Jun 07 Friday
Arts Council of the Valley invites you to join in the arts-focused fun on the First Friday of EVERY month! Throughout Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, 40 venues offer a variety of new art exhibitions, live performances, poetry, comedy, music, artmaking activities, food, and so much more. You can find a list of venues, online map, and pdf with links to First Fridays of the Valley events – all updated monthly – at valleyarts.org/first-fridays-venues! Thanks to Kathy Moran Wealth Group, Exclusive Sponsor for 2024 First Fridays of the Valley.
May 04 Saturday
Traveling the country since 2014, Letters Aloud has been delighting audiences with thought-provoking, relevant, hopeful, and humorous stories told through the real voices of real people via their personal correspondence. Letters Aloud – The Road to Fame brings together letters from every era that chart the course of luminaries from their humble beginnings to fame and chronicle their achievements and surprising lessons learned. With a core of acclaimed actors, live musical accompaniment, and a dynamic media backdrop, Letters Aloud is guaranteed to inspire!
The Piedmont Master Gardeners will hold their annual Spring Plant Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at Albemarle Square Shopping Center in Charlottesville. The sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit-bearing plants, trees, shrubs, herbs and houseplants, including a large assortment of native plants. In addition, shoppers can purchase gently used garden implements, yard ornaments and other “Green Elephants,” as well as bags of locally produced compost. The sale will also feature a Help Desk for answering gardening questions and an array of displays and information tables on such topics as conservation landscaping, soil health, composting, trees and shrubs, pest management, and invasive plants. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. All proceeds support the many free and low-cost programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community. Learn more at http://piedmontmastergardeners.org/events/.
The Staunton Augusta Art Center opens the Staunton Emerging Artist Showcase, running April 5 – May 11, featuring the work of the next generation of Staunton artists.
STAUNTON, VA— The Staunton Augusta Art Center announces the opening of the Staunton Emerging Artist Showcase, running from April 5 – May 11 in the downtown galleries. This exciting and unique showcase features the multi-media artwork of over a dozen emerging artists, a next generation of local artists at various stages in their artistic careers who redefine the cultural landscape within their community. These artists reflect remarkable backgrounds and cross-cultural roots.
An opening night reception will be held in the galleries on Friday, April 5 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
This exhibition is proudly sponsored by the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Habitat for Humanity ReStore whose staff and volunteers support the creative work of local artists and affordable housing.
Openings are FREE and ALL are welcome.
Location: Staunton Augusta Art Center, R. R. Smith Center for History & Art,
20 S. New Street, Staunton, VA 24401
Admission: FREE and open to the public, all are welcome.
Website: https://www.saartcenter.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Angus Carter and Carolyn Maloney
(director@saartcenter.org/info@saartcenter.org), 540-885-2028
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Batesville Day, Saturday, May 4, 2024Thrills in the Hills8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Make plans to come to the 47th annual village fair celebrating this vibrant community in the Blue Ridge foothills. Enjoy activities for all ages – the famously-challenging 10k race; an eclectic Country Parade; yoga in the field; cake walks; Maypole dance; samurai sword demonstration; Albemarle Morris Men; fairy house trail; plant exchange; free books for kids; a Talking Batesville History tent; Not-So-Ugly truck raffle; games; bake sales and more!
Music by the Henley Middle School Marching Band, Bluzonia, Monsters Under the Bed, Shannon Williams and the Go To’s, The Cry Babies – all FREE!
8:00 am 10k Race10:00 am Yoga for All Bodies10:30 am Country Parade11:00 am – 3:00 pm Fair, Music, Food
For event details, registration, and parking information, visit www.batesvilleva.org. Organized by the Batesville Community Club (Ruritans).
May 05 Sunday
9 to 5 The Musical is a musical based on the 1980 film of the same name, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. It features a book by Patricia Resnick based on the screenplay by Resnick and Colin Higgins.
9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL tells the story of three women pushed to boiling point by their sexist and egotistical boss. Concocting a plan to kidnap and turn the tables on their despicable supervisor, will the ladies manage to reform their office – or will events unravel when the CEO pays an unexpected visit?
