Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
TAKE A TRAIN RIDE ALONG SIDE THE BEAUTIFUL NANTAHALA RIVER ON OUR NANTAHALA GORGE EXCURSION! DEPARTING FROM BRYSON CITY, THIS 4½ HOUR ROUNDTRIP EXCURSION CARRIES YOU 44 MILES TO THE NANTAHALA GORGE AND BACK AGAIN ARRIVING AT OUR BRYSON CITY DEPOT.
Ride this excursion via Steam or Diesel locomotive power!
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains while traveling along the Tennessee and Nantahala (nan-tuh-HAY-luh) River. The historic trellis bridge Fontana Trestle takes you across Fontana Lake and into the beautiful Nantahala Gorge. Onboard dining is available in First Class Seating and selecting from our First Class dining menu options OR you can pre-purchase a box lunch option to make this an amazing unique moving dining experience. Arrive at our layover destination in the heart of the Nantahala Gorge for a one-hour layover where you can relax by the river or enjoy sightseeing!
Itinerary
| 30m before departure | Boarding begins at Bryson City Depot |
| See schedule for departure time | Depart Bryson City, NC |
| 1h 45m | Reach top of the line |
| 2h 00m | Begin return |
| 2h 30m—3h 30m | Layover |
| 3h 30m | Depart Layover |
| 4h 30m | Arrive at Bryson City Depot |
| Time from Departure | Activity |
|---|
 |
| Images: Left: Minna Wright Citron, Squid Under Pier, 1948, color etching, soft-ground, and engraving on paper, edition 42/50, 15 x 17 7/8 inches, 2010 Collections Circle purchase, Asheville Art Museum. © Estate of Minna Citron/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York. Right: Dorothy Dehner, Woman #2, 1954, watercolor and ink on paper, 22 3/4 x 18”, courtesy of Dolan Maxwell. |
The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960, which explores the groundbreaking contributions of artists who worked at the experimental printmaking studio Atelier 17 in the wake of World War II. Co-curated by Marilyn Laufer and Tom Butler, American Art in the Atomic Age which draws from the holdings of Dolan/Maxwell, the Asheville Art Museum Collection, and private collections will be on view from November 10, 2023–April 29, 2024.
Atelier 17 operated in New York for fifteen years, between 1940 and 1955. The studio’s founder, Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) established the workshop in Paris but relocated to New York just as the Nazi occupation of Paris began in 1940. Hayter’s new studio attracted European emigrants like André Masson, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Miró, as well as American artists like Dorothy Dehner, Judith Rothschild, and Karl Schrag, allowing for an exchange of artistic ideas and processes between European and American artists.
The Asheville Art Museum will present over 100 works that exemplify the cross-cultural exchange and profound social and political impact of Atelier 17 on American art. Prints made at Atelier 17—including those by Stanley William Hayter, Louise Nevelson, and Perle Fine—will be in conversation with works by European Surrealists who were working at the studio in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will also feature a selection of domestic mid-century objects that exemplify how the ideas and aesthetics of post-war abstraction became a part of everyday life.
In the early 1900s, travel by train and automobile became more accessible in the United States, leading to an increase in tourism and a revitalized interest in landscape painting. The relative ease of transportation, as well as the creation of National Parks, allowed people to experience the breathtaking landscapes of the United States in new ways. Artists traveled along popular routes, recording the terrain they encountered.
This exhibition explores the sublime natural landscapes of the Smokey Mountains of Western North Carolina and Tennessee. While there were several regional schools of painting around this time, this group is largely from the Midwest and many of the artists trained at the Art Institute of Chicago or in New York City. Through their travels, they captured waterfalls, sunsets, thunderstorms, autumn foliage, lush green summers, and snow-covered mountains—elements that were novel for viewers from cities and rural areas. Though some of these paintings include people, they are usually used for scale and painted with little to no detail, highlighting the magnificence of nature.
 |
|
Rudolph F. Ingerle, Mirrored Mountain, not dated, oil on canvas, 28 × 32 inches. Courtesy of Allen & Barry Huffman, Asheville Art Museum. |
11am – 5pm Tuesday through Saturday
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Joseph Fiore (1925-2008) first enrolled at Black Mountain College for the Summer Session of 1946, the summer that Josef Albers invited Jacob Lawrence to teach painting at BMC. Over the next three years, Fiore also studied with Ilya Bolotowsky, Willem de Kooning, and Jean Varda. In 1949, after Josef and Anni Albers’ departure, Joe was invited to join the faculty, and he taught painting and drawing until 1956 when the college leaders decided to close.
