THE JASPER PROJECT PARTNERS WITH THE SC PHILHARMONIC ON THE ART OF SYMPHONY

“Eyes closed, I listened to the piece and was surprised by the immediate imagery I experienced …” - Eileen Blyth

The Jasper Project is delighted to announce a collaborative project with the South Carolina Philharmonic – THE ART OF SYMPHONY.  

When Chad Henderson, marketing director for the South Carolina Philharmonic, first posited the idea for the Art of Symphony project to Jasper, they were immediately intrigued. As Henderson explained, the SC Philharmonic had scheduled an upcoming concert on April 27, 2024, at the Koger Center for the Arts, around which the SC Phil hoped to engage with local visual artists. The concert would feature: Karen Tanaka’s Rose Absolute, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33, and Shostakovich’s Symphony Number 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 and be conducted by Morihiko Nakahara featuring guest artist Sterling Elliott on cello. Henderson proposed that the music be divided into 14 singular sections and the Jasper Project invite and work with 14 of the Midlands’ finest visual artists, who would each respond to a unique piece of music artistically.

The newly created art will be projected on screens during the live performance of each of the 14 sections of music, as well as presented as an arts exhibition in Jasper’s Nook Gallery on the grand tier level of the Koger Center for the Arts.

The Art of Symphony Art Exhibition will open on Thursday evening, April 18, 2024, with a reception that is open to the public from 5:30 – 7 pm. The Art of Symphony Symphonic Convergence of Music & Visual Art will take place on Saturday, April 27th with the concert at 7:30 pm and a Meet the Artist Reception in the Nook Gallery at 6 pm. 

In keeping with the Jasper Project’s founding priority of cultivating multidisciplinary collaboration, Jasper will also publish a book of the featured art, entitled The Art of Symphony, which will be available for purchase at both events. 

The 14 visual artists participating in the project include Fred Townsend, Wilma King, Lori Isom- Starnes, Eileen Blyth, Stephen Chesley, Thomas Washington, K. Wayne Thornley, Alejandro Garcia-Lemos, Anthony Lewis, Lindsay Radford Wiggins, Michael Krajewski, Keith Tolen, Regina Langston, and Laura Garner Hine. Garcia-Lemos created an animated short in response to his designated section of music which will be shown on monitors in the Koger Center lobby before the concert, during intermission, and at The Art of Symphony Art Exhibition opening on April 18th. 

Eileen Blyth, who created Overheard Overhead in response to the first movement of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, said, “Eyes closed, I listened to the piece and was surprised by the immediate imagery I experienced. I was eye level before a roof top. Bird-like objects dipped and soared. Buildings stretched tall and then wide, up and down, back and forth. Objects moved in harmony. I saw the Maestro in my painting directing the symphony of shapes, lines, and color.”

Wilma King, who painted in response to the third movement of the Shostakovich said, “This project, much like a symphony itself, goes deep into the hearts, minds, talents, and expressions of myriad artists, culminating the various parts and facets into this paramount event.”

For more information visit JasperProject.org or SCPhilharmonic.com.

Jasper Recommended Last Minute Local Gifts for the Most Favored People on your Christmas List!

Why send your money to strangers when your gift purchases can help support local artists?

Jasper intern Liz Stalker has put together a list of gift suggestions she gleaned from researching the local market of arts presents and here are a few of her hot finds!

Prints, Stickers, and Paintings from Malik Greene!

Visit Red Bubble to find everything from paintings to t-shirts to shower curtains by Columbia artist and muralist, Ija Charles!

Let Zoo Valdes hook you up with a

Marius Valdes original coffee mug or tote bag!

Represent Columbia Music with a t-shirt, sticker, or button from

Death Ray Robin!

Cafe Press can hook you up with Root Doctors shirts and merch from

lots of other local bands!

How about a

ballcap from Admiral Radio?

Don’t forget merch from Opus & the Frequencies!

Pick up a copy of Ed Madden’s Story of the City,

Carla Damron’s Justice Be Done,

Cassie Premo Steele’s Beaver Girl,

Claudia Smith Brinson’s Stories of Struggle,

Aida Rogers’ State of the Heart,

Jim Sonnefeld’s Swimming with the Blowfish,

and works by any number of local authors at

All Good Books Bookstore!