All tickets will have a fee of $6 added at purchase. ($3 for the Historic Preservation of the Wayne and $3 for Ticket Handling)
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May 06 Monday
Four-time GRAMMY winner Sarah Jarosz has announced her new album, Polaroid Lovers. The record is set for release on January 26th, 2024 via Rounder Records. To mark the occasion she has shared the album opener, "Jealous Moon," and its companion video. WATCH HERE. The song finds Jarosz backed by a decidedly more electric band, with her Texas lilt as clear and evocative as ever. Polaroid Lovers is available for pre-order today digitally and on vinyl with gray, lavender, orange and green splatter variants. Indie retailers will also have a special blue and green splatter vinyl. For more information visit https://store.sarahjarosz.com/
May 07 Tuesday
The Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU are pleased to present The Howard Levy 4 in concert on Tuesday, May 7th. The concert will be held at Belmont Arts Collaborative on Carlton Road at 8 pm.
Led by the Grammy-Award-winning diatonic harmonica master, pianist, and composer Howard Levy, well known for his long-time tenure with Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, this powerhouse ensemble delivers musical magic in a range of styles that includes Jazz, Latin, World Music, and Blues. Besides several distinctively reworked American and Brazilian compositions, the band has a diverse repertoire of original compositions that combine and blend many cultures and rhythms, creating an extraordinary original sound. In addition to Howard, this amazingly accomplished Chicago-based quartet is comprised of guitarist Chris Siebold, the outstanding upright and electric bassist Joshua Ramos, and the exceptional Brazilian drummer Luiz Ewerling.
A prolific recording artist, Howard Levy has released 17 albums under his name and appeared in hundreds more. He was a founding member of Bela The Flecktones and has performed and recorded with an incredibly diverse range of artists including Paquito D’Rivera, Donald Fagen, and Kurt Elling. The revolutionary technique that hedeveloped on the diatonic harmonica transformed it into a fully chromatic instrument for the first time, opening up possibilities for limitless musical exploration while still retaining the cry of the Blues. Sounding like no other on stage, it has been said of Howard’s unparalleled harmonica playing, “As Art Tatum was to the piano, so is Levy to the harmonica: a hyper-virtuoso whose feats can be admired and studied but never really replicated.”
The rest of this remarkable band is very much up to the task of complementing a virtuoso like Howard. Chris Siebold, house guitarist for A Prairie Home Companion for four years has recorded and toured with Chicago’s most eclectic Jazz and fusion groups; Joshua Ramos, one of Chicago’s most in-demand bassists, spent five years with jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, while drummer/composer Luiz Ewerling contributes rhythmic and compositional fire and depth to The Howard Levy 4.
May 11 Saturday
The Blue Ridge Irish Music School presents Joey Abarta on the Irish uilleann bagpipes. has spent the last sixteen years touring North America, Europe, and Asia, teaching and performing music on the uilleann pipes, the irish bagpipe. A Los Angeles native, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club.The evening will feature music from Brightwood, Irish music on harp, flute and fiddle plus Irish dancers.
Join us at the Saturday Market to:
🎶 Enjoy live music🛍️ Shop with 50 vendors📚 Learn from community organizations🌱 Find fresh, local produce🥚 Discover local eggs and 🥩 pasture-raised meats🥖 Taste artisan breads and pastries🍲 Enjoy prepared foods like crepes, wood-fired pizza, and kettle corn🎨 Find artisan goods like natural skincare, handmade candles, and wood crafts
May 4, 1-2:30: Marketplace Gallery (outside Capital Ale House), Barbara Camph will be doing a mosaic activity. We invite you to come and contribute to the mosaic!
More information can be found on our website: oasisfineartandcraft.org, and on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/oasisfineartandcraft.
Please contact Barbara Camph (tbcamph@aol.com) if you have any questions.
“The 3 Fairies of the Wind” is a commedia dell’arte tale for the whole family,with music, masks and dance and audience interaction.
THE PLOT:Ali, the famous sculptor, invites you in his garden, around a summer fire. Since the God of Wind entered his home, Ali’s life is completely upside down! Three fairies came into his life and are now dancing his days and nights. Ali’s routine and his reclusive life have changed indeed!
