The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a local band that plays traditional string music, first performed at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. in Charleston in 2008. The ensemble returns for a performance at this year's festival.
The Chocolate Drops will perform June 13, with the concert beginning at 8:30 p.m. The festival will include about 45 productions of dance, chamber music, and more. Held annually in historic Charleston, the 34th festival runs from May 28 through June 13 and features numerous U.S. and festival debuts and the return of several audience favorites along with the reopening of the newly restored Dock Street Theatre, Charleston's theatrical space.
Tickets can be purchased online at spoletousa.org or by phone at 843-579-3100. Beginning April 19, tickets may be purchased in person at the Spoleto Festival USA box office at the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, 77 Calhoun St.
Gary Allan tickets on sale this month
DURHAM -- Tickets for country artist Gary Allan's March 12 performance at the Durham Performing Arts Center go on sale Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices start at $35 and can be purchased at the DPAC box office, 680-2787, and online at DPACnc.com. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster outlets: FYE and Lowes Foods.
Allan is best known for his gravelly growl and his raw, emotional, "freight-train-to-nowhere lonely lyrics." His last release is "Living Hard," and his new album "Get Off On The Pain" is slated to be released in the spring of 2010.
Grant to help Discovery series
DURHAM -- The Carolina Theatre has received an $8,500 grant from the Fox Family Foundation. The funds will provide a subsidy for tickets designated for school children to attend performances in the daytime GlaxoSmithKline Arts Discovery Series. During the 2009-10 academic year, GlaxoSmithKline Arts Discovery Series performances at the Carolina Theatre include "Math Maniac," "Little Red Hen," "Ballet Hispanico," "Professor Gizmo" and "Junie B. Jones."
Live theater, music and dance events are targeted to teachers and students pre-K through high school and the performances are based upon a collaborative program selection process that includes both theater staff and a volunteer committee of local educators. Students from over a dozen counties take field trips to the Carolina Theatre and attend cultural events that feature national touring artists. The regular admission price is $8 per child; however, the ticket subsidy provided by the Fox Foundation reduces the per-child cost by as much as 75 percent.
Over the last nine years, the Fox Family Foundation has provided grants to the non-profit Carolina Theatre of Durham in the amount of $81,000, including the most recent grant of $8,500. The Fox Family Foundation was founded in 1991 to support local non-profit organizations headquartered in Durham, Orange and Wake counties.
'Metal Masters' exhibit at Wootini
CARRBORO -- Wootini Gallery, 200 N. Greensboro St. (Carr Mill Mall), will present "Metal Masters," a group exhibit of new works by artists brought together by special guest curator David K. Rose.
An opening reception will be held today from 7 to 10 p.m. at the gallery. The exhibit continues through March 8.
Rose is a painter, designer, musician, "Guitar Hero" artist, and wrestling producer now based in Los Angeles. Wootini represents much of his art collection in North Carolina, his home state.
Rose says of the exhibit: "Behold the land where Vikings ride skeletal steeds into battle, and winged, fire-breathing metal griffins navigate the Cosmos! Bask in the glow of fur-wearing barbarians and scantily clad she-devils!"
The show will feature paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture inspired by heavy metal album art of the 1980s. Other participating artists are Skinner, Martin Ontiveros, Bwana Spoons, Dwitt, Mike "Maximum Flouride" Fisher, Paul Friedrich, Brendan Wiuff, David K. Rose, and more.
For information, call (919) 933-6061.
'Side by Side' in Chapel Hill
DURHAM -- Through This Lens gallery will present "Side by Side," an exhibition of new work by Isabel Chicquor. These 15 large diptychs present pairings of photographs the artist has made during travel outside the United States.
A preview will be on display today to Jan. 15. The gallery will present a free opening reception for the photographer Jan. 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. "Side by Side" will remain on view and available for purchase at Through This Lens through Feb. 13.
Through This Lens is at 303 E. Chapel Hill St. For information, call 687-0250.
--Compiled by Cliff Bellamy
