difficult as it might be to imagine, even The Beatles were
seen as something of a flash in the proverbial pan. Even they thought
so: asked in an interview how long they predicted it would be until
the bubble burst, one of them replied, “Five years.” But as we now know, although The Beatles broke up in 1969, their impact
upon music, pop culture and culture-in-general endures.
Canny observers must have had some sense of all this even in 1964, when The Beatles broke through globally. So it was that the
four – all of them in their twenties – were signed to a motion picture deal. No actors among them, The Beatles were nonetheless
seen as the perfect group to star in a film. And while said film could easily have been a teen-exploitation reel, The Beatles’ film
debut had the good fortune to have been written and directed by people who actually got it.
Screenwriter Alun Owen went so far as to travel with the group from gig to gig, picking up ideas from the whirlwind lives that
John, Paul, George and Ringo were living at the peak of Beatlemania. And director Richard Lester had no interest in making an
empty-headed film. Add to that the fact that the four Beatles – especially drummer Ringo Starr – seemed remarkably natural in
front of the camera. So it was that a classic was made: A Hard Day’s Night.
A Hard Day’s Night manages to be funny, clever, coherent and possessing of an almost documentary level of accuracy with
regard to what Beatlemania was like. But above all, it’s fun. A rousing critical success, the black-and-white film made on a
modest budget quickly became a major box-office hit. Nearly 60 years after its release, A Hard Day’s Night continues to delight
audiences. And this special screening of The Beatles’ first feature film also presents a chance to watch the film with fellow
Beatles fans. And a post-screening discussion led by author and music journalist Bill Kopp provides an opportunity to share
thoughts and insight on the film.
As part of the Music Movie Mondays series, Grail Moviehouse in Asheville hosts a special one-night-only showing of the film.
Presented by Asheville-based speaker, author and music journalist Bill Kopp, the evening will include a screening of the film
followed by an interactive discussion.

“Going to the movies has always been a kind of communal
experience,” says Kopp, host of Music Movie Mondays.
“Especially in this post-lockdown era, the opportunity to not only
watch a film but then to discuss it with others is something even
more special. And music-related films lend themselves
remarkably well to this shared, interactive experience.”
Music Movie Mondays is a monthly series moderated by Bill Kopp, hosted by Grail Movie House
and sponsored by AshevilleFM. Music Movie Mondays presents a special screening of A Hard
Day’s Night on Monday, Dec. 11 @ 7 pm. The program will feature a brief introduction. Then we’ll watch the film together;
afterward, we’ll engage in a moderated discussion.
The one-night-only screening of A Hard Day’s Night is the latest in the ongoing popular series of Music Movie Mondays at
Grail Moviehouse. Every month, we’ll watch and discuss new releases, classics and cult favorites.

The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year is coming to Bon Secours Wellness Arena this holiday season! Come celebrate the holidays with the world’s biggest a cappella act 🎁

Mike Guggino and Barrett Smith, members of the Grammy Award winning band Steep Canyon Rangers, have been performing traditional Italian folk music on the mandolin and guitar for nearly two decades. When Mike and Barrett are touring with the band, they host “Italian Night” performances at local restaurants, music venues, and house concerts. Over the years, these widely popular events have provided them the perfect setting to develop their own unique musical expression of these exotic, Italian folk songs

Steve Miller has been an enlivening presence on the American music scene for more than half a century – and, in the course of that era, his releases have sold tens of millions of records and been streamed several billion times. Miller’s Greatest Hits 1974-78 received the RIAA Diamond Award with sales of more than fifteen million copies. It is among the 25 best-selling albums of all time.

At the start of his career, Miller soon became a mainstay of the San Francisco music scene that upended American culture in the late ’60s. With albums like Children of the Future, Sailor and Brave New World, Miller perfected a psychedelic blues sound that drew on the deepest sources of American roots music and simultaneously articulated a compelling vision of what music – and, indeed, society – could be in the years to come.

Then, in the ’70s, Miller crafted a brand of pure pop that was smart, polished, exciting and irresistible – and that dominated radio in a way that few artists have ever managed. Hit followed hit in what seemed like an endless flow: “The Joker,” “Take the Money and Run,” “Rock’n Me,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” “Jungle Love,” “Swingtown” and “Abracadabra,” among them. To this day, those songs are instantly recognizable when they crop up online or on the radio – and impossible not to sing along with. Their hooks are the very definition of indelible.

Running through Miller’s distinctive catalog is a combination of virtuosity and song craft. And that’s no accident. His parents were jazz aficionados – not to mention close friends of Les Paul and Mary Ford – so, as a budding guitarist, Miller absorbed valuable lessons from that musical tradition. When the family moved to Texas, Miller deepened his education in the blues, eventually relocating to Chicago, where he played with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and Paul Butterfield. That range of sources informs his music to this day.

In recent years, Miller has fully immersed himself in the blues and its many byways. As he has always done, he continues to find creative outlets for the full panoply of his musical passions. On his successful tours with the Steve Miller Band, he complements the commercial peaks of his extensive catalogue with lesser-known songs that expand his fans’ awareness of the range of his work. As a member of the Board of Directors at Jazz at Lincoln Center, he has curated and headlined a series of shows that explore themes like the bridge from blues to jazz in the music of guitar great T-Bone Walker; the distinctive sounds of the blues triangle of Memphis, Texas and Chicago; the resonances between the singular musical creations of Ma Rainey and Miles Davis; the deep American roots music of Appalachia; and Cannonball Adderley and the Blues. In addition, at the request of Wynton Marsalis, he is defining a blues pedagogy for Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is also a member of the visiting committee of the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Indeed, five of his guitars were displayed in “Play It Loud: The Instruments of Rock and Roll,” a groundbreaking exhibition at the Met that ran for six months in 2019. Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 and has been elected for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022. He has recently begun to open his vaults for the first time, releasing the acclaimed Welcome to the Vault box set in
2019 and Breaking Ground Live! August 3, 1977 in 2021.

With each listen the beauty and immediacy of Miller’s work, whether at its most playful or most serious, is palpable. As always, whether he was riding the top of the charts or traveling the endless blue highways of American music, you can hear him playing and singing with conviction and precision, passion and eloquence, making music that is at once immediately accessible, thrillingly alive in the present, respectful of the past, and more than able to stand the test of time.

BRING YOUR LAPTOP (if you have one) and your cell phone, and we’ll show you how to make calls to reach people who tend to vote for Democrats, but not often enough! Whether you are an experienced, reluctant, or new and curious phone banker, this training will prepare you for making calls at our headquarters, and later from the comfort of your own home.

Snacks, drinks, and lots of camaraderie on hand!

Who should attend: Democrats or left-leaning unaffiliated voters who are willing to make phone calls to make a difference in 2024.

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

LEAF isn’t just for kids! Join us in the Mezzanine while you wait for your youth to finish their class or just to hang out!