Highland County Arts Council Announces Fall 2018 Concert Series

 

The Highland County Arts Council has announced its concert series for the Fall 2018 season, which begins in early August.  Member Clair Myers has the details on how the Council brings such a variety of artists to The Highland Center to perform, as well as some background on each event.

Dr. Myers says, “For the second year, we got a grant from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, and that has allowed us to parlay that money in to matching grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives money from the National Endowment for the Arts, and, together, we’re going to be able in this coming season with the new grant to offer a monthly performance at The Highland Center.

“First, we’re having Garth Newel, the emerging artists there that have been coming for at least ten, fifteen or more years, and they will be at The Center on a Wednesday, which is a real departure for us because most of our productions are Saturday or Sunday.  They’ll be here on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at The Center.  At The Center, I don’t know if you’ve been in there for a while, but the Arts Council has been working with The Center to improve the acoustics in that big room, and it’s much, much better now.  It’s a great asset to the community, and we’re still working to get the money to make the seats a little more comfortable than those folding chairs, so we’re on our way with that.  Anyway, they will be there and use that grand piano that the Arts Council brought to The Highland Center, so it’ll be a great concert of classical music.

“And then in September, we’re going to do a contra dance.  Apparently, there have been some over the past, and this one is there, and so people can come and listen to the caller and dance.  And then in October for the Hands and Harvest Festival, which is our fall festival here, we’re going to have Linda and Robin Williams, who are really national.  They’ve been here, I think, the Arts Council brought them once, maybe, almost twenty years ago.  You probably know them, but they’ve been on The Prairie Home Companion show for years when it was on the radio, but they are Virginia Commission for the Arts’ artists, and they’re going to be here Sunday, October 14, 2018.  And then, in November, we’re going to have the Richard Williams Trio, which used to be called The Boogie Kings, and they’re bringing with them Wanda Taylor, which means that, we really have what used to be called Wanda and the White Boys, and they’re here November 11, 2018 on a Sunday.  And ending the fall season is going to be the Heifetz Music Institute, which is located in Staunton at Mary Baldwin, which is really an international training program for musicians who have already established themselves.  The goal of the Institute is to take young performers who are at a very high level and help them learn how to present themselves and push their career forward, as well as becoming better musicians, and they do a tour twice a year, and we’re going to get them on tour in December on the 9th, so it’s a great fall season.”

Tickets usually run $10 for adults and are available at the door.  For more on information on The Highland County Arts Council, as well as how to support the finishing touches on the community performance space at The Highland Center, folks can visit www.highlandcountyartscouncil.org or www.thehighlandcenter.org.

Story By

Chris Swecker

is the Assistant Station Coordinator and a News Reporter for WVLS. He has roots in Highland County going back several generations, and he grew up in Monterey. Since graduating from James Madison University with a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and Design, he has pursued his career at a news station and advertising agency in Virginia, on Microsoft’s campus in the state of Washington, and in both states as sole owner and employee of a video production company. He enjoys exploring life with his wife, Jessa Fowler, traveling, hiking, hunting, gardening, and trying new foods, all while discovering more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. He feels blessed to be a small part of this talented AMR team to help give back to the community that has provided him with so much.

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