After BMC closed, Joe and his wife Mary, whom he met and married at BMC, moved to New York City. There he became involved with the 10th Street art scene of the late 1950s and 1960s, a group of galleries that exhibited the work of young artists on the rise. Eventually he resumed his teaching career at the Philadelphia College of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the National Academy.
In May of 2001, Joseph Fiore was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in New York. The Carnegie Prize is awarded “for painting” at the National Academy’s Members’ Show.
This exhibition consists of paintings in our collection donated by the artist and by The Falcon Foundation. All of the paintings were made at Black Mountain College and show Fiore’s distinctive use of color and his ability to work comfortably in the spaces between abstraction and representation.
Curated by Alice Sebrell, Director of Preservation
Grovewood Gallery will celebrate the beginning of
spring with two delightful days of demos, discounts, and wine on April 5 and 6 from
11am – 5pm. The gallery offers two expansive floors of finely crafted furniture, jewelry,
ceramics, glass, and more by over 350 artists and craftspeople from around the United
States.
During this annual “Sip & Shop” event, gallery merchandise will be 10% off (excludes
Lyman Whitaker sculptures), and local artist demonstrations will take place on both
days. Shoppers can also enjoy complimentary drinks and tasty treats. Guests looking to
round out their experience can enjoy brunch next door at ELDR and visit the Estes-Winn
Antique Car Museum, also located in Grovewood Village. This free event is sponsored by
Metro Wines.
Demonstrating Artists (11am – 4pm)
Andrea Kulish: Pysanky
Artist Andrea Kulish, a first-generation Ukrainian-American, will demonstrate the
ancient art of pysanky. Pysanky are Ukrainian Easter eggs decorated with traditional
Ukrainian folk designs using a wax-resist method. The word pysanka (singular form of
pysanky) comes from the verb pysaty, “to write” or “to inscribe,” as the designs are not
painted on but written (inscribed) with beeswax. This is a very old tradition, and its
beginnings reach back to antiquity. Kulish has been practicing pysanky since early
childhood and has taught it to others for more than a decade.
Christopher Mello: Floral Design
Master gardener and horticulturist Christopher Mello will demonstrate the art of floral
design. Mello, who earned a two-year associate degree in horticulture from Haywood
Community College, was once a part of the floral crew at the Biltmore Estate (both in
the nursery and in the house). Through the years, he has designed and established well-
loved public gardens in the River Arts District and in West Asheville and developed a
poppy hybrid he calls “Blue Pearl.” He also enjoys getting his hands dirty with clay. A
selection of his ceramic offerings, including his signature acorns, will be available to
purchase. To learn more about Mello, watch Bill Torgerson’s documentary Yes You May:
The Story of Christopher’s Garden.
ABOUT GROVEWOOD GALLERY
Established in 1992, Grovewood Gallery is noted for its charming, old-world setting and
rich craft heritage. The gallery is located in the historic Grovewood Village complex,
which once housed the weaving and woodworking operations of Biltmore Industries, a
force in American craft and textiles that grew to become one of the largest producers of
handwoven wool. Today, the gallery offers two expansive floors of fine American-made
art and crafts contributed by more than 350 makers from across the United States.
Hours are Monday through Sunday from 10 am – 5 pm. Free parking is available on-site.
For more information on Grovewood Gallery, visit www.grovewood.com or call (828)
253-7651.