Visual Art makes for some of the most intimate of presents.

Check out Mike Brown Contemporary for work by

more than 30 local South Carolina artists including

David Yaghjian (above), Aggie Zed, Cedric Umoja, Jeff Donovan, Mark Flowers, and Lori Starnes!

Visit Sound Bites Eatery or any of the other

Jasper Galleries for original art by local artists!

Also pick up lunch for a friend

or a Sound Bites gift card!

Celebrate the art of a fine meal with gift cards from food artists like

Eddie Wales and Wesley Fulmer

and their restaurants that also support the local art by hanging and showing local art on their walls!

Motor Supply Bistro is currently showing the work of Jasper board member Laura Garner Hine.

Visit Bandcamp

and search for your favorite local artists to

give the gift of home-grown tunes this Christmas!

And the SC Philharmonic makes it easy to give the

gift of classical music with their

Holiday Gift Guide created just for you!

SC Phil presents a Brilliantly Collaborative Holiday Event with Some of SC's Finest Vocalists, Dancers, and of course, the SC Philharmonic!

SC PHILHARMONIC BRINGS SINGERS, DANCERS AND SANTA TO KOGER CENTER FOR “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”

Collaborative creation from Music Director Morihiko Nakahara and Director Chad Henderson promises to be an extravaganza

Vocalist Kanika Moore

Kanika Moore

Katie Leitner

Catherine Hunsinger

Samuel McWhite

Columbia Repertory Dance Company

Santa

Morihiko Nakahara

& the SC Philharmonic

In a brilliantly collaborative act The South Carolina Philharmonic presents Home for the Holidays on Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM at the Koger Center for the Arts under the baton of Music Director Morihiko Nakahara. After years of sold out holiday concerts at Harbison Theatre, The SC Philharmonic is bringing their holiday-themed event to the Koger Center this year for one night only and making it truly grand. The show itself is a collaboration between SC Phil Maestro Morihiko Nakahara and award-winning theatre director Chad Henderson, the former Artistic Director of Trustus Theatre and current Marketing Director of the SC Phil. Tickets may be purchased by visiting 

scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at 803-251-2222.

More from our friends at the SC Philharmonic – 

Home for the Holidays is positioned to be one of the last large-scale holiday-themed events of the season, with the performance scheduled on December 21st. The orchestra anticipates that this concert will be appealing to families who have gathered for the holidays, and to those who are looking for new traditions. “We wanted to create a large-scale concert event due to our move to the Koger Center,” says theatre director Chad Henderson. “Audiences are going to get a traditional orchestral experience in the first act, and then in the second half we’re going to enjoy the alchemy of multi-disciplinary work with uplifting, moving and energetic performances from amazing singers and dancers alongside the SC Phil.” 

Singer Kanika Moore is known internationally as the lead singer of Doom Flamingo (Charleston, SC) and Tauk (Long Island, NY). This Charleston native’s original tone and seamless effort is almost impossible to ignore, and this is quite possibly the reason she was named the Charleston City Paper Soul/R&B Act of the Year in 2019. Joining Moore are Columbia singers Katie Leitner of Say Femme, Catherine Hunsinger of Rex Darling, and the magnetic musical theatre veteran Samuel McWhite. 

Wanting to dive deeper into multi-disciplinary work, the SC Phil invited The Columbia Repertory Dance Company to collaborate with the orchestra. In its fourth season, The Columbia Repertory Dance Company’s mission is to broaden the experience of professional dance artists and patrons in Columbia, SC through multidisciplinary collaborative performances year-round. Led by Artistic Director Stephanie Wilkins and Managing Director Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, the company is bringing emotional and athletic work to the Koger stage – a trademark of this company which performed at the DUMBO Dance Festival in NYC in Summer 2023.  

