It’s amazing what credentials can do. Last Tuesday, credentials proved the only way to differentiate between a lengthy diatribe on pop culture from a man on the street and a thought-provoking discussion led by famed media critic Tom Breihan at Open Grounds.
Ask just about any student if he likes music, and the answer is bound to be yes. Beyond this general preference, however, artists and styles of choice tend to vary infinitely.
At any moment during last weekend’s Richmond Folk Festival, visitors could stop anywhere and find themselves listening to an extremely eclectic mix of sounds: Newfoundland fiddlers, West African drums, Tuvan throat singers, salsa, Irish flutes, reggae, bluegrass — and that’s just the short list.
It didn’t take much more than one Billboard chart-topping single to call Ella Yelich-O’Connor “the queen of alternative.” Not long after releasing her EP “The Love Club” last March, the New Zealand singer-songwriter’s “Royals” claimed the No.
Rappers these days can be put into a few different camps: the hold-overs from the golden age of hip-hop, emcees who emphasize lyricism, storytelling, technical dexterity, and often some sort of message and, on the opposite spectrum, energetic rappers who rely on adrenaline and sonic bombast, rather than lyricism, to make loud, instantly gratifying music.
I was 11 when I stopped taking musical lessons. As a child, I played piano for a few years before I realized it wasn’t my forte.
This past weekend, local organization Art With A Mission-Charlottesville debuted its latest exhibit, “Gukiza (to heal): The Art of Rwandan Children.” The exhibit features artwork from Rwandan youth who have been working together through Rwanda’s Art With A Mission program.
It’s been 36 years since Stephen King published his famous hotel horror story, “The Shining.” After global acclaim and a successful movie adaptation lauded for Stanley Kubrick’s precise direction and Jack Nicholson’s maniacal performance, it seemed as though the story of the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel had settled in with the classics.
During the past week and a half, one question has addled the collective American psyche: Is Huell ever going to get out of that room?
I’m not sure what I was expected when I walked into the Jefferson Theater last weekend for the STRFKR concert, but whatever it was was miles away from what I found.
At the tender age of 5 years old, my grandfather took me to see Disney on Ice: Beauty and the Beast.
With his recent on-screen successes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has decided to try his luck behind the camera with an offbeat love story, “Don Jon.” In addition to writing the screenplay, he stars in the film alongside Scarlett Johansson and seasoned veterans Julianne Moore and Tony Danza.
What do kilts, couples, and Earl Grey tea have in common? They were all present last Thursday at the Lorna Sundberg International Center.
John Paul Jones Arena was flooded last week by a sea of rainbow colored hair, non-prescription glasses and mustaches, with the faint scent of thrift store clothing floating through the air as fans from around Charlottesville streamed in to see Icelandic sensation, Sigur Rós.
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra kicked off its season Friday, filling Old Cabell auditorium with its production, “A Musical Kaleidoscope.”
Regardless of your orientation within the Tumblrsphere in 2011, it was hard to ignore the proliferation of underground rock band Balance & Composure.
English indie rock band The xx graced Charlottesville for the tail end of the North American leg of its Coexist tour last week.
A new administrative policy on academic space reservations has performing arts CIOs up in arms, as scores of theatre directors and a cappella group leaders scramble to find available spots for rehearsals.
Country fans decked out in boots, cut-off jeans, tank tops and camouflage piled into downtown Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theater last Thursday, hoping for the chance to stand in the front row to see smooth-singing Nashville-native Kip Moore perform.
On Friday night, the University Programs Council put on an improv comedy show in Newcomb Ballroom featuring UVa’s own groups, the Whethermen and Amuse Bouche, as well as the Upright Citizens Brigade, a nationally renowned ensemble whose notable alumni include Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz, among others.