Bender Gallery Artists Featured in
Asheville Art Museum Exhibition
The New Salon: A Contemporary View
The Asheville Art Museum will be opening their exhibit, The New Salon: A Contemporary View, on March 8 and it will run until August 19, 2024. The New Salon offers a modern take on the prestigious tradition of the Parisian Salon with the diversity and innovation of today’s art world. Guest-curated by Gabriel Shaffer, the show will include works from Pop Surrealism, Outsider Art, Street Art, and Graffiti genres.
Bender Gallery has been collaborating with the Asheville Art Museum to loan four paintings from three of our artists. The artists are Laine Bachman, Kukula, and Yui Sakamoto. Be sure to check out this special exhibition in downtown Asheville.
Learn More
Kukula, Impossible Voyage, oil on board, 48 x 24 inches
Kukula (b. 1980, Israel)
Nataly Abramovitch, better known in the art world as, Kukula, paints imagined worlds filled with elaborately dressed women in fanciful settings. The artist does extensive research on the layouts of paintings from the Renaissance and Rococo periods. Kukula subverts these images by depicting women characters in place of traditionally male positions and settings. Her characters are powerful, commanding, and have an air of indifference.
Available Work
Yui Sakamoto, Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 63 x 63 inches
Yui Sakamoto (b. 1981, Japan)
Our surrealist artist, Yui Sakamoto, will have two paintings featured including My Soul and Self Portrait. Self Portrait is still available from his recent solo exhibition at Bender Gallery. Standing in front of Self Portrait, one is immersed in the dual-worlds of Sakamoto’s Japanese and Mexican cultures. There is a sense of calm reflected in the repeating rose pattern, mixed with the uneasy realization that the coral, fungi, and otherworldly forms are what makeup the figure.
Available Work
Laine Bachman, Night Bloomers, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
Laine Bachman (b. 1974, USA) Our prolific Magical Realism artist, Laine Bachman, makes a feature in the exhibition with her painting, Night Bloomers. She has been hard at work making 17 new pieces for her solo exhibition at the Canton Art Museum in Canton, Ohio. The Canton show opens on April 28 and continues through to July 28, 2024.
Available Work
Our pick-your-own tulips are a spring crop, and you are invited to pick as many of these beauties as you like. We charge $2 per stem. You will not need clippers. You can bring your own container or buy one from us.
Tulip season will start on Friday, March 22, 2024.
Hours:
Friday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday: 1 to 4 pm.
Exhibition and Public Programming
Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.
Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.
Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.
Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.
The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.
In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.
Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.
Images:
Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.
Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.
|
Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. Several artists of the Studio Glass Movement came to the region, including its founder Harvey K. Littleton. Begun in 1962 in Wisconsin, it was a student of Littleton’s that first came to the area in 1965 and set up a glass studio at the Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina. By 1967, Mark Peiser was the first glass artist resident at the school and taught many notable artists, like Jak Brewer in 1968 and Richard Ritter who came to study in 1971. By 1977, Littleton retired from teaching and moved to nearby Spruce Pine, North Carolina and set up a glass studio at his home. Since that time, glass artists like Ken Carder, Rick and Valerie Beck, Shane Fero, and Yaffa Sikorsky and Jeff Todd—to name only a few—have flocked to the area to reside, collaborate, and teach, making it a significant place for experimentation and education in glass. The next generation of artists like Hayden Wilson and Alex Bernstein continue to create here. The Museum is dedicated to collecting American studio glass and within that umbrella, explores the work of Artists connected to Western North Carolina. Exhibitions, including Intersections of American Art, explore glass art in the context of American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works from the Museum’s Collection. |
Celebrate The New Salon exhibition with an afternoon of creativity and community engagement. Enjoy free Museum admission!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visit LEAF Global Arts every Saturday for an in-house cultural exchange with Adama Dembele. Experience the Ivory Coast with our Culture Keeper from the House of Djembe.
|
Calling adventurous tweens/teens! Join us for Dungeons & Dragons at the Weaverville Library! This program is open to tweens and teens ages 12+. All skill levels are welcome. Space for this program is limited. Registration is required. Please stop by the Weaverville Library or call 828-250-6482 to reserve your space! |
Calling adventurous tweens/teens! Join us for Dungeons & Dragons at the Weaverville Library! This program is open to tweens and teens ages 12+.
