Crooked Road Festival offered fun for all kinds of heritage music fans
The Crooked Road Festival was an enormous success, both here at the Moss Arts Center and across Montgomery County at the numerous participating locations. We all had such a great time putting it together–and an even better time sharing the festivities with all of you. We greeted many familiar faces and met even more new ones at the many events over the five-day festival. And with so many ways to participate, it’s no surprise!
The festival kicked off Wednesday, March 19, 2014, with everything from an instrument exhibit and a student exhibition to an instrument-making demonstration and a kick off open house and square dance, all across Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Thursday, March 20, brought an instrument-making demonstration (this time, with lots of participating artists) , the first big live performance of the festival with Mountain Fling, Mac and Jenny Traynham, and the big dogs, Wayne Henderson and the Virginia Luthiers. After the show, folks gathered for a meet-and-greet social over at the Holiday Inn in Blacksburg for some late-night fun. Check out some photos from the instrument-making demonstration in the Cube at the Moss Arts Center.
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Another day on Friday meant another round of exhibits, instrument-making demonstrations, live music, and late-night meeting and greeting. No Strings Attached and The Seldom Scene graced the stage at the Moss Arts Center, but not before Pete Reiniger of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings gave a very special talk all about the making of Long Time…Seldom Scene.
Saturday, March 22, was jam-packed with events, including a gospel music program; an oral history of St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church; a clogging workshop, followed by a square dance to put new skills in action; “An Evening of Beans and Banjos;” a free concert by Olen Gardner and Friends, The Blackberries, The Gravel Road, and Mike Mitchell; a Crankies performance for and by Montgomery County students; and a finale concert by the Indian Run Stringband, the Hoorah Cloggers, and the Rickie Simpkins Quartet.
Woo! That makes us exhausted just thinking about everything that was going on! Catch your breath; we’ve got some photos from the Crankies performance by Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LePralle, also in the Cube at the Moss Arts Center.
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But, of course, such a high-energy festival couldn’t go out without one last bang: Sunday, March 23, 2014, saw one final square dance with the Indian Run Stringband and caller Phil Louer over at the Homestead Farm in Riner.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves over the course of this festival, brimming to overflowing with some of this area’s best heritage music, dancing, and so much more!
What was your favorite part of the festival?
Photos: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra rehearsal observation
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra joined us here in Blacksburg on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014, along with special guest, violinist Ryu Goto, for an exquisitely beautiful performance.
Violinist Ryu Goto
However, before the performance, local music students got a special treat: members of the Radford Youth Orchestra and string students in Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts were invited to sit in on Orpheus’ rehearsal. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is known for its democratic rehearsal style, a technique known (and trademarked!) as the Orpheus Process. The process is based on eight principles:
- Put power in the hands of the people doing the work,
- Encourage individual responsibility for product and quality,
- Create clarity of roles,
- Foster horizontal teamwork,
- Share and rotate leadership,
- Learn to listen, learn to talk,
- Seek consensus (and build creative systems that favor consensus), and
- Dedicate passionately to your mission.
During the rehearsal, it was clear that the orchestra members felt comfortable sharing their observations on the sound as a whole, and the other members felt just as comfortable listening to the suggestions for improvement.
Members of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (and violinist Ryu Goto) listen as one member shares their thoughts on how to improve the sound.
For more about Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and their Orpheus Process, visit their website.
You can also see more photos from the rehearsal below, or click here to view our Flickr set.
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Welcome to the Center for the Arts blog!
Welcome to the blog for the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, a companion site to the Center for the Arts website which allows us to dig even deeper and share even more with our patrons, fans, and readers. You’ll find special videos, photo galleries, behind the scenes peeks, links to interesting happenings in the world of the arts, and much more.
We’re looking forward to the coming months, as we prepare to announce the lineup of our inaugural season and eagerly anticipate the opening of the new building.
Retired Virginia Tech faculty get a sneak peek at the new building
Executive director Ruth Waalkes shot this photo during a tour of the new building last week. This group of retired Virginia Tech faculty was the first to descend the Monumental Staircase.
Just a few short months until everyone can climb the staircase, and we certainly can’t wait!
Photos: SOVA and ICAT host exhibitions in the Moss Arts Center
There are only a few days left to catch some spectacular work by seniors with the School of Visual Arts at Virginia Tech, as well as affiliated faculty members’ work from the Institute of Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
“SOVA: Senior Studio Show 2014” features works from all sorts of mediums by talented seniors (now officially graduates!).
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Affiliated faculty members with the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology showed off their work, staged at the intersection of arts and science.
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The works will be on view through Sunday, May 18, so make sure you check them out in person this weekend!