Arts Weekly

Some of the best young vocalists in the country have called Lexington home, albeit temporarily. The University of Kentucky Opera Theatre Program has earned respect across the country.

While the University of Kentucky is probably best known nationally for its basketball program, an argument can be made that its opera program isn't that far behind Wildcat basketball in terms of national recognition and recruitment of students. 

Kentuckians of Jewish and Arab heritage probably have much more in common with each other than they do with the average resident of the Commonwealth.  Lexington author Rosie Moosnick says that’s especially true for women.   Moosnick’s book, “Arab and Jewish Women of Kentucky,” is a collection of their stories.  In gathering material, the University of Kentucky sociologist drew upon interviews with Jewish and Arab Women, and upon her own experiences growing up in Lexington.  Moosnick spoke with reporter Charles Compton.

Given all the updated incarnations Sherlock Holmes on television, a production this weekend by Studio Players of Lexington could be refreshing.  And, while it wasn’t “murder most foul", another theatrical tradition this week gave up the ghost. With more on those events is Rich Copley, who covers culture for the Lexington Herald Leader. 

If it’s Bluegrass Music you want this winter and if you’re in the eastern Kentucky community of Clay City, you’re in the right place.  An ongoing concert series there attracts and entertains.   It’s Saturday evening at the Meadowgreen Park Music Hall.  It’s a half hour before the show starts and Joyce Haddox and a friend sit at a card table, selling raffle tickets for a banjo created by local legend Homer Ledford.  Ledford made stringed instruments and performed Bluegrass for decades in nearby Winchester.  Haddox says Meadowgreen is a family place.

The Lexington Philharmonic welcomes three-time Grammy winner, Eighth Blackbird for next Friday's concert at the Singletary Center.  The six-member group will perform what's being called a“groundbreaking composition” by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Jennifer Higdon.  The concert also features Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

Students at Eastern Kentucky University staged their tenth annual production of The Vagina Monologues this week in Richmond.   EKU's Director of Women and Gender Studies, Doctor Lisa Day, welcomed the crowd for this year's opening performance.

During our last program of 2012, we spoke with one of Appalachia's most famous writers, Barbara Kingsolver. 

Fans of classic opera are in for a rare treat this weekend.  To mark the 200th Anniversary of the composer’s birth, there’s a performance of Richard Wagner’s greatest hits.  With more on it and this weekend’s other events is Rich Copley, who covers culture for the Lexington Herald Leader.

The line-up this rainy Sunday evening at a Natasha’s Bistro and Bar includes music by the Black-Eyed Peas, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. It’s not an all-star benefit concert that’s lost its way. It’s J String, a combination of Lexington cellist Jacob Yates and Broadway actress Jessica Hendy.  Much of their summer last year was spent putting their own spin on some of pop music’s biggest hits.

Balagula Theatre, based at Natasha's Cafe in downtown Lexington, is no stranger to what might be called "cutting edge theater." Its latest production is a Tony Award-winning play dealing with a controversial subject not often tackled on stage: a romantic relationship involving a successful business- and family-man and a goat.