All skill levels are welcome.
Space for this program is limited. Registration is required. Please stop by the Weaverville Library or call 828-250-6482 to reserve your space!
The Buncombe County Public Library system is delighted to welcome you to an exciting new chapter with our inaugural countywide book club called One Book, One Buncombe. The vision for this communal effort is to have as many people as possible read, discuss, meditate, and ultimately have the shared experience of collectively reading the same book this spring. “Hosting a community reading program has long been a goal for our library system. With so many divisive issues in the world today, now feels like the perfect time for us to launch a program that seeks to bring people together,” says Library Director Jason Hyatt. “Our hope is for participants to engage with their friends, family, neighbors, fellow library patrons, and the community at large through meaningful shared experiences.”
For our first One Book, One Buncombe we have picked The Violin Conspiracy by North Carolina-based author Brendan Slocumb. “We selected The Violin Conspiracy for several reasons: the author’s real-life roots and the story’s primary setting in North Carolina; the theme of the power of the arts, which is so important to our region’s unique cultural landscape; and the examination of racial identity and discrimination, which has the potential to spark thought-provoking community conversations,” explains Jason.
We will officially kick off the countywide book club on March 2 and hope you will join us for this first installment of One Book, One Buncombe as we write a new story celebrating community and collaboration through a shared reading experience. “We’d love it if one of those readers is you! Your participation will help us discover the many ways that one book can bring us all together,” exclaims Jason. “The Violin Conspiracy is a page-turner brimming with heart and soul that is sure to resonate with readers across Buncombe County.”
Below this article, you will find a complete list of events, places to borrow or buy the book, how to get a book club facilitation kit, and additional details. Please note this page will be updated with new information, additional events, and more.
Overview
The Buncombe County Public Libraries are launching a community read for Spring 2024 “One Book, One Buncombe”. We have selected The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb for our first book. The novel deals with themes such as musical talent and expression, family, the value of art, greed and commerce, and racism. The author is from Fayetteville, NC and has taught at UNC Greensboro.
Our goal for One Book, One Buncombe is to create a shared experience of reading among a wide spectrum of people. The initiative will culminate with a free community event featuring author Brendan Slocumb on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m.
The Book
Buncombe County Public Libraries have purchased a limited number of copies of The Violin Conspiracy to be given away to readers on a first come, first served basis. These copies will be available to the public beginning on March 2. Interested readers can visit or telephone their local Buncombe County Library branch to learn whether copies are available.
Library staff can also assist library patrons in accessing circulating library copies of the book at any time. Limited free downloads of e-reading and audiobook versions are also available digitally through the Libby app.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase at three local independent bookstores, which are all offering a 10% discount to One Book, One Buncombe readers through the end of April:
- Daymoon Coffeebar and Booksellers at 381 Old Charlotte Highway in Fairview
- Firestorm Books at 1022 Haywood Road in West Asheville or via Firestorm Online Ordering with promo code BOOKCLUB10
- Malaprop’s Bookstore / Café at 55 Haywood Street in Downtown Asheville or via Malaprop’s Online Ordering with promo code VIOLIN
We are encouraging all readers to share their free and purchased book copies with friends and family to expand the circle of readers more widely.
Author Event
The initiative will culminate with a free community event featuring author Brendan Slocumb on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m. This event will take place at Ferguson Auditorium at AB Tech. 19 Tech Drive, Asheville, 28801. Admission is free and everyone is welcome! No advance registration is required to attend this program.
If you can’t make it, the event will be streamed on the County’s Facebook page.
Slocumb will speak about the book and sign books after the formal program. Books will also be available for purchase at this event.
Learn more about Brendan Slocumb and The Violin Conspiracy on his author page here.
Pages in the Parks
In celebration of our community’s love of reading, our beautiful public parks, and in the spirit of community, we are hosting public reads at local parks. The concept is simple, come to the park and bring something to read. This isn’t a book club; just a time to come together, to enjoy the act of reading, and to remind our community that reading is an essential element to learning, relaxing, and connecting.