The concert will boast two arrangements by Columbia’s Dick Goodwin, famed jazz artist and composer. Goodwin’s arrangements of “All I Want for Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” will be featured in the second act, with the latter serving as the finale of the evening. Audiences can also expect to hear classic orchestral fare like Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” alongside popular songs like “White Christmas” and “Santa Claus is Back in Town,” and readings of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and the famous editorial by Francis Church “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” All of these elements combined with production design from Chad Henderson and Koger Center Technical Director Steve Borders will make for a sensational evening of symphonic spectacle that will entertain the whole family. 

“In the end, we want audiences to have a fulfilling and rich experience,” says Henderson. “We want people to feel a range of emotions while they’re with us. We’re using the undeniable universality of music, dance and, at times, theatre to provide audiences with a joyful evening that will be uplifting, energizing and powerful. Hopefully this will become a signature event for the SC Phil where friends and families join us every year to ignite their celebrations.” 

The SC Philharmonic’s Home for the Holidays will take the Koger Center stage on Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM at. Concert ticket prices range from $10 to $40 currently, and they can be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office (803) 251-2222.

Student Rush tickets are available for $10 starting thirty minutes before the concert, and group rates for 10 or more are available by writing kathryn@scphilharmonic.com. 

Spend the 4th with the SC Philharmonic at Segra Park!

From our friends at the SC Philharmonic —

TUESDAY, JULY 4, 2023 | GATES: 6:30 PM
CONCERT: 8:00 PM | @SEGRA PARK

BUY TICKETS NOW

DON’T MISS THIS EPIC 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION!

Join us at Segra Park for Fireworks with the Phil 2023. Gates open at 6:30 PM and the orchestra will begin playing around 8:00 PM. In its third year, this patriotic program has become a new Independence Day tradition for Midlands families. This year’s fireworks display is even bigger than last year’s, and you’ll get to enjoy all of Segra Park’s fun ballpark food and drink.

Segra Park is a CASHLESS venue and is a CLEAR BAG POLICY venue.

Call 803-726-4487 ext. 1 with questions or to inquire about Club Seating / Suites and food packages.

Please Note: Our rain date is July 5th, 2023 at the same times.

BUY TICKETS NOW

VISIT OR SEND US SNAIL MAIL:
1704 Main Street, Suite 100
Columbia, SC 29201

GIVE US A CALL:
803.771.7937

Make Music Day at the Koger Center for the Arts featuring USC School of Music, SC Philharmonic, Whiskey Tango Review and MORE!

On Wednesday, June 21, the Koger Center for the Arts will host Make Music Day, a free family friendly day of creating and listening to music. The Koger Center is presenting the day in conjunction with Rice Music House and the SC Philharmonic, as well as the City of Columbia.

From 12 to 8 p.m., every hour will bring musicians of all ages to the Vista for everyone to enjoy. Presented by the NAMM Foundation, Make Music Day is a worldwide celebration held in more than 1000 cities in 120 countries, with origins from France in 1982. The day is all about exposing communities to the power of music from all genres.

The early half of the day features an experimental “ruckus hour” where visitors can play around and make music with unconventional instruments--like boomwhackers--alongside percussive ones like steel drums. Varna International Music Academy, Rice Music House, SC Youth Philharmonic, and Rhodes Music Studio will have several students and affiliates perform recitals throughout the Koger Center lobby, stage, and Upstairs Gallery. The SC Youth Philharmonic will also host an instrument petting zoo, a perfect opportunity for aspiring musicians to learn a little bit more about different instruments.

At 4 p.m., Columbia Operatic Laboratory will perform excerpts from their production of Pirates of Penzance as well as give an announcement about their season. Afterwards, around 4:30 the duo Alexandra Fowler and Max Feltes will perform covers of hit indie songs for audiences.

The night concludes with outdoor events, starting out with a drum circle open for everyone to participate in. The circle will be led by Ashley Cobb, a graduate assistant at the University of South Carolina’s School of Music. There will be three bands afterwards performing on the plaza stage: Whiskey Tango Revue with Lauren Sherr, Martha’s Vault, and Sam & Illia. All stage performances are also free, and don’t forget your lawn chair or blanket!

Make Music Day Columbia is a yearly event that helps to make the slower summers of Columbia that much more musical. For more information on the complete lineup, visit the Koger Center website or the Make Music Day Columbia site.