Tonight, with your help, he needs to come to a decision: which fairy amongst the three sisters, Zephyr, Sirocco and Tempest shall he keep? Ali needs you! Which dance, which mask and which color will you choose?
This creation is written and performed by Doe Polanz, with three exclusive evolutive masks from Zorba Officine Creative (Andrea Cavarra).
ABOUT THE ARTIST:Dorothee Polanz, PhD (also known as Doe, the owner of The Downtown Rabbit Hole Tea Shop) is an Associate Professor, who teaches Literature and Performances as well as Culture and Translation classes in French and in English. mask acting and mask making, commedia dell’arte and cabaret performances. Doe is also a Performer and Stage Director, specializing in non-traditional acting and interpretative dancing forms, focusing on the mask. In 2020, she became the artistic director of SapassousakasS Theater Company. The company tours and directs workshops in Europe, Canada and the USA.
The Day of the Arts is sponsored in part byThe Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County,Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts.
TICKETSThis FREE concert is part of The Day of the Arts celebration!
Explore songwriting and arrangement with Harrisonburg’s favorite house band in this showcase of original tunes.
Dr. How, Harrisonburg’s favorite house band, has been writing and composing music together for over 20 years – playing regional venues to festivals like Red Wing Roots. Dr. How presents a unique blend of musical styles – from improvisational jam-based rock and blues to folk and country. But the backbone of the band’s style has always been the original songwriting of its members – especially those of the band’s front-men, the brothers Howdyshell (after whom the band is named). Chris (guitar and lead vocals) and Mike (drums) have penned scores of songs that reach deep into their collective experiences living in the Valley. Plus, the band takes a uniquely collaborative approach to the composition of its originals – with the entire band contributing to how each tune is arranged and polished. In addition to Chris and Mike, fellow band members Dave Abbott (bass), Doug Pitts (guitar) and Christian Perritt (guitar) make their own contributions to songwriting for the band.
Sponsored in part byThe Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County,Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts.
🥕 The Tuesday Market features a cozier selection of vendors selling vegetables, prepared foods, artisan crafts, breakfast and lunch.
🥕 Don’t miss Tuesday-only vendors and discounts!
🥕 The Tuesday Market is open April-November
May 7th, 6:30-: There will be a reception at the Library to open the “Wild and Wonderful” show, an exhibit of some of the artwork created by children under the leadership of OASIS teachers. This program was funded by a grant from The Community Foundation.
The 23rd annual Hospice of the Piedmont 5K Run and Walk returns this year on Saturday, May 11 to the beautiful grounds of Keswick Estate. Join runners and walkers of all abilities for a fun and healthy way to support this community nonprofit serving patients and families in central Virginia for over 40 years. Hospice of the Piedmont believes that end-of-life care is about living your final chapter on your own terms. The annual HOP 5K is an important source of funding for programs that bring music, art & furry friends to the bedside, honor our veterans, offer respite to caregivers, ensure that no one should have to die alone, and provide free grief and healing services to everyone in our community. Learn more, register to race, volunteer, or donate at hopva.org/5k/.
The Staunton Augusta Art Center announces the opening of its annual Youth Art Show, running from March 1 - March 30 in the galleries featuring the artwork of hundreds of K-12 grade students from public and private schools from Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County. This remarkable exhibition not only provides students the unique opportunity to display their work in a professional art gallery and allows the public to enjoy the multi-media artwork of students in their community. The Art Center works closely with area art teachers who curate their students’ involvement in this eagerly anticipated art show.This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Susan Polly, who annually supports these talented students and their artwork.
Given the large scale of this exhibition, the openings are spread out throughout the weekend.The openings are open to the students, their friends and families, and the public.Openings are FREE and ALL are welcome.Saturday, March 2 from 1 pm - 4 pm - Augusta County Public Schools, Independent Studios, Private SchoolsSunday, March 3 from 1 pm - 4 pm - Staunton Public Schools, Waynesboro Public Schools
Location: Staunton Augusta Art Center, R. R. Smith Center for History & Art, 20 S. New Street, Staunton, VA 24401Admission: FREE and open to the public, all are welcome. Website: https://www.saartcenter.org