Please plan to join us for an hour or two of reading, relaxing, and gathering in our most beautiful public spaces at one of the following times. Things to bring: a book, a friend, a blanket or lawn chair, snacks, and your love of reading!
Buncombe County Public Library staff will be there to sign people up for library cards and answer all of your book and library questions.
- Saturday, April 6 from 2-4 p.m. at Lake Julian Park: 37 Lake Julian Road Arden, NC 28704
Let’s Go Surfin’ Now…you get it! At over 80 shows a year, Sail On is the most booked Beach Boys Tribute band in the world! Sail On plays all of the Beach Boys’ classic hits, plus some treasures from the band’s brilliant extended catalog, recreating the soundtrack to an Endless Summer completely live and in rich detail. If you are looking for an authentic Beach Boys concert experience, you won’t find one better than Sail On! It’s all Good Vibrations!
|
A total solar eclipse is happening over North America on Monday, April 8th! Join us the Saturday before as we learn about the science behind the solar eclipse and make a cool piece of eclipse art in celebration of this exciting event! Drop in any time between 2-4pm. Ages 4 and up. No registration required. |
Follow the Terriers on Twitter at @WoffordBaseball
|
Bring your needles or your hooks and join us for some friendly company as you work on your current project. No registration necessary; just come by the Skyland Library community room with a love of yarn! Please note this is not a class — we welcome knitters and crocheters of all skill levels, but there might not be anyone on hand to teach the basics if you’ve never tried before. Feel free to come and chat or observe, though! |
Live on the Legends Plaza Stage: Champagne Charlie, an acoustic duo from Western North Carolina performing jazz, blues, and country classics in a unique style they call Acoustic Swing. The band features Phil Ruff on vocals and rhythm guitar and Devin McEnnerney on lead guitar.
There is no ticket needed for this FREE performance. Grab dinner on the grounds and enjoy!
Doors will open at 5pm for a cocktail hour, then guests will be seated at 6pm for dinner. The cost for this event is $105, and includes a 3-Course dinner with limited options and professional entertainment. Gratuity, alcohol and sales tax are not included. The menu for this event can be viewed ahead of time at jargonrestaurant.com/special-dining-events.
About
Back by popular demand! This is Doc’s second appearance at The Argot Room. He has performed in many notable places such as the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, and the Chicago Magic Lounge. Enjoy a 3-Course dinner with options, from Chef Ryan Kline of Jargon, then sit back and let Doc astound you with his magical talent and unique style during his new show entitled “Magic Show #2”! Doc’s shows are an exciting mix of audience participation, comedy, and fun. Doors will open at 5pm for a cocktail hour, then guests will be seated promptly at 6pm for dinner. Then…the magic will begin following our dinner service! Please note our cancellation fee: $75 per person if cancelling within 48 hours of the event. Change of plans? Call us at 828-785-1761 if you need to make changes to your reservation. PLEASE NOTE: This event is located at THE ARGOT ROOM, at 717 Haywood Road next door to Jargon.
Short Stories, Linda Gritta Solo Exhibition
Exhibition Dates April 6 – April 30, 2024
Opening Reception April 6th, 5-8pm
Bender Gallery is excited to announce our first exhibition of 2024, Short Stories, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Linda Gritta. We will have the opening reception for Short Stories on April 6th from 5-8pm. Gritta has been hard at work on many new large paintings. All the paintings are an exploration of color with the desire to create a world that allows the viewer a short refuge from reality. These large works are immersive and begging to be explored. Above image: Improv Three, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
Enjoy live music at the picturesque Jump Off Rock, which overlooks the French
Broad River valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond. Musical offerings ranging from jazz to country, rockabilly, pop, rock and
blues.
THE DISCS
Ayyyyy, you’re not gonna believe this! Get ready for Gabba Fools, A Sopranos themed party! Call your therapist, because this April 6th at 6pm, we ain’t even jokin’. Bada Bing!
A night of track suits, gold chains, and slick back hair, where we toast the 25th year anniversary of everyone’s favorite family rom-com, The Sopranos. With all due respect, you’re a fool if you miss this!