Rosewood Arts Festival -- by Deborah Swearingen

“Let’s start an arts festival.” These simple words came in the form of a bold proposal over drinks by local writer Arik Bjorn and Rockaways owner Forest Whitlark a little over three years ago. Out of this, a day filled with affordable artistic fun evolved.

The third annual Rosewood Arts Festival will be held Saturday, September 28^th at 2719 Rosewood Drive, on the grounds of Rockaways, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Co-hosted by the Trenholm Artists Guild (TAG) and Rockaways Athletic Club, the festival features art in a variety of forms, including but certainly not limited to painting, jewelry, ceramics, and fabric art. As the festival has grown, more eccentric forms of art have been introduced. This year’s addition? Garbage art.

“Our vision has always been to have a neighborhood festival that benefits the artist,” said Bjorn, co-founder of the festival. For this reason, the Rosewood Arts Festival is affordable for vendors and free of charge for attendees.

Entertainment has always been integrated into the day, and this year, South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra Musicians, the South Carolina Shakespeare Company, Tonya Tyner & Friends, Tom Hall & the Plowboys and several student groups are performing, along with a variety of other acts.

Competitions are held each year; one for best art and one for best booth but arguably the most well known – the Paint-A-Cheeseburger challenge. $150 is the going prize for the artist who can create the most impressive cheeseburger. In years past, painted cheeseburgers have been the only art form competing for the prize, but both gourd and ceramic cheeseburgers will be entering the mix this year.

The festival is sponsored by the City of Columbia, The State, Pepsi, US Foods, First Citizens Bank and Beverage South.

To find out more, visit “Rosewood Arts Festival” on Facebook.

-- Deborah Swearingen, Jasper Intern

Dropped into the Middle of a Major Arts Month - What to Do Today, Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday

Hello Columbia Artists and Arts Lovers! I just got back a few hours ago from London and Ireland where the Bier Doc and I sucked up every last morsel of art we could cram into the two weeks we were there -- Five plays, three art museums including the very cool Hugh Lane in Dublin which houses the actual studio of Francis Bacon, three guided walks (Irish literary, history, and trad music), over 30 pubs, most with music - all with brew, and more sights and sounds and cliffs and sheep and ancient neo-lithic sites than I ever thought possible.

Yes, we got home exhausted, which is unfortunate, especially given the line-up of art and art experiences that April has in store for all of us. We're going to try to keep you posted via our Facebook page and this blog - What Jasper Says, but you should also pay close attention to the listings at One Columbia as well as at Indie Grits which kicks off Friday night with a smokin' hot  Block Party.

Tonight, we recommend you join Yours Truly as I help out at the USC Art Auction at the Campus Room of the Capstone Building on the campus of USC. The auction starts at 7 with a lovely reception at 6.

On Wednesday, we recommend you schedule yourself for the Closing Reception for Painted Violins from 5 - 8 at Gervais and Vine at 620 Gervais Street which benefits our beloved SC Philharmonic.

On Thursday, the highly successful (blushing) Jasper Salon Series returns with a presentation and discussion by local poet, author, and creativity coach, Cassie Premo Steele. We'll start out about 7 pm with drinks and chatting, then at 7:30 sharp, Cassie will begin the program.

We'll be posting more sneak peeks at all the cool stuff going on this month just as soon as we unpack and get a day's work done. I'm looking forward to seeing you all where you ought to be -- smack in the middle of the Southeast's newest and hottest arts destination, Columbia, SC!

Cheers,

Cindi

(note: not sure what happened to the previous version of this post which was missing most of its text. Oops & sorry!)

A Little Bit of Snark and a Good Deal of Praise -- Jeffrey Day's Art Year 2011 Review

 

Although the economy still sucked the arts community in Columbia just seemed to say “Screw it” and kept going.

For his last few years in the Governor’s office, when he wasn’t on the Appalachian Tail, Mark Sanford tried to zero out the budget for several state agencies, including the S.C. Arts Commission. The General Assembly never let him get far with it until his final year when some sort of deal had been struck. Then an uprising about the cuts rose up – mostly through Facebook – and legislators got an earful from art supporters all over the state. Not surprisingly, the new governor, Nikki Haley, brought out the knife as well, and she got it knocked out of her hand as well.  Made The New York Times. But expect the same fight this year.