It’s gonna be a real banger, capeesh? Come decked out as your favorite character. Get ready to bust a move to the beats of Dj Bridal Parti Bucardi and sip on some all new secret Vaperil Fools surprise brews!(If you’ve read this far, it’ll make sense later, I promise) Maybe even get into some “funny business” with our jello “mug” shots and “Some Pulp” Creamsicle Hard Slushies.
Gabba Fools at DSSOLVR, when you’re here, you’re family.
Explore the dark side of Beer City on LaZoom’s Ghosted Tour!
Duration
1 hour
About
Come enjoy our most popular Asheville tour!
About
Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties are not permitted on this tour. The Fender Bender Bus is bachelorette/bachelor friendly!
Learn about Asheville’s strange, sometimes sordid past from our ghoulish guides. You’ll laugh! You’ll scream! You’ll discover mysteries and chilling tales of scandal and murder on the blood-stained streets of this picturesque town!
Ghosted runs approximately 60 minutes. Beer and wine are welcome onboard, but no open containers, and absolutely no liquor, please! All beer and wine must be purchased from the LaZoom Room. (Passengers must be at least 21 years old to drink on the bus, and must have valid ID.)
Age Restrictions
17 and up. No exceptions.
What’s Included
A bunch of bus seats
History of murders, ghosts and tragedies in the Land of the Sky
Tongue-in-cheek comedy
A live (not dead) tour guide
What’s Not Included
Bathroom breaks (It’s 60 minutes long – plan accordingly!)
Beer or Wine (Purchase at our bar, the LaZoom Room, and take on the bus)
Laughing (we’ll give you the funny, but it’s up to you to laugh)
Gratuity (guides only accept dead president currency)
Waitlist
If your desired time and availability is full, then please give us a call to be added to the waitlist.
Thomas Joiner, conductor
Seth Russell, cello
Gabriel Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande suite for orchestra
Fauré: Elégie
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Mark O’Connor: Appalachia Waltz
When you hear Gabriel Fauré’s haunting Élégie as performed by Principal Cello Seth Russell, you will feel something. We don’t presume to tell you what, but sensitive artistry is required, and Seth has it in spades. The last movement from the Pelléas et Mélisande suite was played at the composer’s own funeral is beautiful enough to make the rest of us cry too.
Speaking of feelings, your patriotism will surge as you hear the sweeping sounds of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. How could one person so perfectly encapsulate what America sounds like? The richness and pain and expansiveness and playfulness you hear in this piece composed for chamber orchestra in 1944 is Copland’s calling card. Fiddler Mark O’Connor and Bassist Edgar Meyer collaborated to create Appalachia Waltz in 1993 as a poignant expression of longing for home.
This concert experience might remind you of what it feels like to be on the top of a mountain watching the sunrise.
Thomas Joiner, Conductor
Thomas Joiner has appeared as a conductor, violinist, chamber player, and teacher throughout the United States and eleven foreign countries. As Professor Emeritus of Violin and Orchestral Activities at Furman University, he conducted the Furman Symphony Orchestra in orchestral, operatic, and oratorio performances. As Music Director of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra for 21 years, Joiner’s creative programming led to growth, community support, sold-out performances, and annual curriculum-based concerts for 3rd and 6th graders.
As a guest conductor, Joiner led the Orquestra da Camera Theatre Sao Pedro during two residencies in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the Greenville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Asheville Lyric Opera, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Masterworks Music Festival, and All-State Orchestras in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
As an orchestral violinist Joiner has shared the stage with conductors Robert Shaw, Jorge Mester, John Nelson, and Keith Lockhart and soloists Renee Fleming, Frederica von Stade, Peter Serkin, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Joshua Bell. As an Artistic Ambassador for the United States Information Agency, he presented seventeen violin recitals with pianist Douglas Weeks during a five-week tour of western Africa and the Middle East. During a sabbatical Joiner studied in Paris with eminent maestro John Nelson. He has twice served as visiting professor at the Academia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.
For many years Joiner held the Dr. & Mrs. William J. Pendergrast, Sr. Artist Chair at the Brevard Music Festival where he served on the conducting staff and as a concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra. He was honored with his wife, violist Anna Barbrey Joiner, with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Previous positions include Professor of Violin and Orchestral Activities at the University of Georgia School of Music, Associate Principal Second Violin of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, first violinist with the Louisville Orchestra, SC president of the American String Teachers Association, and a national board member of the Conductors Guild.
Joiner earned the DMA in Violin Performance from Florida State University, the MM in Church Music and Musicology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the BM in Violin Performance from Furman University. He is a native of Rock Hill, SC where he was drum major of the Rock Hill High School Bearcat Band!
Guest Artist: Seth Russell, Cellist
Dr. Seth Russell performs internationally as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player. Audiences have praised his technical wizardry, adventurous programming, and inspiring musicianship. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Eastman’s Kodak Hall, and Taipei’s Elite Performance Hall. In 2017 and 2019 he was awarded a top prize in the New York International Artists Competition. He is currently in his second season as Principal Cellist of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina.
Seth is passionate about creating new ways to connect with audiences. He recently formed the Parrish Cello Trio with cellists Jamie Clark and Kenny Lee in Spring of 2022. In October 2022 the trio had their inaugural residency in Greenville, SC. The trio led a masterclass with local students and performed a featured concert of diverse genres and arrangements at the Fine Arts Center. In 2014, Seth formed the Oceanus Quartet with colleagues in Boston, which received a New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial grant for a tour of Taiwan in May-June, 2015. The quartet performed and coached students at universities, schools, and concert halls throughout Taiwan. Seth was also a founding member of Phoenix, an innovative chamber orchestra in Boston that creates unique concert experiences through programming, venue, and audience engagement. Now in its ninth season, Phoenix has won the Improper Bostonian’s “Boston’s Best Classical Ensemble,” and was reviewed by the Boston Globe as “eminently worthy of your attention.”
Dedicated to pedagogy and music education, Seth has worked with students of diverse levels and backgrounds. In 2015-16 he served as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Cello and cellist of the Ceruti Quartet at University of Memphis in Tennessee. His private students have been accepted into the “Rising Stars” Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the University of North Dakota, and Oberlin Conservatory. He has served on the faculty of several summer music festivals, including the Longhorn Music Camp, Furman Orchestra Camp, and MasterWorks Festival.
Seth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with David Ying. He received a Master’s degree in Cello Performance from New England Conservatory where he studied with Paul Katz. He studied with Bion Tsang at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in 2019. His Doctorate research document, “House Concerts: Classical Music at the Heart of Community,” highlights the crucial role of house concerts in the history of classical music as well as the modern music scene. Seth has also studied with Lluis Claret, Gary Hoffman, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Pieter Wispelwey, and worked with the Ying, Borromeo, Brentano, Shanghai, and Miro Quartets. Seth and his wife Chelsea are natives of Greenville, SC.
When you hear Gabriel Fauré’s haunting Élégie as performed by Principal Cello Seth Russell, you will feel something. We don’t presume to tell you what, but sensitive artistry is required, and Seth has it in spades. The last movement from the Pelléas et Mélisande suite was played at the composer’s own funeral is beautiful enough to make the rest of us cry too.
Speaking of feelings, your patriotism will surge as you hear the sweeping sounds of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. How could one person so perfectly encapsulate what America sounds like? The richness and pain and expansiveness and playfulness you hear in this piece composed for chamber orchestra in 1944 is Copland’s calling card. Fiddler Mark O’Connor and Bassist Edgar Meyer collaborated to create Appalachia Waltz in 1993 as a poignant expression of longing for home.
This concert experience might remind you of what it feels like to be on the top of a mountain watching the sunrise.
Pre-Show Talk
Join Jessica Satava, Greenville Symphony Orchestra’s Executive Director, for a pre-show talk in the Peace Concert Hall 1 hour before the Saturday and Sunday GSO performances.
Memorable and moving moments from some of our favorite
movies of all time, including Harry Potter, Star Wars, E. T., Somewhere in Time, and many more.