The arts on Main Street started to coalesce after a couple of years. A gallery crawl – and all kinds of additional frills like music, theater and fire-eating – is now being held on Main Street EVERY SINGLE MONTH! That’s damn exciting especially when hundreds of people show up for all of them.

The art being shown is still  inconsistent, but there has been lots and lots of good art on display at all the locations (Frame of Mind, Anastatia and FRIENDS, S & S Art Supply, the Arcade, Tapp’s Arts Center) at one time or another. One of the best things has been the window installations at Tapp’s, but beyond the windows, the Tapp’s Art Center is still trying to figure things out. The director said earlier in the years that the upstairs studio spaces would be rented to artists who were juried in, but instead these have been turned into little “galleries” some jammed with work by a dozen artists or so.

The first South Carolina Biennial of contemporary art ran in two parts with about 25 artists at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art. The first show was terrific in every way, the second was rather messy, but had some of the best artists in it. The way the show is selected needs some fine turning. Whatever the shortcomings, the show fills the huge gap left when the Triennial was killed off a few years ago. The center also needs to spend as much time and effort (or even a third as much) getting the word out about its art shows as it does about its parties and openings.

The long-time director of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, Andy Witt, has left the building. Neither Witt nor the Council are even vaguely familiar to many in the arts community, but the council still raises about $200,000 a year for distribution to arts groups and that’s an important chunk of change in these times.  It’s time for the council to take a good hard look at itself and figure out what it’s going to do other than tread water.

I’ll go against conventional wisdom here and declare that the Columbia Museum of Art is more important than the Mast General Store to Main Street. It’s actually kind of hard to keep up with everything the museum does because it does so much – from big touring exhibitions, to small shows by locals, to concerts.

The museum is closing off the year and starting the new one with a big show of Hudson River school paintings. My first walk through I thought “Wow there’s some really hackneyed stuff in here” and actually a couple other people said the same to me. Then I went back. Yes, there are sentimental things and a few pieces that are high-end tourist art, but most of it is really truly wonderful.  Except for the fact that all the paintings have glass on them.

The museum started the year with “Who Shot Rock and Roll,” a photography exhibition documenting the history of rock ‘n’ roll.  I figured it would be a door buster without much substance. Instead it was a nearly perfect show that melded documentation, a wide approach to the medium and the music, and a crazy mixed up population of big stars and unknowns. And the show was just the right size – big enough to provide real range and small enough that it wasn’t repetitious. The only thing that didn’t work for me was the huge images of David Lee Roth right by the exit.

Sandwiched between was the show of Michael Kenna’s haunting and technically-dazzling photos of Venice. This year the museum managed to have a bit of everything without stinting on quality.

The Conundrum Music Hall in West Columbia has provided an outlet for all kinds of new music – from improv jazz to contemporary classical to the plain old weird and self-indulgent. One of the highlights was a chamber group from the S.C. Philharmonic. Half the audience had never been to an orchestra concert and the other half had never been to West Columbia. And about 50 people were turned away because it was sold out.

Phillip Bush, the Columbia-based pianist with a rich resume, made his first appearance with a local orchestra, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major. He and the young players sounded great.

The second concert of the season by the S.C. Philharmonic was all Mozart and all of it good. A seasoned pro playing the clarinet concerto, two teen-agers taking on a piano concerto, and a wonderful wrap-up with the “Jupiter” symphony.

Trustus Theatre founders Jim and Kay Thigpen plan to retire this spring and in the fall Jim Thigpen directed “August: Osage County” as his swan song. What a way to go out: one of the best productions at the theater during the past two decades.

As usual the Wideman-Davis Dance Company provided more surprises and depth with one more new work “Voypas.”

Many people seemed to be excited about the return of installation art to Artista Vista – and so was I since I put the show together. This is not a completely self-congratulatory note. All I did was pick artists who were good and competent and pretty nice. They did the rest. Well I did wash the windows and sweep. It was one of the best experiences of my life.